Jun122009

DJ JS-1…i’d rather eat a ham sandwich….


Published
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admin
on June 12, 2009
in Uncategorized
. 5 Comments

When I met DJ DJS-1 for the first time, I liked him immediately.  He’s opinionated, funny, talkative, and intelligent.  Over the years since we met, he has helped me out whenever he could, always on the look out.  He’s got a new album out, and so I asked him if he’d like to do an interview for me.  He said he’d love to, and how about if he interviewed himself…..

So here we have the DJ JS-1 exclusive interview.  When I read this interview I laughed out loud.  It is controversial, a little bit cocky, certainly entertaining and it is guaranteed to piss some people off.  Maybe this will be the push I need to get y’all to leave some comments on my blog. LOL.
Scattered throughout this interview are photos of DJ JS-1 taken when we first met,  as well as a snippet from his new album No Sell Out, and really cool video montage.  Enjoy the read, and the music.
And now…..
Why DJ JS-1 would rather eat a ham sandwich…..
Who the hell are you? How can you have done all these things and i not know who you are?
First, I’m DJ JS-1 born in Queens, New York, in the mid 70’s. I’m a hiphop dj, producer & graff writer. I’ve been doing this since the late 80’s. As a graff writer i write Jerms. I’ve been deejaying for Rahzel since 1999 and I am also one of the Rock Steady Crew deejays. Anyways, you probably haven’t heard of me for a few reasons. You’re lazy and you only listen to what’s on the radio. LOL. Well, that’s part of it, but I’ve always been the true meaning of independent. I never had any label or any publicist or fancy-manager-chick or any of that to support what i do. I simply do everything myself and maintain quite fine that way. I may give up some publicity at times or my name may get left out of discussions it should be in, but for every person that doesn’t know, there is some that do and love it. If you like indie hiphop and the raw-boom-bap, east coast sound, then at this point, you should have heard of me. Jeeeesh, just go on google.com and type DJ JS-1!
That’s true you can find anything on search engines nowadays. You can find a midget hooker with 12 toes on craigslist and have her at your house in 45 minutes for $100. Don’t ask why i know that. Anyways, i heard you have a new album coming out? I saw some of those MCees you have on their, sounds classic!?!?
Yeah i have a new album called NO SELLOUT dropping in late June on Fatbeats. I just recently dropped a full length album for SADAT X of Brand Nubians last month, but this is my own solo album. It has over 40 MCees and 20 new songs. I produced the whole album. It features some of my favorite MCees, both older and new. I have features from KRS, Pharoahe Monch, Canibus, Large Professor, Rahzel, Killah Priest, Chino XL, EMC
Was it easy to put that project together or is that a dumb question?
That is a really dumb question. It was difficult for many reasons. Spending lots of time traveling makes doing anything hard. Between my schedule and all of these different artists, it gets crazy trying to coordinate. Then, like i said before, i do everything myself, so it’s a ton of work. Musically the most difficult part is getting people to use the beat you specifically wanted them to use, and then making sure artists who are on the same songs but are not recording at the same time, write similar verses to fit the concepts. Over all, it’s not soo bad except for the amount of time that passes because of conflicting schedules and occasionally, extremely lazy rappers. LOL.
So what is the actual JS-1 recording process? Go through the creation of a song from start to finish for me….
It usually goes something like this…  I’m driving somewhere in my car, accidentally flip to a local radio station playing hip-pop and hear the new Kayne or Lil Wayne or whoever the clown of the year is. It usually puts me in a bad mood when i hear shit like that, so when i get home, i rush into the studio, close the door and start making some beats that sound the way we like it. Then I’ll make something and get this idea or feeling that a specific MC or group would sound good over this track. Next i hunt them down, if i don’t have their info. After i connect with them i explain what I’m doing, many of them know me already and know what i do, etc.. Then i usually send the certain beat i want them to use, explain the concept and set up a time to record vocals or nowadays many of them send me their vocals. Then i arrange and sequence the track, add the scratches and sound fx, and we’re on our way. 95% of the time all the ideas are mine, from the beat, the concept and feel of the song, the chorus, etc. The hard part is sometimes getting people to rhyme over the beat I want them to use. If you give a rapper several choices, they will always pick the beat that sounds the closest to what Jay Z would think is the “club-banger”.. DERRRR…DORKS…  LOL. it’s soo true though.. Rarely do they pick a beat that suits them or what their fans want, in my opinion, so i try to force them on specific beats. I don’t make club-singles, i make good hiphop songs to listen to. So, for my album, i try to avoid that style of stuff. I have a feel for this album i was trying to stick with.
So for your NO SELLOUT album, what is the feel and concept of the album?
First, a SELLOUT is someone who is doing something against their better judgment, strictly for money and fame, etc.  Back in the day, before HipHop grew into a business, if you copied someone, did something someone else was already doing, or tried to make a pop record to please radio formats or cornball record label a&r’s, you got labeled a SELLOUT and abused by other MCees. Today, it has become the norm to copy what is popular, labels look for the “next” whoever is “hot” right now, and EVERYONE, including so-called indie artists secretly want to be Jay-Z and impress radio crowds who will never like them anyways. Everyone spends most of their time trying to figure out how to sell-out. It’s insane.  Even Kayne was running around with a back-pack talking about Rawkus records when he first dropped. Now he is in a shiny suit, with a sonic-the-hedge-hog haircut, Kool Moe Dee’s glasses, and singing (BADLY) with an effect on his voice only  because that was a popular trend. what a loser.  So, much like everything i make, I’m trying to give the late 80’s / 90’s hiphop fan something they can still appreciate.  I’m using older production techniques and styles to give my album that feel. I don’t want it to sound like everything else that’s out today.
Do you listen to ANY new artists or music?
Yes of course. There is a lot of new music that’s out that I love, but you just might not know of it. I like Marco Polo & Torae’s new album. I like EMC (Masta Ace, Strick, Punch & Wordsworth), the new Blaq Poet album, Akrobatik, etc.. There is a lot of good music, it’s just that now you have to do research in-order-to find it. Even when you go online everything is soo flooded that you have to look for what you want. That’s the main difference in why soo many artists are successful. It’s options… If you have your CD in every major store, right up in the front, and the store takes 100 copies, you are going to sell more than the guy who cant get his CD in every store and if they do, they only take 5 copies. So naturally they are going to sell more. That plus the industry machine that supports them with publicists, promotion, TV appearances, and magazine/newspaper writers who are given a press release and simply print it word-for-word. If the playing field were evened out, more artists could thrive instead of the ten that do well. Here’s a different way of looking at it… There is 300 million people in the United States. It would be a safe estimate to say that almost every in the country heard of and knows who Kayne West or Lil Jon is, right? So lets just say only 200 million people know who they are, and those 200 million people have EASY access to purchasing one of his albums at their local store like Wal-Mart, at the mall, and online, right? Ok, well, he only sold 1 or 2 million records? But 200 or more million people know of it, heard it, have access to it? So does 198 million people think its bad or not worth listening to or buying, right? That’s not good numbers for all that hype and promo. On the other hand, some indie groups, who no one heard of, and all the stores won’t take their album, have only a 100,000 people who might have heard of them or know where to buy their music. And, they sell 15 to 25,000 albums. Now those numbers are much better in comparison, right? So maybe if they had equal billing, exposure and access to their albums, they would sell a whole lot more too. Anyways, bottom-line is, there is enough deejays and people to play, buy and support the popular shit, I fight the losing battle with pride and do what I love for the “other” hiphop fans. Can’t just be a ying, gotta be a yang…
Is this the type of shit you think of because you have soo much time to sit around on planes and airports when you are traveling?
Well I do have lots of time to kill in airports, planes, trains, and automobiles, that’s for sure. I’m always thinking about something. That something usually ends with “what the fuck is wrong with everyone, or how can people be this dumb..” Actually, I enjoy people watching at airports. It can be soo entertaining watching some idiot try to ram his gigantic suitcase in the overhead even though there is NO WAY it will fit. But being serious, I’m always plotting my next song or album and constantly in thought. What most people wouldn’t know is that I love history and sometimes take my time on planes to read and research stuff that I like to debate and argue other people over. I enjoy politics and debating that too, so you’ll usually find me reading something like that on the plane, besides thinking of ways to take down the Black -Eyed Peas once and for all! LOL
Let’s talk about the new technology like Serato for deejays. What do you think about it, do you use it, do you recommend it?
This is an easy answer. I LOVE Serato. Of course you should use it, duh. Ok, I LOVE records too, always have, spent TONS of money on them, still have a bunch and I love people who collect records, that’s great. However, many of the people who collect records don’t have to tour around the world and play those records or carry them 13,000 miles to Perth, Australia. So, once i knew that i could do everything with Serato records that I can with regular vinyl, of course I got it immediately. Now I’m not destroying my records, don’t have to break my back carrying records, can bring 200,000 songs with me everywhere I go, etc…  Look, when it comes to new gear, if you don’t get with the times, you are only fooling yourself. Records are like a horse-n-carriage, Serato is like a Ferrari. Understand? I’m not knocking vinyl, like I said, I collected it my whole life. To me, the main issue with Serato is that now EVERYONE with some mp3’s thinks they are a dj. There is whores all over who now DJ. Ooops, did i say whores? I meant, chicks with breast-implants, who wear very little clothing, have no DJ skill, excellent blow-job skillz, an iPod and extensive knowledge of Pussycat Dolls songs. Anyways, for that reason Serato sucks! Watching washed-up producers, old rappers with no work, whores, d-list reality tv stars, and young kids with famous parents all become “deejays” is kinda terrible. BUT, the same goes for people who collect actual vinyl too. I know lots of people with great collections that cant dj for shit. I don’t wanna hear them try to spin either. Whether its a large collection of mp3’s or a large collection of vinyl, if you suck, you suck. I always say this… I have a HUGE collection of baseball cards, but that doesn’t mean I can play centerfield for the Yankees. Like Hank Shocklee (Public Enemy producer for those who don’t know) told me… As he was growing up, he couldn’t wait to get the new drum machine or piece of equipment, learn it, and be better than everyone else with it. And I agree. I have serato and will abuse you with it… LOL
I’m going to ask you random VS questions, you tell me which one you prefer…
Big VS Tupac
Biggie
Tupac VS Ham N Cheese Sandwich
Ham N Cheese Sandwich
Nas vs Jay Z
Nas (is that seriously a question?)
Italian VS Thai Food
hahahahahaha C’mon, stop it! No trendy shit…
EastCoast VS WestCoast
There is no East Coast. You mean, NY & Philly VS rest of the country, LOL.
Chemotherapy VS Kayne West
Chemotherapy
McDonald’s VS BurgerKing
White Castle!
Kobe VS Lebron
Lebron (but really John Stockton)
De La Soul VS Tribe Called Quest
Wow… De La Soul for a few reasons…
Democrat VS Republican
I’m clearly a third party guy, but I would say Republican
Nike VS Adidas
MY ADIDAS (R.I.P. JMJ)
Premier VS Dre
I like the guy who makes his all his own music better
If you could make an album with ANYONE on it, dead or alive, name some of the artists that would be featured on DJ JS-1’s ultimate album…
whew.. i know i’m going to leave some people out but off-the-top-of-the-head..here goes.. Jimmy Page, KRS, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Roger Waters, Ozzy, Tom Morello, Rahzel, Redman, Al Green, Todd Terry or Mantronix, Pharoahe Monch, Paul Simon, Dj Premier, Robert Plant, Black Violin, Common, Rick Rubin, Chris Martin of Coldplay, George Clinton, GZA, Phil Collins, Bill Withers, Antibalas, De La Soul, Soulive, Chuck D, Frankie Limon, Paul McCartney, Slick Rick, and Jim Morrison. (there is obviously a lot more…)
What is the craziest thing anyone has ever said to you on tour?
Hands down, by FAR the craziest thing ever said to me was this….  I have to set it up first… We just got off stage doing a festival in Canada and a group of girls came over to get mix cd’s, autographs, and talk, etc.. They all eventually walked off but one girl stayed behind. She seemed normal, we were talking about music and stuff like that. I wasn’t trying to “get groupies” or nothing like that, I’m married. Anyways… after a while, this girl hints that she is trying to be “groupie-like”, LOL, and then whispered in my ear… “I want you to fuck me with your foot.” WHAT?!?!? Did I not hear that correctly? But, she wasn’t joking and explained to me that she has this fetish and wants a “big-toe” in her now! LOL. needless to say I was speechless. Talk about putting your foot in your mouth! LOL. But, that has always stood out to me as the craziest thing anyone ever said. Oh, and one time some kid did argue with me that Lil Wayne is the best rapper ever, so actually that is the craziest thing anyone ever said to me.
What does JS-1 do with his free-time?
I have no free-time. Well, when I do take time away from producing & deejaying, I like to watch basketball games, baseball games, play basketball, draw, do graff, annoy people, hang with my wife, play with the dog (I have an insane pug with anxiety issues), read US history essays online or books, watch history & discovery channel, argue with people that we didn’t land on the moon, and cook (but not clean up after myself)
IF you could convince chocolate Jesus- aka our President to enact a new law, what would it be?
Damn, that’s tough, there is a lot I would like to change. I don’t wanna legalize marijuana, that’s dumb. I get great weed now, and I don’t get taxed on it! I would however like to change the voting laws. I do think you should have to pass a test in-order-to cast a vote. It should not be “your right” to vote unless your vote can be based on an educated decision that you make by knowing the facts and history of what is going on in our country. You need to pass a test to drive a car, but you can blindly pick the guy in charge of the world’s largest nuclear weapons stash? Weird. You can vote, one year after you are allowed to see an “R” rated movie. That’s even crazier! So in 12 months, you gained soo much wisdom, that previously you couldn’t handle seeing BORAT but now you can pick the guy in charge of the free world. Hmmmm. Watching the people who line-up to vote at these past elections is sad and scary for our country. Whether it’s two red-necks with shotguns who would shoot the shit out of a defenseless animal and an abortion clinic doctor or it’s two blindly-excited naive college kids who drank the Obama Kool-Aid in between blasting the latest T-Pain album, it doesn’t matter, they know very little. They know little about how government works, about the history of our country, about the making and passing of bills, and most things that are very important when making a decision as big as picking a president. Without a 3rd party who gets equal billing and a voting test to ensure the voters are informed with facts, we will never have a fair and normal election in the country. We should go back to the way it was originally constructed by our founding fathers. No Vice President candidates. The winner is President, the loser is Vice President, end of story. A little unity people… Hello!
Besides what you just said, what else do you say that annoys people? Lets get back to the music though.
This bother a lot of people, mainly deejays. I like to say this… Find me ANY producer in the world and i will destroy them on the turntables. (a real credible producer with multiple songs or album out with credible artists on them, not some turntablist kid who put out a wack scratch-album and thinks he produces). Next find me ANY turntablist and i will destroy them on the production side. I cant think of any turntablist who has produced more solo albums and songs with as many credible names as I have. Especially on their own with no label or help. When you sit back and really think about it, there may only be a few people who fit into my category. It’s hilarious and it annoys people because its true.
If you could wave a magic wand and change something about what deejays do in a club or a party what would it be?
I would first, wave the wand and make the person deejaying be an actual dj. Not some trendy Asian whore in lingerie playing an iPod. Next I would wave the wand and eliminate Fatman Scoop’s voice from being played over EVERY single song that comes on. That’s sooooo wack. All these djays playing other deejays mixes or remixes with Fatman Scoop over it screaming “put ya hands up” and all that nonsense is HORRIBLE! When all the best deejays spun back in the day, they played the actual song and if they were gonna mix it, they did it live and there was no one screaming “independent ladies and who’s fucking tonight” over it. They ruin all these songs. If i was one of those commercial artists I would HATE that they ruin my song and then don’t even play the real version in the club. They play the version they downloaded with Scoop yelling. I mean at first the idea was alright, but jeeeeesh, EVERY song has that now. C’mon people, slap yourself. Then I would wave that wand and take the $50,000 they give some wack techno-house deejay and give it to a dj who can do more than mix two cd’s together, sipping a fruity drink, headphones on the shoulder, foot-tapping, first-pumping, with a good publicist. Fuck them dudes in their ass. Oops, then again, they like that shit, literally. LOL. I would take Tiesto’s pay check and give it to Rob Swift….
Lets pretend i know nothing about classic hiphop or good hiphop, who do you recommend i check out?
Go buy this… Ultramagnetic MC’s Critical Beatdown (Listen to it a lot..you wont understand it, but listen), The complete album collections of De La Soul, EPMD, A Tribe Called Quest, Rakim, Masta Ace, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, KRS-ONE. Public Enemy’s first 3 albums, Slick Rick’s The Great Adventures of…, RUN DMC (You should know this!), Mantronix (Do your research), Big Daddy Kane’s first 3 albums, Kool G Rap’s first 3 albums, Del the Funky Homosapien (You might not get it, but listen!!!), Main Source’s Breaking Atoms album and anything Large Pro did, Wu-Tang Clan’s 1st album and the group member’s 1st solo albums…Buy Ghostface’s collection! Gangstarr – everything…they’re are the epitome of hiphop to me. Stuff like this… there is tons, but you need to know these people, listen and try to understand…
Why is Gangstarr the epitome of hiphop to you?
First, lets get this outta the way. If there is not scratching on your song, its not a hiphop song. Find me a hard-rock song without guitar on it? lemme know when you do… I don’t care who you name or what song you come up with that is good and everyone loves…I repeat…no scratches not hiphop… no guitar not hard-rock… So now.. Gangstarr epitomizes hiphop to me because they are original, they make their OWN music, they perform on stage, the DJ and MC get equal credit, they have scratching on everything, and they never do what trends dictate, they make trends. That’s what hiphop is all about to me. Other groups hire popular producers are use a bunch of different producers. I don’t know when or why that became the trend but that is THE WACKEST THING in the world to me. It’s not your album if you didn’t make it? If you hired a bunch of people and then picked a beat from different producers “beat cd’s” then you DID NOT MAKE AN ALBUM. The best groups of all-time ALL made their own albums and that is hiphop. Public Enemy, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Gangstarr, Hiero Crew, Dilated Peoples, etc.. Even Kane, G Rap, Rakim, etc.. they would usually stick to one main producer like Marly Marl to put the album together. That’s why all those groups have cohesive albums. Not just a bunch of random songs put together… Like here is the radio song produced by Timbaland, and here is the underground one produced by Premier and here is the thug one produced by Swizz Beats, and here is the r&b song, etc, etc.. that is SOOO CORNY. So for all those reasons and more, that is why Gangstarr and groups like that mean so much to me.
What do you think caused the biggest changes in hiphop over the past 15 years?
Money…  That changes everything. Once big money got involved, hiphop became big business and is run like a Wal-Mart. What’s funny is that now since everyone has been losing money because of the internet and changes in TV programming on MTV, BET, etc.. the business is changing again as we speak. Well besides the obvious money-driven record labels ruining music, there was a way in which it went down, to me… First, i firmly believe that all record label execs are old racists who completely enjoy putting money behind idiots like Lil’ Wayne, Lil’ Jon, and Jay-Z who help destroy their community, ruin childrens minds, and enforce black-stereotypes. They must sit around counting their money, dying laughing while watching kids try to be like Jay-Z with guns and drugs in their community. Two bird with one stone, booom! And if you ever see or meet any of this label people, you’ll get the drift. So you have these labels who sun positive rappers (labeling them underground a lot of the time) and pushing and promoting guys who claim they kill people, have killed people, claim they sell drugs, do sell drugs, get arrested for guns, rape women, etc…  So that takes away from how much “good” music is going to reach the public. Then, comes my controversial idea.. Women ruined hiphop. Hold on, before you go crazy… In the early 90’s EVERYONE dissed r&b, dissed singing on songs, and doing wack dances. Even Q-Tip blatantly dissed R&B music and people who make it. (fact) Then comes along Puffy…  He decides to take popular hiphop tracks and put R&B singing over it (Mary J. Blige) and coin the phrase “hiphop & r&b”, which worked, but doesn’t make any sense. T-Pain and R. Kelly make “rhythm & blues”, i think not…  Anyways.. this music was radio-friendly for the scared program directors who feared Wu-Tang and Black Moon, and so the way to get on the radio was to have EVERY song have a “singing chorus.” This began the major shift, to where singing, cornball dances, and FEMALES loving every song and singing along started to happen. You started to see  hard-core street artists like Nas, Biggie, eventually Jay Z, and even Method Man have radio songs with singing. That is absurd, but yet the girls sang along and money rolled in… Remember Nas in a pink suit singing? Once these guys become sex symbols, it fucks with their brains. Look at Common now, and think back to when he made hiphop songs. Anyways… So then comes Timbaland in the late 90’s and adds in the drum-n-bass grooves to Aaliyah songs and the girls go even crazier. So now, because no one can think of an original idea, they all run to Timbaland to get drum-n-bass sounding beats with singing over it. His double-time grooves and an emergence of down-south artists at the same time, then lead to all these wack bounce beats with singing and now yelling over it (the South likes yelling chants for some reason) All the while catering to women, dancing and clubs. The golden era of hiphop was different. People were trying to write the best verse, have the sickest flow, find the craziest sample, do the best scratch, and now it’s how do I get 15 year old girls to dance to my song and request at “da club.” As this shift in the music happened, it gave radio stations and MTV, BET an excuse to not play the “harder” stuff and keep playing the “fruity” shit. Its funny though, because most of the songs girls love are abusing girls… all the skeet skeet skeet… anyways..  So during this shift, because of people like Puffy and Gay-Z talking only about money, cars, clothes, and how many records they sell, everything turned fruity altogether. You have wanna-bee thug dudes with mean faces in shiny shirts and slacks dancing in some ghetto club with a blue drink in their hand. its completely insane. Jam Master Jay is better off….  And look where we are at now… because the dance thing, fruity shit, singing thing, and all that has now been lumped into one “mash-up” of crap, we are stuck with electro-dance songs with auto-tune by Fergie…I’m good, I’ll go back in listen to my Alkaholiks albums…
Do you talk as much as you type?
WAY more.
How can someone who wants to tell you that you are an asshole contact you?

Peep the video for the No Sellout sampler below:

Download the album sampler here

Jun32009

A computer and a finger, a stereo a tape a me and Del and a nice big plate of fish


Published
by
admin
on June 3, 2009
in Uncategorized
. 2 Comments

As I mentioned before, times have changed for the emcee.  Where Rakim used to write his rhymes while he cooled in his mansion, it seems that may no longer be the case for today’s emcee.  Take Del the Funky Homosapien for example.

Del carried his lap top with him writing and spouting rhymes, humming tunes and tapping his fingers to a beat in his head as we wandered the streets of Denver during our photo shoot.  The laptop had to be with him at all times.  Not only did it have to be with him, it had to be open, and running, and he had to be working on it.  It was very hard indeed for Del to concentrate on anything besides creating, creating, creating.

Which is all good!  Which is what emcees are supposed to do!  I just found it amusing that Del carried a full size laptop with him, and kept working on that song…he had a jones in his bones….and you know he had to do the damn thang.

He also wore his sunglasses, for obvious Del reasons, throughout the majority of the shoot.  He was so tired, exhausted from his extensive touring that his eyes were bloodshot to all get out.  Poor baby!!  He had on those big ass CHIPs type joints.  The kind that are mirrored and show everything in them.  He wore them for the shoot, and he wore them during the performance as well.  If you look closely, ah hell you don’t even have to look that closely, you will see reflected in Del’s glasses his laptop, me, his manager, the crowd, and all kinds of other interesting things.

The excellent thing about photographing Del while he was working on the laptop was that I got the be a voyeur to the making of a soon to be fabulous Del jam.  Who wouldn’t be excited to be standing next to a musical giant while he created his next masterpiece….now….if only I’d have asked him the name of the song he was working on….Oh well.

The show was dope, BukueOne performed first, then Mike Relm came out and did his thing.  Mike’s show is dope, but yo that ill violent shit at the end was not dope.  It was too violent and I had to look away.  Couldn’t stomach it.  Yech.

BukueOne “Final Clues”

Mike Relm feat. Morningwood & Gift of Gab “Body Rock”

Del brought on A+ which was hot!  Love A+!  Love Heiro!  A+ recognized me and gave me the Hip Hop Stage Hug, you know where you bring your arm up and pound your chest with your fist, ah yeah.  Gotta love the love. What’s up A+!!!!

Del the Funky Homosapien “Get It Right Now”

Del the Funky Homosapien “Simple Satisfaction”

Del the Funky Homosapien “I’m Just ****ing Around”

****Bonus****

A+ feat. Del the Funky Homosapien & Pep Love “The Ultimate”

ABNG feat. Del the Funky Homosapien & Trunks “Soul’d”

Highlight of the evening however MIGHT have been the Hip Hop Hipster who showed up in an ensemble she stole off the set of Flashdance. Rocking some super  neon leg warmers, tights, leotard, fanny pack, gold medallion and black converse.  Think I’m lying? Check the flick.

Most importantly download Del’s new album Funk Man (The Stimulus Package) for FREE, look for the music by A+, pick up Mike Relm’s newest joint, and don’t forget BukueOne while you’re at it.

Word.

Jun32009

Rewind That Back – Rhymefest


Published
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admin
on June 3, 2009
in Uncategorized
. 1 Comment

A few years ago my man got to interview one of my favorite emcees, the incredible clever lyricist Rhymefest.  The interview is a good read, and a quick look back into the not so distant past.

REWIND THAT BACK – Rhymefest

SK: I guess the big question everybody wants to know why you rolled with Mark Ronson’s Allido label instead of GOOD Music?

Rhymefest:  Well the whole thing is that Kanye and I have a friendship beyond music, like, you know, I go to dudes house and stay for dinner.  It’s kind of like, if I signed with him, and I felt like I wasn’t being given the attention that I want, or I feel like… Kanye is Kanye, you know what I mean?  He’s the Jay Z of his label…It would affect our friendship. Plus Mark and I have a chemistry of making music, that’s special as well, like even more special than me and Kanye have.  Mark’s whole vibe, like that whole Hip-Hop alternative thing, I really enjoy that.  I feel like I can have a niche or something different as far as hip hop with that. I saved the friendship and created a kingdom of my own.  Also I look at it like, Kanye is a rapper, I didn’t like signing with another rapper.  Mark is a producer/DJ he can give me the feel as far as what other DJ’s want to play. It was a good business decision at the end of the day.  Kanye can still be my friend, and Mark will still be my business partner and friend.

SK:  I noticed you mentioned the “Hip-Hop alternative” sound in your music. I know you did Jackin (It Got Ugly) where you were rhyming over The White Stripes and beats like that. Were you always into like rock music and stuff like that?

Rhymefest: Well, I was always a fan of music in general. Like I look at like, if you’re going to be an artist, you have to be a fan of music.  That’s one thing that a lot of us as rap artists are missing, is that our history of music, well now a days, our history of rap music seems to just start at Tupac and Biggie Smalls. You know what I am saying?

SK: Yeah

Rhymefest: I’m not saying that a lot of those brothers wasn’t what they were, but, in order for us to be as great as them, you know…they knew about you know they knew about Rakim, they knew about AC/DC,  you know what I’m saying? They knew about things that went beyond rap music.  And so, you know working with Mark Ronson allows me to call on my knowledge of music, and also increase my knowledge of music.

SK: Being that you got a lot of notoriety for winning the Scribble Jam, do you think you’ll be boxed in as a battle rapper or is that something that you don’t even worry about?  Cuz when Supernat ‘n Craig G put their albums out, they didn’t sell as well as they could have because they were already put into that role of just being a freestyler.

Rhymefest:  Well you know what’s funny, I believe that, that Scribble Jam was maybe two or three years ago – Uh, I mean, we also, if people don’t want to look at it because if they, if people look at it and see battle rappers could actually make songs, then other rappers would actually have to step up their game …but if you want to really want to look at it…man….Eminem was a battle rapper. One of the best rappers in the game, you know?  Cassidy was a battle rapper. Looks to me like he’s fittin to sell a record. There’s a lot of rappers that were battle rappers, Cam’ron was a battle rapper.  I don’t go into like, you know man….people’s stereotypes and labels is to me what kills hip hop.  It used to be a day where you could take out Biz Markie and play it then take him out, and play Geto Boys, then take them out, and play NWA and take them out and play Big Daddy Kane. And today it’s not like that, today it’s like, do you feel that as a gangster rapper, or do you feel that as a conscious rapper, or do you feel that as a battle rapper, it’s how people market and separate music…and to me that’s not Hip-Hop.  I am an entertainer, I am going to entertain tell stories, you know what I mean?  And bring creativity and a different personality to hip hop, cuz that’s what hip hop is.

SK:  I feel that. That makes sense, now I heard that you were working with ODB before he passed. Where were you when you heard he passed, and how did that affect you?

Rhymefest:  Mark Ronson and I were on a tour, through Louisiana, we were taking a tour through the south, it was during the making of our album, and we needed to do like a little soul searching retreat you know in order to figure out where we were at and how to get to where we were going, while we were on the highway, we heard over the satellite radio that Ol’ Dirty had passed, and man it hit me hard, I felt like, we lost, a very big personality in hip hop.  You know, we lost, somebody who we’ll never forget you know, and it hurt, and then I’m thinking what does that mean for me, as an artist, you know what I’m sayin?  What it meant for me is, I have to step it up. I have to step it, I have to you know, not fill his roll, but fill some type of roll that is now missing.

SK:  Mmmmhmmm OK uhm, one of my favorite songs of yours is called “Reverse Racism” it’s off of…..

Rhymefest: You heard that?

SK: Yeah off of the Vector Sigma jawn??

Rhymefest:  Wow, nobody heard that

SK: (Laughs) Yeah I heard that jawn. On the hook, you’re talkin’ ’bout how white people use the word nigga like inside their home or what ever, when they are pumpin’ the songs, so do you think rappers using the word nigga and how Hip-Hop’s has a broader affect on people, that you have to curb yourself when you use like language like that?

Rhymefest:  No, I think, you know, like, as a artist, it’s my job to bring truth, you know what I’m saying, like as far as me, personally, it’s my job to bring truth to the forefront. Everybody else has to deal with it for what ever it is. But I think one of the problems is, that we don’t deal with truth.  We don’t deal with the fact that yeah, white people say nigga and it may just be inappropriate, you know what I’m saying?

SK:  Mmmmmhmmmm

Rhymefest: And they know it, that’s why they say it in the comfort of they home, but they still say it. So now that it’s brought up, let’s have a discussion. My whole thing is that I can’t solve problems, I can’t say what’s right and wrong, all I can do is bring it up & start a dialogue. And that song was just part of bringing up a dialogue.


SK:  OK I understand that. Recently, I read on the internet, DJ Third Rail, seems to be having some problem with you, what did that stem from?

Rhymefest:  Well, him and I, recently, we worked that out, like a couple of days ago. It was just this thing where I was on this radio show, and you know he was just saying to me that me rappin over, cuz I did a, uh…movie uh…soundtrack for like the rock movie called Rundown, and he was saying to me that you know rappers who get paid to rap have to sell and out and you know, it was a whole sell out movement, and you know, he respected a lot of my old material before I got signed, he thought, you know, in his opinion, that, if I rap over a rock beat, or this or that beat, that I was selling the coaches short. You know what I mean? With commercialism.  And that that was wrong, and you know, I disagreed with that. I felt as though when you got other rappers out here that have nothing to offer they got ways to get it out, so I have to get my message out to as many people as possible, through any means, you know what I mean?

SK: Yeah

Rhymefest:  And I don’t think that for me to get paid for what I do, is selling out. So I disagreed, and we had a little back and forth for a minute, but I called him up on the phone, after we went back and forth on the internet, and different places, on radio, I called him up on the phone, and we just spoke about it personally and we solved it.

SK:  That’s good, a lot of people don’t do that now a days, they just,go back and forth through the media and stuff like that, I’m glad ya’ll got a chance to solve that.

Rhymefest:  Yeah, we worked that out.

SK:  The first mix tape you did was called The Blue Collar mix tape, did you name that blue collar because you felt like you were representing the working class, or was the title just some…

Rhymefest:  Yeah, I feel like I’m representing the working class, and it’s also the name of my up coming, up my forth coming album it’s fit to be called Blue Collar Poppin’

SK: Oh OK

Rhymefst:  And and you know, it’s just about a guy, blue collar poppin, is like a guy who works a regular job, guy who, who grinds, you know what I mean, like everybody else.  Everybody aint sellin drugs, everybody not hustling, you know what I mean? And so this album is representing most people.  But it’s like, we still want to be fly, that’s the collar popping coming in.  We still want to be seen, we still want to shine.  But it’s kind of like, you know, all of my songs are taken through, the day of a guy whose a blue collar average guy, but, but, still trying to shine, throughout his hardships in life.  Like getting up, you know, going to work, clocking in late, leave early, I mean, stuff like that.  It’s funny, it’s ironic, it’s serious, it, like….my album looks at life like if you look at life up close, it can be tragic.  But if you look at it from a distance, it’s like a sitcom.

SK: (laughs) Yeah

Rhymefest: You know what I mean? And so my album out lines all of that.

SK:  Oh Ok that’s cool.  So I know, Mark Ronson and Kanye worked on the album, who else worked on the album, and do you have any guest appearances?

Rhymefest:  Of course, we got ODB, you got Kanye West, uh I got my label mate, Mario, Big Boy, and a crew member of mine Mikkey, as far as production, you got five beats from NO I.D.. He gave me five of his songs, one Kanye West, one Just Blaze, five Mark Ronson and two Cool & Dre.

SK: Oh OK, that sounds dope. Alright, and you also just released A Star Is Born mixtape, what’s on that?  I haven’t had a chance to peep that yet.

Rhymefest: Yeah I did this thing where I battled as rappers who always had beef but never really went at it. So I wrote rhymes, and I battled as if I was them and I hosted it. So it was like Ghostface VS. 50 and Nelly VS. KRS ONE.  It’s them going head to head. And I play each character, so it’s hot.

Check Rhymefest out here

May122009

What’s on your radio? (Intro)


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LL couldn’t live without his radio. Huge giant boom boxes lifted up onto the shoulders of B Boys used to pump out the latest rap jams. Radio in New York was amazing, one of the best things about going to the city was getting to hear rap on the radio. Bigger, badder, deffer, fresher, NY radio was the place to hear the latest and greatest, and usually – the person rhyming was from New York. Trained and raised up in the trenches of New York, emcees battled for airtime on the radio. We all remember Brown Sugar, where Taye Digg’s character, Andre Romulus ‘Dre’ Ellis, believes so much in his artist that he bum rushes the music director at the hottest radio station in New York, forcing her to listen to the demo.

New York radio today is a wasteland. Soul-less, pornographic, repetitive, and boring -  “emcees” pump out “hit” after “hit.” They all sound the same; none of them give any kind of a message, speaks on politics, or gives power to the people. The days of Chuck D and KRS One prophesying on New York, mainstream radio are gone, replaced by Uncle Luke’s protégés, and one hit wonders.

“Whatever happened to the emcee? Times done changed for the emcee.” ~ De La Soul

Radio aside…. today’s market is saturated with interesting emcees rocking the internet. Some are good, some are just plain comedy.  Just google “Swaggasaurus” by The TradeMark Experience and you’ll see one of many examples of what the modern day emcee can share with the world. (HA!)

Our generation had it’s “TradeMark Experience” rappers…anyone remember Lavar and The Vanilla Melt? We had our one hit wonders Skee-Lo “I Wish”, Paperboy “Ditty” but for the most part, hip hop from our generation struggled and strived to prove a point. To prove that they had something to say, stories to tell, secrets to divulge.

It seems that those days are gone and we are bombarded with emcees, EMCEES, discussing nothing but disgusting topics. Soulja Boy “Crank That” or Lil’ Jon “Salt Shaker” or The Ying Yang Twins “Wait (The Whisper Song)”. Huge Craptastic Hits.

Dig a little deeper. Remember tuning into your favorite college radio Hip Hop show, waiting to hear who the special guest that week would be, dying to hear that track your best friend had told you about the week before.  Or how bout waiting til midnight, tuning in the mix shows, the funny hosts, the best mix DJ’s laying it down, doing their thing, playing the freshest of the fresh tunes.  You’d search the stores looking for that one track, finally getting a taped version from the kid down the block or your boy from around the way.

What about that feeling you got from digging for the classics??  Remember what it was like to find that one record that you’d been searching for for years? Local swap meets, Goodwill, your boy’s uncle’s yard sale, the basement of your cousin’s grandmother. There it was – the jacket might be a little dingy, but inside, the vinyl was smooth and grooved and black and waxy. Waiting to be rediscovered, and lovingly placed back into heavy rotation.  Maybe it was a classic jam from back in the day, maybe it was the latest track you heard on the radio, either way – you were thrilled to have found what you were looking for, excited even.

The emcee still exists. Like that old record, or undiscovered track, he or she might not get the play they deserve, and it may be a matter of diggin’ to find that talented emcee. You know the one who lyrically puts people to shame. Whose rhymes are so on point, they send chills up your spine. The ones who make you rewind that back…that’s the joint….

You may not recognize a lot of the emcees I have recently photographed. They might not be household names. They might not be one hit wonders, blasting crap through the speakers of your home boys car. But you might be surprised, delighted even when you hear Che Grand rhyme about women on New York Transit using clever and positive rhymes, or Kaleber rhyme about striving to be an emcee. You might grin and remember when hip hop was fun, and emcees said silly rhymes like “Eeney, meeney, miney, mo good goobelly goo I bumped my toe” when you hear the Bayliens.

 

The emcee is not yet extinct, the emcee is alive and well, living beneath the surface getting ready to bust lose. Take a minute, turn off the radio, dust off your cerebellum, and relocate that place in your brain that had to dig for the good ish. You just might find what you’ve been scanning the dial for.
The following four-part blog is about my recent travels and the photoshoots that accompanied them.  I was privileged to shoot Hip-Hop artists across the spectrum: from emcees with Platinum Records and Major Label Deals, to the DIY rappers Hip-Hop was built on, and those in between who tie it all together.  I hope you enjoy the images, listen to some music, and discover someone new and exciting.  Enjoy!

May122009

What’s on your radio? Pt. I (I had this show I did in Denver…)


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“It’s the Yay baby brothah and I thought you knew.” – Zion I.

I’d been trying to shoot Zion I for a couple of years. Every time I thought it was going to happen, something came up. Usually it was on my end, it seemed like every time they were in Colorado, I was somewhere else. This time we got it done, but we cut it close.

I met up with Zion I in Boulder the same day I was scheduled to fly back East. They were on the road with Kev Choice and The Bayliens Crew.

I was warned about the Bayliens by Tim House, the tour road manager. He told me they were crazy. Yo! They were so much fun!! They LOVED the camera, and it made the shoot so much fun. The photos of these dudes came out lovely. My man Enzyme Dynamite was KILLING me. He loved the camera, he couldn’t get enough of the camera, he asked to take more photos after the other cats split!

He and his crew were mad cool dudes, and so I had to do some diggin’, had to hear what these dudes sounded like. Normally I like to stick around and hear/shoot the show, but I was leaving for the East Coast that night, and didn’t get to. My fabulous boyfriend send me a video they did for their track “Bubble Gum.” The video fit these kids personality to a “t.” It’s funny and silly and reminds me of videos people used to put out when Hip Hop was fun; I especially love the beads Enzyme is rocking – straight ’92. Check it out below.

The Bayliens feat. Cait La Dee “Bubble Gum”

The Bayliens “Welcome to the Bay”

The Bayliens “Rockstar Status”

Cop their album Crop Circles here or download it here

One of the cool things about Kev Choice, is that he is a trained classical pianist.  This is not something you often find in Hip Hop; a pianist who raps??? I read up on him before I went to the shoot, and found his history to be interesting. He’s worked with Yukmouth and Numskull, Martin Luther, DJ Quik, Amel Larrieux, Too $hort, Lauryn Hill, Lyrics Born, Goapele, Michael Franti and Spearhead, and more. He raps, plays the piano, directs his own ensemble, composes, produces, and has two feet in different aspects of the game – a twenty year veteran in both the hip hop and jazz worlds.

As we walked the Boulder streets he hipped me to McCoy Turner, a pianist who played with John Coltrane.  Turner was in Boulder two nights after these guys, and Kev was dying to stay to check him out, but the tour had to go on.  We also spoke about Ben Folds, you know I had to bring up my favorite pianist!!  I encouraged Kev to check him out, don’t front Kev!!

Kev Choice “Time Is Now”

Kev Choice feat. Zumbi “Back Home”

Download Kev Choice’s mixtape The Bailout for FREE here

* Bonus *
Kev Choice “Intro/Hello World” (Live in Bellingham, Washington)

Zion I; the dynamic duo from The Bay. Consisting of Zumbi (formerly MC Zion) and AmpLive, Zion I has been rocking it for over ten years. Their first EP came out in 97 and they are still going strong. As I mentioned earlier, I had been trying to shoot Zion I for a few years. My boyfriend made a bet with me that I couldn’t get AmpLive to smile. It seems every photo he’d seen of Amp had the same facial expression. I got to the shoot determined to make him smile, and wouldn’t you know…….I couldn’t do it. But I almost did. I have to say there is a hint of a smile in this photo here….

It was right after I told him he should go do something he enjoyed….of course I was teasing him, and he ALMOST smiled. But he didn’t. I lost the bet. Not something I am proud of. Be sure to pick up a copy of Zion I’s album The Take Over. You can purchase it here. You can also cop Zion I shirts, mixtape and previous releases here

Zion I “Geek to the Beat”

Zion I “Juicy Juice”

Zion I “The Antenna”

Zion I “The Rebel”

Zion I feat. Ty & Jennifer Johns “Legacy”

Zion I & DJ Toure “World Class Bounce”

* Bonus *
Download Zion I Search & Seizure mixtape for FREE here

Big up to Tim House.  He has been more than willing to work with me, and hook me up with artists as he can. Many thanks to you Mr. House, your help is appreciated.

May122009

What’s on your radio? Pt. II (Go Jam and Jam and Jam)


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“Born and raised in Philly
We go jam and jam and jam actin’ silly” – Fresh Prince

Imagine this. You meet up with an emcee to do a photoshoot at a Community Center in the city. The Community Center has been chosen because of the graffiti on the walls, the art is incredible! You ask said emcee where he would like to start the shoot, “Over there by the wall, over there by that wall, and on the swings.”

Reef The Lost Cauze, hopped happily onto the swings and pumped as I clicked….

Reef also killed me with his shirt. I’m not a huge fan of shirts that have words on them in general. Specifically for photo shoots, it’s a bad idea. The words can get cut off, and look funky, and they distract from the photograph. This shirt was most definitely distracting. Most likely because of the HUGE “F*CK YOU PAY ME” that ran across the shirt. I get it, it’s cool, ….and it’s the name of your label, but yo…….that’s a big one……

Reef has been mad busy; releasing several projects over the last year. He put out his latest solo album A Vicious Cycle (purchase it here), released a collaborative project with producer Stress titled The Stress Files (Cop it here), dropped two EP’s (Big Deal EP and The King and the Cauze EP with King Magnetic), as well as a mixtape with King Magnetic (The King and the Cauze Mixtape) which Reef describes in the following way: “We heard the ’80s were back but all we saw was the nerd version of the ’80s, so this is our contribution to the retro movement — the birth of gangster rap.” You can download the The King and the Cauze Mixtape for FREE here. Also, be on the lookout for the The King and the Cauze album dropping soon.

Reef The Lost Cauze “I Wonder” (Produced by Marco Polo)

Reef the Lost Cauze “Commander in Chief”

Reef The Lost Cauze “The Sound of Philadelphia”

Reef the Lost Cauze “Home”

Reef the Lost Cauze “So Sharp”

Reef the Lost Cauze & King Magnetic “The King & The Cauze”

Reef the Lost Cauze feat. Brother Ali “Big Deal (remix)”

I shot all day at the community center I mentioned before. It’s a local landmark, where the infamous B Boy BBQ takes place every summer. The walls around the center are beautiful. There’s even a few pieces by Pose2 the bummer thing about those particular pieces is that they are behind a big old fence. I tried to get Reef to jump the fence, but he wasn’t havin’ it. So, I tried again with Aeon…he was down. The photos behind the fence are some of my favorites of this up and coming producer.

Be on the lookout for Aeon’s work. He has worked with a lot of the new cats on the scene, Amanda Diva, Tanya Morgan & Mickey Factz to name a few. He also produced the first single (“Girl Talk”) from Che Grand’s debut album Everything’s Good Ugly (in stores 06/09/09). I posted some of his production work and remixes below.

Usher “Love In This Club (Aeon Remix)”

Tanya Morgan feat. Phonte & Brittany Bosco “She’s Gone (aka Without You)” (produced by Aeon)

Torae “Switch (Aeon Remix)”

Heavyweight “Ubiquitous” (produced by Aeon)

Panacea “Katana (Aeon Remix)”

Mickey Factz feat. Tanya Morgan “We Ain’t” (produced by Aeon)

Holly Weerd “Weirdo (Aeon Remix)”

I always consider the light when I’m shooting outside. What’s the weather like, is it raining etc. One thing that doesn’t usually interfere is wind. I think this is because I’m usually shooting men…..which I would love to change (Female artists! Step up!) The wind was killing me while I was shooting Zarinah a.k.a Goldie Jawn. I mean, KILLING ME. It blew her hair around like crazy. It was driving us both NUTS. I’d show you her wind blown look, but I think she’d kill me…lol!!! Look out for Zarinah’s upcoming mixtape Dope Becomes Her.

Zarinah “Touch My Body”

Zarinah & Jonifin “Dangerous”

The last shoot of the day was with producer Haji Rana Pinya of the group Dumhi. We went to his house to do the shoot, and I was just a little bit bummed when I saw the way he had his house lit. There was little to no light. Ugh. I really didn’t want to use flash, I hate flash, it makes the photos so flat. So I started looking at ways to use the available lighting and my really fast lens. We went out onto his back porch and I set him under the porch light. He pulled out a smoke, and I started clicking. I was really excited about one particular photograph of him lighting the smoke. It’s looking down, you can see the brim of his hat, and his hands cupped to keep the wind from killing the flame. Looking at the image in the camera, I thought it might be a really great image…but alas….you just can’t tell what it is….

You can find out more about Haj and his group Dumhi, as well as download his latest EP Flowers for FREE at Dumhi.com. Check out some of his music below.

Haji Rana Pinya “My Funny Valentine”

Haji Rana Pinya “I Want To Follow Rainbows”

Haji Rana Pinya feat. Sadat X “The Yoga At Home Theme Song”

Dumhi feat. NYOIL & Jermacide “94 Style”

Haji Rana Pinya feat. Sabrina Cuie & Donwill (of Tanya Morgan)“Sunny Day”

Haji Rana Pinya feat. Random & Trek Life “The Benefits of Practice”

Dumhi “Do What You Do”

Even though I didn’t photograph DJ Statik in Philly – he is from Philly, so I’ll tell you a bit about our shoot here. Statik (a.k.a. Mr. Sonny James), who is a member of The Illvibe Collective , came through Denver with Mr. Lif. They are on this huge, giant, world wide tour. From Philly to Denver to Seattle to Australia and back again. Statik was mad cool, I really enjoyed talking with him while we did the shoot. We found an old abandoned building, and just walked around the building getting different shots. We talked about Philly, (he strongly discouraged me from moving there), the public education system in Philly (horrible according to him) and the dream of living in places other than where we both live. Statik’s a mad cool person, and a very talented DJ. Below is some old footage of Statik performing at the Winter Music Conference in 2001 and a promo for the 7th year (It is now in it’s 8th) of his crew’s club night The BODYROCK

Statik Urban Outfitters DJ Set 2001

illvibe collective “7 Years of The BODYROCK”

May122009

What’s on your radio? Pt. III (They used to do it out in the park)


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“Uncle La got knocked the feds hit him with seven, and left me with the fifty cal and a mac eleven” ~ Havoc

I’d like to tell you the story about how it all began…..it began hella early one morning heading out to Havoc’s crib. This was where I made mistake number one. I don’t know if I should tell y’all this, as it may go down on my permanent record.

I was standing on Havoc’s porch with his cousin Todd and my boyfriend. Havoc was on the phone. I said to Todd and Craig, “Man, I can’t get this song out of my head.” Todd asked me what song it was…and I told him…and he looked at me like I was insane. “H to the Iz-O.” “I bring you to Havoc’s house, and you have THAT song stuck in your head???” Just then Havoc walked over, and we started to do the shoot, I couldn’t figure out what just happened between me and Todd, but I figured I’d ask later.

The shoot with Havoc was real cool, we were able to shoot in a couple different rooms in his crib, and although I tried to shoot in his studio, it was way too dark. He also had a mirror in one of his halls, I had Craig stand at an angle to the mirror for a test photo, and it looked good, but when Havoc stood there, it didn’t work.  I think it worked well with Craig because he’s taller…..

You know…I didn’t even have to ask about Todd’s weirdness when the shoot ended.  We got in the car and he was like “Yo Sun! I can’t believe you started singing Jay Z at Havoc’s house!” He and Craig were dying laughing. I was like… “What’s so funny?” And then the story came out…. Apparently I missed the whole “Jay Z vs. Prodigy” ballet, take over thing. Yeah.

Well see, it just so happened that that whole thing happened in 2001, while I was living in a trance in Denver with a small child, with no cable, and only Denver radio to supply me with information. Another Hip Hop feud, Prodigy dissed Jay, Jay stole a photo from Prodigy’s Mom’s dance studio of Prodigy taking a ballet class or something and posted it up on the big screens at Summer Jam in New York. Pow. And I missed it. And so I stood on Havoc’s porch and sang Jay Z. Classic. Rachel. Moment. Buy Havoc’s latest album Hidden Files here

Havoc “Heart Of The Grind”

Havoc “I’m The Boss”

Havoc “Walk Wit Me”

Havoc “Get Off My D*ck”

Havoc feat. 50 Cent & Big Noyd “Bump That”

* Bonus *

KRS-One & Buckshot “Robot” (produced by Havoc)

We left Havoc’s and headed to Queensbridge via the Bronx. We stopped off at this Spanish/Asian spot. Yeah. I wanted Beans and Rice. I had some fried rice instead. New York has no Mexican food, I swear. I don’t know if I can live back east. I love my Mexican eats.

Got to Queens and headed for Ravenswood, and then hit up the Bridge. I’m working on a project, I’m not ready to talk about it yet, but I was in Queensbridge shooting for this project. It was a very interesting time. I had my camera, and pretty much everyone thought I was police. We walked into the middle of Queensbridge South Houses and saw G.O.D. Father Part III of the Infamous Mobb (peep the video below) posted on a park bench. Todd introduced us and I walked around taking pictures, when ever I raised my camera, people scattered. That was until Uncle La, the Mayor of Queensbridge, came out to supervise the project. I stood in the middle of the basketball courts of the Queensbridge Projects and spun in circles taking pictures of everything around me. It was surreal. I stood where the greats had stood, Nas, Mobb Deep, MC Shan, Marley Marl, Roxanne Shante, Craig G, Tragedy the Intelligent Hoodlum….and spun my happy picture taking ass around and around and around taking it all in…

Infamous Mobb feat. Prodigy of Mobb Deep “Pull the Plug”

DJ Muggs feat. G.O.D. Father Pt. III “Mobbed Out”

M7 feat. G.O.D. Father Pt. III “Changes”

Black Mobb “Just When You Thought It Was Safe” (produced by Erick Sermon)

Download Blaq Mobb’s (G.O.D. Father Pt. III & Flamekiller) QB To Southside (Potent Product) mixtape for FREE here

* Bonus *
Mobb Deep feat. 50 Cent “Pearly Gates”

Mobb Deep “The After Hours G.O.D. Pt. III”

We hopped in Uncle La’s SUV, and he dropped us off by the park. You know the one, that MC Shan told us alllll about. I got some great shots of the actual bridge its self, but you’ll have to wait to see those……then it was time to go.

There was one more shoot that night, back in Weehawken.  Che Tucker – mighty graphic artists stopped by the crib where I was staying and we did a quick shoot in the back yard.  There were a zillion mosquitoes out that night, and Che kept squishing them with his hand.  NASTY!!  I think the bandanna was on too tight…..*wink* Che is doing his thing with the graphic arts.  He’s also got his own sneaker line going on, and some really dope kicks.  Rebellion Custom Kicks run men’s 6, 7, 8, 9, 9.5, 10, 10.5, 11.   For more info contact Che Tucker at barron@blackerinkwells.com.

Che’s J Dilla tribute Sneaks

May122009

What’s on your radio? Pt. IV (B-the-R-the-O-the-O-K L-Y-N)


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My last day on the East Coast started in Jersey. We met up with Mr. Len at his high school. Dude is a really funny guy! We had a lot of fun talking, and joking about everything. I particularly loved the story about an ex co-host of his from his radio days. Hilarious. Mr. Len took over on WKCR for Stretch and Bobbito. Along with the infamous Lord Sear, the two now host Squeeze Radio in the former Stretch Armstrong Show time spot. Len was a founding member, with Bigg Jus and El-P, of the group Company Flow, which disbanded in the late-1990s. I think that Mr. Len can be summed up in this one photograph.

Be sure to check out Len’s daily mix on XXLmag.com, Lunchtime With Len as well as his podcast with Evan Narcisse & Neil Drumming, We Are Uniblab.

Len also is producing tracks for his protégé, emcee Kice of Course. Listen to their latest work, “Nem (Men Backwords),” below. And, of course, keep your eyes peeled for any releases from Len’s record label Smacks Records

Kice of Course “Nem (Men Backwards)” (produced by Mr. Len)

C.R.I.P.P.L.E.D. “Stress, Pain and Agony (Tuesday)” (produced by Mr. Len)

Mr. Len feat Jean Grae & Murs “The Hurt”

Company Flow “End to End Burners”

* Bonus *
Kice of Course “I Am Legend”

From Jersey to Brooklyn. Yo kid, it was MAD hot back East. It was that hot, sticky, yucky kind of feeling. Walking around Prospect Park with my gear in tow and a posse of people was a lot to deal with. There were so many people out in New York. It was the first sunny day of the season and every person in New York left their house and headed to the great outdoors.

Prospect Park is huge. It is a big ass park with a zoo and everything. And yet, for as big as it is, people had a hard time finding the park. Especially Indeed. I felt so sorry for Indeed and her kids, they trekked through Brooklyn looking for the park, and kept calling me for directions. I had no idea how to tell them how to get to the park and felt sooo bad. She finally made it though, and we got some great shots. However, my new MAC computer….the user friendly computer….the computer that makes life easier….it ate half of her shots. They are just gone. I lost some of her shots, and some others too….people swear by these Mac’s I hope it gets easier soon.

Indeed told me she had all but given up on rapping but it seems like there is some divine intervention because people have recently begun asking her to make guest appearances. She appeared on Invincible’s album, Shapeshifters (listen to “Keep Going” below), and may be popping up on some other projects soon

Indeed “One Gobstopper”

De La Soul feat. Indeed “Set the Mood”

Invincible feat. Wordsworth & Indeed “Keep Going”

Che Grand and I have the same Birthday. Che is down with my boy DJ Low Key and for the past few years, Che has come to Denver to celebrate his birthday with Low Key (another June baby) and members of Tanya Morgan (some members of Tanya Morgan are also June babies.) Last years birthday extravaganza was a fiasco. You can read about it here. I’m hoping that Low Key throws another Birthday Celebration this year and brings Che and Tanya out here again, cuz if he does I’m going to celebrate my birthday with them too, seeing as how my boyfriend won’t throw me a surprise party. Che Grand will be dropping his long awaited debut album, Everything’s Good Ugly, on June 9th (the day before our birthday)

Che Grand “Girls Talk” (produced by Aeon)

Che Grand “Gift Rap”

Che Grand “Chateau Gold”

Che Grand feat. Tanya Morgan “Trainspottin’”

Long Island has been the breeding ground for many great emcees/groups; Rakim, De La Soul, EPMD, Freddie Foxxx, Leaders of the New School, etc. However, it is largely forgotten when New York Hip-Hop is mentioned, with people concentrating on the five boroughs instead. Kaleber, who hails from Wyandanch, Long Island is hoping to change that. Kaleber isn’t like most of the emcees I have worked with showing up on time early to the shoot. We got some great shots of Kaleber, unfortunately his are also some that were eaten by the Mac Monster. Be sure to pick up his last album The Anomaly (purchase it here or download it from Amazon) and be on the lookout for his future projects. Below are two videos from his album and some freestyles.

Kaleber “Dope (New York, New York)” (produced by Nicolay)

Kaleber feat. Jennie Laws “Love, Love, Love”

Kaleber “Now

Kaleber “Volcano”

Kaleber “DJ Menace Freestyle”

Chip Fu was one of the very first artists I shot way back when I started doing this. It was good to hook up with him and do another shoot. We had a lot of fun in the park, Chip is a pretty private person so we searched out places that weren’t crawling with people, which was a bit hard, and as I told you that every single person in the world was out that day. We were shooting under inside this covered area when Jesus arrived.

Welcome to New York.

Jesus was PISSED he kept yelling at people walking by him. It was hard to ignore, I was really glad he was on the other side of the river from us. New York crazies have it on all other crazy people. Some how the craziest people of all end up in New York. Jesus was trippin, I would have never followed Jesus if he was as angry as this Jesus was. He was pissed. ESPECIALLY at the white man. Yeah.

Chip Fu is currently putting the finishing touches on his solo album M.A.T.H. But to hold fans over he recently released a mixtape, Blaq Ink and Chip-Fu Presents Jungle Rock Jr The Stop Playing Mix Tape Series (Volume 1), which features some of his more recent work to catch people up to speed who haven’t heard from him since his Fu-Schnicken days. You can download the mixtape for FREE here

Chip Fu “Love Mi Sensi”

Pete Rock feat. Chip Fu & Renee Neufville “Ready Fe War”

Chip Fu “Up Against the World”

Chip Fu & Kay “We Do It Big”

Symbolic One & Illmind feat. Chip Fu & El Da Sensei “One Mind”

* Bonus *
Fu-Schnickens “True Fu-Schnick (Shaheed’s Re-Fix)”

Jenboogie showed up about half way through the shoot and enjoyed the sunshine in the park. It was good to spend some time with my good friend. We were able to get dinner in one night, and then spend the afternoon together after the shoot. The afternoon was a challenge. I was a hungry monster, and with all my eating issues, finding a place to eat by Penn Station was a disaster. You wouldn’t think it’d be that hard, but we were surrounded by tourist restaurants. I try to stick to organic food, and I don’t eat wheat, also I’m pretty much a vegetarian. In Denver, I can accomplish this by eating Mexican. Mexican is not an option on the East Coast in general. We finally found a place, and made it work. The freaking place was so loud, I’m freakin’ deaf and couldn’t hear a word anyone was saying, so I kept saying “what?” and “Say again?” I think I was driving Jen crazy. Sorry Jen!! If you haven’t yet, check out her book The 12th Window, the sequel should be coming soon so read it now so you’re up on things when part two comes out.

And so the trip ends. Train back to Philly was insane, just about got crushed by my fellow pedestrians in Penn Station. Got back to Philly late, and headed to Denver the following morning.

*wheh*

In closing I must big up my man Will. Will rolled with us all day long carrying my heavy ass back pack through Brooklyn and Manhattan. Also very big ups to Miss Douglas and Todd Craig. Both were instrumental in this trip from beginning to end. Miss Douglas drove us from Philly to New York, and we stayed with Todd the entire weekend. Todd and I have big things coming up, watch for it. We’ll be working with a lot of the artists you see on my site, plus the amazing graphic artist Che. Che has a great line of shoes out, he’s wicked with the graphic design, and he’s an all around super cool dude. Watch out for Ms. Douglas, she’s bout to bring back Beat Society – all y’all better recognize. And Todd, he’s just on some next level ish. You don’t know about this posse. We’re a happy bunch!!

Mar262009

Oooooooo We Love You Lateef


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I have been trying to do a photo shoot with the Quannum guys for years!!! ESPECIALLY Blackalicious and the guys from Latyrx.  I was so excited to get to shoot Lateef, Gab and Headnodic when they came through town as The Mighty Underdogs.   Gab, XCel, Lateef, Lyrics Born…. They are oh so talented, I love everything they touch.  From Blackalicious to The Maroons to The Might Underdogs and on and on and on.  I went out to Boulder and caught them with about oh….fifty other fans.  Which, for those of you familiar with these guys, is a SUPER light audience.  All the better for ME.  I stood RIGHT at the front of the stage and danced the night away.  I threw my hands in the air, I waved them from side to side, I yelled and sang and had an amazing night.  I had so much fun, I almost didn’t want to take pictures.  But I did.  Of course.

I remember the first time I saw Latyrx perform live.  It was at a Bomb Party in the Bay.  Lateef caught and held my attention.  He’s dynamic, personable, and talented.  I mean, which rapper isn’t??  But there’s something about Lateef…….  I remember being on the road with Jeru, Latryx and DJ Shadow; my friend Kay was with me, and all we could talk about was Lateef.  With those great big beautiful eyes and that dazzling smile.   Of course, I told my boyfriend I was going to do a shoot with The Mighty Underdogs; knows all about my “crush” on Lateef, and he teased me relentlessly about my opportunity.  I joked right back that I was going to tell Lateef he should to a remake of “Ooh We Love You Rakeem,” and call it “Ooh We Love You Lateef.”    Who doesn’t have crushes on rapper?  My girl Stef LOVES Nas.  Common?  Tam’s got the hots for him.  LL Cool J would get the most from any number of my friends.  But there’s something about Lateef……. *wink*

The Mighty Underdogs feat. DOOM “Gunfight”

The Mighty Underdogs “Want You Back”

Check the portfolio for new portaits, and for live shots.

Mar262009

Shooting in the dark


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The X Ecutioners shoot was in interesting one.  I reached out to Rob Swift, per JS One’s advice, and Rob actually hit me right back.  We agreed to meet, and do the shoot.  I really wish I could take at least thirty minutes with each artist I work with.  It’s hard when there’s less time.  With the X-Ecutioners, we had triple trouble.  We met up late, at night, inside a club.  I really prefer to use natural lighting – I am not a fan of the flash.  In a club its dark, with hardly any available lighting.  Shooting with a flash can make photos so……flat for lack of a better term.  I really looked hard in the club to find spot lighting to use so that the photos wouldn’t all be so harshly lit.  We found some interesting places to shoot in the club.  DJ Boogie Blind and I found a mural of Jerry Garcia in the men’s restroom.  There was a back room in the club that provided a few options as well.  I need to get this out of the way – DJ Boogie Blind is a nut.  We met before when he was here djing with Pharoahe Monch, and I was glad to see him again.  He had some very silly ideas for photos; very creative.  We shot in an old fashioned phone booth, behind the bar with him serving a woman a record, and took photos of him getting down and dirty with a mural of a neked woman.  Super silly, but I have to say, he really made me laugh!  Thanks Shoes!!!


I like the photos that I got of the guys, especially the ones where I was able to use the available light, and make the photos looks kinda spooky……but I wish we would have had some time outdoors.  I think I would have liked the portraits so much better.  I also shot the guys as the warmed up, make sure you check the “Photo Essays” section to see those.  Many thanks to the other members of the X-Ecutioners as well; Total Eclipse, DJ Precision, and Rob Swift.  Roc Raida was on the road with Busta Rhymes so I didn’t get to meet him, but maybe next time.

X-Ecutioners Showcase


X-Ecutioners feat. Ghostface, Trife & Black Thought “Live From the PJ’s”

* Bonus *
Rob Swift & Bob James at the Knitting Factory (Live)