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About This Author
I am SoCalScribe. This is my InkSpot.
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Blogocentric Formulations
Logocentric (adj). Regarding words and language as a fundamental expression of an external reality (especially applied as a negative term to traditional Western thought by postmodernist critics).
Sometimes I just write whatever I feel like. Other times I respond to prompts, many taken from the following places:
 "The Soundtrackers Group" 
"Blogging Circle of Friends "
"Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise"
"JAFBG"
"Take up Your Cross"
Thanks for stopping by! 
October 31, 2015 at 12:24pm October 31, 2015 at 12:24pm
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** Image ID #2009874 Unavailable **
Song: "Straight Outta Compton"
Original: N.W.A.
Cover: Nina Gordon
Since I did a New York/East Coast song yesterday, it's only fitting that I end this challenge with a cover from my side of the country. There are few artists more distinctly Los Angeles/West Coast than N.W.A. and this song regained a lot of popularity thanks to the recent biopic of the same name. Originally released in 1988 as part of N.W.A.'s album of the same name, "Straight Outta Compton" has been voted VH1's #6 Greatest Hip Hop Song of all time. When the movie came out this year, the song actually debuted at #38 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was the highest debut on the chart that week and N.W.A.'s first Top 40 hit thanks in large part to their being banned from many radio stations during the height of their career. They might be one of the only groups to have their biggest hit 27 years after it's initial release and 24 years after the group originally disbanded. 
Nina Gordon of Veruca Salt fame was performing at Largo in Los Angeles during the recording of her second solo album and developed a reputation for some pretty entertaining covers of popular songs, including those by Phil Collins, the Backstreet Boys, and Skid Row. This cover of N.W.A.'s "Straight Outta Compton" became a bit of an internet sensation for her. I love her voice on this track and it's kind of a stark contract to hear such harsh language by such a soft, slow song. But I suppose that's what makes it so innovative and unique-sounding.
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October 31, 2015 at 3:31am October 31, 2015 at 3:31am
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** Image ID #2009874 Unavailable **
Song: "No Sleep till Brooklyn"
Original: Beastie Boys
Cover: Jay-Z
Might as well keep the Jay-Z rolling today by talking a little about his cover of "No Sleep till Brooklyn." I grew up listening to the Beastie Boys and even though they haven't been around for a few years now, they'll always have a special place in my heart. It's not too often you find bands who completely invent their own sound and the Beastie Boys' rap/rock style completely blew my mind when I first started listening to them.
You won't find this cover on any album (I don't think), because Jay-Z actually did the cover during a performance at the 2009 All Points West Music & Arts Festival. The Beastie Boys were originally slated to headline but had to pull out due his then-recent cancer diagnosis, so Jay-Z was tapped to take their place. Rather than do a set comprised entirely of his own songs, Jay-Z decided to cover this Beastie Boys song out of respect. I think he did a great job on the cover and further proved that 2004's Collision Course collaborative album with Linkin Park wasn't a fluke; the man knows how to effectively marry rock beats and rap lyrics.
Fun fact: The Beastie Boys changed the lyrics to this song slightly over the years, in an effort to change the immature attitude toward women that was demonstrated in the original. For example, the line "MCA's in the back he's skeezin' with a whore" was changed to "MCA's in the back with the mahjong board." And the line "Autographed pictures and classy hoes" was altered to "Autographed pictures to nobody knows."
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