Golden State of Mind

New Yooooooork!
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of,
There's nothing you can't do,
Now you're in New Yoooooooork!
These streets will make you feel brand new,
the lights will in-spire you,
Let's hear it for New York, New York, New Yoooooork

There are few cities more storied and more ingrained in western consciousness than New York.

... big city of dreams ...

The basis for both Gotham and Metropolis,⁽¹⁾ lauded by Sinatra and Kool G Rap, it's the home of most of Marvel's superhero fiction, the site of a laundry list of TV shows and Dick Clark inaugurated every new year of the Cold War, live and broadcasting the cityscape to homes around the world. Just saying the words -- "New York" conjures up images of mob bosses and marathons, hot dog carts and high rises, subways and sewer grates, all embedded in endless vistas of blacktop and bustle. Big city of dreams, and all that.

However, I live in Los Angeles,⁽²⁾ which is a city steeped in an identity crisis. Most of what the world sees of Los Angeles is often rarely even within the city's legal limits: the beaches of Santa Monica, the Malibu mountains. The glitter-strewn streets of Hollywood⁽³⁾ even have their own mayor, reluctant to be considered, reluctant to be considered part of the city itself. Oh, when you see crime and riots and Black people, that's Los Angeles for certain, but that normally only gets labeled "South Central" and marginalized, as if some giant wall separated that part of town from everything the TV would rather you see. Heck, even lauded writer Warren Ellis once called Fullerton a suburb of Los Angeles.⁽⁴⁾

... broadcasting live from Los Angeles

Ask people about New York and you'll get easy answers to what it is. LA? Not so much. Is it the glamour of Beverly Hills (its own city, BTW) or the squalor of Watts? Is it the Latin flavors of Eastern Avenue or the African American tastes of West Boulevard?⁽⁵⁾? Is it the decaying infrastructure of downtown or the neon gaudiness of the Staples Center environs?

That's the hard part: it's all of those things at different times to different people and none of them. The movie Crash⁽⁶⁾ tried to capture this and took a good swing, but like Beyonce might sing, "it's too big, it's too wide, it's too strong, it won't fit." Which is why my current conundrum is such a concern.

People from Rochester to Hempstead have claimed Jay-Z and Alicia Keys "Empire State of Mind" as an anthem, a rallying cry. Which is cool! It's totally awesome, and it's an amazing song despite Shawn Carter's lackluster delivery⁽⁷⁾ given the anthemic production of Al Shux, Janet "Jnay" Sewell-Ulepic and Angela Hunte (sampling "Love on a Two-Way Street" was even smart, as the title gives you concrete ideas from the get go) paired with the soaring vocals of Keys herself. It's an amazing piece of work that grandmommas are singing along to.

That ain't right ...

Listening one day, I thought, "What about Cali?"

My brain reeled at the fact that there's really not a California anthem that can stand up to that kind of scrutiny, Tupac notwithstanding. A song that electrified the populace and captured the zeitgeist, equal parts classic instrumentation and modern day swagger. The fact of it made me sick, honestly, so I started thinking: who could signify⁽⁸⁾ for if not Los Angeles, the entire state of California that way? Who can make an anthem for the Left Coast and call it "Golden State of Mind?"

I started at the basics: the music. Dr. Dre. Nobody else even deserves to be considered, sorry to say, given the overwhelming combination of his musicianship and his notoriety. If you're gonna do it for everybody, you'll need Dre. His star power outshines the musical sounds from the east. Check.

The doctor is in ...

Then I thought about who would rap on such a track? Snoop's from Long Beach, so he's out. Aceyalone has the brains but not the name. Too Short has the legacy but not the talent nor the versatility. Planet Asia's not a big enough name. Crap ... then I remembered. TV show? Movie roles? Bridging the gap between backpack rap and street sounds, from his work with Ras Kass to his work with Dre? Let's get Mister X to tha Z, Mr. Black Bruce Willis, Xzibit on the microphone!⁽⁸⁾

The Golden State Warrior

Okay, Dre and Xzibit, that's not bad. But you need a vocalist and you have two LA area people already. Who's a Cali vocalist who ... wait a second ... check the TV show part again, necessary to get into the minds of people around the country, okay. Vocal chops are rough but relatable, sometimes called this generation's Mary J. Blige. She's from the Bay Area too ... Keyshia Cole. There you go.⁽¹⁰⁾

Keepin' it 'hood

So: Dr. Dre on the track, Xzibit on the verses, Keyshia Cole on the chorus and riffing. That's freaking amazing! That could work! They have to pick a sample that'll be fast enough and bass-driven enough to play to Dre's sensibilities while pulling at the memories of Black people everywhere. Xzibit will have to capture the cultural, social and economic diversity of the city, something he can do if he's in the mindstate he was when he worked on songs like "Wild Pitch" or "Los Angeles Times."⁽¹¹⁾ Keyshia ... she's gotta sing her behind off, on some "Love" level wailing, get sisters acting an idiot when they try to reproduce it. It has to show the distance and the claustrophobia, the simmering racial tensions and the laid back sunshine vibe, the balance of the world watching but nobody really seeing the truth ...

... so ... what do we have to do to make this happen? Let's get to work!

Playing (Music): "Amsterdam" by Mick Boogie and Peter, Bjorn and John feat. Evidence, Fashawn and Jerreau

FOOTNOTES:

(1) = Admittedly, now people say Gotham is essentially Boston, which is cool by me. Hard luck city, hard scrabble, sure. But after driving in both, the claustrophobia of Gotham CIty art is all Manhattan -- the crappy parts where you're checking over your shoulder a lot.

(2) = I am from Memphis, but I recognize the limited appeal -- even in a Tennesee-wide urban anthem like the "Stay Fly" remix -- of working with other areas. Outside of London, there's only a handful of English-speaking cities with the personality and hook in western consciousness that could hope to gain this kind of mental mindspace, and Chicago's not ready. I'm sorry. Yes, one day, Kanye, Twista and John Legend will get it together and create the best Chicago anthem ever. Not today. Let's move on.

(3) = They actually installed this glittering stuff in the streets and sidewalks, so it sparkles as you walk through. Which doesn't offset the homeless people or the urine or the thrown away Popeye's bags, but it's something.

(4) = He was writing about his Desolation Jones series, which took place in LA like Star Wars takes place in "space." He set a story in the city of Fullerton (a full 30 miles away from most LA locales) and on his Bad Signal mailing list, calling it an LA suburb. I emailed him and called him on it, and he blocked me because he felt I was too worked up about it. I still respect a lot of his work, but he's kind of a douche sometimes.

(5) = I always thought it was funny that "West" was west of "Western." Maybe it's just me.

(6) = Maybe I'm shallow, but the series just never catches my attention, Dennis Hopper or not.

(7) = He's always been a better writer than performer in my mind. I believe the same of myself, honestly.

(8) = Xzibit was even part of a group called Golden State Warriors with Ras Kass and Saafir. No idea why that never became anything, but I somehow suspect Chris Mullins had something to do with it.

(9) = Yes, I considered The Game for a minute, but the skill levels are close (I'd give X a slight edge, honestly) and the notoriety of Pimp My Ride trumps everything else.

(10) = If I could think of a famous enough Latin singer -- male or female -- from California I'd go with them, honestly.

(11) = His pre-Dre period, I'm sorry to say, is his richest creative time.