Andrew Nosnitzky (aka Noz) has been blogging since the primordial days of the craft. His Cocaine Blunts site is one of the interweb’s most respected sources for rap obscurity and despite assumptions otherwise, it’s not driven by hype-of-the-moment like so many other hip-hop-oriented blogs trying to get their adshare numbers up (not knocking the hustle, just saying though).
Noz was actually one of the first people I interviewed for The Sidebar but I decided to hit reset on that OG convo and instead, try out an idea: an audiobiography, i.e. a discussion of music filtered through Noz’s life. I’ll be straight up: it’s wasn’t completely successful and I’m taking responsibility for that in not staying on focus but rather, letting the conversation turn in its own, organic directions. As a result, though we do begin by talking about some of the formative tunes in Noz’s life, we more or less end up ruminating on all other kinds of topics, especially around the role of the interweb echo chamber in churning interest around specific artists and their narratives (hello Odd Future!).
The Sidebar #11: Noz of Cocaine Blunts
[podcast]http://latinboogaloo.com/sounds/podcasts/noz.mp3[/podcast]
Music in the podcast:
- Nas: It Ain’t Hard To Tell (Large Professor Remix Instrumental)
- Nirvana: Aneurysm
- T La Rock: It’s Yours
- The Outsidaz: Hard Act To Follow
- UGK: The Game Belongs To Me
- Andre Nikitina: Smoke Dope and Rap
- Lil B: Pretty Boy Remix
- Tyler, the Creator: Yonkers instrumental
- 151 Feva Gang: Kush Groove
Other links:
- Noz’s Tumblin’ Erb tumblr page.
- Princeton Record Exchange
That beat for “Yonkers” is hella dark.
I can see how the interview lacked a focus without you pointing more specific prompts to Noz but I still enjoyed it. I loved Noz’s tone which seemed to say “Look, we love this music but forget the hype”.