Do you know Kool AD? You should I think. He's the best rapper, a visionary visual artist, a tremendous writer, and also writes wavy horoscopes. Last year he released 10 albums. Two of them were 100 songs long. Let that sink in for a moment. He also released a book, did a ton of paintings (sold me two), and wrote a bunch of horoscopes. Now he's releasing another book onto medium.
OK, so Medium low key isn't good, BUT I think this is probably one of the most appropriate uses for it. Now to get Aztec Yoga you have to sign up for the paid subscription version of Medium. This I guess is sort of like Jay-Z's thing with tidal, except I actually signed up for medium. it's 5 bucks a month, so I'ma end up paying 20 bucks for this book, which I'm pretty OK with.
IF ONLY THERE WERE SOME SORT OF SERVICE WHERE YOU COULD PUT TOGETHER A MULTIMEDIA PROJECT COMBINING WORDS, VIDEO, IMAGES, AND MUSIC AND PEOPLE DIDN'T HAVE TO PAY A SUBSCRIPTION FEE AND YOU COULD GET PAID
Now, every day a new chapter, artwork, and song comes out. We're on day 3, also a video came out today. For this first post, I'm reviewing the first three days because whatever. Also I might just kind of talk about the medium (the art medium not the blog website) itself or Kool AD's overall approach to art.
OK I left a ton out but that's already too much exposition. So, this is a challenge to review! I mean, how do you actually review this thing? What sort of critical and theoretical framework am I supposed to use for this? I am lost in the water.
I don't even know how I'm supposed to consume Aztec Yoga. Do I listen to the song, then look at the painting, then read the words, then watch the video? Should I do all four at the same time and just let the art wash over me, abandoning all pretense of comprehension? I dunno dude, they both seem chill.
The first chapter is cool. We are introduced to the protagonist Fausto Fausto. There's like 10 languages. A lot of the dialogue is in Spanish. I'm gonna bring the first chapter to the taco stand here in town so they can help me. The taco lady has been teaching me how to order tacos in Spanish so I hope she likes Kool AD. The audio is a sort of melancholy jazz improvised piano piece. It sets a lovely tone. At the end of the chapter Fausto (who appears to be an author surrogate) and Mariposita, his love, jump into a hole in the top of a pyramid and the book begins.
The second chapter is called Cantos. I'd be super curious to know what order Kool AD creates these in. Does he start with the rap, and then write the words, and then paint? Or do the written words come first? One of the other totally impressive things is that Kool AD has been offering to freestyle on a beat for 100$, and has released quite a few tracks in this fashion. Cantos appears to be one of them, which is probably better than getting a book advance right? In this chapter Fausto falls for a hundred years through the pyramid, over and over. which is totally swagged out for anyone who has a passing familiarity with the nature of pyramids and their relationship to the calendar.
The third chapter is Cadillac Moon. Kool AD raps over a sweet lil piano number. This is a lovely chapter about the romance between Fausto and Mariposita. The Cadillac changes color whenever a new song on the radio comes on, which is fun and totally vibes with the visual style Kool AD uses for the title paintings. Do you think he wrote this whole book already or do you think he's writing it as he goes? I think it's probably the former but who knows? Honestly I think even if this book wasn't already sublime it would be worth reading just so you could cop a decent education from the arts references Kool AD drops. I hope there's a lot of piano on this album.
OK see u later
EDIT: oh my goodness i forgot to even mention the video for Cadillac Moon is INCREDIBLE