Daylight / Nightlight — Aesop Rock

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd_W_x3nclY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLG4gP16LRY

This duet of songs is, together, a phenomenal work, in any medium — as rap, fast and hard, it's difficult to parse — but phenomenal nonetheless. It's a diptych, two works designed to complement each other. Each stands apart, but Nightlight is a dark parody of Daylight, which is an idealistic Nightlight, which... etc. Compare the lyrics side by side — no, go do it, use google, I'll wait.

The production is similar but with contrast; the lyrics are mirrors, the tempo is the same, his done and flow is the same on each track. The idea is so brilliant, it's amazing nobody had done it before. Because it exists within its own self-reflective universe, I don't really have any associations with a place or time — it's more like a book or a film, in that respect. It exists in and of itself.

Unwind Yourself — Marva Whitney

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym7IOodKeWI

I like rap. No, no apologies. I love rap. But normally I love rap for the poetry of its lyrics; I'm a fan of De La Soul and The Pharcyde and Das Racist and Aesop, for their lyricality. It's the largest modern source of poetry there is, and it's relevant and clever and unique.

I was listening to History of Rap, and they played the song Let Me Clear My Throat — DJ Kool. What caught me here weren't the lyrics, it was the sample. ?uestlove and The Roots were imitating (live) a sample used in the 1996 song (which was recorded live) which used a sample from The 900 Number — The 45 King, a mid-80s sampling artist, who took a sample from the instrumental behind Marva Whitney's Unwind Yourself, a 60s funk track.

And yet the original shone through, translated three times. It hadn't lost its rhythm, it hadn't lost its tonality, it hadn't been desecrated in any way. I wonder for how many other oft-sampled riffs the same is true.