Althouse: "The Crack Emcee, once San Francisco's blackest man, with an original collection of (actual) 'Rock' songs

January 31, 2019

"The Crack Emcee, once San Francisco's blackest man, with an original collection of (actual) 'Rock' songs - exclusively about females..."

"... and all recorded throughout the San Francisco Bay Area over a 20-year period, as he served time with SF's The Beatnigs (Alternative Tentacles) Consolidated (Nettwerk) Broun Fellinis (Moonshine) and Little White Radio (Crack House). Shouts out to Detonator Kemrexx, Toph One, Chris Cotton, Nosia, Ann Althouse, Daren and Doug, for the undying inspiration. All songs written and produced by The Crack Emcee, except 'She’s A Woman' by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. 'Britney Houston' was compiled from excellent-to-extremely sketchy source material, and was mixed to make the divergence 'work'. Cover photo 'Shelia' by The Crack Emcee. Enjoy."

Listen to Crack Emcee's "Britney Houston (Bay Area Black Rock Girl Songs: 1995 - 2015)" by at SoundCloud, here.

48 comments:

FullMoon said...: Damn fine photo of Crack at the link.
Damn fine.... way better than his avatar..; 1/31/19, 6:55 PM
John Borell said...: Love it!

Things seemed negative here the last few weeks. This was sweet.; 1/31/19, 6:57 PM
FullMoon said...: Love it!

Things seemed negative here the last few weeks. This was sweet

Brown sugar..; 1/31/19, 6:59 PM
Jimmy said...: "Shouts out to Detonator Kemrexx, Toph One, Chris Cotton, Nosia, Ann Althouse, Daren and Doug, for the undying inspiration." Seriously cool. I mean, can anyone name a college professor who is mentioned in a list like this. So cool. Way cool. So many of the people from Ann's comment section are famous and accomplished. I had no idea. What a great post.; 1/31/19, 7:04 PM
RK said...: That's the whitest music I ever heard.; 1/31/19, 7:15 PM
Darrell said...: Will Crack appreciate the free plug from Althouse?

History says no.
It won't even count toward reparations.; 1/31/19, 7:25 PM
Jupiter said...: Hello Darkness, my old friend ...

All I got was The Sound of Silence.; 1/31/19, 7:28 PM
Friendo said...: Always liked Crack's presence ( well, almost always), but that music blows.; 1/31/19, 7:34 PM
Jersey Fled said...: Damn Crack. You can sing!; 1/31/19, 7:36 PM
Pete said...: No, thanks. Never understood Altouse's obsession with Crack.; 1/31/19, 7:40 PM
SDaly said...: Is/was Crack blacker than Willie Brown?

Can you buy stuff on SoundCloud, or do you have to go elsewhere, because as much as I disagree with Crack, I would purchase some music.; 1/31/19, 7:44 PM
Saint Croix said...: first song is awesome

second song, no

third song is funny

I would totally buy this ticket; 1/31/19, 7:45 PM
YoungHegelian said...: AA, doin' her duty, represents for the Crack Emcee.; 1/31/19, 7:52 PM
Lem the artificially intelligent said...: Cracks idea for generating clicks.

Link; 1/31/19, 7:57 PM
Inga...Allie Oop said...: Hahaha, y’all love Crack when he does something that makes him a bit famous. Why did you folks abuse him so badly when he commented here? Hypocrites.; 1/31/19, 8:00 PM
Saint Croix said...: Man that first song is amazing.

Also love #4 ("You Really Got To Get To Know Her") and #6 ("Talking to You").

Really good stuff on here.; 1/31/19, 8:03 PM
David53 said...: Track 7 - Talking to You. Sounds like some Pete Townsend influence.; 1/31/19, 8:03 PM
David53 said...: My bad, track 6.; 1/31/19, 8:04 PM
Gahrie said...: Did he include his classic, "It's all Whitey's fault?; 1/31/19, 8:07 PM
David Begley said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/31/19, 8:09 PM
YoungHegelian said...: @Inga,

Why did you folks abuse him so badly when he commented here?

Because he often said asshole stuff.

I know quite a few classical musicians. Put their instrument in their hand & miracles happen. Wander outside their purview in a discussion & the results aren't pretty. Artists & performers are a whole different specimen of humanity.

I support Crack following his Muse. I wish the man all the fame & fortune he could ever want. I even agree with him that the French are assholes (I'm 1/2 French) & that New Age is mental poison.

That doesn't mean I agree with his ideas on race relations.; 1/31/19, 8:11 PM
Crimso said...: "Will Crack appreciate the free plug from Althouse?"

Seems like more of a prod, when you juxtapose this post with the immediately preceding one. I wonder if that was intentional.; 1/31/19, 8:21 PM
walter said...: Yeah..anything "wellness" or new agey gets his SF dander up...when not fixated on race.
It's certainly an eclectic bunch of tunes there..but the lack of attribution, links etc is odd for such a page. To find a song you have to stab around with the cursor.
Odd.
But then so is he. I hope the mean streets let him be.; 1/31/19, 8:36 PM
Spiros Pappas said...: Is this man dead?; 1/31/19, 8:50 PM
Laslo Spatula said...: Only have had time to listen to the first song so far.

Very nice.

Makes me think of some sideways lane-merge of Outkast and Jim Carroll.

Looking forward to listening to the rest.

I am Laslo.; 1/31/19, 8:51 PM
Darrell said...: Crack should sue to protect his handle--

The Dipset lieutenant is slated to begin his bid behind bars but the “human crack” emcee is asking a judge for more time before he begins his prison stint for gun possession after being found with a handgun in a Newark, NJ airport.

Juelz Santana, whose real name is Laron James, is asking a judge to extend his days of freedom in order to witness the filming of the latest Tyler Perry movie. His original surrender date is January 30, but the rapper is asking that his date is extended by a month to travel to Georgia for the filming.

According to court documents, the filming is linked to Santana’s appearance on Love And Hip Hop and is “crucial to his professional career” that he is granted the extension in order to be able to attend.

Jay-Z pulled up to the Madea filming with his wife Beyoncé and her mother to see Tyler Perry’s Madea Farewell tour stop in Los Angeles.

http://thesource.com/2019/01/29/juelz-santana-scheduled-to-turn-himself-to-jail-in-by-end-of-month-asks-judge-for-more-time/; 1/31/19, 8:56 PM
Saint Croix said...: Here's an interview with Crack in the SF Weekly.; 1/31/19, 8:57 PM
Saint Croix said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/31/19, 8:58 PM
walter said...: "He enjoyed another brush with fame when, in the late '90s, the black rock band he assembled for live gigs, Little White Radio, started getting hyped by Live 105 and playing shows in Los Angeles. Onstage the group sounded a bit like early Bad Brains — fast, rowdy, and a tinge sloppy. But with songs like “Niggers Hanging From Trees,” crossover success was a long shot."

Ya think? ;); 1/31/19, 9:10 PM
Darrell said...: Read Saint Croix's link.; 1/31/19, 9:10 PM
Saint Croix said...: the jazz is way cool.; 1/31/19, 9:42 PM
FullMoon said...: Read Saint Croix's link.

"Rappers love to talk up the roughness of their backgrounds, but with (Crack), the road was legitimately rockier than most. Instead of dwelling on it, though,..."

"In 1983, after four years in the Navy — much of it spent in the brig, he says —"

Oh, ok.
Anyway,good luck too him, hope it works out.; 1/31/19, 9:53 PM
FullMoon said...: I think the interview St. Croix linked to explains a lot about why crack is where he is today. Who knew we were communicating with a crackhead here in the comments sections -- he's off the pipe now, but "once a crackhead always a crackhead..."

Every word true. Crackheads don't lie.It's a rule.; 1/31/19, 9:58 PM
RK said...: "In 1983, after four years in the Navy.."

I got out of the Navy in the early 1980s also but spent none of it in the brig. Anyhow, two things were really enlightening about that time:
- Reagan started drug testing sailors and discharging those that failed. Many of the Fuck-The-Navy dopeheads I knew suddenly got worried about getting kicked out and having to get a real job. Funny...
- I learned how fucked up black American culture is by living with a bunch of loud, stupid black guys who never stopped talking about race. It made an impression. It's a culture full of the mentally ill.

P.S. Fuck the Navy.; 1/31/19, 10:08 PM
Christopher said...: Hey this is pretty cool! I sing and play guitar, typical baby-boomer-palooza and singer-songwriter stuff, but I love different material and this is great. Crack over the years has been sharp, cutting and even hostile, but I love seeing how people have more than just the one dimension you happen to see. Props for sharing.; 1/31/19, 11:27 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: I can remember when I wanted to be famous, but I can't remember why.

I do remember that wanting it was akin to a drug addiction.

Tried to convince Crack that what he really needed was to ditch the fame addiction and get a job, but that didn't work.

There is no punishment quite as painful as being in the popular music biz. The guy can't get enough of it.; 2/1/19, 6:06 AM
JML said...: From the linked article posted by SC: "Dixon's gone through his share of drama, put most of his weaknesses behind him, and just decided to entertain folks..."

Putting most of our weaknesses behind us is pretty damn good. Something most of us need to do, and something I am still working on.

Thanks all, for sharing, esp. Ann and Crack.; 2/1/19, 6:56 AM
Fernandinande said...: dirty drugs, the kind that get you addicted.

It's funny, and never mentioned in any fakenews press that I've ever seen, that people who enjoy powder cocaine almost never like crack and don't bother making it even though it's trivially easy.; 2/1/19, 8:12 AM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: Saint Croix - thanks . But 2003? wow.; 2/1/19, 10:04 AM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: Inga -everyone here treats Crack like an individual. You leftwing twats treat people with darker skin tone like you own them.; 2/1/19, 10:05 AM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: That is crazy! I like the first song... I'll fast forwarded thru to get a taste of everything.; 2/1/19, 10:10 AM
Anthony said...: I like the instrumentals on track #4 (ca. 9:00). And the instrumentals around 27:20.

Other than that. . . . . .I have to say Meh.

As for New Age.. . . . .well, bleeh on you.; 2/1/19, 11:23 AM
tommyesq said...: I liked pretty much the whole thing - stylistically all over the place, reminded me of the club scene of the mid-90's. Personal favorite - "sing for the stupid children" (starts around 20:36, no idea if I have the title correct). Also, the Beatles cover (16:40) is definitely more out there than most Beatles covers you will hear.; 2/1/19, 11:40 AM
Bill Peschel said...: Well, I'll be darned. I'll have to listen to him.

Boy, do I sound like a white person. This culture's changing me.

Anyway, good on him. He's annoying, but he's our annoying.; 2/1/19, 12:03 PM
tommyesq said...: Second St. Croix's 9:42 comment - very good music with much better sound quality (and still featuring Crack).; 2/1/19, 12:42 PM
Clyde said...: That's weird! I read the post upstream about Cory Booker throwing his hat into the presidential ring, and all the info about his New Age flakery and I thought, "Man, you know who would really hate Cory Booker and his New Age flakery? Crack Emcee!" And then I scroll down a few posts and there he is! Weird!; 2/1/19, 2:10 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: "He's annoying, but he's our annoying."

Brilliant, and true. But I'm not staying, except to say "Thank you" to all - to Ann especially, of course - and to let you know there's also two more albums up, in my retrospective, so far:

CMC: The 20-Year Bay Area Black Crack Music Series

I'm working on more as I write this, so check back, and, maybe, tell somebody else about it - or just go on accusing me of begging for a living. Your choice (I kid). Y'all stay up. I'll speak.- CMC; 2/1/19, 3:11 PM
Night Owl said...: Thanks for the link Althouse.

And Crack, I really enjoyed the music. I'm eager to check out your link above. Thank you, too.; 2/1/19, 6:09 PM