Ben Sollee tours the country, writes a song for Kanye
If you haven’t heard of Ben Sollee yet, you should probably begin to acquaint yourself with the sounds and styles of the Kentucky native. After recently releasing his debut solo album, Learning To Bend, Sollee now looks poised to be the latest musician with the name “Ben” to enter the realm of music notability.
After recently being honored as one of NPR’s Top 10 Greatest Unknown Artist’s of 2007 and a performance at last month’s Bonnaroo, the member of The Sparrow Quartet will be spending the rest of the summer hitting the road with Abigial Washburn and company before heading off on his own solo tour in the fall.
But the aforementioned won’t be the only thing earning Sollee a bit of attention over the next few weeks. In fact, come sometime next week, you may find his name the focus of Kanye West’s latest blogging diatribe. The cellist turned solo artists recently posted a song about his fellow Bonnaroo performer entitled, “Dear Kanye”, via his myspace because as Sollee writes, “this is what folk music is about.”
Check Out:
“Dear Kanye”
Dear Kanye
You’re letting me down
You got the biggest bat in the game
But you can’t hit the ball
It’s the heavy weight match
And you’re off in the corner punchin’ at the wallDear Kanye
Don’t let us fall
You’re at the diplomatic dinner
With fine china and all
A silver fork in your hand
But still you spit and gnawGreatness is a glass elevator, and so you are, if I recall
So use it make some real change not just advertisements at the mallNo one needs a light show
Just good flows
You don’t need a light show
Just good flowsDear Kanye
Keep icin those knees
And when your paycheck comes
Will you remember your busted screen
Your crown of thorns is sensational
But it’s not what makes you bleedCause there’s a young man
His rhymes set him free
He loves what you do but he can’t seem
To shake the septic sanction of the streets
He’s reading your blog and all he finds are commercials
For stuff he’ll never needYou have a good idea now put some shoes on its feet
And try to make your Loop Dreams a real priorityYou don’t need a light show
Just good flow
No one needs a light show
Just good flow
You don’t need a light show
Just good flowDear Kanye
It’s time to let go
You’ve gathered the moss of
More than a dozen sullen stones
People want music on a real stage
Not the one you bring along
…and good flow isn’t all you need. There are a ton of rappers with good flow whose music isn’t nearly as good as Kanye’s.
But I agree on the Loop Dreams thing. Get your shit together on that Kanye or at least hand it off to someone else.
Ummm…light shows are cool. This guy obviously missed the memo on that one.
who is this guy? is his album as clever as this song? awesome.
genius. that was awesome.
Jun 8th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
[...] cellist is currently on his way to Bonnaroo to show ‘Roo’ers what exactly it means not to be Kanye West. To get to Bonnaroo, he is riding a bike - last Thursday, Sollee strapped his 1930’s Kay cello to [...]
Sep 9th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
[...] far. Since releasing his debut solo album, Learning To Bend, and gain some notability thanks to a tribute to Kanye, the Kentucky native and Sparrow Quartet member has been making quite a name for himself of late, [...]
Jul 11th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
[...] i was reading consequence of sound and they featured this song by ben sollee. he wrote it after the fiasco of kanye west’s “show” at bonnaroo. it’s hilarious - and SO true! (from CoS) [...]