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Nothing is Cool

Peanuts and Corn is one of the most important labels in Canadian rap/hip-hop/(whatever you want to call it). Shit, they're one of the most important labels in independent music. Rod Bailey has consistently produced/released some of the most top notch rap albums that North America has to offer. If you are unfamiliar with P&C you should try to change that and celebrate their entire catalogue.

With that said, today I am specifically focusing on one release from Peanuts and Corn, 2004's Nothing is Cool from mcenroe and Birdapres. I am not a rap aficionado, I dabble here and there, but I honestly believe that this is a Classic album. This masterpiece was produced by mcenroe with co-production from Birdapres and cuts from DJ Hunnicutt. The beauty to this albums production (as with all P&C releases) is that it's timeless. There was no trend hopping, just perfectly curated beats from music lovers who have obviously seen a crate or two in their time. The lyrics throughout the album are full of hip-hop/pop cultural references, social and cultural critique, warranted bravado and just straight up intelligence raps with absolutely no false front (using a vocabulary that should be the base of an english class syllabus). Birdapres' delivery is buttery smooth while mcenroe comes with a slightly more rigid but unquestionably ear pleasing flow. Individually mcenroe and Birdapres are more than capable of holding their own, they are fantastic artists. When put together something magical happens. Neither emcee is outshone by the other, they compliment each other so well that you would swear they were concocted in a lab strictly for the purpose of schooling the music industry on how to make a perfect album.

Perfect combination..that pairing of words brings me back to when I was 10 or 11. I was at my friend Dave's cabin, we were wanting a snack so he grabbed some chips and dip. All was par for the course until I took a closer look at the bag; he didn't grab a bag of plain/salted chips, what he had in his hands was a bag of ketchup chips and some dill pickle dip. I was confused, was I expected to dip flavoured chips? Yes. Apparently this wasn't a new thing, it was just new to me, so I figured when in Rome. That was a life changing experience. Ketchup chips and dill pickle dip go together so well you'd think they were created as a pair. Sure they're both great by themselves (with plain chips in dill pickle dip's case) but when combined, something magical happens. The sweet slightly vinegar ketchup seasoning of the chips is accompanied perfectly by the creamy dillpickleness of the dip. Maybe it's because they both, in my opinion, have a little vinegar at their core that allows this combination to be so amazing, maybe it's just magic. Either way, go get you some.

My personal ketchup chip of choice is President's Choice Loads of Ketchup Rippled Potato Chips, they are fantastic. President's Choice really seems to understand that potato chips are meant to reflect the flavour stated on the bag and when they say "Loads" they really do mean it, these chips are SUFFICIENTLY covered in Ketchup flavouring. The flavour is your standard vinegar based ketchup seasoning that doesn't vary much from brand to brand (this is not true for Great Value Ketchup chips, those chips suuuuuck). Loads of Ketchup chips make your fingers red and your taste buds dance. When I open a bag I find it hard to stop. Before I know it, I have the bag tilted back and a mouth full of crumbs. The Loads of Ketchup chips being rippled also helps lend themselves to dipping perfectly.

I almost always crush Philadelphia Dill Pickle dip. If you have your own favorite dill pickle dip I'm sure it will work just as well in the combination. Recently my friend's wife Tara made some homemade dill pickle dip for me, it was wicked tasty. This dip paragraph is going off the rails, just find a good dill pickle dip for the combo.

Stay hydrated,
 Marc

PS. There were two guest emcees on Nothing is Cool, John Smith and  Stace Prints. Check em out, not sure if Stace Prints is still active but John Smith is still out there showing wack emcees how it's done.




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