Name: Adam Bernard Home: Fairfield, Connecticut, United States About Me: Entertainment journalist w/ over a decade of experience. Lover of good music, fringe movies, day baseball & chicken shawarma. Nerdy, but awesome. See my complete profile
Not only do I have 14 great joints in this edition of The Adam B Experience, but, as an added bonus, I actually say interesting things in-between songs! Yes, I know, sounds crazy, but it's true. Enjoy one full hour of dope music AND witty commentary!
You can download or stream the entire show at RapReviews.com.
Playlist
Sleepwalkas & Euphon - Euphonasia Mr. Beatz - MC on the MPC Billy Drease Williams (Edreys) - Get Free Kaleo Futuristo - Coco Havana CookBook - Reganomics Steelo - Make Up My Mind Eprhyme - Beggin For Change Russell Young - My Life Dyalekt - Square Peg Syndrome Kaz-well - Krazy Glue Breez Evahflowin - Over Prolifik - In Love w/ Cheerleaders Kalil Kash - Baby I Want It Coole High w/ Tah Phrum Duh Bush - Last Laugh
Most people know the AOK Collective as a crew of some of the dopest emcees in NYC. What they might not realize, however, is that there are two females in the crew, Jaq and Alex, AKA Nola Darling (pictured L to R). The duo aren’t seen at a lot of shows in New York because while Alex is from the city, Jaq is an LA resident. When they do get to hit the stage, though, they aren’t just there to be part of the scenery, they’re there to rock the mic and every time they do they prove that they have no problem hangin with the boys. This week I caught up with Jaq and Alex to get the details on what it’s like being the lone female members of AOK, what they’ve learned about Hip-Hop through their world travels, and what Blair Underwood and a royal crown have to do with their story.
Adam Bernard: Start me off with some Nola Darling history. Who is Nola Darling and how did you two get together? Jaq: Well one amazing autumn in the 80’s introduced the world to Alexandra Nikkobya Lavelanet AKA Alex, born in NYC, and Jaquita Shashu Aziza Ta’le AKA Jaq, in Los Angeles. We were weird little late-bloomers born on opposite coasts who never got the guy, but always got the bomb report card! We were both accepted into a young people’s acting program at NYU and discovered we had similar stories and interests. Unknowingly, we started exploring song material then. When it came time for college we both found our way back to NYU, where we earned our bachelors degrees. Post graduation we traveled around the world creating “Word?! I Didn’t Know (_______) Could Get Down Like That,” our guerilla-style Hip-Hop Travel Documentary. Seeing Hip-Hop through various cultural lenses really opened our eyes and Nola Darling was born out of that experience.
Adam Bernard: That’s an amazing story, but doesn’t living on opposite ends of America make it hard to record and perform? How do you stay on top of your game? Alex: True that. At times it has been hard to record and perform with the two of us on different coasts, but we are both currently in Los Angeles working on new music and doing shows with a lot of LA cats. We also just performed at the UCLA Reggae Festival opening for Tanto Metro and Devonte and Mavado, so we definitely feel like we’re stepping out on the good foot and putting this RUDE GAL movement in action.
Adam Bernard: You are a part of the famed AOK Collective. Is there any added pressure or responsibility being the lone female element of the crew? Jaq: No. Maybe. {laughs} We’re pretty aware of the fact that we are the only girls in the crew, but at the same time, each member of the collective has their own individual and unique lane. If anything we kind of feel like being the “lone female element” is just another aspect of our specific “uniqueness.” However, with the current lack of prominent female emcees in the game we do feel a responsibility to represent for all the young women with skills out there who want to have a place in a community that is predominately male, but are hesitant or afraid. So yeah, ladies, we can hold our own, and so can you!
Adam Bernard: Aren’t you also the final members of AOK to release an album? When can we expect something official from Nola Darling and what kind of album is it going to be? Alex: Yes, we are the final members of AOK to release an album. We’re concurrently working on several projects at the moment and will most likely be releasing an official Nola Darling album sometime in 2010. For now all we can say is that we’ll probably touch on everything from boys and paying bills to Pan-Africanism and teleportation {winks} and we’ll leave out all the explicit jazz about how we move weight across state lines for our gangsta boyfriends… you know, just so we don’t incriminate ourselves.
Adam Bernard: Of course! Now, you know that being a female duo the comparisons to Salt-N-Pepa are inevitable. Are you cool with that? Would you consider them an influence of yours? Jaq: Salt-N-Pepa and Spinderella were and are dope! We’re a female duo who rap, so of course people are going to draw comparisons, and they are an influence, just as much as Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, Lauryn Hill, Yo-Yo, or any other female emcee or singer that we grew up listening to and were inspired by is. We’re honored that people make the Salt-N-Pepa parallel and strive to continue to break barriers for those who come after like they did for us.
Adam Bernard: OK, let’s get a little less serious now. Alex, tell me something about Jaq you don’t think she’d reveal about herself. Alex: Well, she is slightly embarrassed by the fact that she’s had to put a number of restraining orders on Blair Underwood over the past few years. She tried to let him down easy, but sadly, he just can’t let go.
Adam Bernard: Jaq, you get equal time, tell me something about Alex you don’t think she’d reveal about herself. Jaq: For the sake of protecting the royal crown Alex won’t admit to it, but she’s actually the princess of Zamunda. You’ve got to peep the trail of rose petals that follows her.
Adam Bernard: I’ll definitely be lookin for that at the next show. Finally, you mentioned earlier that in addition to being emcees you’re also bona fide world travelers. Tell me about what you’ve learned about Hip-Hop thanks to your trips around the world. Alex: We still have many places in the world that we’d like to hit up, but the world as we know it has mad skillz! In our travels we’ve observed that organic Hip-Hop is still a revolutionary response from a disenfranchised population in the struggle for equality. No matter how commercialized parts of the art form have become, examples like the Pan-Africans, based in Rotterdam, or Abraham Bojorquez of the Aymara people in Bolivia, prove the true essence of Hip-Hop is still very much alive and working for the benefit of the people. At its root Hip-Hop continues to be a tool for social and political change.
Classic cinema and modern strangeness are the ingredients for The New World Side Order’s video for “Spiders, Roaches, Bedbugs, etc.” It’s a fantastic clip that really encapsulates what this very fun group is all about. Enjoy!
After being in the music and entertainment industries for nearly a decade I’ve seen a lot and I have to be honest, all the interviews and all the parties have really affected my values. Some may even say my values are downright warped. The way in which they’re warped, however, is only when measured against the values many would assume I have thanks to my job. It’s easy to see the stereotypical celeb life on TV (or as pictured above) and think “man, I bet anyone that gets near it gets wrapped up in it,” and I can tell you, yes, it’s affected me greatly. For those expecting me to want to pop bottles and hang out in the VIP, though, I have some disappointing news for you, when it comes to the supposed “good life” I have some very warped normal values.
I don’t pop bottles, nor do I enjoy the act of popping bottles. Do you know what I think champagne is for? Very special occasions with very special people. I have a fantastic bottle of champagne a buddy gave me a few years ago and it’s still waiting to be opened because it’s so nice that the occasion which I open it for has to be a truly important one. The last bottle I “popped” was in celebration of my radio show when it went off the air last year after five amazing years. If you’re popping bottles on a weekly basis exactly how do you indicate when something is special or important?
On a similar note, I think bottle service is bullshit.
I don’t like VIP areas even though at industry events I’m one of the people who can get into them. Seriously, when you’re at an event that has a VIP area usually it’s an expensive, or tough, place to get into. If it’s already tough to get into why make anyone feel like they aren’t a VIP by roping off an area and only letting select people into it? Everyone there is looking to have a good time, there’s no sense in making any paying customers feel alienated, or not good enough.
While I’m on the topic, I don’t get off on being in hard to get into places (wow, that sentence could be really misconstrued). Just like with the VIP area, I don’t think anyone’s “cool” is determined by which clubs they can or can’t get into.
Some people may ask how I can be this way yet still absolutely love a show like Entourage. It’s simple, Entourage is so great because Vince is enjoying the life with his friends. I’m not saying I haven’t enjoyed my fair share of industry parties, but all the best stories I have from them involve the friends I was with, not who else was in attendance. The “we saw so and so” line gets very old very quickly and quite frankly it’s really only interesting for the five seconds it takes to say it unless you’re actually a fan of said celeb’s work. If you’ll notice, in most of my party pics and pics with artists I’m either clownin with my friends, or in the process of making some new ones. Having friends around is what makes a party great, not making some attempt to live like a local imitation of an image from eonline.
The funny thing is, while I have access to a lot of interesting places and things, I’m a million times more likely to be found picking up a karaoke mic than a bottle of champagne. In fact, I’ve been known to say that the only time I pop champagne is when it’s the champagne of bottled beers.
The industry lifestyle has warped me. It’s warped me into normalcy.
Today I am extremely proud to announce the debut of my latest column - Pop Shots. I'm billing Pop Shots as "your weekly dose of pop world musings."
Covering all things pop culture, this week Pop Shots is hitting you with thoughts on everything from Chris Brown (err, perhaps "hitting you" was a poor choice of words) to Lady Gaga to VH1's Charm School. All seasoned with a little bit of attitude.
Forget sex, drugs and rock n roll, for years fans of Tame One have enjoyed hearing about his holy trinity of graff, drugs and Hip-Hop. Tame's latest gospel, Acid Tab Vocab, was just released on Amalgam Digital, and while that's making an impact right now he's also working on an album with Del The Funky Homosapien that will be produced by Parallel Thought, a new Weathermen album with Cage, Yak Ballz, Aesop Rock, Breeze Brewin and El-P, and he's making the necessary moves to get his label, Boom Skwad Records, off the ground. All in all, Tame One's a very busy man, but RapReviews caught with him this week to find out more about Acid Tab Vocab, the reality of his relationships with drugs and graffiti, and the one moment from his career he would go back and change if he could.
When I received my copy of Kaz-well’s Fish Outta Water last month it didn’t take more than a couple songs to get me feeling the vibe of it. The album was dope and I put “Krazy Glue” into rotation on my podcast. I didn’t, however, know anything, and I mean anything, about the man who made it. With Kaz-well being a fresh new face on the scene I did a little research on him and this week I caught up with him to find out more about his life, his music, and what his restaurateur parents think of his career path as an emcee.
Adam Bernard: Start me off with the Kaz-well story. Who is Kaz-well? Where is he from and how did he get into Hip-Hop? Kaz-well: I was born and raised in San Francisco. Fell in love with Hip-Hop in ’86 and was introduced to graffiti and break dancing in ‘91 by way of the film Beat Street. I used to lose it when I watched the battle at the Roxy where Crazy Legs takes off his shoes at the end. From there it was a natural progression towards rapping. Freestyling on a Tascam four track, jacking beats… rapping was a platform for us to tell our stories and be heard. Even if it was just for our friends we could express all the awkward and funny things that teenagers go through and be understood. Sometimes we’d just try to say the most outrageous things to get a rise out of each other
Adam Bernard: Why is Kaz-well someone people should want to listen to? Kaz-well: I think people should listen to me if they want something fresh and original. I try not to be influenced by the contemporaries out there. I try to stick to my own style and voice. Sometimes I rap from the perspective of present day Kaz-well, sometimes future Kaz-well speaks, and at other times you’ll hear Kaz-well the four year old spit a verse. As I began to discover myself through music I realized that all these different sides of me exist.
Adam Bernard: With so many different sides to yourself, how would you describe your style as an emcee? Kaz-well: Innovative, unfiltered, imperfect. I used to try to say things that I thought would make me sound cool but now I just sort of speak naturally and let it go.
Adam Bernard: Your album, Fish Outta Water, drops June 30th. If possible, can you encapsulate what this album means to you? Kaz-well:Fish Outta Water is about exploration and discovery from the eyes and mind of Kaz-well. My stories interweave through the psyche and the physical world, sometimes through the voice of a child and at other times an adult man. It is a self-realization in music form. This album is the most honest I’ve ever been with myself and others.
Adam Bernard: Many of the songs deal with love in some way, shape, or form. How difficult is it to write about love without sounding corny, and why was love on your mind during the writing phase of this album? Kaz-well: Love was fresh in my mind because I had just met my fiancé (now wife), Ivanka, and we had been in the honeymoon phase for the latter portion of my album. I guess I don’t think about “not sounding corny” and I just write how I think and feel about love. But you can ask my boys, some of ‘em make fun of me for saying certain things cuz it sounds corny to them, but they know that’s how I really talk.
Adam Bernard: What do you hope people get out of a Kaz-well listening experience? Kaz-well: I hope they become more in tune with themselves and the people around them. I hope my album makes them feel good and weird at the same time. I hope people get in touch with their eccentric self and accept it.
Adam Bernard: You’re from Frisco. A LOT of great Hip-Hop has been coming out of the Bay recently. Tell me all about how exciting your scene is right now and how you’ve seen it grow over the years. Kaz-well: I’m very excited about Hip-Hop in the Bay. Since the days of Hiero, RBL, Get Low, Nonce, the B.U.M.S and Living Legends the Bay has always had a dynamic and style unlike any other area. Our designs and blueprints are unmatched. We may not be the most commercially viable, but you could bet that 14 year old kids in Denmark are up on Quannum Project and Andre Nickatina. Right now I’m very excited about Melina Jones, Deedot, Hopie Spitshard, Keelay and Zaire, Da Evangellist, Barnone, Lansky and IcePick, J-Billions and P-Funk, Alexander Spits, all very original and very BAY artists telling stories from their own view and doing it well.
Adam Bernard: Your parents are Japanese-American restaurateurs. How did they react when you told them your plans to be an emcee… or will they not be finding out until the album drops? Kaz-well: They love it. They are self-builders, making something out of nothing, so they can appreciate my endeavors. They’re my biggest fans.
Adam Bernard: That’s awesome. Finally, define success. Kaz-well: Success is waking up in the morning and realizing that your dreams and your job are the exact same thing.
Seattle duo, and official B-Listers, Steelo just released their debut album, Music, this week and “Make Up My Mind” is the first official single and video off of it. Personally, I didn’t even know they had a nightclub scene like that in the city. Maybe that’s why Jr. went back! Enjoy!
Buzz has been a keyword in the music world, especially in Hip-Hop, for quite a while now. It’s supposed to indicate that there’s a lot of talk swirling around an artist and that he, or she, is on the verge of stardom. As we near the end of the decade, however, it seems that having buzz has almost become a negative thing as the majority of the artists that are buzzed about never even come close to living up to their hype. Today I’m going to take a look at why we might be better served by ignoring all the buzz.
Charles Hamilton (pictured), Papoose, Asher Roth, 88-Keys, Izza Kizza and Kidz in the Hall (along with many others) are all artists that have been highly buzzed about over the past few years and they’ve all fallen flat. We were told these people would be Hip-Hop Jesuses, leading a new generation of artists, but aside from a guest appearance on a remix here, or a minor hit there, they’ve been major disappointments. The key part of that sentence is the phrase “we were told.” Blogs and magazines listed these emcees on their “next” lists and people bought into them despite having not really heard very much of their work. Their buzz wasn’t a result of their music, but rather a good PR campaign and the knowledge that Hip-Hop fans feel some sort of bragging right when they can say “I knew about so and so first.”
The last guys to work the concept of buzz well were 50 Cent and Soulja Boy (talk about polar opposites of the musical spectrum). 50 changed the entire mixtape game with his independent releases, selling so many that at one point one of his mix-CDs landed on the Billboard album charts. Soulja Boy, on the other hand, worked YouTube to perfection to get people excited about him. The main reason both 50 Cent and Soulja Boy’s buzz ended up working to make them stars was because they created it themselves through unique means. Now everyone is trying to do the exact same things they did, flooding the streets with mix-CDs and bombarding YouTube with videos, not realizing it really only works once and everyone else needs to be looking for their own unique promotional avenues.
The irony in all this is that the majority of the biggest names in Hip-Hop today had zero buzz before they became famous. Kanye West, T.I., Rick Ross, Jim Jones, all these artists became famous because they released a hot single, or a hot album, that people connected with and wanted to hear more of. Was anyone talking about Kanye West as an emcee before “Through The Wire?” Had anyone even heard of Rick Ross before “Everyday I’m Hustlin?” You can debate the quality of their music all you want, but that’s not the point here. The point is these artists did things “the old fashioned way” by simply releasing songs that people liked. Of course, if more labels and fans realized “the old fashioned way” is truly the ONLY way to launch an artist into superstardom this entire issue regarding buzz would be off the table. Need more evidence? Look at Jay-Z, Nas and Biggie. Jay floundered for a while and then built up his name through his music. Nas blew up off of an album (Illmatic). Biggie had a few guest appearances, but nobody was really checkin for him until Ready To Die hit the streets. And for my southern friends, had anyone heard of Juvenile before "Ha?" Music builds careers, not hype.
Drake is the latest artist to have buzz without a major hit song. I hope he does well. I honestly do because when I interviewed him a few weeks ago he was a very nice, smart, individual. If he does manage to break through and make a name for himself, though, his hype won’t be the reason it happens, it will be because of his music.
Publications, websites, blogs and random know-it-alls love to go out of their way to tell everyone about the artists they’re convinced are going to be the next big thing, but the reality of it all is we should be treating those lists in a very Public Enemy-esque way and not believing the hype. Personally, I try not to partake in those kinds of lists whenever it’s possible for me to avoid them. I prefer to simply talk about the artists I dig without slapping an unreasonable expectation creating “next” tag on any of them. That being said, people can still use those “next” lists as a starting point. The key is to find out more about the artists, listen to their music, and get excited about what you hear coming out of your speakers rather than what you hear coming out of other people’s mouths. There’s also no reason to feel like you’re not in the know whenever an artist blows up that you’ve never heard of because, as history has proven, most of the time that’s exactly the way it happens.
Throughout the years Connecticut has been the birthplace and home to an innumerable amount of talented emcees and DJs. All kinds of excuses have been as to why the state’s scene hasn’t become bigger than it currently is. People have said we’re too close to New York City and Boston and that there isn’t room in the area for another unique scene. People have mused that there just isn’t a big enough fan base in Connecticut. People have said there isn’t enough talent in the state. I’m here to tell you all those people who have said all those things are all wrong. There’s plenty of room for Connecticut to have a scene, the state has the talent and it has the fan base.
There are four main factors that go into the building of a scene. Those factors are actually four decidedly different groups of people – artists who live in the state, artists who are from the state but have moved, fans, and event space owners, and we need a few very small things from each group to really make our scene thrive.
Artists are obviously the lifeblood of any scene. Connecticut has plenty of talented emcees whose skills are worthy of packing just about any venue. What our local artists need to start doing more of, however, is supporting all the other CT artists out there. In just the past couple weeks I’ve seen major artist turnouts at multiple shows in NYC, counting no less than 15 artists in one crowd who were totally unaffiliated with the acts on stage other than simply being fellow artists in the scene. They were there to show support because they knew the bigger the turnout the better it was for everyone in the scene. They also realized one of the golden rules of being an artist, if you expect people to come to your show, you need to show up at theirs. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been at shows in Connecticut and the only other artists in the crowd were people from the performer’s crew, and sometimes even they didn’t all show up! Artists need to support artists. It’s really not that difficult and it can lead to some new friendships and possibly collaborations.
Moving from the artists who are in the state to the artists who are from the state, but have since moved elsewhere, there’s one thing our local heroes who have left us can do to really help the scene, they can remind everyone that they’re from Connecticut. Every scene wants national recognition, but if the artists who are from here stop repping the state altogether once they move we’ll never grow past being a local phenomenon. It really saddens me when I see people I know, people who grew up in this state all the way from learning how to walk through learning how to drive, move away and then claim their new residence as their hometown. Every once in a while I like to remind them that they’re Connecticut artists. If they were to say it more often themselves I think the hip-hop community would be surprised to see how many great artists have come from this state, which would suddenly make the phrase “I’m from Connecticut” a badge of honor.
Fans are also an obvious necessity if our state’s scene is going to grow, and we do have plenty of hip-hop heads in Connecticut. We have a slight problem, however, when it comes to those fans, they don’t go out enough. I know a ton of people who love hip-hop, but very few of them go out to local shows on a regular basis. This needs to change, most notably because if venues feel that hip-hop acts can’t draw they won’t schedule any more hip-hop acts and without the venues we really can’t have a scene (they come next in this equation). Every famous rapper who has ever made an impact nationally was once a local artist trying to get on, wanting to be heard by his community. By going to a show you could end up catching the next big thing before anyone else, and even if the artist is only OK, as long as you go with the goal of enjoying yourself, you’ll probably still have a good time.
Finally, for CT’s hip-hop scene to really come alive we need more event space owners to be on board. I know, I know, I just said fans don’t come out enough, so why should event spaces care, right? Well, because you don’t need as many hip-hop fans to show up to have a profitable night as you do rock fans. I spoke with a club owner in another area not known for hip-hop (Jackson Hole, WY) and he noted hip-hop audiences were actually his best crowds in terms of making money for the bar. He told me hip-hop crowds are a mixed drink and shot crowd and that the bar always makes a bundle whenever a rap act comes to town. Obviously nothing happens overnight, but if event spaces start having monthly hip-hop events and give them time to grow (that part’s really important), everyone will win. I’m not saying they have to give up a Friday or a Saturday, but what about a Thursday, or a Tuesday, or a night they traditionally don’t do well on? Bar and club owners need to think of our hip-hop scene like that famous quote from Field of Dreams – “If you build it, they will come,” and once they come, they will drink.
Artists supporting artists, artists who’ve moved repping the state, fans going out to shows, and venues taking the time to let something build – it really doesn’t sound too complicated, does it? Can you do your part to help our scene grow?
This episode of The Adam B Experience will be much loved by those who enjoy both underground Hip-Hop and listening to me mess up on the mic. Seriously, it's a five star effort on both fronts. Enjoy!
You can download or stream the entire show at RapReviews.com.
Playlist
MC K-Swift w/ Gif, Cavalier & Supa Nova - Nu' Ol' Skool (rmx) Soul Khan w/ Koncept, H. Sandman & 8thW1 - Knuckle Puck Russell Young - My Life Rugged N Raw - The Ultimate Poison Pen w/ M.O.P. - Magnifique Vinny Scullo - I Spit On Your Grave C-LaRock - Do You Really Love Me CookBook - Reganomics Habana Flex - Every Time You Go Kaz-well - Krazy Glue P. Casso w/ VonPea & Homeboy Sandman - Best In Show Silent Knight - SK All Day The New World Side Order - Last Song
There are numerous rappers with bands right now, but Charlotte, North Carolina’s Pradigy is a little bit different from the majority of those acts. He doesn’t just have a band; strapped with his electric guitar, he’s also part of the band. Pradigy describes his sound as “Jimi Hendrix mixed with Kanye West” and after I recently had a listen to a few of his songs I wanted to know more. This week I caught up with Pradigy and asked him about his music, what inspired him to combine his guitar playing with his emceeing, and if venues react differently to him when he has a guitar in his hand.
Adam Bernard: I think before we even get to your music everyone’s going to want to know about the spelling of your name. Why Pradigy and not Prodigy? Pradigy: The name Pradigy comes from when I was young, making beats in middle school. I was around 13 when I first started and was called a child prodigy by my brother’s friends. I liked it, dropped the “o” for the “a” and there you have it.
Adam Bernard: What’s the difference between Pradigy and Pradigy GT? Pradigy: Pradigy is me solo, Pradigy GT is me with a live band. It’s like the Grand Touring version of my music as the live band sound is just a wonderful experience. So compare it to a Mustang vs. a Mustang GT. It’s just more dynamic.
Adam Bernard: OK, let’s talk about those dynamic live shows which involve you playing the electric guitar while rapping. What inspired that move? Pradigy: Playing guitar and rapping was the first time I really felt I found myself. It was me! It’s my personality. I’m not faking it at all. There is no gimmick here. It started while I was working on my debut album The Odessey. I noticed that I was creating a lot of music that had me playing electric guitar in the studio. As I was mixing down the album I started thinking about how I was going to perform this live, especially around here in such a conservative place. Hip-Hop isn’t really embraced here by venues, it’s more so feared because of ignorant people messing it up for the majority. On the flipside, I don’t rap about the same things most rappers do. It was a struggle at first because my lyrical delivery and timing jumps all over the beat. Rapping one of my songs and playing guitar is more difficult than singing most rock songs. After practicing I decided to put a band together. We did our first show and people were really amazed. Looking back at the tape I can’t even find words to describe what the musical genre was. It was probably about as middle ground as you can get between Hip-Hop and rock. This was the vision I’d had in my head when I was working on my album. I wanted it to be something new, something that hadn’t been done before. More than anything, I wanted to push Hip-Hop to its next evolution. We hear the complaints daily about how Hip-Hop music, mostly the mainstream, is boring and is always the same. Well, now I’m giving you something unique. I want to help usher in a new style of music for the youth and expose guitar playing to kids that never had it in their mind to do it.
Adam Bernard: A lot of rappers who do something other than rap use it as a crutch, as a way to get people to not listen to their lyrics, so I gotta ask, lyrically what can people expect from you? Pradigy: I pride myself on my lyrics. I am an emcee as much as anything else. I can’t stand wack lyrics! I started rapping and producing when I was 13. I didn’t really learn how to play guitar until 18. I am a student of Hip-Hop, from the lyrics down to the beats. I know the power of lyrics. I also know there are a lot of people who don’t listen to lyrics. That’s why I’ve spent so much time working on my delivery and wordplay. Just like a preacher giving a sermon, you have to learn how to express what you say. I don’t believe in dumbing down lyrics, I believe in improving my delivery!
Adam Bernard: Have you found nightclubs and event spaces have been more receptive to booking you as a “band” versus as a “rap act?” Pradigy: We have to change the words “Hip-Hop,” or “Rap,” to “Funk,” or “Rock” just to get in the door at most places. Hip-Hop and rap have a negative image here among business owners. They see it as a security risk. It’s hypocritical because rock concerts allow moshing here, but if that were to break out at a rap show it would be cancelled on the spot. It’s not right to be told “we don’t allow rap here,” or “you can play here if you just take the Hip-Hop out of it.” We usually get bookings from people that see us play who are also artists. I hate to call my music just “Funk Rock” but if that means we can get $500 versus $0 then I’ll do it.
Adam Bernard: Can't blame ya there. Finally, knowing that your local venues don't embrace Hip-Hop, what kind of music scene do you have in Charlotte? Is there a big potential fan base for your work? Pradigy: North Carolina is an interesting place. We have the Raleigh sound, notably 9th Wonder and Little Brother, which dominates the majority of the state. In Charlotte it’s a different world, it’s a lot more mainstream based, so you have the majority following the radio trends, and that goes for all genres of music. It’s a tough market for local music, but the plus side is people here want something different. There is a huge potential fan base here, but I need the help of media outlets along with grassroots marketing to reach people. In Charlotte there is no local music played on the radio and no local music segments on any major TV networks, only public access. There is one local paper that talks about local music and that’s not even our major newspaper here. So the question is - how do you create a buzz here? The answer is you have to have an amazing live show, amazing music, play frequently and play for the right types of people. Those people have to talk about you to their friends. The media will pick up on it when you get hot. It needs to happen at least once to set this market up for local music, but it hasn’t happened yet. I love Charlotte, but local artists know nobody blows up here, not Jodeci, or Anthony Hamilton. Music fans want something amazing to call their own. They just need to know you exist.
Everybody in NYC’s Hip-Hop scene is familiar with Sav Killz. He's a master networker / hustler who finds a way to be everywhere. Check out this clip for “Danger” to see why so many artists are happy to have him at their shows.
A wise man once told me that if you’re getting hate mail then you know you’re doing something right. Well, judging by the comment sections of some of my more controversial features I must be doing a really kick ass job. Adam’s World, however, isn’t the only place where people post their feelings regarding my work. Case in point, a little over a week ago my latest Weekly article hit both newsstands and the web. The story was about the lack of growth shown by Busta Rhymes and Eminem on their latest albums. The comments section on the Weekly’s website for this feature blew up and today, inspired in part by my fellow writer Marty Beckerman’s Hate Mail section of his website, I am going to share the most asinine of all the postings.
The following is a rant of a reply that was posted by “Real Hip Hop Fan” and it dives into levels of stupidity that are usually reserved for arguments on Hip-Hop message boards. It’s even replete with grammatical errors! Enjoy!
“1st off that whole article and all your comments are retarded. Busta Rhymes has been whack for a long time, we all should know this by now. I stopped listening to him years ago. But to try and bag Eminem, your crazy. 1st off you cant just only listen to Albums, you have to take it a step further and analyze underground hiphop, mixtapes, things that the average person doesnt hear. Look at Eminem's battles name 1 person thats came at him and walked away with a victory. Also not to mention album sales are completely irrelevant but he still blows people out of the water in that category too. I dont know how they have someone writing this article that knows nothing about hiphop. You cant be serious, this couldnt have been your assignment to write a completely false article bashing 2 hiphop artists who shouldnt even be mentioned in the same breathe as each other. Also throughout the entire article your favoring KRS1, who is so old and played out, I used to listen to him in like 85 dog, be serious. You also named Outkast? gimme a break Andre 3000 is trash and that group is in desperation. Guru? The Roots? Gimme a break that isnt hiphop, thats pop trash, how you going to even include them in an article listing real artist. Go back and do your homework dog, put up a L.O.X album, Dipset, Wu-Tang something! learn the real essence of rap my g.”
There are so many things wrong with this it’s almost beautiful. The idea that Em was a feared battle emcee, the idea that Guru and The Roots aren't Hip-Hop, the idea that DipSet are “the real essence of rap,” I can’t even get mad at a letter this hilariously misguided. So, “Real Hip Hop Fan,” I sit here in awe of your idiocy and hope you enjoy your place in history as a contributor to the internet’s ongoing dumbing down of humanity.
The Cliff's Notes on Locksmith are as follows - he's a half black / half Persian west coast battle champ who's taken on all comers from both sides of the country, whether locally through his work with the freestyle battle network Grind Time, or 3,000 miles east on stage at NYC's End of the Weak. This week I caught up with him to discuss everything from battle rapping to Middle Eastern politics and as it turns out, Locksmith has some extremely strong opinions on both.
Why G? is an emcee who has led a number of different lives. First there was his happy childhood growing up in Jamaica, Queens. Well, actually, according to Why G?, “my history starts off in outer space with my spaceship landing in Jamaica, Queens.” Then there were his rebellious teenage years, which saw him get expelled from his public high school. Sometime during all the turbulence of his teens and early twenties, however, the Guyanese emcee totally turned his life around as he co-founded of The Optimus Foundation and started working with Urban Art Beat. This week I sat down with Why G? to find out about some of the events that led to this major shift in his life, who he is as an artist, and why he rocks a lab to coat during some of his performances.
Adam Bernard: Let’s start by talking about music. Musically, who is Why-G? Why G?: I started engineering first and didn't really perform and record my own stuff until I met Mathew "Optimus Rhyme" Hall, who took me to my first open mic, and DJ Emmo, who helped me put out my first project. Matt would take me around the NYC underground scene and some people would ask me if I had a CD and I didn't, so that put the bug in me that I should try to record a project. Also one emcee from the Zulu Nation, my friend who went by MC Pain, asked me if I wrote down songs and when I said no he was like "don't be a waste of talent" and those words echoed in my head ever since.
Adam Bernard: You have an album coming out in July. First of all, is this your first official album? And second, what is a Why-G? album experience like? Why G?: I have one CD out, Beginning of the End, and I have two CDs worth of material I'm mixing now for release. I won't consider anything a full out album until I have certain elements in order and a quality of recording that is beyond industry standard. I call them projects because there are all experiments I conduct on myself in order to progress. I want to achieve things that have never been done before.
Adam Bernard: The last time I saw you perform live you were rockin a lab coat. Is that a fashion statement you make often? Why G?: {laughs} I'm a musical mad scientist and as I said, I feel my music is an experiment, and on stage I want people to know they are seeing something/someone different. I also do it to bring that live performance theater element into my stage show. I'm here to give people an experience. I don't do it at every show, it’s a vibe thing. I hope it inspires people to be different and themselves no matter how strange that may be… and, of course, I'm from outer space.
Adam Bernard: Of course! Switching gears a bit, in addition to your music also do work with the Optimus Foundation. Tell me about what that entails and how you became involved with it. Why G?: Optimus Rhyme was a member of the Zulu Nation and he was murdered in 2003. After he was killed it hurt me because he was always dropping knowledge and he was one of the first people to recognize my talent. I had started building a studio in my parents’ house and he was helping me out. We planned on making music together. After he got shot me and several friends of his - Ben, Izzy, Edmund, Emmo and Herman - felt we had to carry on his legacy. He was an A student in college, taught after school, and was an emcee as well as a visual artist and b-boy. We started the organization and first did shows to celebrate his life. After that we decided to do monthly open mics in Brooklyn, but we also wanted to go beyond the music, so we decided to start a free G.E.D program out of a church. We didn't end up doing that too long because there where several other more established programs available, but we named it The Optimus Foundation in honor of Opitmus Rhyme. Since I was working with Urban Art Beat and assisting with curriculum writing as well as mentoring we decided Optimus should go more towards youth music education because a lot of us were artists ourselves, so we moved the program to the community centers of two Queens housing projects. After about two years of that we moved the program to a junior high school in east New York and we’re currently working on a few other locations for summer programs.
Adam Bernard: You were kicked out of high school.... a PUBLIC high school! When did your life take a turn from where you were causing so much trouble that a public high school said “get out” to helping form something like the Optimus Foundation, and what influenced that turn? Why G?: I was lost early on. I didn't have a focus like music or sports, so I got into becoming a follower. In high school I saw the opportunity to sell weed, so eventually I started doing that more than going to school and I went into screw the world mode. I was walking around with guns and hanging with the wrong crowd. Even though the Zulu Nation showed me positivity I wasn't ready to give up my ignorant ways. The truth is I wasn't good at anything, so I chased money and did drugs to fill a void. When I met Optimus Rhyme I was still smoking and selling and he actually wrote me a letter saying that I should stop because I have talent. Shortly after he died in 2003 I was stabbed several times and I had to go to the ER. This was when I hit rock bottom. I had a near death experience, a vision that the Mos High spoke to me, "GOD" was myself without flaws. The blessing of my past is I can relate to anyone, even if they do drugs or live a negative lifestyle, and I'm an example that it’s never to late to change. I'm already successful and I measure that on what I’m able to do for others. I know I can do anything I put my mind to. We set our own limits, I just set mine to NONE. I also know if I'm off my path the universe will check me to put me back on my course. I was sober for a while and I said I can probably handle smoking weed again. Within a month Homeboy Sandman wrote me letter that reminded me of Optimus Rhyme’s, so I stopped again.
Adam Bernard: Finally, ya gotta fill me in on your name. Why Why-G? and why the question mark at the end of it? Are you forever questioning something about yourself, or am I reading way too much into a single punctuation mark? Why G?: Dope insight. My name is Yogi Guyadin, so my initials are Y.G. I flipped the Y to Why and the G is like the old school saying “what up G” and is short for God. Back in the day Kool G Rap was the man at rap so they called him G Rap. If you got money you could be called G Money, etc. The question mark is because before I do something I always ask myself "is this the most productive thing I could do right now?" It's a reminder that if it isn't the best, or I'm not feeling something, not to do it. I also feel the question is what leads to the answer, therefore I'm the "G," or God, of all the questions I ask myself and I will find all the answers.
Stronghold’s Breez Evahflowin is a longtime B-Lister and the video for his latest single, “When You Fall,” is a piece of axe wielding, mountain ascending, Hip-Hop art. Check it out and see what I mean.
These two ladies totally get what I’m feeling right now. Just look at their reaction to the music that's coming through their headphones. That's some true elation! I’m happy to say I finally have that feeling again, too. (Incidentally, thank you Google Image Search for coming up with that picture when I typed in “happy headphones.” My headphones are officially happy!) 2009 has been one of the worst years on record (pun intended) for new music, which is exactly why I’m so excited to listen to music again. Confused? Think I’ve gone crazy? Let me explain.
One of the biggest joys of any music writer, or music fan for that matter, is discovering something great. We are forever digging through stacks of albums in hopes of finding a gem, something that we can shout about from the rooftops. Over the years, however, no matter what some folks may want to tell you, we’ve had a large number of albums to shout about, and when you have that many good albums being sent your way it changes the landscape of things. You’re always shouting about something new every week and while yeah, it may be great music, when you’re finding something great every week its lifespan is significantly shorter because it’s an every week thing. Eventually the thrill of finding something great is replaced by the expectation of finding something great and when the music world takes a downturn that feeling of expectation is replaced by a feeling of disgust that nothing good is coming out.
I always keep an ongoing list of my favorite albums of the year. This makes my life a lot easier come December when I’m putting together my year end Top 25 list. Usually, by the start of June I have at least 15-20 albums on that list and am already wondering which ones will be booted out by year’s end. Before my listening session on Wednesday night, however, 2009 had only produced nine, yes NINE albums I felt were worthy of being on my year end Top 25 list (one of which was actually on last year’s list, but had its release date pushed back). Earlier in the year that had me disappointed in the music world, but this week I did a complete 180 and it gave me a sense of joy. I popped in three CDs on Wednesday night and was totally amped to try to find something great again. A bad year for music is a music journalist’s dream because we finally get to do some digging again and when we find that amazing gem of an album we get shout from the rooftops about it and let people know yes, there is good music being released (and yes we are useful!)!
Music snobs (like me) love to spout that sometimes you have to really dig to find good music. That idea is definitely ringing true in 2009. We have to look at this as an opportunity, though, rather than a detriment. This is a chance for us to rediscover the joy of the search and the thrill of discovery, because in the end, a bad year for music is a great year for a music fan.
The month of May saw two legendary artists, Busta Rhymes and Eminem, release new albums. Unfortunately, despite sales numbers (which we all know are hardly a reflection of musical greatness), all that the releases proved was that Busta and Em’s best days are behind them.
Before I get too deep into this, let me state for the record, I have no problem with rappers staying in game no matter how old they are. KRS-One still creates quality music, as does Guru, The Roots, Outkast, and many others, and none of them are exactly spring chickens. What I have a problem with is rappers not growing up. When I spoke with a number of friends of mine about the new Busta and Em albums we all had the same one word review for them – “still?”
Is Em still carrying on about killing people? Is Busta still screaming about nothing? Are these artists still giving us the exact same thing they gave us five, ten years ago? As a fan base we’ve grown up and it’s disappointing when we see our favorite artists not growing with us. The fact of the matter is, both in Hip-Hop and in life once you hit a certain age you’re supposed to change. I’m not talking about change simply for the sake of changing, but rather change because you’ve experienced more of life. It’s a natural evolution, but an evolution many rappers don’t seem to want to embrace. They want to stay locked into the age and songwriting style from when they became famous. What they don’t realize is even if they choose not to grow up, their audience is going to regardless. Listening to the work of Busta and Em, it’s become clear neither has any intention of evolving as artists or keeping up with their former fan bases.
Busta first gained national fame nearly 20 years ago with his guest verse on the Tribe Called Quest classic “Scenario.” Even before that he was a notable figure in Hip-Hop thanks to his role in the group Leaders of the New School. In 1995 “Woo Hah” hit the airwaves and a superstar was born. For the next half decade Busta was the poster boy for high energy Hip-Hop. During all that time, however, he never really evolved. His latest release, Back on My BS, is an audible example of an artist stuck in neutral.
Eminem burst onto the scene in the late 90’s as the first true internet sensation. I can remember when I would click on hiphopsite.com on a near daily basis hoping they’d get another copy of The Slim Shady EP in because I had heard so much about “the white rapper from Detroit.” We all know the rest of Em’s story as from 1999 – 2004 he dominated both the Hip-Hop and pop worlds. As the years passed Em started to grow a bit and get a little more political with songs like “Square Dance” and “Mosh,” but on his current offering, The Relapse, none of that growth is present (which I guess makes the album title fitting in a way Em might not have intended).
Both The Relapse and Back on My BS are glaring examples of grown men who haven’t grown up, at least not as artists. Em is still attempting to do shock-rap, sounding more than ever like a wanna-be version of one of his former foes, the Insane Clown Posse, which isn’t just ironic, but pathetic, all the while throwing in the occasional, now very dated, pop culture reference. Similarly, Busta has also grown backwards. He’s almost completely lost the high energy that used to attract so many listeners to his work and he’s still trying to emulate the emotions of an up and coming artist (there’s that word “still” again). Is there seriously any reason for Busta Rhymes, a man who’s been in the limelight for nearly twenty years, to release a song in 2009 titled “We Want In?” It’s something that would have been fine on his debut record, but not at this point in his career.
What both of these artists need to realize is that no one is asking them to recreate their biggest hits. Instead, we want something we can relate to now. One of the reasons KRS-One still gets so much respect is that he switched up his content and when he drops albums now they’re relevant to what’s going on in the present and what his fan base is interested in right now. He’s not beefing with other boroughs at this point in his life, he’s talking about Hip-Hop’s history. Does he sell as many albums as he used to? No, but that’s not the point anymore. KRS-One realizes that he’s reached an age where he has a core fan base and he’s going to give them what they want every time out. The Roots are another great example of a group that has changed over the years. They actually debuted a full year before Busta released anything as a solo artist and remain more relevant and important than Busta today because of the way they’ve kept up with both the times and their fan base.
Personally, it’s a little heartbreaking to see two rappers whose work I truly appreciated at different times in my life becoming so cliché and, well, for lack of a better word, wack. There’s certainly something to be said for the Jim Brown / Barry Sanders, retire in your prime, theory. After listening to The Relapse and Back on My BS I wish Em and Busta had considered it. Since they didn’t, however, I’ll just shake my head whenever I hear their new work on the radio and dejectedly mutter “still?”
Seven new songs pepper this episode of The Adam B Experience, including some from new artists I'd like to introduce everyone to, like Why G? and Eprhyme, as well as new joints that feature some ABX faves, like P.Casso, Homeboy Sandman and Breez Evahflowin. Overall it's a pretty high energy hour, so grab your helmets and get ready for a ride!
You can download or stream the entire show at RapReviews.com.
Playlist
P.Casso w/ VonPea and Homeboy Sandman - Best In Show Kalil Kash - Baby I Want It Vinnie Scullo - I Spit On Your Grave DJ Smutvillain w/ Domer, Kats & Jake Lefco - Leave Em Behind Breez Evahflowin w/ Swave Sevah - Over Coole High w/ Tah Phrum Duh Bush - Laugh Habana Flex - Every Time You Go Steelo - Make Up My Mind PreZZure w/ Niles - Go In Soul Khan w/ Koncept, H. Sandman & 8th W1 - Knuckle Puck Eprhyme - Beggin For Change Why G? - Gotta Let You Go Cavalier - Ink
CookBook is one fifth of the California rap group LA Symphony, one half of the duo Cook & Uno, and 100% of the solo artist CookBook (I guess that last one was kind of obvious). It didn’t take the LA native long to figure out that he was a unique soul, as he notes “I was a Puerto Rican kid, not from the east coast, but born in Los Angeles, who skated in his hood instead of rolling with his cholo homeys, who played piano, listened to Hip-Hop, and somehow made it all work together.” His latest project is a solo one, the 80’s inspired creation I Love The 80’s. Since I love the 80’s, as well (hey, who doesn’t?), I sat down with CookBook to find out more about the album, what he was doing in the 80’s, and the deal he’d like to make with VH1.
Adam Bernard: What were some of the elements of the 80’s that inspired you to create I Love the 80’s? CookBook: The initial inspiration definitely came from the music itself. I was thinking about doing my first solo LP and I had a pile of all types of beats, but these 80’s pop beats kept calling to me. I could really feel some cool ideas coming from the music, so I thought, “what if I just did a whole album with nothing but 80’s music as the backdrop?!?” The idea felt really good because I could see that I could go in a lot of different directions with the music and still have some good cohesion with it. At that point I made some rules for myself. The rules were: 1) All 80’s POP samples! No R&B, no Hip-Hop. Basically, the whitest, most poppiest most non Hip-Hoppest stuff that I could find. Every song had to have some element of this music, even if it was just a melody on a hook. It had to be recognizable, though, even if the listener said “wait, I know this...” but couldn’t immediately name the song that I used. Next, the names of the songs had to at least loosely go with the song’s topic and had to be something from 80’s pop culture. For example, I did a song about remaining strong no matter what life hits me with and I thought, “who is an 80’s symbol of strength, that everyone knows? Andre the Giant!” Plus, it sounded cool. The lyrics are all me. I wanted to take the opportunity to tell my story and let the listeners get a chance to know me. I talk about my life then and now, and the references I make go from the 80’s till the present. I felt by doing that, and making sure that the music was tight, I wouldn’t lose my younger listeners. Maybe I can even catch a few from the Soulja Boy era. {laughs}
Adam Bernard: Do you think a person needs to be an 80’s baby to get the full impact of the album? CookBook: To get the full, FULL, impact of the album, I would say, yes, but one of my main goals with this album was to make something that even if you never heard the songs I sampled and are not up on 80’s pop culture, you could hear the music and think it’s dope. I knew I had hit my mark when I let my homey who’s only 20 hear it. I purposely didn’t tell him anything about the concept, or the title of the album, so I could get his honest, true reaction to the music. He came back and was like “dude, it is so dope! I don’t know any of the music you sampled, but that don’t even matter, this junk is hot!” I was like, “mission accomplished.”
Adam Bernard: Are you gonna holler at VH1 about getting some airtime for this? CookBook: Dude, I would LOVE to work with them! Let me be a commentator on their next installment of I Love the 80’s! VH1, holla atcha boy! If they get mad at me for the title of my album, I’ll tell them, don’t be mad, let’s just partner up and maybe you guys can make some money off what I did, just give me a job in the process! For the Love of CookBook… well, maybe not that one.
Adam Bernard: Ha ha, yeah, let’s stay away from any Ray J comparisons. Switching gears a bit, tell me, what was CookBook doing in the 80’s? Was he rapping yet? CookBook: For most of the 80’s CookBook was a little kid, growing up. Rapping wasn’t even a thought yet. I listened to rap, but it was all mixed in with everything else I was hearing. When you’re a little kid all you have is the radio and when I was in the car with my parents I listened to what they listened to. I finally got this little battery operated radio one Christmas, it was in the shape of an orange, and that’s when I was able to listen to what I wanted. I hung out with the older kids. They were all break dancing and listening to KDAY. I wanted to be down, so I tuned in to 1580. I started skateboarding in the late 80’s and continued on with a few hiatuses here and there till a couple broken legs took me out in the early 2000’s. I have the scars, screws and plates to prove it! On top of all that I was learning to play the piano and sang with my dad all the time.
Adam Bernard: In addition to your solo work you also have LA Symphony and Cook & Uno. How would you say all of your musical endeavors differ? CookBook: L.A. Symphony is a big group. On any given song, you’re only going to get a four liner or an eight liner, maybe a 16 here and there. That doesn’t always give you an opportunity to show your full character and personality and it doesn’t really let you tell your story. Also, musically and conceptually, it’s always a five way voting process, so when you listen to LAS, you really only hear roughly 1/5 of CookBook and I know that to be exactly true cuz I’m a mathematician. Cook & UNO music is a lot more of me and it’s a little more of a natural flow with the writing/recording process. The reasons for that are simple, not only are there less people, but UNO and I grew up together, so it’s a lot easier to be in sync musically. Plus, I make most of the beats and I write a lot of the hooks, so I basically force him to succumb to my will! CookBook music is really me, all alone in my sweaty single apartment, which is 80% studio, 20% livable, doing me, so it’s the purest form of who I am. I can go places that I might not be able to within the confines of a two to five man group. Who knows where I’ll go next. Maybe opera.
Adam Bernard: I can see it now, CookBook presents I Love Die Fledermaus. Finally, before you go, hit everyone with the story behind your name. How’d you become CookBook? CookBook: I went through so many name ideas. CookBook stuck because I thought of it, said it, then the Symph thought it was a funny, crazy name and started calling me it. I think it represents me well because I rap, produce, song write, engineer and sing a little. I’ve always said, “I can serve up what you need, I got the recipe for that hotness!” Plus, no one forgets that name… ever!
B-Listers are a select group of artists that were featured in my Artist Of The Week series that ran every Monday from April of '06 to April of '11. All of these artists have two things in common; extreme talent, and a flight path far too under the radar for my liking. They took on the title of B-Listers as they embraced being featured by me, Adam B. Check out the AOTW Archives for all the interviews.
