FFF Fest ADD+ and STRFKR

So my aspirations to be a hip hop artist crashed and burned within a matter of a few months. I figured that since I always mimicked hip hop beats and created my own on the drums and on a beat up Casio keyboard from the 80’s that I’d have no problems freestyling. Well one day I woke up and realized that everyone of my rhymes began and ended with “my rhymes are tight, all day and all night”. That was about as fresh as I could get; so the next thing I know I’m getting drunk with my roommates and we’re recording a terrible RnB pop song . I was singing a horrible wannabe Jodeci hook and my buddy who was responsible for the rap at the end sounded like LL Cool J’s I Need Love.  We were honestly 5 minutes away from wearing backwards overalls and saying things like “wiggidy wiggidy wacky yo”. Thankfully that track got lost in the move but I swear I am not lying when I say that a few months later this boy band came out with a hit single that sounded eerily similar to ours. Now by NO means am I saying they stole anything from us because we are three scrubs that no one has ever heard of and we recorded this in a kitchen.  While these clowns were from the Northeast or something. But what I am saying is that in about 15 drunken minutes we were able to write a song that had basically the same lyrics that these scrubs paid a professional quite a bit of money for. 

What’s the point of all this? The point is, terrible artists can come from anywhere but for whatever reason, no one from Dallas blows up.  Erykah Badu and The Toadies, who are both actually really good, are the only ones so far to make it big. Well hopefully that is about to end.  Do yourself a favor and get on the ADD+ train.  This transplant from Tennessee and this Dallas native have smooth flows that sound like they have been perfecting their craft for years!  Most artists I ran into in Dallas were kind of timid and not too sure of themselves but these guys are confident in their styles and can cover anything from dealing with their mistakes in life on Under “blame it on my wallet, we give the devil too much credit” or come up with bangers like Likeamug. Anyone who can come up with a hook “like a mug” and make it sound fresh has to have talent. I hate to steal someone’s description of them but they really do sound like a mix of a young Outkast and UGK. And the two songs I reference here are perfect examples of that. Under specifically sounds next of Kast’s Liberation or Crumblin Herb with the piano driven beat. Don’t think other artists haven’t taken notice; Black Milk has popped in and produced a track of theirs as well. Also check out Can’t Come Down.  These guys are definitely FRESH  and I suggest checking them out at FFF fest on Sunday at 1 on the blue stage or at the FFF Nites show Saturday night at ND.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0DItd6yQMY

Next up is Starfucker. I am actually embarrassed to say that I kind of like this trio from Portland.  Their music is dancy indie pop that is the fruitiest of the fruit but I can’t help but find myself dancing to it. But it’s like my buddy from LA says “hey man, sometimes I like the fruit”.  But he was talking about Terrence Malick flicks. Each song is catchy and gets stuck in your head like Bury Us Alive or Millions which are dripping with synths that sound like 80’s video game bleeps or the more traditional guitar heavy Reptilians.  It’s sad but I will be missing some Public Image Limited for their show Saturday Night at FFF Fest. Check them out for yourself but I rate them as kind of WEAK.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHpz_xml7Gg