El-P "The Overly Dramatic Truth" LIve at the PLUG Awards

[sternumagnum]

I'm over 50 years old and it speaks di-rectly to my heart >>

[brettugiesen]

Phenomenal song...even better live.

[THEMANOUTOFTHECAVE]

@brettugiesen Fuckin agreed, I can really feel his soul here.

[cb292aj]

check out  cataclysmiic-electrohouse

[geekmystique]

Really impressive live performance, really throwing it out, an amazing artist.

[PumaSweat]

This song is EL-P's "Crack Pipes"....The best song on the album, great emotion, lyrically on point, nice beat.

[420Harlequin]

THIS SONG IS FUCKING GRRRRRRRRRRRRR MAKES ME SHIVER SO MUCH

[csilvers420]

what a bitch ass crowd

[Allplussomeminus]

... That crowd... How can you listen to this song and not MOVE?... They were probably trying to focus on his message...

[CollegeAdvocate]

One of my favorite producers.

[SeasonNP]

this was such a great performance for such a terrible crowd. too bad. el-p is the man, and the only energy from the crowd is the guy in front throwing his hand up

[flanerone]

damn those horns are unreal!

[doubletapm4]

w0w the crowed is SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!

[cptOrgazmo]

awesome song for a shitty audience....

[2000Fold]

Damn, the horns really complete this track and put it over the top! Wish they were on the album version.

[82dotty82]

@2000Fold haha. i had tp listen to the song again to understand what you mean. thats so funny!

[doubletapm4]

el-p has gotten sooooooooooo good!!!! not that he was never not good lol

[johnnybooker]

Anyone else feel a connection between this tune and Afghan Whigs Gentleman album...brutal honesty, stripped bare...bleeding everywhere? The way music was meant to be imo...

[bamsukka]

So much power in so many words coming right at you. Hope your brain can keep up.

[chaterestre]

This is amazing...I love the album version, but live just conveys so much more emotion. Love the addition of the brass, too!

[MrFuncrusher]

Zajebiste.

[dfdgfdgf0000]

eminem

[sajorojas1]

Does this song remind anyone else of Eminem's song Superman? Just something I can't put my finger on. Something about the number of syllables in each line?

[sanderbrouwer1990]

@sajorojas1 Yes and I know why, the background singer(s) sing almost the same as the guitars in Superman

[3087208]

@sajorojas1 its not the same. Hearing superman makes you belive he's a dick. Hearing this makes yu feel sorry for him. a difference. No offense

[neilcheeseburger]

@3087208 I didn't mean the content of the lyrics were similar, just the structure and music were.

[gnarbros]

whos that backing him up(vocals)? dude from hangar 18...?i dunnoo

[mangledteeth]

@gnarbros the mighty quinn.

[3snunery]

dope! el-p should work with Vangel or Four Tet ..that would be sick!!!

[freindsareforever1]

i wish the full band was playin on the original, this shits tiight

[LXC12]

fuck this song is insane live!

[birdsandbees100]

EL-P and Saul williams are out da box with their styles.

Also feeling Sage Francis, B.Dolan and AllFlaws

these dudes push boundaries

[notablytheillest]

@birdsandbees100 don't forget Qwel from Typical Cats

[SpikeyJamez]

@birdsandbees100, Don't forget Dalek (from Ipecac), Sole, Themselves (A.K.A. Dose One & Jel), Noah 23 and the rest of the cats at "Anticon" and newly labeled "Fake Four Inc." I know this is a year late, but the creativity in Hip Hop still grows and am utterly excited for 2011.

[snarby21]

@birdsandbees100 and qwel



[NoCigar1991]

@birdsandbees100, check out Eyedea and Abilities, Kristoff Krane, Sole, Abzorbr, Face Candy, No Bird No Sing

[420Harlequin]

@birdsandbees100 aesop rock and other dudes too

[Jinxsta13]

@birdsandbees100 Don't forget about Sadistik!

[Minneapolisc]

fuck i love this song. the live version is alot better too.....

[omfgapolarbear]

I love the fact he preforms with a real band behind him.

[kassylion]

EL P, Sage Francis, Scroopius Pip, AllFlaws,

Saul Williams

are just raw talent

[AbattoirDream]

no b dolan?

[agadez100]

I can't give what I can't take, El-P we need some new music from the King

[PresumedDead1986]

(ignoring the arguing going on in the comments)... i love that he performed with a full band. always adds to the energy.

[omfgapolarbear]

Makes the beat and flow feel more organic.

[blackup12345]

saying "here comes the mad emo part" was uncalled for.

[DakaSha]

wrong

[ChazBraz]

@blackup12345  yeah because the artist is totally wrong for saying what he wants about his own track and you know more than him because your a fan

[LongboardAddiction]

then I guess 50 cent is your problem

dont join

[LongboardAddiction]

Lastly, this song is amazing.

It's so literal and poignant. A much needed relief to this genre's overly complicated metaphors that are sometimes so abstract they become a joke. And... no it's not that I dont "get them" but metaphors aren't raps only way of conveying a message.... such as in this song.

Ohh... and you all think you're so "open" and elevated because you denounce mainstream?

Youre no more elevated than Eyedea's friends who took a dive ;)

Neither am I, unfortuneately its the govt.

[LongboardAddiction]

Bring on the negative rep

but it only allows me to laugh at your lack of humility and because you think your shit doesn't stink.

Furthermore, look at most mainstream music, most of those artist used to actually have some musical prowess...

take fifty for example... Look back when he rolled with nas, or eminem's album infinite. I'm sure you lyrical guys would drool over it.

So in all every type of music has it place... whether or not it sucks (mainstream usually does)

[LongboardAddiction]

Honestly....

you people have to realize lyrical hip hop doenst make you elevated above society....

Your minds are barely more open than those who listen to crappy fucking birdman or whatever

Those songs too have their place....

A "spoon fed" song for instance will flow with a snowboard video much better than something from say Cage or Slug....

so "open your eyes" and start to realize that you calling the mainstream garbage only shows youre lack of morality, humility, & placement

[ratfinkskates]

not really, company flows nasty with skate videos, they did it wayyyy long ago before i ever even heard of them. mainstream is mostly garbage now. mostly. the lyrics all lack substance is why and the music as a whole lacks soul.

[LongboardAddiction]

There's always exceptions

I just hate the scenester wannabe fucking lyrical rap kids in my school who think they are like above everyone

This type of music is, dope and mainstream does typically suck but not always, and yeah look at Girl Yeah Right and autumn line, good stuff

but one of my favorite vid is to an outkast song

and ohh oldschool outkast was the shit

west savannah

[ratfinkskates]

i almost wish scenesters were a problem here, gangsters are a problem here. and if you wanna be in a gang you pretty much just let someone beat you up and you're in. kids in school with guns and shit. not cool.

[omfgapolarbear]

The kids in schools with guns facilitate the need for the other kids to start carrying knives, its a vicious cycle. I don't even go to a big, innercity school where you'd expect these kids of problems, I go to a medium sized highschool in a fairly small city (70 thousand people, not tiny but not big by any standard), and I have had a knife pulled on me for no other reason then the guy felt like acting tough and giving me slag, and me being the idiot I was at the time reacted.

[ratfinkskates]

thats kinda how it is here, 90 thousand. 4000-5000 student high school though. a kid got tackled by cops for having a gun, a kid got stabbed, some girl got her face slammed on a cafe table which i think broke her jaw for saying she wanted out of a gang, and 10 on 10 fights on my bus when i was 14. i get so disgusted when i see stupid kids in small towns trying to achieve this "rank" of gangsterism. they dont understand its a plague.

[omfgapolarbear]

Agreed. I don't dig most most of the stuff thats one the radio and video waves today, but every once in a while you hear something thats catchy and isn't bad to listen to. Just because its not a commentary on, say, religion like "flyentology" was, doesn't mean its all terrible. It has its place.

[WeRGod]

Man, this track is so heavy. Been listening to El-P since he was with Co Flow, and he's only gotten better.

[flipantspitter]

sick trak

ALLFLAWS is the next best artist.

maybe SAGE FRANCIS too

[AbattoirDream]

sage rips el p man shutup..

[1fordnutt]

El-P dominates

[c0dy14]

because soulja boy, lil wayne, and T.I are moving the genre forward? Have you even listened to his other records? Sorry, but you probably have a hard time making a meaning of his verses, as they are not spoon fed, puddle equivalent metaphors, you vapid anti-intellectual.

[LandisKashu]

tell it how it is :D

[LongboardAddiction]

You're the vapid anti intellectual.

Think about this. Our country owes most of its independence to a single man. The man who was able to Charismatically Get the French to Join us. This polymath was Ben Franklin. He made a chart to "self improve" himself and to obtain a higher being. Want to know why he failed?

Because in achieving his mental Savant and awareness he forgot one thing you too are crucially forgetting. Humility.

btw im no ctzn of the world either but music isnt what YOU make it

[LongboardAddiction]

this was to cody

[Ciaran646]

@c0dy14 nigga... u mad?

[holafceja]

@Ciaran646 at the ignorance of dumbfucks nowadays, probably. I'd be too if all I heard were people rappin about Partying and bitches while sounding the same all at the same time...

[Ciaran646]

@holafceja dude there's nothing wrong with lil wayne, ti etc. it's not music i would ever really bother listen to, but it's definitely not talentless by any means. lil waynes a total cunt but hes a sick rapper sometimes.

id much rather everyone listen to average mainstream rap than to listen to nickelback or some shit.

i see his point though it's gay that shit like el-p doesn't get anywhere near the coverage it deserves because I think a shitload of people would like it if they heard it.

[ratfinkskates]

i love how people understand not to be prejudice but still promote homophobia by calling everything gay...

[kowtpr187]

What???Okay dood...RAcist ass! What about Beastie Boys? Go get a hip hop guide?!?!What about all the beat boys out there as well?!?!?!Crazy legs??Brooklyn katz!?!!? Racism works both ways...

[7oracle]

amazing

[shizzymywhizzy]

pure .. damn !

[waynehedd]

Shit this nigga sounds good live!

[SuperCoolEggbert]

this is good stuff...

[Crocketman1990]

I'm guessing you are one of the drones who only surfs MTV.

[SentinelConvergence]

Hence the track's title.

[DjhiGhTec8o8]

anyone know were i could get the live version at?

[NMEFUSE]

you know when its comin from the heart when his eyes are closed the whole time...

[danielhl22]

fucking real!!!!!

[caboose1320]

The live version is so much better than the recorded. I prefer it to be full of feeling and passion. The recorded version isnt enthusiastic enough for me

[Naroc314]

damn... the original is amazing, but it's even more impressive that he can pull a performance like that live, too.

[Crocketman1990]

One of the best songs I have ever heard,

[lucard001]

this is good...

[seanross25]

hes great and hes high as hell when he did this performance...haha

[carialice]

I adore him for this song. He's like a modern day Irving Berlin with those lyrics. I thought he was cute before, but damn that song makes him so fricking hot. Lucky girl who ever she is/was.

[NeverTrust82]

Music is made to be interpreted, from my own experiences it's about a girl.

[jazzoj5]

It is about a girl, El-p said it in an interview.

[SuperCoolEggbert]

damn! you are sooooooooo insightful!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jazzoj5]

I was replying to someone who thought it was about something else, maybe you should check stuff like that before replying with unintelligent sarcastic comments

[julianofsatown]

i totally relate to this, i totally fucked this girl over. she got super attached to me and i never took it seriously :/

[Rytch1]

Wow, I woulda never figure that out, lolol!!

[jazzoj5]

as i said to the last idiot to come out with a similarly stupid sarcastic comment: "I was replying to someone who thought it was about something else" In fact you can see said comment a couple of comments below, but then you didn't check that did you.

[zysano1]

The White RZA!

not really ... but it seems like

rza influenced him alot

[skawt]

no offense but the trumpets were pretty whack, im no sound engineer or anything but im pretty sure those dudes need work on their tuning efforts

[deejaybags]

yeah, kinda ruins an awesome song

[Tatertot5319109]

you kidding me guys? trumpets made me love it. Makes it kinda rappy jazz.

[xRIKTERx]

el-p's shit is mad jazz heavy...he used to play the saxophone...he just thought he looked rediculous playing a saxophone along with RUN-DMC albums...i like the jazz elements that are used in his and aesops songs...

[Blackoutwalkin]

Hahaha I'm studying for a degree in sound engineering right now, the trumpets sound pretty dope actually. It's just the live mixing that was terrible.

[skawt]

lol nice, i wasnt sure that was even the right title, but yeah I like the idea of the trumpets I can see where they are going but something is not right

[CristinaRobu]

he's so profound and fragile

[tvboettr]

I know! It seems like he is inherently highly moral. The world is this way for everyone, but he feels it. It's beautiful

[Frughtlupes]

Have no idea how anyone can say El-P's lyrics are wack... His a brillant poet. But I agree that he can't freestyle to save his life - which I'm sure even he knowns. Not that I could do any better though...

[thesampler999]

he can freestyle amazingly!

[NoFuckingJoke]

El-P Is freaking awesome!

[SuperCoolEggbert]

i have grown affectionate of this song... and no

"yumjesusjuice" his problem is the opposite of your conclusion. He definitely has a problem with taking advantage of this girl who he feels is naive and so on...

[yumjesusjuice]

its great to see how much el-p has grown as an artist. From gritty battle emcee to a passionate song writer and lyricist.

[Scr0d3]

passionate? have u ever seen freestyle: a documentary? he sucks and always will.

[ChocolateMilkIsTight]

woah, the horns rule. I love el-p, best wheatherman.

[kassylion]

such a unique artist. sick track 2. ders also two acts from the uk called Allflaws and Scroobius Pip who are on a similar level to EL P.

They both seem to expand hip hop/rap into another realm.

Elp, Sage Francis, Scroobius Pip, Allflaws, Atmosphere, Saul Williams and B Dolan

are all the most progressive artists at present

bless 2 the poets

[landpirate333]

you forgot aesop rock

metthedude once,hes safeasfuck

[danielhl22]

hermano eso es pasarse de verga ¡¡¡¡¡come to guadalajara¡¡¡¡¡¡true artist man¡¡¡¡

[for1555]

and in 6.5 seconds science floated out to space

[alistermbouvart]

anybody know who the people in the backing band are?

[jssmk]

i wanna be him haha

[IndianVampire]

My first guess would be The Roots, but they work mostly with the Stones Throw crew... I think...

[Dawolf1]

the roots are all black those guys definitely white

[alistermbouvart]

NO... the roots are brown. lol I hate the black/white shit. nobody is really that deep into each tone. and still... anyone know yet??? you can see a clear view of them around 3:33

[unknownkilla14]

well it says its at the plug awards. so it probably was a bunch of diff artists. a in house band the award show choose probably.

[BeatKleaverRecords]

mars volta????? maybe not sure

[MissUnheardOf]

im n luv

[moriya2k2]

why does his album sound so weak compared to his mixtape stuff? i mean it just like his skills have been really toned down.

[manic486]

they downvoted you but i agree whole-heartily

this version is incredible..

ISWYD is great but it didn't blow my mind like Fantastic Damage.. took more time to get into it for me.

the live horns and how into it he is on this performance is deadly

[AceXVI]

I really didn't like FD as much as ISWYD.

It was a lot harder to get into.

[danielalien]

huh? This guy is a lyrical genious, how can you compare them? LinKIN park has is focus on the music, and not on the lyrics. This guy has his focus on the lyrics.

Try to keep these things in mind when listening to these artists.

[Converge88]

To even say linkin park "focus on music" is an insult to music. Boring, unoriginal, formulaic, emotionless garbage and shouldn't even be mentioned in the same breath as any good music of any genre, ever.

El-P fucking rules though.

[danielalien]

I beg to differ. Though alot of their songs might be easy to play on a gitar or whatever, I think they are very nice to listen to, and even though the words might not be as deep as the ocean, I like their music, and the way Shinoda produces, like he did in the remix album ReAnimation.

[CEASONE77]

what are you a fuckin idiot?? i guess so//

let me know when you graduate pre-school!!

we'll get a party going with Fonzie and prince!!

EL-P IS A FUCKIN GENUS HOME-BOI!!

so keep your mouth shut or some-one will shut it 4you!!

[geniusgza7]

el-p is a genius

[scientisst]

1:36-1:40 tripppy

[fen0m]

Wow what a powerful performance. You can feel the emotion he's putting out right through the monitor. When the horns kicked in at the end a tear almost come to my eye.

[ilikeyourgrampa]

yeah those horns are serious. siskel and ebert reccomend this song nine times out of ten to the studio version. if you like this one, check out the patriotism live performance with aes rickety rock, he kills it during that performance too

[isoruswrex]

not sure if this is an em dis or something but its the same tempo as superman. Same cadence

[Glitch667]

no,it isnt a diss

[themartinmanisdead]

It does remind me of superman actually. But its not a diss you can hear from the lyrics.

[effthedodgers]

your deserve to die of aids. faggot nigger jew faggot.

[supermeah]

Raw emotion, words can't describe how bad ass this performance was. God bless REAL! hip hop.

[turbati]

fuuuuuuck! jaw on floor

[snoop3041]

Saw him in manchester few months back one of the best gigs iv ever been to, cant stop listening to 'll Sleep When You're Dead and the cage album Hells winter best lyrical hip hop iv heard in years. Really stepping modern hip hop up proving it doesnt have to be gangsta money lead unorginal artists that can make it

[alexfreddy]

i suggest you listen on a high volume level

[alexfreddy]

this is the best performance by him all-time

[yumjesusjuice]

best song on the album hands down

[Leena312]

I have such a crush on him!! I can't stop watching this video, I love it.

[northeast13eric]

i'm the suge knight of the underground.

[seanleonard]

saw this guy in dublin a few months ago, he fuckin tore it up, hung around after the gig talking to the crowd and having his photo taken, a tru gent and the best producer/artist working in hiphop today.

[34flinching]

He really gets into it near the end. I dig.

[thenewrapstyle]

bit noisy

[SentinelConvergence]

It doesn't matter how many times I listen to this, I cannot get over how awesome the horns sound. The studio version is great, but this is amazing.

[posttechcagespin]

i agree. those horns are amazing.

[54spiritedwill54]

this song is  awesome!

[evaohone]

El-P is Hip-Hop's man of the decade IMO, the production, the lyrics, his record label Def Jux, and his unapologetic message are just to great a sum to match up against any other Hip-Hop artists. Disagree, and your simply ignorant to

[drexsyl7]

i agree 100% dude.

[SantsMonkey]

I cant give what i cant take!

[Bluecaboose436]

god i love the horns on this version

[les907]

What's really touching about this song is we ALL have had that ex that was brand new and so naive and we desired them better than the over-sexed, abused, sarcastic messes we are... or maybe that's just me.

[Leena312]

Wow, this is a good version of this song I like it live!

[drexsyl7]

first time for me to see this,i am blown away.

[nimrodskid]

pretty badass for a ginger...

this song gets me, man.

[sgillen12]

el-p's the man

[kritiko5]

intense

damn, horns?

awesome

soo intense

[dntswtthTCHNQE]

too fucking good.

favorite el-p song

[ActivServiceUnit]

Fucking wicked

[DoyleWolfgang]

The horns. The fucking horns.

[DjhiGhTec8o8]

this shit is so amazing, el-p's energy is so strong

[fbfiveohv3]

this is so fucking tremendous, this is next level shit...

i'm left speechless by this dude

[superarisu]

The horns are intense - I have to see this live now.

[DESTROYSAMANTHA]

one of the best songs he has ever written. i swear!

[AzrealCold]

For that intense performance, he gets that type of reception? That crowd was gay as fuck!

[Leaveyou88]

The lyrics to this song is crazy, I mean how can anyone get so much depth into each sentence? And the fact that he does so with rap shows his great talent.