So on Wednesday the 22nd of September Jay suddenly decided to sit down and write some songs. He wrote seven. That's rare these days so credit where credit is due.
They were all dubs, obvs, cause dubs are easy. You just find a beat that your favourite rapper made a great song on and then ruin it.
It's worth pointing out that this didn't begin as a Dubniverse project. It just got there really fucking fast.
For the first time EVER, the YouTube MIX playlist was hit just because listening to music was nice that night.
Turns out that it also made this happen as Jay went ahead and skipped through to songs he thought he could write stuff to.
That happened.
So yeah, all seven songs were written that night with a couple exceptions.
Those exceptions being the last 16 bars of Side Quest (And that weird little hook type thing) and the second verse of Fuck Away which were both written two days later on the Friday.
There wasn't even supposed to be a second verse to Fuck Away. It just felt like it needed one when Friday rolled around.
Speaking of Friday, that's when the record was recorded. Two days after writing, the first five tracks were committed to hard drive. Tracks 6 & 7 were recorded the next night on Saturday. Dream Cheatin' will forever haunt Jay as one of the worst tracks he's ever had to record ever. The lesson here, kids, is to never write songs thinking "Yeah, this is gonna be SO dooooope" while getting drunk. Cause it won't. It'll be a nightmare when you actually have to realise the vision.
Going back to Friday night though, that's when the art was made.
Fun art, isn't it.
And back to Saturday.
That's the day that all this rubbish was written knowing full well that only about 3 people would probably ever read it. Subsequently adjusted on Monday.
Ah well.
SUNDAY! Only a little bit of tinkering to make sure everything sounded as good as it could while trying to stick with the "just make it quickly" aesthetic. Everything thrown up onto Bandcamp. Job done.
Monday? Tiny tinker. Honestly, fuck Dream Cheatin' at this point.
Tuesday. Off on holiday. Release record from the airport.
So anyway, the point of the whole record was to make a rush job. Create and release as quickly as possible (maintaining at least a BIT of quality) in amongst working a couple real life jobs.
It was kinda taking the piss out of Dubniverse 2 at the same time what with that record not existing despite it being a decade since it was supposed to come out.
Remember Dubniverse 1 where Jay said "You've been waiting for this just like you wait for Detox"? Yeah. This one is pretty much like that, isn't it.
Has everything been covered yet? Don't know.
Anything you want to ask then shout it to @graciousbears on Twitter.
credits
released September 28, 2021
1) Get Shit Done
Grieves “Recluse” dub
Prod. by Grieves
2) You Lied Again (What's A Vibsie?)
Atmosphere “The Arrival
Dub - Prod. by Ant
3) They Call Me Cray-Z (Side Quest)
Aesop Rock “Drums On The Wheel” Dub
Prod. by Aesop Rock
4) No Stress
Atmosphere “Sunshine” Dub
Prod. by Ant
5) Fuck Away
Evidence “Throw It All Away” Dub
Prod. by Alchemist
7) Love
Brother Ali “All You Need” Dub
Prod. by Jake One
All lyrics written by J. Mannings except "Dream Cheatin'" which steals lyrics wholesale from J. Anderson
"Mixed" by J-Cray-Z
Mastered by...... no
Art by.... oh come on. At this point you know it's Jay.
Hiya. I wrote everything you've read up to this point.
This was very much a solo project in every aspect.
Did you like that little Eminem sample I put into Dream Chasin' by the way? When I realised my singing was wank I thought it'd be pretty funny to throw that sample into the intro.
Did it work?
I dunno.
Oh, and that "Here's that rhyme again; strife" line in "Fuck Away" was cause I've rhymed life with strife about 1000 times at this point. It's meant to be a bit of a joke. If you've been around the Bears for a while you probably get it. If not... you're probably not reading this anyway.
Thumbs up emote.
OOH! Finally, massive thanks to Krusty for quickly recording a bar on WhatsApp for Get Shit Done and thanks also to the wife for doing that little line at the end of Dream Cheatin'
New Jersey rapper links with Dublin producer for a hard-hitting, old-school LP featuring Open Mike Eagle, Hemlock Ernst, and more. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 31, 2024
