Indie Raps in Paradise

I’ve taken a little summer hiatus from my blog. Summer is always too chaotic and busy to have focused on blogging. Plus I started an exciting new job in July at an auction house, so it’s been even crazier. Even though Fall has hit and life’s starting to normalize, we managed to squeeze in one last adventure.

My sister works for a destination club and won ‘hostess of the year’ with her company. The reward was five free nights in any of their properties around the world. So we spent five luxurious days in a ten person villa in Turks and Caicos with our own private pool and beach. I expect her to keep up the good work and win next year as well.

We pretty much spent the entire trip by the pool. With pool floaties and an outdoor grill, fridge, and speaker system, there really was no need to stray too far. The only time we left the villa was to check out da Conch Shack. Apparently white people giggle at anything with "da" in front of it. Paul just shook his head at us. But more importantly, on Sunday afternoons da Conch Shack hosts the Hump and Bump. The Hump and Bump is supposedly a dance party on the beach, but we were disappointed to find no DJ and no humping or bumping. Maybe we were too late in the season for it, but at least we still got to feast on conch and rum punch.

da Conch Shack

Maria gets a little overzealous about planning though (she may or may not have sent us a grocery/booze list for our approval two months before the trip), so she had a playlist ready to go for our poolside listening pleasure. My sister has gotten to know a lot of the rappers Paul works with and has become a fan of their music too, so scattered throughout her playlist were quite a few indie rap joints.

Obviously, she included a number of songs off the Willie Green album, We Live In The Future, but there were also some of her faves from billy woods, Open Mike Eagle, PremRock, Angi3 and Toussaint Morrison. Turns out Prem and Green’s song, Jogger, is perfect to listen to while drinking margaritas in a pool. Who wants to jog when you can float? Our friend Ali was laying in one of the second floor balcony hammocks (yes, we had those too) and yelled down to ask who the artist was cause she liked it so much. Paul was flattered obvs. Another converted indie rap fan!

It's a funny thing to be thousands of miles from home in a tropical island paradise and suddenly have a song bring me right back to my kitchen in Brooklyn.

I Blog About Rappers And Rappers Blog About My Mom

The rents

As tour season wraps up, I’ve noticed that a few rappers have blogged about their time in Houston at my parents house. It’s sweet that they were so appreciative of my parent’s hospitality, but it’s also really funny that rappers are blogging about my parents.

Toussaint Morrison spent some one-on-one time with my mom a few mornings when she dropped him off at a local coffee shop on her way to work. I enjoyed his description of my mother in his blog. He noted that since she is a lawyer, “there is no lack of confidence or contrition behind her voice.” I never considered that her matter-of-fact tone might be due to her practicing law for 20+ years. I’ve always known her to be that way and thought of it as a personality trait, rather than a learned behavior. Or maybe it is her personality, and that’s what makes her such a good lawyer?

The rappers were also quite entertained by my dads hunting accomplishments. The elk feast he served for dinner was definitely mentioned in Corina Corina's blog. And I noticed several rappers posing for pictures with the taxidermy throughout the house. Yes, taxidermy. My dad is as Texan as it gets. His pride and joy is the gemsbok antelope in the living room. Its horns are so tall that it couldn’t be mounted on the wall and instead requires a pedestal. It’s set in a little natural habitat of grass and cactus. I completely understand why the rappers were compelled to photograph it. There are also deer, a ram, an alligator, birds, and fish. At Christmas, my dad puts Santa hats on all of them. It's kinda amazing. My mom has put her foot down and said no more dead animals in the house, so now he hangs them in his office...

Blogging is a funny thing. Anyone can post their thoughts and stories on the internet (myself included). But I think it's pretty hilarious that my lawyer parents are being discussed through the lens of rap blogs.

My Parent's Halfway House for Rappers

I flew home to Texas this past Friday. It's rodeo season in Houston, and I try to come home for it every year. The rodeo is a month long affair. It starts with Go Texan Day (yes, that's actually what it's called) and a trail ride into Houston, where cowboys/girls from all over literally ride their horses down the streets of Houston. Then every night for the next three weeks, there are livestock shows, rodeo events, and concerts (usually country western). Some of my favorite high school memories involve dancing to Clay Walker with my girlfriends at the rodeo.. ah, nostalgia! Of the actual rodeo activities, the highlight for me is mutton bustin, where 5 year olds are placed on top of sheep and try to stay on for as long as possible. You can find videos on YouTube, it's beyond hilarious.

The other reason I chose to come home this weekend was cause SXSW just ended, and for the past few years, Paul and his tour crew have been stopping afterwards for a night at my parents house to regroup, have a bed to sleep in, and get a good meal. Since I hate not seeing him for a month, I figured I would make sure to overlap with him on his Houston stopover this year.



Clockwise from left: Fresh Kils, Relic,

Toussaint Morrison, B. Durazzo, Mad Dukes,

Prem Rock, Willie Green, Ron Perks, and

Corina Corina

He's on tour with seven other guys though. Corina Corina and Toussaint Morrison are also on tour and have a show in Houston, so they are crashing at my parents place too. Which means my parents have NINE rappers staying in their home. Every bed, couch, sleeping bag is currently being used.

Last night, we treated them to some bbq and tex-mex. A true Texan guy, my dad is a big hunter, so he had some recently hunted elk burgers and sausages on the grill. While I'm pretty sure my parents never thought they would be hosting rappers, my dad definitely loved having an audience of dudes to listen to his hunting stories. And it was pretty cute to see my Italian mama making sure that all the rappers were well fed.

The funny thing is, as soon as the rappers leave, they are being replaced with a bunch of girls from the Harvard track team. You never know who will be staying at Chez Merrill.