There was a stint in the 2000s when hip hop was real dismal. More dismal than it is right now. The best you could hope for was Mister Cee’s throwback at noon because what was on the airwaves was trash. I think you remember what I’m talking about.

Well it was around then that a new type of music started to take it’s place in my iPod – rock.

A huge genre with tons of splintering different sects, but I caught myself listening to bands like Franz Ferdinand, the White Stripes, the Hives and the Killers. And that’s exactly what was bumping through my ear buds while I walked through Queens to catch the train into Manhattan for a whole summer.

Even now as the hip hop scene seems to be getting better, I still catch myself listening to what my friends have dubbed, “Off Brand Ish”. It can be closely tied to hip hop, like Jay Electronica and Spank Rock, somewhat affiliated like Ratatat and A Trak  or completely off the radar like Kings of Leon and Passion Pit. I like it all. Except country. No disrespect to Taylor Swift though, her song is cool. And as I’ve come to find out, some of my boys will nod their heads to it too. So I figured, who am I not to share the wealth? So readers of SH Collective, I present to you a new series from yours truly – “Off Brand”.

To kick this off, I’m going to present to you the latest video from Passion Pit for their song “The Reeling”. Those who may be on it already will realize that this song, and the video, have been out for a few, but there’s a few reasons why I’m showing it now. One I haven’t been on my usual game. I was tardy to the party. Two, I just got on SH Collective as a writer, so get off my back. And three, I got the chance to meet some of the people who worked on this video. Cool folks. Besides the fact that they bought me rounds upon rounds of drinks, they’re were also amazing to talk to. And I say that because I talked to them when I was sober as well.

Nonetheless, it’s an amazingly creative music video that puts a lot of other vids out there to shame. They told me all the post-production work they had to do and I got tired just hearing about it. All the hard work shows though. As a hip hop head, I hope some of the rappers out there will take notice and stop using the same make it rain, show attractive girl, drive in whip videos all the time. Sure we need to see someone drop it like it’s hot every once and awhile, but videos like this garner attention.

That’s all I got for now, but expect plenty more. I’m always discovering some kind of off brand ish in my travels. And if you have anything you’d like to see get thrown up on the site, hit me up at seattlexwa@gmail.com or you can find me on twitter at twitter.com/seattlexwa.  Until the next time!

Seattle – Damn Negro, What Are You Listening To? – Washington