May 18, 2012 – One of my favorite songs by the late Chuck Brown is 1988's "That'll Work (2001)," a go-go version of Richard Strauss' "Also Sprach Zarathustra." The credits on the 12-inch read like this: Written by Richard Strauss, arrangement by Deodato, additional arrangement by Chuck Brown. So specifically, "That’ll Work" references Eumir Deodato’s take on "Also Sprach Zarathustra" from 1972’s Prelude. Deodato’s "Also Sprach Zarathustra" is used to hilarious, deadpan effect in Hal Ashby’s 1979 movie Being There. It plays when Peter Sellers’ character, Chance the Gardener (or Chauncey Gardiner), leaves his caretaker’s home for the very first time and sees the outside world. In Being There, that outside world is Washington, DC, the birthplace of go-go. You can watch that scene from Being There here.

May 18, 2012 – Twenty years after the Pharcyde's debut, Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde, it seems like that pack of self-deprecating MCs are finally getting the credit they've always deserved. You can spot their logo on T-shirts in stores like Urban Outfitters right next to Biggie and Tribe apparel, Booty Brown dropped a verse on Geoff Barrow's Quakers project, and last month, for Record Store Day, the ornate Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde: The Single Collection Music Box was released, complete with liner notes written by J-Sw!ft, the producer behind the Pharcyde's 1992 classic.

May 18, 2012 – LoveRance's "UP!” is currently number four on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop chart, with a rather curious "featuring" credit: "LoveRance featuring Iamsu! & Skipper or 50 Cent." "UP!" was a minor hit last summer and began sneaking onto radio playlists in the fall. It seemed of a piece with Chris Brown's similarly spare "Strip.” Then, Tyga's "Rack City" arrived and brought with it a sudden, nationwide demand for minimalist hip-hop. DJs began mixing "UP!" with "Rack City," "Strip," Drake's "The Motto,” and anything else that was the opposite of maximalist Lex Luger's once-vital, now tedious slam-bam-glitch bangers. In December, a 50 Cent remix of "UP!" arrived, giving the song the final push it needed to be absorbed by the mainstream.

May 17, 2012 – A French presidential candidate — now president — using a viral political advertisement featuring a song from Watch the Throne, Jay-Z co-signing president Barack Obama's pro-same-sex marriage sentiments, and the president shouting out Young Jeezy and slow jamming the news, are all reasons to rejoice in the cultural and political exchange that hip-hop has enabled. Back in April, then socialist party candidate Francois Hollande embraced an ad that celebrated/enforced his cross-cultural appeal using Jay-Z and Kanye West's "Niggas In Paris." Given its title and the ad's message (a celebration of minority voting power in France), "Niggas In Paris" is literally the worst rap song that could be chosen, but it seems like it was there for its zeitgeist — as the rap song of 2011 — more than any literal meaning.

May 11, 2012 – I've been thinking a lot about André 3000 starring in this Jimi Hendrix biopic. The biopic is one of the worst movie subgenres because conflating someone's life into two hours and hitting all the "necessary" dramatic beats just never works out. By the time the studio's bad ideas and test-screened audience comments and all that are considered, a life story's been cleaned up and compacted beyond recognition. But the limits imposed on this Hendrix biopic, from both the outside (none of Hendrix's music will be used, by order of his estate) and due to its narrative (Hendrix during 1966-1967, in England, while recording Are You Experienced?), seems encouraging. Free of cramming the all hits onto the soundtrack, and with the excuse to focus on a smaller time period, there's some hope for this movie to be well, watchable, at least.

May 11, 2012 – In certain rap-Internet circles, Future's Pluto is album of the year (here at SPIN, it's an Essential). To many though, it's a big joke. This dismissive Onion AV Club review, which misquotes lyrics from "Straight Up," (the reviewer hears "she a big booty freak and she foreign" as "she a big booty freak and she fart") is illustrative of a certain kind of hip-hop fan ready to assume the worst and laugh Pluto away. When I wrote about it, I didn't claim to understand the album, only that I enjoyed listening to it. It takes some time to grab you. In SPIN's review, to explain this incredibly strange major label debut, Noz referenced Mike Patton and Parliament mythological creature Sir Nose D'Voidoffunk. Those comparisons are a good way to start unpacking Pluto.

May 9, 2012 – Does this count as Trillwave? Via Matt Sonzala's Austin Surreal, via wherever the hell he spotted it: A wacky beer ad featuring ZZ Top inside one of those walk-in beer fridges, blasting out a rawk-and-blooz cover of Screwed Up Click classic "25 Lighters" by DJ DMD feat. Lil Keke and Fat Pat. As Sonzala also discovered, thanks to a Hollywood Reporter transcript of a press conference for Peter Berg's upcoming movie Battleship, "25 Lighters" will appear on the soundtrack to the board game turned blockbuster, plus ultimate rap-rock fusionist Rick Rubin has something or other to do with it.

May 8, 2012 – I didn't pick a rap release last week, but had I, it would've been Killa Kyleon and Mouse on tha Track's Welcome to the Fish Fry. And since nothing too great has really come out since then (KD's solemn Crown Me, Playboy Tre's pretty good Liquor Store Mascot 2 are worth your time, though), I'm just going to talk about Kyleon and Mouse's mixtape, which is one of the most consistent and accomplished releases of the year. Welcome to the Fish Fry is both an unlikely pairing of hip-hop talents and a remarkable example of Third Coast synergy.

May 7, 2012 – The Internet has enabled every music listener's natural impulse — to imbibe as much different music as possible — and has exposed genre as both a necessary label for communication, and a painfully tired marketing tool. "Maximalism" is the buzzword right now, as the music itself has started to catch up to the varied tastes of listeners. Simon Reynolds' essay for Pitchfork, "Maximal Nation," placed producer Rustie and his 2011 album Glass Swords, a Death Star laser-blast of '80s funk synths, backwards dubstep breakdowns, and druggy hip-hop rhythms, in the eye of the impending, maximalist storm.

May 7, 2012 – Twice during our interview with Gunplay, the Maybach Music Group maniac grabbed an iPhone sitting on the table and took photos of himself, demonically grinning (see above). He also frequently sipped from a water bottle filled with vodka ("This is Ciroc by the way; shout out to Ciroc!"). Gunplay in the flesh is the same as Gunplay on record. But he also proves to be a savvy, modest rapper who hopes to turn the screw-loose energy heard on mixtapes like Inglorious Bastard and Bogota Rich: The Prequel into a long-term business plan that even the mighty Def Jam can't contain. The day of his show at Santos Party House in New York, we talked about New York rap influences, why snorting cocaine on video in Colombia was an excellent P.R. move, his business venture Apples & Onions Executive Escort Service, and why he just does not give a fuck.