Wale: NPR's Song Of The Day
Wale
I love when quality rap and NPR collide. First was the most tremendous Fresh Air interview ever, a full hour with Terry Gross and The Rza. And now Wale's Nike Boots is featured as the Song of the Day.
Wale is one of the best around. I still can't thank sansserif enough for introducing me to the kid. Wale's 100 Miles and Runnin' is one of the best hip hop cds of the last couple of years, and I'd never have heard it if not for her suggestion. Via Elitaste:
After releasing a popular mix tape (100 Miles & Running) last year, D.C. rapper Wale signed a deal with Interscope; his major-label debut is due early next year. Known for rapping over beats from unlikely sources — including French electronic duo Justice and English singer Lily Allen — Wale is a blogger favorite, and the song responsible for much of the buzz is "Nike Boots."
Featuring a dramatic, Southern-tinged beat from producer Osinachi, the song pays tribute to the downtrodden people of the DMV — as in the District, Maryland, and Virginia.
Wale's latest mixtape, a tribute to Seinfeld, is called The Mixtape About Nothing. The Washington Post loves it (free download here).
Audio Hilarity For The Weekend
David Sedaris Reading On Letterman
Nothing like listening to David Sedaris read his own stuff...
June 9, 2008 ·Whether he's lancing boils, getting crabs from thrift store pants or sitting in a hospital waiting room dressed only in his underwear, one thing is clear: David Sedaris is not shy about sharing those embarrassing, cringe-worthy incidents that members of the general population tend to save for diaries or therapists.
In his sixth collection of essays, When You Are Engulfed in Flames, Sedaris continues to bare his body and soul, detailing the aforementioned boils and crabs as well as an uncomfortable incident in which he accidentally spits a lozenge into the lap of his seatmate on an airplane.
Though some critics have questioned the strict veracity of his essays, defenders maintain that even if Sedaris stretches the truth, a certain degree of exaggeration is expected in humor. In a 2007 Washington Post article defending the humorist, Peter Carlson wrote, "Did Mark Twain fudge facts about how far the frog jumped?"
While his magazine pieces do get fact-checked, Sedaris points out, he agrees with Carlson. For a humorist, he says, "it comes with the territory. I exaggerate about how much I exaggerate. If someone nags [in real life], in my writing they nag nag nag."
Sedaris lives in France and England with his partner, Hugh Hamrick, and is a frequent contributor to This American Life, Esquire and The New Yorker. His previous books include Me Talk Pretty One Day and Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim.
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Hilarious interview with his sister, Amy Sedaris.
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An interview with Jack Handey.
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My all time favorite Fresh Air interview: Terry Gross interviews The RZA of the Wu Tang Clan.