The 37th Chamber 10.24.09: Exploring New Territory

Posted by Patrick Robinson on 10.24.2009

This week, we're exploring the world of Suburban Noize and more specifically, the latest La Coka Nostra album, A Brand You Can Trust, not to mention musical rants about Singapore and Japan!

Yep, yep back again and here to stay for a while because the last day in Japan and the three, well two and a bit days in Singapore absolutely bankrupt me.

Before I ramble on about various Japan happenings and the like, a quick apology for no column last Saturday. You see, by the time I got around to trying to write that one, I'd written 3 37th Chambers, a Hip-Hop Herald, the Ghostface review, and a bunch of stuff for college so needless to say, I really could not think of a single thing worth writing about. Plus my fingers were refusing to type which was making things a little difficult.

With that out of the way, ah I probably won't address comments from the previous weeks just because I figure this column could get too long and lose focus otherwise, I shall begin ranting.

Singapore & Japan – Exploring New Grounds

So my travel schedule went somewhat like this:

- Singapore 25th Sep – 28th Sep
- Tokyo 29th Sep – 6th Oct
- Kyoto 6th Oct – 11th Oct
- Fukuoka 11th Oct – 14th Oct
- Singapore 14th Oct – 17th Oct

Starting from the top (don't worry, I shall relate these rants back to music at times), Singapore is freaking humid. You get out of a freezing cold plane; walk through a freezing cold airport, stand behind (probably) freezing cold glass doors, then the doors open and your world shatters apart as you are hit with a wave of humidity and heat like a slap in the face with a large fish. A large, hot fish anyway. After getting over the heat, it turns out that Singapore Taxi drivers are actually all stunt doubles from the Fast & Furious franchise because I think we made the, what was supposed to be, 25 minute trip from the airport to the hotel in about 15 minutes. My friend suffers from travel sickness a bit so this was a great start to the trip for him. The most recent Fast & Furious movie is actually billed as Wild Speed Max 3 or something in Japan as well, don't ask why hahaha.

We were mainly in Singapore as my friends were visiting relatives of theirs, and we were also catching the Singapore F1 Grand Prix. Now when I drive around, my music is usually loud because I have a subwoofer and it is hard to not be loud. NOTHING compares to the sound of 10 F1 cars going past you. I swear, my ears were ringing for about 20 seconds after they had gone and I decided to buy ear plugs because the only damage I want my ears to endure is damage from a loud-ass M.O.P. or Busta Rhymes track. If anyone reading follows the F1, we each picked a driver to back and I, not knowing anything of F1 racing except that by now the cars are very loud, chose Mark Webber because "RED BULL GIVES YOU WINGS!!!" (I was slightly crazy from the heat) which was an abysmal choice. Fun was had though and had we been there the night before, they actually had performances from Beyonce, No Doubt, The Black Eyed Peas some group who used to make hip-hop songs and THE BACKSTREET BOYS! Who I did not intend on seeing you will be glad to know.


The aforementioned group may or may not feature this particular artist

Compared to Australia though, Singapore appears to be much more in-tune with hip-hop than we are. I heard a number of hip-hop tracks playing in shops as we were walking around ranging from old-school 2Pac to Jay's "Empire State Of Mind" and Jay Sean's "Down" which I thought was actually quite old by now, but it appears that I am the only one once again who thinks that. In Australia, we're usually lucky if they play something like, well, Beyonce in shops as she is pretty much the closest thing we'll get to hip-hop being played in a shopping centre and Beyonce isn't exactly known for rocking the old school Adidas or anything. Still, I had hope that I'd be able to pick up the new Raekwon, Kid Cudi and M.O.P. albums since I hadn't really had a chance to look for them in Australia before I left. This is where I got a little confused as given they had an obvious like of hip-hop, the music shop we were in had a very confusing layout. It had one section dedicated to J-Pop (Japanese Pop music), one section dedicated to Hindi music (there was a HUGE Little India area about 10 minutes away from our hotel) and then the rest is sorted as "Pop/Rock Music". I figured that perhaps the shops didn't sell hip-hop CDs at all, but then I found a Lil Wayne CD and decided it wasn't worth looking for anyone else given the confusion of the layout.

Onto Tokyo which was hands down, the most incredible place I have been in my life. Certain cities like Shibuya, Shinjuku and Akihabara are FILLED WITH LIGHTS. Every square inch of the buildings are covered in bright lights advertising what's inside or just advertising whatever. It was also at this point that I truly realized: I am in a country where virtually nobody speaks fluent English. This was made painfully clear as I tried to ask someone in a big chain shop called Tower Records if they had a hip-hop section. Silly me, I should have just looked at the big-ass sign near the elevators which TELLS YOU what genre of music can be found on each level. Let it be said that whoever organizes the Tower Records shops is a music lover. Not just a fan of one or two genres, but a TRUE lover of MUSIC. Every single genre was organized immaculately and as someone who is slightly OCD, it was a thing of beauty.

The hip-hop section puts every single hip-hop section I have seen in any other store to shame. Not only were CDs in their correct spots (in Australia, I tend to find Soulja Boy CDs wandering all through the alphabet…who exactly is picking them up and putting them down under Big L anyway? SOMEONE ASKING FOR A BEAT DOWN! Hahaha), but they were actually organized, get this, BY COASTAL REGION. Yes, they actually had a section called "East Coast Classics and New Releases" which featured Only Built 4 Cuban Linx I and the sequel (more on that in a moment), "Dirty South Heavyweights" including Scarface, Outkast and, to my extreme disbelief, LITTLE BROTHER and "West Coast Bangers" including Game, Snoop and Xzibit. They even had quite a large section dedicated to Chicano rap, J-Rap and even tiny sections of Aussie and UK rap. Needless to say, I COULD have spent about $1000 happily, if it wasn't for the fact that the CDs were horrifically overpriced. Raekwon's latest for example, will probably sell here in Australia for about $22, a bit expensive, but affordable nonetheless. In Japan, it was selling for 2,510 Yen which is over $30 Australian and far more than I am really willing to pay for a CD.


As much as I love this album, there is a limit to how much I'll pay for it

Tower Records also stock books and as a big, BIG anime and manga fan, I was expecting good things, but this was when the realization that I was in a country where virtually nobody speaks fluent English hit me for the second time in about 2 days. Every single DVD and manga book was in Japanese which, if the characters were Romanized, I could probably understand a little, but naturally, that isn't the case so it was a bit disappointing. After we left the store which was in…Shibuya, we discovered that there was loud music coming from somewhere. Loud, familiar music. It then hit me that I was hearing music from the first Pokémon games being played over the loudspeakers in the city: pretty funny to say the least.

On a funny side note, the subway system in Tokyo is amazing and out to kill me. You see, they have this convenient system called PASMO which is basically like a top-up card – you put an amount of money onto the card, and instead of inserting it into the turnstiles, you swipe it (you can even leave it in your wallet and women were just waving their bags across the sensor and getting readings) across the sensor, it registers the station you're getting on at and then deducts the fare when you get off at whatever station it is you desire. I'm sure other countries have a system like this, and Australia COULD have a system like this, but I have caught exactly 7 trains in my entire life living in Australia so I really have no idea. ANYWAY, the PASMO seemed like a great idea, except that when you don't scan the card correctly, it shuts the turnstile gates fast. Unfortunately for me, not fast enough as I would usually get a leg through then BAM! My leg is jammed in the gates and I can't actually reach the sensor to re-swipe my card making this a hilarious mishap to look back on, but really not funny at the time, especially when it happened SIX TIMES in one day. Now some people will say that this was because I can't swipe a card properly. I would like to say that it is Tokyo subway out to get me and leave it at that.

One last thing to note, the place we stayed was called the Somerset Azabu East which were serviced apartments and if you are planning on going to Tokyo and are taking a couple of friends or a partner I strongly suggest staying there IF you are a member of the Kris Flyer program with Singapore Airlines (because you get a huge discount) as the room was unbelievably luxurious (we had a washer and drier, fridge and microwave, stove, cable TV and a view of Tokyo Tower (which was literally right next to us). DEFINITELY recommend staying there and if I ever go back to Tokyo (which I will one day), I am certainly booking my accommodation there.

Kyoto was a big change from the commercial and industry of Tokyo. We traded up high-rise department stores and an evil subway system for Temples and an infinitely kinder subway system (not one leg slammage occurred). Funnily enough though, the speakers in the train station were often playing "Empire State Of Mind" (during my 3 weeks away, I heard that song approximately 11 times in different locations) and there was a big music festival on during one of the days we were there. There were break dancing competitions and even dancing involving skipping ropes played to Pitbull. I'd say hip-hop music, but I would be lying because it really was JUST Pitbull's Rebelution CD the whole time we were watching. Kyoto is one of those places you would go after Tokyo (oh what a coincidence, that's exactly what we did…) to wind down. It's got an infinitely more laid back feel to it than the buzz of Tokyo and it's quite relaxing to just walk around the streets, window shopping and avoiding being hit by bicycles (yes, me again).

Fukuoka was a bit of a mix between Tokyo and Kyoto. We had a lot of department stores surrounding our hotel, but at the same time, it really wasn't anywhere near as busy. I could see myself living there one day if I ever learn enough Japanese other than ‘good morning', ‘thank you', ‘sorry' and ‘excuse me'. We found another Tower Records and I picked up the Kid Cudi album for about $20 and two Japanese singles from some anime shows I've been watching. I also found Rakim's The Master and Big Daddy Kane's Taste Of Chocolate for about $11 each, marked down 20% after that so I got both of them for just under $20 I think I worked out.



Back in Singapore and this is where I lost a lot of money. Not lost as in I lost my wallet or got robbed, but lost as in I bought almost ridiculous amounts of stuff. So ridiculous that I actually had to buy a second suitcase. Yes you read that correctly, I had so much stuff by this point, that on the second last day in Singapore, I bought a second suitcase. I picked up 12 manga books in Singapore's main Kinokuniya store (I think there are quite a few of them in America, you may have seen one somewhere, I personally frequent the one in Sydney quite a bit), a Sony VAIO FW series laptop (which qualifies for the Windows 7 Upgrade for $15 US which I am verrrry happy about) a sexy cooling tray for the laptop and some remaining souvenirs I had to get for various people back home.

Driving back to the airport we had the funniest taxi driver. Well not funny, in a "holding my sides" kind of funny, but funny as in a WHAT THE F*** kind of funny. He got out of the taxi at our hotel, and literally hobbled over to us. He had to be over 60 and looked like he was made of wood he was so stiff in his movements. There's me with two bags over 15kg each and my mate with a 10kg bag and a…had to be about 17kg as we had issues with our total luggage at Singapore airport, we had 62kg and were only allowed 50kg between us. They told my friend he could take the 10kg bag on board as hand luggage meaning we still needed to lose 2kg but they somehow overlooked that. Anyway, the driver hobbles over, says hello than grabs hold of my suitcase and BAM hikes it up over his head and into the boot of the taxi, making it land amazingly gently too. Second bag, BAM, same thing, gentle landing. I swear, the taxi drivers over there are made of a different mold than ours here in Australia. That and they drive really expensive cars as taxis. I saw multiple Mercedes, a Lexus or two and FOUR CHRYSLER 300s being driven as TAXIS. TAXIS! Seriously, since when is a Chrysler 300 a taxi vehicle? In Australia, we get Toyotas and Hondas occasionally, but never anything as nice as a Mercedes let alone a Chrysler.

In all, when we landed, I had 35.8kg of luggage checked-in (and a shitload to declare in Customs. Australia has very strict laws on what you can and cannot bring into the country, and me with fabric, woolen and food products was quite worried. Funnily enough, all they cared about was what I had selected as "Any item over AUD$900 in value" which was the laptop, no joke, 5 people asked me the same question…you think someone would have made a bloody note on the immigration card but that's a rant for another day) and about 7kg of hand luggage. I had left the country, I made sure to check because I always enjoy the laugh at how much stuff I've brought back, with 14.2kg of check-in luggage and 5kg of hand luggage, with the power of math telling me I had a gain of 23.6kg which is actually making me laugh right now too.

Anyway, it's damn good to be back home with my ridiculous amounts of music as I really hadn't put enough onto my iPod before we left. Right before I ran out the door to leave, I had put on Man On The Moon and Blueprint 3 but nothing newer than that. Basically, I was listening to those two albums, "Forever" and about 3 different mixtapes the entire trip. Needless to say, I am quite happy not to listen to any of it again for a while apart from "Forever" which seems to be ingrained in my mental playlist now.

The Mini Rant Review

In honor of my exploring new places, I am going to feature a two part review (this week and next) on two recent releases on the Suburban Noize Records label. Not Japanese rap unfortunately as I could not find any as it was all in characters. Had I managed to find some, I also would not have any idea if the song was called "Magnetic Death Rape Symphony" or "Sugar-Coated Candy-Cane Kisses". Exploring Japanese rap is certainly at the top of my To-Do list next time I'm in Japan (hopefully within the next 3 years).

So this week;



La Coka Nostra - A Brand You Can Trust
Released: 14 July 2009 on Suburban Noize Records

La Coka Nostra is a group comprised of Everlast, DJ Lethal and Danny Boy (from House of Pain), Ill Bill (former Non Phixion Producer and rapper) and Slain (Special Teamz rapper). Before I begin this review, I must post a disclaimer of sorts. Much like the Japanese language, I know extremely little of La Coka Nostra. In fact, I know Everlast due to his beef with Eminem, House of Pain from "Jump Around" and the name Non Phixion is one that I have seen before during my travels on the Internet. That's it! So I'm going into this CD with the absolute minimum of awareness of what these guys usually bring to the table, but with an open mind for something new.

A Brand You Can Trust is a short album, clocking in at just over 57 minutes which I have mentioned in the past is usually the optimum length for an album (between 50 minutes and an hour is the best I feel, any shorter/longer and you face other problems) and from start to finish it's a powerful and engaging listen. The opening track, "Bloody Sunday" is an excellent way to kick the album off. An aggressive guitar and a powerful bass line make this one hell of an opening track. For the most part, the album follows this strong start with the production being a standout factor on the album. In terms of energy and production styles, it's a bit like the M.O.P. album which is a nice surprise. Another aggressive guitar driven beat follows on "Get You By" which is another standout as the LCN boys go hard straight from the start. The beat is a little overpowering in the sense that the vocals got drowned out a little at times, but it's only a minor complaint.

Following "Bang Bang" which is another high energy track, featuring Snoop Dogg on the hook which I think is possibly one of the only times I've ever seen Snoop not drop a verse (probably not a bad thing, as Snoop's flow wouldn't have fit in with the song too well) is "The Stain" which is a nice change of pace. The track has a more somber feel to it over the hooks, but the beat kicks up a notch during the rapped verses which gives it that good ‘high-low' sound. The track is lyrically quite different to a lot of the album as the group sing warnings of fame, drug use, poverty and how a destructive lifestyle can not only poison your life but your very being as well.

Up next is "I'm An American" which is more in a political vein as the group discuss what it means to be ‘an American' and explore the negative connotations of what that means in today's society. From gun laws to the War a fairly diverse array of topics are covered which is a quite a nice change from the usual one-track sarcastic looks at America we get from some artists. B-Real pops by with his distinctive voice and changes the flow of the song nicely ensuring you don't lose interest. Similarly, "Nuclear Medicinemen" features politically charged content with some aggressive lines like "Run, get your guns / Shoot George and his sons" and "They planned 9-11, f*** what you saw!". Typically, Immortal Technique fits in quite comfortably here although for some reason it sounds like he recorded his verse three rooms away and yelled to be heard, it just seems a little tacked on at the last minute and is really just an editing problem.

"Gun In Your Mouth" features Slaine, Everlast and Ill Bill in another standout track. The production is catchy and bounces along quite nicely. The three MCs flow along to the beat beautifully and drop equally impressive verses of robbery. Normally content like this is monotonous or somewhat boring, but the combination of a memorable hook, catchy beat and undeniably energetic and engaging deliveries from all involved, you can't help but pay attention.

So what's wrong with the album? On the whole, not much. You occasionally get a verse that just feels slightly off, like it could have been refined a little. The beat on "Soldier's Story" and the hook could have used a bit of improvement in particular. The beat doesn't seem to match the intensity of the lyrics and the hook comes off as a little awkward. Likewise, the beat on "Brujeria" completely overwhelms the lyrics and makes it hard to pay attention to the song, it also feels a bit pop-ish, well, not pop music as such, but perhaps something you'd hear from Timbaland around 2004-2005.

Overall though, my first experience with the Suburban Noize label and La Coka Nostra was a positive one. Is the Suburban Noize label a brand I can trust? That is yet to be seen as I don't like to pass judgment from one album and I'll probably be able to answer this question after next week's review, but it's looking positive at the moment. If you're looking for something a bit different, but brings the intensity and energetic production style that you can find on M.O.P. albums infused with aggressive guitar pieces at times, this is an album to listen to.

Final rating: 8.0/10

The Signoff

Next week, I'll see if I can post up some of the funny things I found during my travels, including one EXCEPTIONAL example of a sign translation gone wrong in a restaurant in Harajuku. Also, expect Part 2 of the Suburban Noize Records experience but until then, I'll catch you on Thursday with the news!