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Cops Pull Over Badu Just To Say Hi, Then Are Later Called To Her House To Deal With A Stalker. Plus: Fort Worth Honors The Toadies, Rubber Gloves Teases A Comeback & More.
We’re always more than happy to keep the city updated on the latest goings-on with Erykah Badu, but it seems that she’s been getting too much unwanted attention of late.
The first occasion happened on New Year’s Eve when the Queen of Neo-Soul was pulled over in her car by two officers in the Dallas Police Department. According to a video that Badu posted to Instagram of that interactions, she was pulled over by a couple of young, giddy cops who simply wanted to say hello to the local icon.
Far more serious, though, was the fact that Badu also found a man trespassing in her home over the holiday. Fortunately, Dallas police were able to detain the man, who had allegedly flown to Dallas from Detroit for the uninvited visit.
We’re guessing that, given the option, Badu would describe her interactions with the police this past week as overrated. Alas, this new “Over/Under” video she stars in for Pitchfork doesn’t ask that question — although it does detail one more instance in which Badu found herself encircled by flashing red lights. Give the funny clip a watch:
On the other side of the Metroplex, another top name in the North Texas music community was also, like Badu, recognized for its efforts. Only in the case of the Toadies, this recognition was more formal. On Saturday, December 30, the City of Fort Worth formally recognized the Toadies’ contributions to the local music scene by honoring them and re-naming that day in history as “Toadies Day.” The band was given a certificate of recognition before their headlining show at Billy Bob’s Texas that night, where the band recorded material for a to-be-released-in-the-future live album at the venue, joining Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard as some of the few select acts to do so at the historic venue.
Speaking of legendary venues: Just a couple weeks after the reopening of the Ol’ Dirty Basement at J&J’s Pizza in Denton, Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios has started to tease a possible comeback of its own.
Or, well, that’s what we think it means since it followed a November poll that mentioned the idea of bringing back the venue. Just today, the above video post got a second, very similar follow-up. Is RGRS really coming back from the dead, or is all this just a play on the fact that a decomposed body was recently found in a storage building adjacent to the space? We’re really hoping it’s the former, as that’d be welcome news indeed.
Staying on the subject of welcome news, Charley Crockett appears to be the first Dallas act to score national coverage in 2018. Earlier this week, Rolling Stone Country premiered the honky-tonk revivalist’s “Jamestown Ferry” music video and, as writer Jeff Gage notes, the track comes from Crockett’s covers album Lil G.L.’s Honky Tonk Jubilee. Check out the clip for yourself below.
Getting Rolling Stone to premiere your video is one way to get your name out there. Another is to burn any and all bridges by dissing all the Dallas rappers you can, effectively making yourself a toxic entity that in the process. Alas, that’s the approach Alexander McCoy has taken. In the video for his “Tag Your Favorite Rapper (Dallas Diss)” song, the competent rapper burns photos of Dallas stalwarts like Bobby Sessions, 88 Killa, Raw Elementz, ThatKidCam (of Cure For Paranoia). He also calls a few out by name in his lyrics, pretty much guaranteeing himself that he’ll never get on any bill featuring these other acts. But, hey, on the other hand, we’re writing about him. So, yeah, it’s a trade-off. See if the video’s worth all the fuss it’s creating on Twitter by giving it a watch below.
The hard-nosed motivation that this time of year brings out of area artists isn’t always so bad. This year, it’s manifesting itself in the form of The One, a competition for singers or rappers in which entrants will be vying for a $3,000 grand prize. Before you go searching for a registration link, though, know that the 12 finalists have already been announced from over 150 submissions from potential competitors. Those final 12 can be found here, and crowds interesting in watching the competition can do so on January 27 at Trees.
For those who aren’t rappers or singers — or who are itching to compete in some sort of contest but only just found out about the above one now — The Dirty 30 is hosting its own battle of the bands with some intriguing prizes. Find more info on that here.
Speaking of information: Fort Worth’s Go Yayo gave up plenty on himself in a new in-depth interview he taped with the popular No Jumper blog, whose hosts called the Texas rapper one of the funniest people they’ve ever met. The 36-minute clip is a endless run of stories from Yayo, who reflects on his burgeoning career, his hometown, drugs and hanging out with Soulja Boy. Listen below.
Finally, let’s close out this week with some actual music, yeah? To that end, we point you in the direction of the below music video from Dallas rappers E-Mannie and 88 Killa. The track is titled “Like Me.” Give it a watch:
Badu cover photo by Jonathan Stafford. Got a tip for White Noise? Email us!