International media production company Nomadic Wax (African Underground/Democracy in Dakar) has teamed up with Genoa, Italy’s DJ Nio, Brooklyn’s Funk Nouveau, Blackler Mastering and producer Eliot Leigh to create a one-of-a-kind World Cup-inspired transnational hip-hop collaboration available for free download beginning June 8th 2010. The 12 minute multi-national musical melange features rappers hailing from Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, the United States, and Europe.
“World Cup” is the first of it’s kind and explores the complexities and controversies of this historic event: the first ever World Cup to be held in Africa. According to The Economist, “South Africans themselves are grumbling about the eye-wateringly large amounts of money that FIFA…is poised to make, even though South Africa is bearing most of the cost.” Legendary South African emcee Emile YX (Black Noise Crew) used the ‘World Cup’ track as an opportunity to respond to what is currently happening in his hometown of Cape Town, rapping “We’ll foot the bill just so they can foot the ball.” Emile and 15 other artists from a range of nations, including Italy, Brazil, South Africa, Morocco, and Trinidad-Tobago, among others, rap their verses in French, Spanish, Portuguese, English, and Arabic and explore many of the controversies, benefits, and pitfalls of the historic 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
For more info and to download the track for free visit:
KRS-One, Acclaimed Artist and Activist, will Perform at the Student-Created Festival
Hartford, Conn. – KRS-One, an iconic hip-hop artist, activist, and pioneer, will headline the 2010 International Hip-Hop Festival at Trinity College, in celebration of the fifth year of the largest festival of its kind in the United States. The weekend-long festival, free and open to the public, features performances, lectures, graffiti artistry, and a break dance battle with a $1,500 grand prize.
A Bronx, N.Y. product, KRS-One (“Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everybody”) has had three Billboard Top 100 singles and has cemented himself as a hip-hop icon with his influence on the art, his outspoken criticism of violence in hip-hop, and his passion for hip-hop as a political movement. In 2008, KRS-One (Lawrence Parker) was a recipient of a BET Lifetime Achievement Award, in recognition of his work as a pioneer of hip-hop music and culture, and for his effort toward the Stop the Violence Movement, which he formed in 1988 in response to excessive violence in hip-hop.
In addition to a performance by the internationally acclaimed KRS-One, Trinity welcomes The reMINDers, a husband and wife duo (Belgium/Congo/U.S.); Nomadic Massive, a multilingual and multicultural Montreal-based group; Anita Tijoux, a Chilean emcee and vocalist; DAM, the first and foremost Palestinian group; Shokanti (Cape Verde); Wagëblë (Senegal); Flex Mathews (Washington, D.C.); Trinity alums, Self-Suffice and Zee Santiago; DJ Nio (Italy); and DJ Boo, as well as artists and educators, Readnex Poetry Squad, and DJ H20, representing Haiti, Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the United States.
The festival will include an academic panel entitled “Global Moves: Social Change Through Hip-Hop,” featuring panelist Toni Blackman, a former cultural ambassador for U.S. state department; Gaston “Cenzi” Gabarro, a Chilean producer and activist; Marie-Agnes Beau, founder of the French Music Bureau; and Jaro Cossiga (beatboxer, Czech Republic). The panel will be moderated by Vijay Prashad, George and Martha Kellner Chair in South Asian History and Professor of International Studies at Trinity College. The City of Hartford Youth Services is sponsoring youth oriented workshops hosted by Readnex Poetry Squad entitled, “Hip Hop and Poetry Saved My Life,” and the Sundance Festival-nominated film, Slingshot Hip Hop, will be screened, followed by a panel discussion with the film’s director, Jackie Reem Salloum, and the Palestinian group, DAM.
In addition, local graffiti artists will be producing murals, and for the third consecutive year, the festival will hold a 2-on-2 international break dance (b-boy and b-girl) battle with a $1500 grand prize. The competition will be judged by Trac2, a pioneering b-boy.
For a complete schedule of events, artist bios, and more, visit www.trinityhiphop.org.
About the Trinity College International Hip-Hop Festival and Temple of Hip Hop
Trinity College is home to the first student branch of the Temple of Hip Hop, which formed after the First International Hip-Hop Festival in 2006. The Temple of Hip Hop, created by KRS-One, is a national organization created to maintain and promote hip hop as a genuine political movement and culture, and was created on the Trinity campus in the spirit of the mission of the festival. It encourages deejays and emcees to teach people about the culture of Hip, to write more socially conscious songs, and encourages radio stations to play more socially conscious hip-hop.
Past performers at the Trinity International Hip-Hop Festival include Somalian artist K’Naan, who’s single “Waivin’ Flag” has been remixed and chosen as the official anthem of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, as well as Ghana’s Blitz the Ambassador; Zimbabwe political activist Comrade Fatso; French/Cameroonian Les Nubians; Portuguese star Sam the Kid, old school legend Grandmaster Caz; among many other international artists and academics.
About Trinity College
Founded in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1823, Trinity College (www.trincoll.edu) is an independent, nonsectarian liberal arts college with over 2,200 students from 42 states and 41 countries. It is home to the eighth-oldest chapter of Phi Beta Kappa in the United States. The faculty and alumni include recipients of the Pulitzer Prize, the MacArthur award, Guggenheims, Rockefellers and other national academic awards. Trinity students integrate meaningful academic and leadership experience at all levels on the College’s celebrated campus, in the Capital City of Hartford, and in communities all over the world.
The story of Spanish hip-hop begins with Maestro Fresh Wes, a Canadian artist who apparently released the first bilingual hip-hop record (I have lost the reference for this). Spanish has always been hip-hop’s second language starting with US artists like Kid Frost (Latin Alliance) and Mellow Man Ace, and the legacy was continued by groups like Cypress Hill, the Beatnuts, Delinquent Habits and Tha Mexakinz. It very quickly spread across Central and Latin America eventually spawning new genres like Reggaeton.
For the purposes of these articles I will be focusing on hip-hop from Spain. Later I will be going into the history a bit, but first I would like to make you aware of KAOS, a new group with a fresh sound.
Introduce yourselves and tell us about your name…
KAOS stands for ‘when smiles are hidden’. The name is inspired by the battle of learning to be happy and smiling despite obstacles and inconviences that life places in your way to test you.
KAOS is made of members Kaos (emcee) and Karmasound (DJ and beatmaker) both from Galicia in Northern Spain.
Tell us about the Spanish hip-hop scene, and who are the current big names?
The Spanish hip-hop scene is static at the moment; although a lot of people are influenced by fashion and musical trends. They’re forgetting the real feel for the music and hip-hop culture.
There are a lot of good artists like Griffi, Juan Solo, Tremendo, Tote king, Rack Eterno, DrumDrama…
Who else in the European or international scene do you listen to?
We could mention lots of people; artists like Ryan Leslie Mark de Clive Lowe, Rep Life, Q- tip, Looptroop, Edit, Sepalot, Mundo (Dealema), D3cept and many more.
Who are your musical (or life) influences?
We are inspired by our families and those people close to us, who are always there for us. Musically we are inspired by rap, funk, jazz, soul and any music that makes you feel something.
What are your views on politics in Spain?
People promise a lot and deliver little.
What are your views on downloading or the internet generally?
We think downloading is a good way of listening to new CDs, but if you like them and you want to help up and coming artists, you should buy the CD. We do download stuff but we also buy records.
How did the Tenacity featuring come about?
Tenacity got in touch with Kaos after hearing some of our songs and we talked about doing something together. Karmasound prepared?? a beat and sent it. Tenacity wrote his lyrics and recorded them and Kaos finished the song. As we hadn’t decided what to do with the song, we suggested to Tenacity he put it on the Manifesto EP which he thought was a great idea.
What is your process for making beats, writing rhymes etc.? (Equipment)
Karmasound creates beats at home in his studio using a MPC4000, a Clavia Nord Stage, a microkorg, vinyls and anything else you need to create sounds. Kaos doesn’t have a particular method; some days he writes in the studio, others at home, sometimes at work – whenever an idea occurs to him, whatever the time or place.
What are your views on religion?
We are not averse to the idea of a god but don’t like everything that goes with that (money, wars etc).
What about UK hip-hop?
We really like the UK hip-hop scene. We like Roots Manuva, Phi Life Cypher, Lotek Hifi, Blade, One self, Herbaliser, Foreign Beggars and many more.
What are the future plans for KAOS (albums/tours etc)
The most important thing for us right now is to get gigs across Spain and promote the Manifesto EP.
In the next few months, Karmasound will release an EP called ‘Good Things’ which is more of a soul/broken beat style. Later we start work on the Kuando Alguien Oculta Sonrisas album.
What artists would you most like to collaborate with?
With anyone whose music we like and who has a similar style to us.
What are your first memories of hip-hop?
I remember whole afternoons break dancing, making music and recording on tapes. They were good times.
Do you like to ‘dig in the crates’ for samples? What do you look for?
We sample a lot of things from a lot of musical styles; tango, classical, bossa nova, Spanish music, Brazilian, etc.
Later we started using more jazz, funk and soul. Right now we prefer to compose our own stuff, although we’d never discount sampling a beat.
Okay, if you read Part I, this continues where I left off. I’m gonna do ten parts, so anyone with comments about ‘I missed out him or whatever’, stop doing that.
Nowadays the UK hip-hop scene can be broken down into different factions – the ‘backpacker’ mid 90s style (which is more about lyricism and digging for samples) and the ‘mans-on-road’ music (which includes grime and wearing custom new-era caps). However, taking this view is problematic for a number of reasons. By bracketing music into different genres you ignore the fact that it’s all just music, which can only ever really be good or bad (or average).
The question of whether these divisions could be race related is tackled in detail by Karl Kinds (ill flava) on his track ‘psycho analysis’, on which he talks about how the industry is run and controlled by middle class white people, who’s idea of hip-hop is radically different from that of black people from housing estates. Although I don’t necessarily agree with his reasoning, he does make some important points about who’s in control of what we get to hear and see on commercial radio and TV. Mr Hinds is better known for his track ‘don gramma’, London’s answer to Big L’s ‘ebonics’.
My experiences of UK hip-hop have rarely ventured into grime territory, but are concerned with a broad range of musical styles and genres, from jazz to R&B to Hungarian folk. In my opinion, in order to stay relavent in this rapidly evolving music scene, you have to be open and appreciative of new artists and sounds, and one such person is a former employer of mine, Disorda. This man has been putting in unbelievable work for ages, running the No.1 mail order company for UK hip-hop Suspect Packages, the distributor/label Boombox and compiling the Suspect Files series (now up to volume 4), as well as reissuing classic records like Demon Boyz’s ‘recognition’ and Hardnoise’s ‘untitled’. As if that wasn’t enough, he also records the Suspect Packages Radio Show and supports Aussie hip-hop (more on that later).
On this promo he is speaking with rising star Sonny Jim:
Last time I mentioned a certain producer by the name of Beat Butcha. Although his artistry is serious, he’s a humourous fellow, fond of a few japes. He is without doubt making the killer beats, not only your traditional sample based joints, but also grime. The best example (of grime) I’ve heard so far is Ghetto’s ‘so damn dedicated’ from his ghetto gospel album.
In this interview I tried to get some serious answers from the man.
Ghetto – “So Damn Dedicated” can be heard here:
Esh: Introduce yourself
BB: mein name ist Beat von Butchousen aka Beat Butcha, reppin the halal beats green flamingo brukkup caravan gang and Saturday Night in Frankfurt, I am a true legend in the game. If you haven’t heard of me, you better check your favourite limited edition 10″s by Phil Collins, Wham & Gary Glitter….
Esh: What was your first experience of hip-hop?
BB:I was in the car with my mutti on our way to school and we used to listen to hip hop classics like ‘pass the dutchie pan dee left hand side’, which was a huge hit in Holland due to its reference to the dutch pot…. > How long you been making beats? BB: almost 10 years…
Esh: What is your process for making beats?
BB:Usually I bash a weasel til it squeaks, that’s pretty much the process… naw usually I’ll hear sumthing that inspires me, it could be a hip-hop record or an old record I wanna sample and that’ll set me off. I don’t really have one process, it gets borin if you keep the same formulas and ways of doing things. > What equipment do you use? BB: I have an MPC 2500, various synths, stack of wax, a sp12 & COOL EDIT…
Esh: Who are your (beat making) influences?
BB: Damn, that’s a hard one… I’m influenced by a lot of people, my original inspirations were Preem, Havoc, Pete Rock, Large Pro etc… But nowadays I’m a big fan of Chemo & Stock Aitken & Waterman… …as well as the obvious ones like Black Milk, Madlib, DJ Khalil, Focus and of course the late great Jay Dee…
Esh: What projects you got coming? (features etc.)
BB:tons, be on the lookout for ish with my fam out in The Netherlands (Ciph Barker & MOD), as well as ish on forthcoming albums by Jehst, Smurf, Kyza & Skriblah…. also be on the lookout for US work of mine with LIL E (COLD SUMMERS ENT.), Regiment (From Detroit), Wordsworth (EMC/Lyricist Lounge) and many more…
Esh: What is your opinion of UK hip-hop?
BB:I love a lot of UK hip hop music and there’s a lot of talent, but the scene has a hard time moving forward because the scene is too bitchy, people are unorganized & way too small minded… and obviously the UK music industry doesn’t understand it….
Esh: Who in hip-hop shouldn’t release records?
BB:I’m not gunna say anyone shouldn’t release records because at the end of the day every shit release makes me look better lol…
Esh: If you had more money would you have a bigger profile?
BB:Strange question but yeah I would love to get a bigger profile coz at the end of the day your name is your CV, I’d love to work with people like T.I., Busta & Ludacris…
Esh: What’s your opinion of downloading’s effect on the industry?
BB:Its killing artists, I mean where do you draw the line. I aint gunna front like I aint downloading ish but 9/10 its stuff I just wanna hear whether its good and if it is ill buy it but when I see things like the Redmaster album and triple darkness on peoples blogspots available for download when I know we aint even sold enough copies to recoup it makes me feel sick coz people are bootlegging shit by new artists that don’t even have a chance to build any profits from building a name….
Esh: Obama as Prezident?
BB:just coz dude is black doesn’t mean he’s gunna make America any better, they need a free healthcare system…that’s my view…
Esh: What’s your favourite kind of biscuit?
BB: the flute playin kind lol….pause
Esh: Conspiracy theories?
BB:Timmy Mallet is Adolf Hitler re-incarnated…
Esh: What is your political world view?
BB: the world is damned politically, make your money and help people you love….
Esh: Did you enjoy the Olympics?
BB:nope I hate any sports that don’t involve hummus…
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I can relate to Dave Chappelle. I went to Africa in May 2007 to get away from the drama that is the everyday grind in Los Angeles. One day I simply had enough, decided to book a roundtrip ticket to Dar es Salaam (fittingly, “House of Peace” in Arabic), Tanzania, and off I went to visit my extended family. I spent that June soaking up all that Tanzania had to offer: endless Safari and Kilimanjaro beers, Konyagi clear liquor, bars and clubs that start poppin’ at 5 a.m. and end whenever the last patron stumbles out into the sunrise.
Good times. And of course, there was the music. As I quickly discovered from watching TV, there was an abundance of music – both U.S. and local, as well as from neighboring countries Uganda, Kenya, Zambia and Malawi. And that’s not counting cable channels. There’s also a variety of music on the FM radio and coverage in Bang! Magazine, which circulates in the countries I just mentioned, that’s covering the scene in the same way that VIBE does with urban music and culture here in the States.
While Rihanna’s “Umbrella” featuring Jay-Z was getting heavy play, so was “Crazy Over You,” a song by Tanzanian’s own version of Rihanna, K-Lynn. The song’s melody and groove moved you instantly:
Although hip-hop in Tanzania has matured in the sense that many rap acts have discovered their own sound, most of them still heavily lean on the music exported from the U.S., says Ambrose Akwabi, one of the leading beatmakers in the East African nation, affectionately called “bongoland” (“bongo” means “brain” in Kiswahili; apparently the locals have to be sharp and focused to get by).
When a rare opportunity to collaborate with an American rapper presented itself, Akwabi – who produces for his own Mandugu Digital Productions – seized the moment. Although the American rapper was ex-Bad Boy signee Loon, the resulting track, featuring local heroes Nako 2 Nako Soldiers, doesn’t sound half-bad. In fact, it got me wondering about the possibilities of blending braggadocio lyrics in English and Kiswahili over the uniquely Tanzanian “bongo flava” sound.
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Here’s how Akwabi describes working with Loon:
“My meeting with Loon was by accident. He was coming from Dubai and Zanzibar, where he was shooting a video for one of his songs, and decided to touch down in Dar es Salaam. Someone spotted him and passed word around the media houses that the guy was around. So Miss T (then at Clouds FM, a popular radio station) jumped at the opportunity and found her way to Loon’s entourage.
I was chillin’ with Ibra Da Hustla from Nako 2 Nako when Miss T called him to say that Nako 2 Nako were needed at Sea Cliff Hotel to meet an important person. One of the members of Nako 2 Nako (Lord Izz, pronounced “Lord Eyes”), had gone to Arusha (in northern Tanzania) for a funeral. Ibra asked me to accompany him to Sea Cliff and I agreed.
We met Miss T, who then introduced us to Loon and another rapper named D’Gritty. After a freestyle at the hotel room, Loon suggested that we hit the studio. His host happened to be the owner of Aegis Records, and so he offered to have the recording done at his studio. Miss T was already pushing for me to do the production, and the rest is history!”
Akwabi on his start in the industry:
“My role has been a big one in the sense that when I arrived here from Nairobi, the music scene in Dar es Salaam was kind of basic in terms of production quality. After producing Solo Thang’s debut single “Hili Balaa,” then Black Rhino’s “Usipime,” Nako 2 Nako’s “Bang!”, Jo Makini’s “Chochote Popote” and Professor Jay’s “Hapo Sawak” many production houses started copying the ‘new’ sound that I had introduced to the game and you can hear it today in many up-and-coming young producers’ works.
Still, Tanzania’s hip-hop acts don’t get a good share of the consumer market. Many rush to studios just to keep their portfolios going without registering their songs with a royalty collection body like CO SO TA (Copyright Society Of Tanzania), because they have cited misappropriation of their royalties. This is also because there is no system to measure the number of times an artist’s song has been aired and so the radio stations just pay an unknown figure to the copyright society, money which doesn’t get to the artist. Most hip hop artists settle for less, which is chasing after radio and video stations to make them relevant by being on the charts with the hope that they might break through.
Distribution companies here pay artists an advance fee that ranges from $500 to $3,000 for an album, depending on the popularity of certain songs on the local radio and club DJ rotations. Also, many radio presenters and radio station owners have artists that they have signed so they prioritize them even though there are better artists that are worth listening to.”
And now a T3 (Top Three Tanzania) list to close things out:
Top 3 Tanzanian solo rappers: Jo Makini, Proffessor Jay, and Chidi Benz
Top 3 Tanzanian groups: Kikosi cha Mizinga, Nako 2 Nako Soldiers, and Watengwa Family from Arusha.
Top 3 Tanzanian producers: Lamar (Fishcrab Studios), Hermy B, P-Funk (Bongo Records), and Mandugu Digital Productions
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Where to start? Well, I could start at the beginning, but I got into hip-hop in 1990 so the Old School of UK hip-hop is something I had to learn about retrospectively. There are already a lot of articles (on-line) about the history of the scene which is fairly well documented so instead of going into that, I’ll give an overview of my personal experience, and introduce the readers to a few things they are less likely to know about.
The first UK hip-hop artists (rap that is) I became aware of were London Posse and Blak Twang, who are still considered some of the most important after doing this for more than 20 years. In my opinion, they were never given the props they deserved, and there’s a good reason why; the UK has always had a cutting edge music scene which has innovated new genres and styles and this has meant hip-hop has had to share its evolution with the junglists, the ravers, the garage artists and so on. In terms of musical creativity this has been a positive thing, allowing artists like Massive Attack and Roni Size to gain mainstream success, while for the traditionalist hip-hoppers it has made it more difficult to gain that kind of exposure. That is why an artist who comes from the garage scene like Dizzy Rascal is well known, while the people representing ‘the real hip-hop,’ for example Taskforce, are still relatively unknown to the average person in the UK.
UK hip-hoppers are famously critical of their own scene, always comparing themselves to the yanks, (especially in terms of production quality) and rightfully so. The reality is that there are a lot of substandard producers and emcees out there putting out wack product. I’ve witnessed a succession of unfit records that were released to a disinterested public. Having said that, it’s not all bad, there’s a few legends out there, and hopefully it’s getting better.
One of the producers getting serious accolades right now is Beat Butcha (interview coming soon). In the few years that he has been making beats while living in London, he has already managed to work with almost every emcee worth mentioning in the UK scene (Terra Firma, Kashmere, Jehst, Braintax,Verb T, Rodney P, Roots Manuva, Manage, Mikall Parknsun… the list goes on). Butcha’s music should not necessarily be considered as just “UK hip-hop” because he has a much more international outlook and is also makes sick beats for artists from the Netherlands, Australia and the States. Look out for his forthcoming album on Lowlife records which is set to smash it with the same production standards you would expect from people like DITC in Amerca. If you’re a newcomer to the UK scene, he’s probably the best place to start.
Check out some of his stuff here:
Another producer to look out for is Kwakes. This is another young guy with heavy skills. He is better known as a superb drummer and one quarter of The Speaker’s Corner Quartet (drums, double bass, cello and flute), all talented musicians in their own right. The flautist Biscuit has been in the hip-hop game for a minute and did an album with producer LG called Smoke Rings which is dopeness.
The Kraftsmen are from Brixton and represent a different, younger approach to hip-hop which uses less sample-based production and is more about lyrical skills and delivery. The group comprises emcees Frantic Frank, Manic, Prodigal and newest recruit Mic Righteous who is only 18. They have been through some serious trials and tribulations, which I wont go into here, but if you listen to the lyrics you’ll get a get a glimpse into their lives.
Kraftsmen are part of a larger collective called The Peoples Army. This is surely the largest and most significant group in UK hip-hop at the moment and is led by Logic and Lowkey, both serious emcees. This pair is also a group in themselves called New World Order. The Peoples Army is an organization with a message of unity that reaches out to the UK hip-hop (and beyond) underground to try and bring the scene together.
10 minute Peoples Army freestyle session here:
Watch Mic Righteous kill it ridiculously for 43 seconds:
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Today, we’re going to begin with a foundation of Native Tongues lyrical spirituality.
Add 1 1/2 Cups of The Roots circa Do You Want More???!!!?
Fast Forward to the chance meeting at a 2002 Open Mic.
Add 1 MC (Tumi), published in the American Literary Journal, Subterranean Quarterly.
Add The Volume, a multicultural band in an often segregated, post-Apartheid South Africa.
Viola! Tumi and The Volume. Yes, Flight 808 has been out of commission for a few weeks. Or have we just been waiting for a band really worth our time? Either way, we’re back with a treat so special it might as well be in the back of a pedophile’s Buick.
In case you missed the hook, it goes something like this: “It don’t take a rocket scientist to get to the moon/ Every man and woman got their own 10 minute zoom/ People of the light generate a glow in the room/ I hear the wind whispering, I’ll be coming home soon.”
In case you missed Tumi’s raspy, molten flow or the ephemeral twang of live instrumentation… watch it again fool! Or, proceed to peep some of these mp3s.
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For the time being, Tumi and The Volume’s main page is undergoing construction. If you want to learn more and purchase some music– I promise, it’s all as good as the above tracks– hit up their myspace.
…and– why not– here’s one last cut, one for the road.
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As a bit of a publicist/ journalistic hype-man myself, “the jazziest constellation in Swedish hip-hop” caught my mind’s eye this morning as I read the bio for Swedish hip-hop collective Supersci. Formed in 1996, the crew consisting of emcee/producer Arka, emcee Noun, “jazz cat” Erik L, turntablist DJ Observe, and female vocalist Remedeeh truly exploded onto the scene a full decade after its conception. After 10 years of singles and EPs, 2006 saw Supersci’s debut album Pinetrees on the Pavement. Here’s the first single On The Grind featuring Chords– a track that reached the number one spot on Sweden’s college radio list and will absolutely be featured on the next CD that I burn for the car:
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The second single from Supersci’s debut album also became the group’s first video. Check out: Get!
Post-Pinetrees, Supersci has been– well– “On The Grind.” In 2007, the group released a mixtape (Cutting Down Trees) that featured 30 new songs; in December of ’07, the production team Flyphonic (Akra and Erik L of Supersci) also released an album; finally, Fall 2008 will bring the release of Supersci’s second LP. The only info I have on that new album is via that same bio on their own website– the rest of the web yields few results– but I’m staying optimistic for the time being. When the album drops, we’ll amend this post and hopefully feature some new stuff. Until then, stay sweet fam… we’ve got two more parting goodies:
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If you didn’t know, the UK seems to be teaming with world class producers, least of which is Corin Douieb, a.k.a. The Last Skeptik.
TLS has been working for a number of years behind the scenes in the UK hip hop industry. Besides a producer, he’s a radio show host (DustyCratesRadio show) and a journalist for UK mags like Hip Hop Connection and Undercover. He’s done label work for the legendary Low Life Records, all the while perfecting his production skills.
He’s worked with many of the top UK artists like Sway, Jehst, Dubbledge, Conspicuous, Stig of the Dump, Diversion Tactics, Kashmere, Manage and American MF Grimm. In 2007, he teamed with emcee Verb T for one of my favorite international hip hop albums of the year, Broken Window. Skeptik’s groovy and moody soundscapes blended perfectly with message-driven lyricist Verb T.
Skeptik gave me some information on his background, process and upcoming projects.
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Old School G: Tell me about how you got into hip hop. What people inspired you?
The Last Skeptik: I must have started listening to hip hop music when I was around 11 or so, but I had always heard it from my brothers room. He was older than me, so I use to hear Pharcyde, 2pac and Tribe from him. I got hooked and started building my collection and checking for every single West Coast rapper that existed. I mean I repped for the West to the point where I was never a massive Biggie fan, and still aren’t to this day. But inspiration wise, there were so many people in my life that personally guided me musically, from Sway to Jehst to Jazz T to Verb T, but listening wise, definitely Premier, Pete Rock, and 88 Keys.
OSG: Give us a bit of biography/background of your music.
TLS: I first started producing in the school music rooms with Sway, piecing together crappy beats in Logic. I built on it until I picked up an MPC2000XL with all my savings, and literally hibernated ‘til I made half decent beats, which took a hell of a long time. I had a few mixtape things out, but it all culminated when Kam from Mr. Bongo asked to put my first record out, which had a dude called Squared on the A, and Sway on the B. I that – my first 12″ – when I was 18, had the second one out a year later with emcee Conflix. All the while, built with Verb T ‘til the point where we had an album worth of thoughtful, grown man music and Silent Soundz put it out and 3 years after we did it. In between I’ve worked with MF Grimm, Edo G, and the cream of the UK scene.
OSG: How did you decide to be a producer?
TLS: My love for music grew, and knowing I was creative it seemed natural that I would make beats and channel it through that. Plus i hated the kids that played instruments at my school. They were all pretentious wankers, so I wanted to do my own thing.
OSG:What music outside of hip hop do you draw on for producing?
TLS: Everything. Literally there is no music genre that I can listen to and not take something from. Artists like Emiliana Torrini, Damon Albarn, Chopin and Mark Mothersburgh inspire me.
OSG:You had a brilliant album last year with Verb T, Broken Window. Tell us how you two met and what it was like working together on that album.
TLS: We met when I was working at Low Life records, helping Brains [Braintax] out with the label around the time of Skinny’s album (Skinnyman Council Estate of Mind, 2004) . I handed him some beats, and he called me that week to say that he hadn’t had beats from a producer for a long time that not only did he like every one, but he felt the vibe, and saw my creative vision. Working with him was great, he is a good friend of mine now and hopefully there’s gonna be talk of a follow up at some point soon.
OSG:Describe your process for producing a track.
TLS: There use to be one: dig for a record, find a sample, make a drum pattern, chop the sample, done. But now I’m moving away from samples, so I’ll start with the drums, make it an ill pattern then fuck with a bassline and try a million different synths ’til I get the nastiest sound that makes me want to throw up in my shoes, then i know its ready.
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OSG:Hip hop in the UK seems to be remaining underground for the most part, it other music styles siphon off of it like Grime and Garage. Do you think UK hip hop is at a healthy stage now and where do you see it going?
TLS: I honestly don’t know where its going. Music in general is struggling to find direction, but hip hop in the UK is, to me, incredible, blossoming, adapting and is building on an already solid art form in this country. Because it is the most hated on, dissed genre here, everyone keeps stepping their game up. I’m positive that the quality of the music is going through the roof, but whether that will result in sales, who knows!
OSG: What projects do you have coming up soon?
TLS: I have an all instrumental album called “Escape From Badger Mountain” coming soon, that I am building as part of something a bit bigger that I’m keeping quiet at the moment. It’s pretty weird, and probably will make people frown and spit their porridge in to their mum’s faces. But I don’t care anymore, it’s just about making beautiful music, whatever genre it goes under. I’m also working on a project with Australian emcee Brad Strut, and working on some tracks with Sir Smurf Lil, Eslam Jawaad, Verb T, SonnyJim Skandal, Jehst, Stiggy and a bunch of people. Tons to watch out for!
For even more information about The Last Skeptik catch him on his web site and MySpace.
Halca + Yucali= HalCali– simple. The female duo exploded onto the Japanese scene in 2003, with the single “Tandem” which entered the Oricon Charts (think Japanese Billboard) at #19. In 2008, 5 years later, HalCali made their U.S. concert debut… about a week and a half ago. While neither Halca nor Yucali is old enough to drink a beer in the States, the two decided to sit down (read: email via a translator) with Flight 808 and talk about their music, fashion endeavors, and future.
Tommy: You just had your first concerts a few days back. How does performing in the U.S. differ from performing in Japan? Did you enjoy it? Were you at all uneasy?
Halca: At first, I felt uneasy with how many people would come to the venue, and if they would respond to us in a good way. However, the result is that audience liked the music and came to the venue with joy. It’s a universal situation regardless of countries. One thing I was delighted about is that American people responded to us and expressed their feelings very clearly.
Yucali: I’ve performed in France before. Overall, audiences overseas are very quick in response. So, I really enjoy performing overseas. Rather than feeling uneasy, I feel excited.
Tommy: Have you been here before? If not, what about our culture has caught you off guard so far?
Halca: Nothing.
Yucali: I’ve been to Hawaii for pleasure.
Tommy: You both got started in the music industry very early on, in your early teenage years. As you’ve gone through such a formative time, how has your sound and style changed? How is Halcali in 2008 different from Halcali in 2003?
Halca: It has 6 years since we debuted, so some changes must have happened. However, it’s not easy to express with words. It should be natural that we changed our musical tastes during those years. However, our policy is to create enjoyable music, so we feel the same as ever.
Yucali: When we debuted, we’re 15 years old and knew nothing. So, I felt our adult staff created and produced us like a toy. Currently, we enjoy being HALCALI. Music style is same as ever and doing music activity freely based on HIP HOP. Our motto is ‘HALCALI and producers create happy music”.
Tommy: Your music videos are absolutely incredible, especially to a viewer like me who is most familiar with American music videos. They look supremely fun to make. What is the most enjoyable or memorable experience you’ve had in shooting a video?
Halca: Shooting video clip is one of the most favorite sessions, so I’m very happy to hear that you liked them. I feel most impressive with the video shooting for “Strawberry Chips”. It was hard to forget because I was wrapped with raw whip cream. Also I felt interesting with Christmas-like costume.
Yucali: We’re doing choreography by ourselves, so video clip means a lot to us in showing our songs. Choreography is created based on meaning of lyrics, so we’re happy if you notice them. It’s very difficult to choose the most favorite clip, but ‘Tandem’ and ‘Marching March’ are my favorites.
Tommy: In your lyrics, you’ve referenced Eminem, Slick Rick, and Public Enemy, to name a few. Who are your favorite American hip-hop artists?
Halca: Missy Elliott, Beastie Boys, etc.
Yucali: Kanye West, Pharrell Williams, Missy Elliott, etc.
Tommy: Who are your biggest musical influences in Japan?
Halca: RIP SLYME
Yucali: RIP SLYME, Schadara Parr
Tommy: Recently, you have been featured in fashion magazines. Do you have plans to continue with fashion or pursue any other ventures apart from your music?
Yucali: It’s very much enjoyable to wear different type of clothes and be shot on fashion/culture magazines, so we would like to continue it.
Halca: We really enjoy it, so if we have opportunities in the future, we would like to do it.
Tommy: What’s next for HalCali? Another album? A tour?
Yucali: Hopefully we’ll perform in France, release new album by the end of this year or ealry next year at the latest. So, we’re currently working on recording. Please look forward to it!
I have decided the world officially works in strange ways. When I sat down to write this article I was in a miserable mood. Having just gotten caught in the rain on my way home from work I was soaked, cold and cursing out my lack of an umbrella. I popped in Transitions, the first full-length album from Dutch producer Arts the Beatdoctor to get my mind on to other things. As the rain continued to pour outside my window, I cracked a smile and couldn’t help but realize I had found the perfect rainy day nocturnal hip-hop.
Arts the Beatdoctor is a bit of an enigma, to say the least. Scouring the Internet for any factual information I could find about the Beatdoctor’s true identity gave me meager results. What I did find was a jokester who revels in his enigmatic alter-persona. His website proclaims that “there is a new kind of medical ‘expert’ called a Beatdoctor who goes about the hospital, indiscriminately prescribing unhealthy doses of cinematic, dark and melancholic hip-hop beats to unsuspecting patients.†He then continues to describe his dosage and how the medicine feels. Now not to go after the obvious pun here, but I’m pretty confident to say that this music is by no means unhealthy, and possibly just what the doctor ordered.
In 2003 Arts made his official debut producing a track for the Lord Cyrus “Diamonds R 4Ever†compilation alongside MF Grimm. He later went on to create an EP entitled Fragments that was released on Unexpected Records. When discussing his breakthrough into the music industry, Arts mentions Dutch rappers Pete Philly and Perquisite, two artists I’m proud to say were previously covered in Flight 808. Arts says, “I have to thank Pete Philly a lot. He picked up one of my demo CD’s when I was still in my ‘indescribable abstract music’ phase. I guess he heard the potential, because we talked a bit and decided to make some music together.†Arts has since contributed with Pete Philly on albums and on a joint tour in 2007. Transitions was released in 2007 on Amsterdam-based record label Unexpected Records.
As a producer’s producer, Arts has created an album that sounds like the work of a small jazz band, not a one man-show, and definitely not the work of a one-man producer. Featuring keyboard, drum and bass sounds as well as guest appearance from Dutch rappers Pete Philly, Sense and The Proov the songs seamlessly transition from jazz to ethereal piano to trip-hop beats. Each song has a laid-back, cinematic feel that creates a specific ambiance, that of smoky bars, late-night conversations, and the wee hours before dawn when the world is eerily quiet yet also amazingly alive.
One of the best tracks on the album is the title track, Transitions. Capturing a late night ride home on the subway, the track is laced over a repetitive piano line and a saxophone sample. With sounds of the subway screeching in the background Proov rhymes, “Clearing out the mind/ peering out the window/watching the world pass by me so quickly/reflects who I am but also contradicts me/Rattling ringtones from babbling bimbos/Toilet decay, too many delays/Fuck it, its all part of the norm/Finally, last stop, station, last platform.â€
on you tube (no video, just audio)
Also check out The Anthem featuring Pete Philly. Definitely the most up-beat track on the album, the track bounces along over a sexy bass line with a chorus that chants “Arts the Beatdoctor, just give me a beat and I’ll spit something proper.†About halfway through the song, the instruments cut out, and an endearing a capella stylized with doo-wop harmonies harks back to barbershop tunes.
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There are also a ton of tracks floating around on the Internet that are not his album.
Check out the Hide Remix featuring Senna, a soul singer from the Netherlands. The song blends Res-like melodic lines over a chill trip hip-hop beat. On that note, if you haven’t, please check out the American hip-hop/soul singer Res. She was featured on Talib Kweli’s Reflection Eternal as well as on her solo album How I Do. (shameless plug for music I love that I think you should love to)
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After getting my Arts the Beatdoctor fix, I have to say I now know exactly what kind of music to put on the next time it rains all day and honestly I hope it rains again tomorrow.
Although b-boying and hip hop dancing has become the dominant form of hip hop in Southeast Asia, every locale has a few crew trying to hold it down for real hip hop music. In Taiwan, the TriPoets (pronounced Zam-P in Chinese) are one of a few underground hip hop crew grinding away for years to master their musical craft and gain respect and a bit of notoriety along the way.
Founded in the summer of 2002, TriPoets consists Teacher Lin, Ill Mo and Shortee. They purposefully pattern themselves after their American Golden Age idols such as Black Moon, Common and A Tribe Called Quest. Subsequently, their music is often jazz-sample based. They rhyme in Mandarin, a language so difficult to rhyme in that it has taken years to find a way to make it sound natural. TriPoets released a mixtape in 2004, “Listen & Speak†and have done performed in Taiwan with such acts as Ice-T, Public Enemy, Supernatural, Toni Blackman and Kero One (San Fran).
Ill Mo took a minute away from finishing his Master’s Thesis (an analysis of Spike Lee’s film “Bamboozled†relative to post-modern black identity issues) to spread some knowledge of Taiwanese hip hop and the essence of TriPoets.
Can you tell us about how hip hop first came into Taiwan?
Mo: It came to Taiwan in many ways. Around late 80′s, influenced by the movies “Flashdance”,”Wild Style” and “Beat Street”, young kids start to b-boy. And big companies such as Coca-Cola started to host big dance competitions. As time went on, the competitions started to generate attention from the record companies and TV shows, so they decided to create pop groups who incorporate a hip hop image and dance moves to attract the young audience.
After that, the most popular group called L.A. Boyz was born, consisted with 3 members born in the U.S, with strong image looking like Kris Kross, they were very successful, who also started a trend for street dance. And then there was Ju Tou Pi, he was a musician who incorporates the technique of sampling and rapping to reflect the political and social issues in Taiwan.
However, none of the above had a clear image of an “MC.” Until the year 2000, MC Hotdog released his first single with the style similar to Eminem, criticizing the pop-music scene in Taiwan, the idea of a rapper became more clear. However, with the strong influence from the early days, the dance aspect of hip hop is still the strongest in Taiwan.
TriPoets – Anaconda (feat MC Hotdog):
I know MC Hotdog was a big deal in hip hop there. Were there any other like him doing their thing in hip hop?
MO: Yes, there are, shout out to my man Dog G. He played an important role to MC Hotdog’s success, also accompany him on a lot of his early works. Dog G released his independent album in mostly Taiwanese, the native language in Taiwan. He is known for his political stand and had been interviewed by many foreign media such as CNN and Time magazine, for that he is strongly supportive of the independence of Taiwan. He is also one of the most influential figures in the hip hop community, especially in the southern Taiwan, in his hometown Tainan City.
Is hip hop in Taiwan mainly represented by music (MCs and producers) or do the other elements also shine (graffiti writing, b-boying, DJing)?
Mo: As we mentioned above, the b-boys and street dance is still the dominant element of hip hop in Taiwan. They can be seen behind pop stars doing dances. It doesn’t matter mainstream or underground, the b-boys are very active in Taiwan. As for DJs, they can be seen in clubs spinning, and graf writers can apply their skills to modern art and designing. Sadly, there are not too many “true” hip hop acts here in Taiwan as far as music is concerned. And that is exactly why we are still doing our thing.
What is the hip hop scene like in Taiwan right now?
Mo: Commericialized. And there are less and less shows and gigs for true hip hop supporters. There are die hard fans for it, but most of the times they are just not enough for the people working hard, fighting to make good music.
How did you first get into hip hop?
Shortee: When I was in junior high school, I first heard of Kris Kross. It caught my attention immediately. And for the events, I first went to the party held by Def Soul (the first organization to promote hip hop parties in Taiwan). Around year 1999, DJ Chicano was spinning, and he is still spinning till now, he is a strong influence in my early days.
Mo: My first hip hop CDs were Biggie’s “Ready to Die”, Snoop and Warren G’s first albums. It was also around my junior high school days. And I also went to Doobiest (the Tribal Streetwear Clothing shop founded by DJ Chicano and his friends), it was the hip hop information center back then with dancers and DJs. And I also went to some of the Def Soul parties as well.
How did TriPoets get together?
Mo: We first met in 1999, when one of our member Teacher Lin received a head position in Hip Hop Culture club in his university. Based on our passion for music and similar taste, we started to write rhymes and perform together. By 2002, the TriPoets was officially formed, after we had accumulate enough works, we released our first underground mixtape, which was also the first underground hip hop/rap music release in Taiwan. From then on we worked even harder to reach better quality, and finally we are putting out our official release in 2008 June through True Color, and the name of the album will be called “The Beginning of Rhymes.” It is our heart and soul in the album, hope the audience can feel our passion for the music.
What is the purpose of your music?
Shortee: To get paid and get laid (just kidding). Seriously, we aim to entertain and educate the audience through the music.
Mo: To incorporate our lives into rhymes, and to show that it is possible to overcome the obstacle of language and affect people with the rhymes. Basically, to make dope rhymes and dope music to touch people like how hip hop moved our hearts.
Tell us about your process of writing songs. Do you start with lyrics or beats? Is it hard to find recording studios there?
Shortee: It happens in both ways. There is no limit to it.
Mo: Thank God for Shortee. He has some equipment in his house where we can record the demos and he does production as well, and True Color has a official studio called Insert, which can provide quality booth and microphone and amp.
Describe your live stage show.
Mo: We tend to interact with the audience while getting our message across. It is very powerful and live. Also, we try to expand on the musical side by collaborating with bands and DJs as well.
What can we expect from your new album?
Shortee: The Golden Age type of hip hop, reminiscent of the good ol’ days, true skills of Mandarin rap and the art of sampling.
Mo: It is doable for listeners, we created the album based on the blueprint of classic hip hop albums, also to pay homage to the forefathers who paved the way in the past, much respect to them.
TriPoets – Used to Love Her:
What plans do TriPoets have for the future?
Shortee: Keep focusing on Mandarin rap skills development, to show that with the Chinese language we can still create dope hip hop music. And just to create dope hip hop music in general for music is the universal language.
Mo: Just to make good hip hop music that can touch people’s souls. And of course we’d like to step outside to Asia or different places of the world. We’re down to collaborate with dope artists all around the world, perhaps we will be doing something with Kero One soon. Hope that we can spread our music around the world. Also, don’t forget to check out “The Beginning of Rhymes” dropping in June 2008. Peace!
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The more esoteric and remote the artist, the more exciting my job gets. This post began when I stumbled upon Grundig, a Russian underground legend- compared by fans on a message board to Tupac and Pushkin- who died at 25 to a heroin overdose. I then discovered that he was 1/2 of the duo which translates as “Slaves of the Lamp:” a reference to drug addiction. Grundig wrote all of the lyrics and composed most of the beats for Rabi Lampi. Last but not least, the discovery of the video “TV Shit” on YouTube put me over the edge. I had to do some deciphering, and by no means am I done yet.
Above is the original cassette cover art for their first and only release, 1998′s “This Is Not Painful.” Below is the artwork from a more recent reissue. Decidedly less gritty.
In 2001, after Grundig’s death, the album was re-issued to feature the track “Dedication” – a song by the remaining Slave (“Jeep”) featuring the DOB Community and YG. Somehow, I navigated a website entirely in Russian and nabbed some mp3s from the album. Check them out, along with the “TV Shit” video:
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My friends often ask me how I find the artists for Flight 808- how I find myself capable of judging non-English hip-hop. My answer is always a combination of production, flow, and what I read about their “message” from other websites. While I’m excited about the story of Rabi Lampi and specifically Grundig, I really haven’t found anything about the content of their lyrics. Grundig also has a book out (I’m assuming it’s poetry), so this info is waiting for me somewhere. Flight 808 will get to the core of this mysterious, short-lived duo… stay tuned for Slaves of the Lamp pt. 2!
EDIT: Shouts to Konstantin for ripping me a new one on numerous errors in my post. Hopefully, things look better now. Konstantin also informed us that while Grundig was only half of the group in terms of members, he wrote all of the lyrics and composed most of the beats. Thanks again Konstantin. Translations forthcoming!
I once made the statement that Nomadic Massive was single-act embodiment of international hip-hop, but Maga Bo just might make me eat my words. A DJ / Producer based in Rio de Janeiro, Maga Bo has recorded in Morocco, South Africa, India, and Senegal. In World Up’s Mixtape, Maga Bo blends traditional and contemporary sounds from around the globe, providing a diverse soundscape for hip-hop giants Saul Williams, Gift of Gab, and K’Naan, to name a few of the English speakers that I could detect. The mix, almost 62 minutes long, can be heard in its entirety on the player below:
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In other news, Flight 808 is growing every day! Whoddathunk it? That said, we’re looking to add a few more writers before we get into all sorts of trouble this summer. Really, all sorts; it’s going to be an exciting time. If you’re interested, there are opportunities to do interviews, short pieces, long pieces, whatever. It’d probably be more professional to figure out if my @ flight808 email addy is working, but I’m just going to leave my personal email address up here for a few days so people can get at me: tommyabu @ gmail . com
Think it over yo! More goodies coming up in a few days. Peace.
Okay, if you read 
Where to start? Well, I could start at the beginning, but I got into hip-hop in 1990 so the Old School of UK hip-hop is something I had to learn about retrospectively. There are already a lot of articles (on-line) about the history of the scene which is fairly well documented so instead of going into that, I’ll give an overview of my personal experience, and introduce the readers to a few things they are less likely to know about.
