A little bit of singjaying, a little of nasty bass, a little bit of Vybz Kartel over a francophone club track. These are a few of my favorite things, the puppy dog tails that Ghetto Palms is made of. But what can I really say about them at this point? More importantly what else can I talk about while you listen? The raunchy interlude of “Pat & Crank” that Rihanna bust out with about two minutes into her performance with Drake at the Grammys, maybe. Or we could get into the whole subject of how the Egyptian government managed to black out the entire internet by shutting down one crucial exchange located at 26 Ramses street in Cairo.
Pinchers, “Amazing” Turn Me Up riddim (Dave Kelly/Madhouse)
Cham f. Timberlee, “Tump Mi” Turn Me Up riddim (Dave Kelly/Madhouse)
Schlachthofbronx f. Timberlee, “Bass Drum” Nasty Bass EP, Mad Decent
DJ Sabo, “Jesus Creates Moombahton”
Heartbreak, “Alors en Dance” unofficial remix
Vybz Kartel f. Richie Loop, “Street Vybz Cup” Champion Squad vs. Kalibandulu refix
Download: GP 130 Coconut Blend
On the general topic of Third World technology, I’ve been meaning to mention this site Afrigadget on here for a while. If Ghetto Palms is an mp3 player or a pirate microstation, this thing is a 3-D fabricator of actual, factual ghettotech. Contains everything you need to know to build your own seaworthy craft out of recycled PET from plastic bottles and jellies sandals, a single-seater helicopter from the chassis of a VW bug or to convert cow-dung into usable fuel for your taxi-bike.
Yes there are some goofy-ass hats made from beer bottles on there too. And yes you could read it as a slightly condescending look at the quaint contraptions of African inventors—the kind of “oh shit!” meme that gets forwarded around the internet and then finally ends up on Tosh.O or Vice TV. OR you could read it as a very necessary survival manual for the 21st century.
If you’re taking shantytown engineering for a joke, you probably need to watch this documentary on the Coconut Revolution in the south pacific—a gang of Solomon Islanders who set off a war of independence from Papua New Guinea, Australia and the Mining Company that was out to fuck them for their natural resources. In a nutshell to break the blockade enforced by the Papuan army, they had to run their gunboats on fuel made out of coconut oil—and invented a new kind of bio-diesel in the process.
Not to give away the end or anything, but they won.
