So, I'm sitting here, listening to Whitney Matheson's weekly Pop Candy podcast, and the USA Today blogger's latest has a catchy little track by the Philadelphia-based rappers the YMD.
The song: "From Stockton to Malone," a very Beastie Boys-esque ode to great basketball players such as the famed Utah Jazz pair John Stockton and Karl Malone.
Anyway, I'm listening and I'm working on a story when suddenly I sit up straight in my seat (you know, just like my mama always tells me to) as they're dropping cold rhymes (their words, not mine), and I hear "doing it blah blah blah like Kevin Seconds/bring the beat back - yo, his kids will wreck this."
OK, they didn't really say "blah blah blah," but I've since listened to this track like, a million times, and I still can't figure out what it is they are doing like Seconds (pictured).
Anyway, the important thing is that Seconds is the frontman for 7Seconds and a singer with Go National, as well as the co-owner of our very own True Love Coffeehouse in midtown Sacramento.
Cool.
It's also cool that Seconds is a huge NBA fan.
Here's another thing: The YMD's full name is the Yah Mos Def, a nod to the Yah Mos - the local cult faves who later spawned the likes of !!! and Out Hud. The rappers reportedly changed it to the YMD after having a bit of a name tug-of-war on MySpace with the original band, although their new album is still called "This is the Yah Mos Def."
Yeah, I know, weird - what are a bunch of Philly kids doing all up in our NorCal business? Actually, they name-drop a ton of people, including 2Live Crew, the S.F. band Cars Get Crushed, and Peter Fonda.
You can listen to the track by downloading Matheson's podcast or check out other tracks at myspace.com/theymd.
Warning: Some of the tracks are a bit explicit, but I know you can handle it.
And while you're listening, try and figure out what they're trying to do like Seconds, will ya? Do they "jump and dive" like him? "Punk and die"? Let me know, cos it's gonna really bug me until I found out.
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