Little bit of New York in Tokyo.
I was recalling my encounter with Joseph and I couldn’t remember if it was indeed Joseph, Joe, or Joey, but as soon as I heard Joey in my head and remembered that he was from New York, my mind immediately went to a masterpiece of one-man-show that I grew up with, Eric Bogosian’s “Sex Drugs, and Rock&Roll” a collection of monologues of iconic characters from all walks of life. It’s absolutely brilliant, truly a work of genius, comedic, dramatic, tragic, and well worth digging around for. One of the funnier monologues is a best man nameded Louis recounting to his friend Frankie, in a Brooklyn attitude and heavy NY/Italian “Hey-I’m-walkin’-here!” accent , a bachelor party gone hilariously sideways. One of the other groomsmen characters most beloved of the retold story is often addressed as if he’s across a NY neighborhood street, “Hey Joey! Pick me a pack of smokes, Marlbros! Haaard Pack!”
Anyway, I didn’t know if Joseph was Joe, or Joey, nor did I know if he was originally from NY or somewhere else, but having met some of his other crew moments before, pal Jorden, and apparently their wives who had walked out of Disk Union moments before and who I had solicited for photos but who sassily, but kindly and cutely, denied me in a sorta Rosie Perez kinda way, I suddenly remembered the pace of the conversation, quick, sharp, moving, overwhelmingly engaging, and fun, with some “bada-boom-bada-bing.” I didn’t notice at the time so much, but looking back, and having “Hey Joey” in my ear, that’s immediately what comes to mind.
So yeah, Joseph, who works at Genius (notice his beanie), the NY-based song lyrics and musical knowledge database that you likely know if you’ve ever looked up the words to a song, was on holiday with wife, visiting friends in Tokyo (and Kyoto where he mentioned scoring his arrestingly green hoody at contemporary artist Takashi Murakami’s Mononoke exhibition). A stop at the record store added this interesting Nujabes remix to his colorfully muted ensemble (that I have to say went quite well all together with his sensibly convertible powder blue cargos, utility-packed Carhartt vest and matching sneaker boots, and understated but supremely glassy Tudor timepiece!) I sensed this Nujabes remix featuring Substantial & Pase Rock, a perfect juxtaposition of East Coast and Far East Coast was no doubt the right record for Joseph to take back to NY as a sonic memento of Tokyo to add to his collection of golden age beat makers and ethereal sounds creators that he admires.
Great to meet you Joseph! Hope you had a good time in Japan and hope to meet again someday. Enjoy that Nujabes record and be good!
More TRS on the way.
Nujabes Feat. Substantial & Pase Rock – Blessing It-remix
Label: Hyde Out Productions – HOR-042
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: Japan
Released: Nov 20, 2005
Genre: Hip Hop
https://www.discogs.com/release/732688-Nujabes-Feat-Substantial-Pase-Rock-Blessing-It-remix
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