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
As longtime readers of this site know, I love when artists recommend other artists to me. Usually it’s an emcee or producer telling me about another emcee or producer they’re working with. When it comes to Solrac, however, he was originally brought to my attention by singer/songwriter Jim Wolf. Wondering what a man focused on his guitar could have in mind when it comes to hip-hop? Well, that’s where the beauty of the universality of music comes in. Good musicians usually know good music, and both Wolf and Solrac qualify as such. Currently, Solrac is preparing for the February 14th release of Himself’s album, Feel Like a Star, which he produced entirely, and this week I caught up with him to find out about his career as a producer and emcee, why he made the move from Connecticut to California, and what advice he has for up and coming producers.
Adam Bernard: Hit me with a little bit of your history. How did you get your start in music? Solrac: It depends on how you define start. The true start of it goes back to early childhood days. I’m an 80s baby, grew up an only child with no father around, dark skinned in a white family and white community. Needless to say I felt like a little bit of an outsider, but I was always drawn to music. It always seemed to be a refuge. Some of my earliest influences were Wu-Tang, Def Squad, 2 Live Crew. In the mid to late 90s I starting writing (rhymes) at about 16. That’s what pretty much what got me through the boredom of high school. Fast forward to 2000. I spent a summer in Long Beach, NY, working as a cabana boy at a beach club. I really didn't know anybody there. I was already a communications major at Quinnipiac University. I was really involved in radio and radio production and by this time hip-hop music was a real fabric of my life. I was doing underground radio shows, rapping at parties, and started to record myself a little using the school’s equipment. That summer I went out and bought myself cheap - $25 at that time - Acid recording/music production software. I spent that whole summer, and every one since, honing my craft.
Adam Bernard: You were a CT resident for quite a while. What inspired you to move to California and when did you finally make that decision? Solrac: I always was drawn to California. I wanted to go to college out there, but never did anything in high school that would have justified it to my mom to let me go. Good decision considering what I was into those days. After I graduated (college) a few of my friends were moving out there. I wasn't so pleased with my life at the time and felt California would be the change I needed. So I quit my job, packed my car and made my drive across the country. I had no job and no place to live, hoping my music would take me where I wanted to go.
Adam Bernard: Can you draw any comparisons to the hip-hop scene you left and the one you’re in now? Solrac: In my opinion the West seems to be more open to different styles than the East. Don't get me wrong, I love both coasts for what they offer, but I feel like my style of music, and the image of who I am, is more accepted out here. One negative is that on the left there is less collaboration. Heads are mostly out for their own and I think that is the reason a lot a dope talent is missed out here. There's a crab in the bucket syndrome.
Adam Bernard: Speaking of collaborations, I know you did some work on Himself’s upcoming album, Feel Like a Star, which is due out February 14th. What can you tell me about your contributions to it? Solrac: I did all the work. Nah {laughs}. Production-wise, though, yup, all the work. I also engineered and mixed the project. This project is a dream come true for me and I'm hoping for all hip-hop fans out there. We were able to get Aceyalone and Scarub on the joint. Those two right there are legendary, no pun intended, and were a real honor to work with.
Adam Bernard: What else have you been working on, and where might people have already heard you? Solrac: In my early days I worked with the Katch from Bridgeport, CT, and laced them with some heat on a few of their mixtapes and albums, most notably the “CT Anthem” we were able to get on Hot 93.7 in Hartford. I also produced half the Project Blowed related Tabernacle MCz Vol. 1- Aquarian Gospel, which was released in 2010. As far as current projects, I am producing and rappin on three that are complete and waiting to be released; one with the homey Dame Doo, on a project called Minute Music that we've been doing shows for out here in LA, another with Cipharadio's Nick cLAssic called The Heatseekers, and my debut solo release, Born In Captivity. All three are looking like they will be released this year.
Adam Bernard: Do you feel you have a distinct production style? Are there specific pieces of equipment you use every time, and in the same way? Solrac: I'm not sure if I would call it a style, but it is a distinct sound for sure. I try not to get caught up in boundaries. I let it come naturally. Very seldom do I have an idea of what I want to produce before producing it. The clearer my mind the better. As far as equipment; old records and Sony Acid are what I use every time. Most people are very surprised when they find out that’s what I use to produce. My philosophy is that all equipment is just used to manipulate sound, some might use an ASR, some an MPC some Reason, but it doesn't make a difference, all that matters are the results.
Adam Bernard: What’s the best advice you could possibly give to an aspiring beatsmith? Solrac: Put in the work and never be satisfied. If the beats are tight the collabs will come, and when you’re starting off and you got the sound you like, get some cash together and buy some verses. Nothing will help you get noticed more than working with cats that people are already checking for.
Adam Bernard: Finally, what’s the strangest thing, music related or otherwise, that you’ve seen since you moved to California? Solrac: Besides sushi, the food sucks out here. I don't really like Mexican food, so that doesn't help. Can't get any good Italian. Can you believe no delis have a breaded chicken cutlet sandwich?!? And whatever you do, don't eat a bagel out here. Just don't do it. As far as music, what is strange is how many bad acts there are doing big things. I don’t wanna come across salty, but if it’s me, I am going to make sure that my music is ready before I put it out there.
Debbie Gibson’s starring role in Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus, and Tiffany’s turn as leading lady in Mega Piranha, gave birth to a sub-genre of B-movies that combine the worlds of 80s pop stars and cheap sci-fi flicks. It’s a sub-genre I had no idea I was waiting my whole life for, and not just because it makes for some great fodder for columns. When the news hit that The Asylum and SyFy would bring Gibson and Tiffany together for a project my mind almost exploded. It seemed too good to be true, but Mega Python vs. Gatoroid turned out to be a reality. A really really fun reality.
Debbie Gibson, a rogue environmentalist who releases pythons into the waters of the Everglades and drives a full size version of the Power Wheels Barbie Jammin’ Jeep, takes on Tiffany, the sheriff of the town who decides the best way to handle the situation is by feeding alligators steroid filled chickens so the roided up gators can defeat the snakes. All hell breaks loose and hilarity ensues.
One of the funniest moments comes when the we see the gators growing from the steroids. The entire scene has a very strangely placed synth pop song behind it that isn’t ominous in the least. The song is then used again as background music for a fancy dinner party.
This is the greatness of Mega Python vs. Gatoroid. Much like the two movies that preceded it, it works so well because it doesn’t take itself seriously. Almost everything is done tongue in cheek, from Tiffany reasoning her roiding up of the gators, to the use of lines from one of her songs in a scene. Gibson will be remembered as having the most memorable line, though, as everyone becomes well aware of what was on Tiffany’s breakfast table about 20 minutes in.
There are really too many ridiculous / hilarious moments to mention from Mega Python vs. Gatoroid, including a fairly epic fight seen between the two former pop stars. About the only thing I didn’t like about the movie was the very end, but I guess they had to wrap it all up somehow. The Asylum, which displayed their name prominently on a blimp for one scene in the film, seems to be on a roll with these movies. Here’s hoping for more (and here’s hoping How I Met Your Mother comes up with a story involving a movie like this and Robin Sparkles).
This video right here gives everyone the recipe for how to make some "Suicidal Hype Shit." Step one: get a dope emcee (M-Tri). Step two: get a fantastic DJ (DJ Leecy T). Step three: throw in a dozen or so B-Listers. Step four: find a random street corner in NYC. Not only does that give you M-Tri's "Suicidal Hype Shit," but you also get what looks like a B-Lister block party to go with the boom bap feel of the song. Enjoy!
After Dollhouse was unceremoniously axed I promised myself I’d never get wrapped up in an hour long show on Fox again. Well, it didn’t take me long to break that promise to myself as Human Target is now one of my favorite shows. What Fox is doing to Human Target, though, worries me greatly as I’m starting to get, as Yogi Berra would say, deja vu all over again.
Dollhouse was given one of the worst possible time slots for a television show - Friday night at 9pm. It didn’t do very well in its initial Nielsen ratings because of this. The DVR, however, proved to be Dollhouse’s best friend, routinely giving the show 50% more viewers in the seven days after its initial airing. What should this tell the smart executive? That people like the show, they just hate the time slot it’s in. Nobody at Fox received that memo and Dollhouse was axed after two seasons.
Now we have Human Target. Another excellent show in its second season on Fox. It’s Wednesday at 8pm time slot is good one, but thanks to a presidential memorial one Wednesday, and American Idol coming back to take over the time slot for a few weeks, this is what Human Target’s airings have been, and will be for the rest of the season:
Friday, January 14th - 8pm - 10pm, two episodes
Monday, January 31st - 8pm - 9pm, one episode
Wednesday, February 2nd - 9pm - 10pm, one episode
Wednesday, February 9th - 9pm - 10pm, season finale
Does this look like a schedule put together by someone who wants to keep the show on the air? Not unless Fox has finally figured out that DVR ratings matter. If they have, kudos to them. I only wish they had figured it out when Dollhouse was tops in those ratings. If they haven’t figured that out yet, however, I have low expectations for the future of one of my favorite shows... again.
Maybe we need to send Guerrero to the Fox offices to, ahem, “convince” them not to mess with the show.
In case torture isn’t the answer, I hope someone at Fox reads this and hears my plea to keep Human Target going. It’s a fantastic show with well rounded characters and great writing. There aren’t many shows like that around anymore. You’re lucky enough to have one, Fox. Don’t blow it... again. To use some Dollhouse imagery, don’t send Human Target to The Attic.
Welcome to your weekly dose of pop world musings. Covering all things pop culture, this week Pop Shots is hitting you with some Billboard singles chart analysis. Yes, it’s time to take a look at the charts again, see what we’re all listening to, and decide whether or not the country currently has good or bad taste. Due to deadlines, the chart positions I'm using are from the Billboard Hot 100 as it was listed on Billboard.com on Monday, January 24th, and since it's Pop Shots, you know everything is seasoned with a little bit of attitude.
A good co-sign can oftentimes help an artist reach the next stage of their career. Drake and Nicki Minaj were both greatly aided by Lil’ Wayne’s co-sign. Going back a few years, Lil’ Kim would have been nowhere without Biggie.
Danbury emcee Roc Doogie feels he has the most important co-sign possible, and it’s not from a famous artist, producer, or record label owner; it’s from his mother. Roc proudly promotes that co-sign by wearing a t-shirt that says “my mom thinks I’m awesome.”
As a member of the Ant Farm Affiliates, Connecticut’s largest, and most well respected, crew of hip-hop artists, and the group Phenetiks, Roc has found a lot of other people think he’s awesome, as well.
Roc, who spent the first part of his life in Brooklyn, NY, and earned his moniker after a shaving of his head as a child reminded people of the then popular Charles S. Dutton television character Roc, has been drawn to music since his childhood years, but he notes “I wasn’t really into it until I was able to go to school and speak English. Spanish was my first language.” Once he had a handle on English, which he didn’t start learning until kindergarten, it wasn’t long before he started rhyming.
Roc’s early love of hip-hop manifested itself in two ways, graffiti, for which he used the tag Roc One, and his relationship with his boombox. “I would carry my boombox everywhere,” he remembers, “to tennis practice, to basketball practice, anything that I could do not to be home I took my radio with me, I took my tapes with me, and we freestyled.”
In 1996 everything changed for Roc. His family moved to Waterbury as he was entering the eighth grade. “It was tough to find people that were into the same things I was into,” he says, “I’d say a year, year and a half, later things changed.”
High school was where he met a lot of like-minded individuals, including fellow Phenetiks member Deto-22. Roc remembers a specific day with Deto and Deto’s girlfriend at the time as a turning point for him. “We had all skipped school and went swimming and we were barbecuing and we had a big cypher. He pulled me to the side and said ‘I make beats.’ He gave me a tape, I took the tape home and literally wrote to every beat. Deto and I have been down ever since.”
At around this time Roc was also working with JK1 The Supernova, and in 2003 they came together to rent a studio apartment and turn it into a recording studio. “We just padded the whole thing out. It was $450 a month and we had light and heat included. The only thing was it was in a crackhead building, but we never got broken into. We called that studio Ant Farm.”
Fast forward a bit and an introduction to The Rising Sun Quest led to an introduction to d_Cyphernauts, which led to Roc’s crew hanging out at Enter The Cypher in Danbury, and Roc’s crew and the d_Cyphernauts crew seeing the potential for something big. Roc remembers, “we just had a meeting one day. We were all on the same wavelength as far as the music and the things that we wanted to do and the direction we wanted to take. We just decided to come together and keep the original name but just add the Affiliates afterward so that way it was like paying homage to the original Ant Farm.”
Currently, Roc is working on a solo project. It’s an album he’s been working on for quite a while. “Somebody told me one time that I have my whole life to put an album out,” he explains, “and the moods are always changing, and the vibe is always changing, the music is always changing, and with that is the feeling and the sentiments and everything behind it.” Production for the album is being handled by Deto-22 and Dirt E. Dutch, and Roc says the one thing he can definitely say about it is that his personality is going to shine through. “I’m a happy dude all the time,” he says, “and I reflect that in my music.”
While the full length album is constantly evolving, Roc has an EP, titled Roc, Paper, Scissors, that will be released through Little Ax Media sometime in the next two months.
Although both his EP and full length album are sure to get reviews in a number of print and online outlets, there’s only one review Roc’s concerned about, and as his t-shirt notes, that reviewer already thinks he’s awesome.
A huge earthquake is ripping through the country on a destructive trail that could possibly make for the end of the world and only Brittany Murphy, playing a seismologist, and Eriq La Salle, playing a demolition / explosives pro, can save the day. Sounds like a recipe for low budget sci-fi success, right? Well, not quite.
With a cast that includes the aforementioned Brittany Murphy (RIP) and Eriq La Salle, and the SyFy network's seal of approval, I expected a good time from MegaFault, a la Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus. MegaFault, however, takes itself a little too seriously to be the good time ride that it could have been.
Most of the characters in MegaFault are ridiculously one dimensional, and that one dimension is beaten into your brain. The writing is bad, and for the most part it’s not in a fun way. What's most annoying is the way the obvious is constantly pointed out. I know this isn’t a film that was made for people to find intricacies in, but let us at least let us pretend to think a little bit.
MegaFault has its fun moments. There’s what seems like 20 minutes of explosions at the end (and I will say if you create a drinking game based on explosions this movie could get exponentially better), and one ludicrous scene where Murphy’s character’s husband, who we know nothing about other than he’s not the breadwinner and he’s overly pretty, suddenly becomes an action hero and unhooks a tanker from a speeding truck.
Overall, MegaFault’s most mega of fault is its seriousness. I know that sounds odd after those last two scene descriptions, but it’s a movie where you keep waiting for that laugh out loud moment that never comes.
A lot of artists think you have to know me personally to get on The Adam B Experience. Wrong. More than half of the songs in this month’s edition of my podcast came from artists responding to a call for music that I put out on Twitter the day I was preparing to record. The only rule about becoming a part of this podcast is an artist has to be dope, driven, or different. It’s best if they’re all three. Of course, following me on Twitter at @AdamsWorldBlog and knowing when I’m recording also helps... a lot. This episode proves it!
Top $ Raz - The Man Division X - I Am Shay - Keep Your Head Jesse Abraham - Don’t Taze Me Meek Mill w/ Dave Patten - Believe Me Coolzey - Wig Out 2011 Q Dot - State of the Union Jimmy Valentime - The Come Up RayDawn - Stuck On Fly
When Karma Response Unit Records was launched in 2000 it was done so with 40th Dimension as one of the lead artists. The duo made up of Happ G and Scandal made some noise for KRU in the early years and continues to today. Scandal has also been making noise with his numerous guest appearances on other KRU releases. From his verse on Happ G’s “Nothing No Nada” to the 16 he spit on last week’s Artist Of The Week Murai's “Another Day,” Scandal has been making sure he’s getting in everybody’s ears. This week I caught up with the Philly flame spitter to find out why we’ve been hearing so much from him recently, what it was like growing up in one of the most musical cities in America, and the one thing his lips are sealed about.
Adam Bernard: You’ve been popping up as a guest on every Karma Response Unit Records release over the past few years. You also have your own solo work, and your work as one half of 40th Dimension. First question - where the heck does all your energy come from? Scandal: I had taken some time off tryin to get shit in my personal life straight. During that period that whole process fueled all my recent efforts on various projects over the past year. I feel like I got a fresh start in music again as well as in life.
Adam Bernard: What do you think it is about your style that makes it work alongside such a varied array of artists? Scandal: I’m a fan of various styles of flows, so I’ve always been able to engage the vibe of all types of people’s music. I can go hard, or smooth it out with the best of em.
Adam Bernard: I know you’re one of the original Karma Response Unit artists, but what were you doing before KRU? Where did you grow up and what were some of your earliest musical influences? Scandal: To quote The Fresh Prince, “in West Philadelphia born and raised...” I grew up in the Overbrook section of Philly, literally around the corner from Will Smith. My pop was, and is, a musician; a wizard on the keys. My house was always filled with some type of music; reggae, jazz, R&B, soul, even classic rock. I took to hip-hop pretty young thanks to influences in my neighborhood like the mixtape DJs, one of whom lived next door to me. My sister dated Chuck Nice from 3X Dope, so I got to see up close what went into making not only an album but actually sustaining a career in music. I was rhyming constantly all through high school, and in my junior year I did an internship with Taj Walton at Studio 4 in Conshohocken. Seeing firsthand all the gold and platinum plaques of the records I owned and that were in steady rotation in my Walkman was a huge inspiration to me.
Adam Bernard: Despite being home to some fantastic artists, Philly is almost an afterthought when people discuss hip-hop scenes. Why is that? Is Philly lacking a uniqueness that would separate itself from other scenes, or are people just sleepin? Scandal: It doesn’t bother me that some people might take the Philly scene for granted, because I’m well aware of how much quality shit we as a city are producing.
Adam Bernard: What kind of a role do you think Philly’s storied history in soul music plays in the city’s hip-hop scene? Scandal: I think it’s why you see so many young aspiring rappers, singers, producers, and DJs comin outta Philly of late. We are all second and third generation music makers, and we all owe it to the city’s musical bloodline to bring the heat and carry the torch.
Adam Bernard: Do you think there’s room for another major scene in the collective hip-hop consciousness, or can the public only handle so many different sounds at once? Scandal: There’s always room, but without going into detail, there’s a few sounds that I think we could all do without that would surely create openings for more substance in the game.
Adam Bernard: What are you most excited about right now? Scandal: Right now I’m really excited about all the material we just dropped in 2010 that I contributed to; Happ G’s 7 Touches, Side Effect’s Cabin Fever, Karma Response Unit B-Sides 2000-2010, Media 101’s A Decade Of Sheist, Murai’s Tozai, and Happ G’s Half Dozen. As far as the next thing to look for in terms of releases this year, I’m really hyped about the upcoming 40th Dimension album 40-LOVE! I also have several collabos lined up on my peoples’ projects, like Jake Lefco, Side Effect, Snuff and numerous others. But more than anything I’m excited to bring my live game back to the stage, where hip-hop truly lives. There’s no doubt that all the work put in by KRU this past year and this coming year will make for some sick shows in 2011!
Adam Bernard: Finally, give me three of the most scandalous things Scandal has ever done, or been involved in. Scandal: Answering that question would hinder future opportunities for your boy to engage in further Scandaliciousness! I plead the fiiiiiif!! I love the ladies!!!
Watching this video will be the fastest three minutes and twenty one seconds of your life. There is little in this world cooler than seeing the artistic process in action, and for TopR's "My Autograph" he shows us his tagging of a wall, aka the signing of his autograph, from start to finish, sped up to fit the length of the song. This is one worth watching twice, first just for the sheer brilliance of the artwork, and a second time for the fantastic lyrics.
With her co-hosting duties at the monthly Bondfire shows at the Bowery Poetry Club in NYC, as well as her co-hosting duties on WBAI’s Rise Up Radio with K-Swift, Divino DeNegro, Digo RockZtar and Varyus Waise, and her work with Society HAE and her own Taste of the Town video series, TastyKeish is making a name for herself both in NYC and worldwide. The Brooklyn native recently made a trip to Japan and I caught up with her after her return to find out how she came to be a part of Bondfire, in what way she’s searching for her Ricky Martin, and her dos and don’ts for trying to get on the radio. TastyKeish also revealed what the Travel Channel has to do with her future.
Adam Bernard: A lot of folks know you as one of the hosts of Bondfire. How did you link up with Conscious? TastyKeish: He found me through, I guess from being online, and he knows K-Swift. I think the first Bondfire after he took it over K-Swift was the featured act. He figured I’m gonna hit her up since she knows Swift and Swift will tell her about me. At the time I was paranoid about new people, so I didn’t even go to that one. I had just gone through this whole thing with another partner, so I was like I need to find out all of your credentials. Who the hell are you? Just because you know my cohost doesn’t mean you know me. I would flake out on him. I flaked out on him three times, then I came to my first Bondfire to watch and was like oh, now I see what he’s talking about.
Adam Bernard: What do you feel you bring to the show? TastyKeish: I think I balance things out. He’s got that whole Uber Villain thing, so I’m not the Uber Villain. I’m friendlier. When I need muscle, or someone’s trying to get over on me at the (open mic) list, I just go “ask him” and he looks on me with the sunglasses. I’m like the softer side of Bondfire, me and Marthalicia.
Adam Bernard: Have you had a favorite Bondfire moment? TastyKeish: My first Bondfire. I took it super serious because he put the scary Jesus, wrath of God, in me like “if you fuck up my show...” So I was like OK, I can’t F this up. That’s why my first Bondfire, the all ladies one, I went all out. I dressed up and did a Michael Jackson thing.
Adam Bernard: In addition to Bondfire you’re also a host of Rise Up Radio on WBAI. How long have you been doing that and what’s Rise Up Radio all about? TastyKeish: A little bit over five years. In October we hit five. The show is actually older than the most senior host on there. They Menudo-ed that shit. We don’t want it to die because we know once we all leave, the way that they are over there, they’re just going to fill it with somebody that they want, or some old person show, so we just keep recycling. We just keep in bringing new people. It’s been five years for me so soon I’m going to look for my Ricky Martin, I’m going to start looking for the person who I want to replace me. It’s a youth oriented show and I’m still young and I still feel like I’m in tune with this generation, but now I gotta start doing grown up stuff for me personally. I like to say I was the new Doug. Doug was the guy who trained me. I want somebody to be the new Keish, so I need to look for the right person.
Adam Bernard: You say it’s a youth oriented show. When someone tunes in what are they going to get? TastyKeish: It’s a community affairs show for young adults, so when someone tunes in they get young adults’ opinions and observations on life and community efforts in the NYC are and sometimes national news because a lot of this stuff occurs all over.
Adam Bernard: What are your things to do, and things to not do, as far as being a radio show guest and submitting your music to a radio show? TastyKeish: Do use the proper channels. If they say email them at a certain address, email them at that address. You can always introduce yourself on Twitter or Facebook, that’s great, but go through the proper channels because there’s a reason for them. We set up our email so when we go in the studio we can just access your track from gmail so we don’t have to track it down.
Do things properly. Don’t be like “yo I got this new song,” or “yo I want to come up,” and don’t even know what the show is about. Learn what the show is about and then tailor your request to that. If you know that we’re about community affairs, and you don’t sing about nothin but hoes, then don’t send us an email, or if you do have a song just about hoes, but you’re a school teacher and want to talk about that, then tell us you’re a school teacher and that’s what you want to talk about and perhaps, if you clean that shit up enough, maybe we will play the song about hoes because you’re a good guy, but you have to let us know.
I think my 100% pet peeve, the worst thing is that we have a lot of hosts and you can’t try to play us against each other.
Adam Bernard: People try to do that? TastyKeish: All the time. People we know, and in the last month. I won’t know if they’ve hit up Devino, or Digo, or K-Swift, or Nick (Varyous Wayz), so I’ll just tell them this is this type of show, community affairs, and the music is a bonus. We’ve been trying to tell them that but nobody listens, they just want to get on. They’ll hit me and I’ll tell them the answer and they’ll take that as a no. I’m like you are stupid. I just told you what I wanted to hear and you just took it as oh forget it let me see if I can get one of these other hosts to sign up for it.
Adam Bernard: What do you hope all of this is ultimately leading to for you? TastyKeish: My main goal at the end of the day, and I hope this doesn’t sound crazy, but I want to do a travel show on the Travel Channel, or some kind of channel like that. I want to host one of those shows. I’m getting all this experience, and not that I had that in mind when I started, but that’s where my interests are going with my next projects. I want to take all the personality experience and go to TV with that.
Welcome to your weekly dose of pop world musings. Covering all things pop culture, this week Pop Shots is hitting you with thoughts on everything from a Backstreet Boy going back to rehab, to a Dire Straights song going back to get edited after 25 years of radio airplay, to No Doubt going back into the studio, and since it’s Pop Shots you know everything is seasoned with a little bit of attitude.
I listen to A LOT of albums in one sitting. Most don’t make it past the third song, but every once in a while there’s one that so obviously shines through that I let it ride. The other day, in the midst of spinning 11 albums, the one that was head and shoulders above the rest was Chris Clay’s mixtape, The Christening. After reading up on him I found out he’s from Minnesota, which has one of the best hip-hop scenes in the country, but he moved away from it for the sunnier skies of California. Wanting to know more, I gave him a shout and not only did I find out everything behind the move, and his music, I received quite the education in the legal marijuana distribution business as Clay worked at a dispensary for nearly a full year. Minnesota, Music and Mary Jane - now that’s a holy trinity a lot of us can get down with.
Downtempo and hip-hop have always had an interesting relationship. Not technically brother and sister, but perhaps distant cousins, the two just seem to get along well. Many hip-hop fans count even themselves as downtempo fans, as well. This is why it wasn’t completely surprising when Happ G told me about the latest KRU release, Murai’s Tozai, and how it’s a downtempo album that also features some hip-hop artists. Their sound is really dope and this week I caught up with the Murai duo of Greg and Yui to get the full scoop on how their connection is more than just musical, in what ways they’ve personally seen music overcome a language barrier, and why they decided to combine downtempo with hip-hop.
Adam Bernard: Start me off with a little bit of the group’s history. Who is Murai, how did you both get your start in music, and how did you come together to from Murai? Greg Smith: I’m a drummer who went to music school to become a composer. Disillusioned by formal music education, I promptly left and started working as an audio engineer for more than a decade working with various types of artists in Philly. When I met Yui I had no idea she was a singer. It wasn't till a few weeks later when one day she just started singing for me in Japanese, a light bulb went off! Within weeks we began writing songs together. We've been married and writing together for over five years now. It was time to put out a project.
Adam Bernard: That’s a great story. Is there an equally great story behind the name Murai? Yui Murai-Smith: It’s my last name. We couldn’t use Greg’s last name for our group name as The Smiths was already taken, as you know. We tried to come up with a name inspired by Japanese language, but we couldn't find any word that sounded better than Murai.
Adam Bernard: Yui, how different is the music scene you’re in now from the one where you’re originally from? Yui Murai-Smith: I see no difference, other than linguistic differences in lyrics. Music is universal. When we went to Japan few years ago, Greg had a chance to jam with people at a bar. They didn't know each other and just exchanged a few English words, not even complete sentences, yet they started playing music together, no words were needed. They communicated with each other’s instruments and had a great time together. That was the moment we learned that music is universal.
Adam Bernard: You’re a downtempo duo on an underground hip-hop label. How did you land with Karma Response Unit? Greg Smith: I have been recording Karma Response Unit Records projects for over a decade. I know all the artsists on the label and work really well with Happ G, CEO of KRU. We both respect each other’s music so it was just a natural progression that we put out a project together.
Adam Bernard: That project is Tozai. What were your goals musically for the Tozai and how did you go about accomplishing them? Yui Murai-Smith: As for our sound, no goals. We simply expressed moments of everybody’s life in Murai’s way. Though some of the songs are based on Murai’s experiences, we try to deliver a story/emotion as everybody receives it as their own. The only concern we had was how people would respond to Japanese lyrics in some of our songs, but everyone seems to have no problem at all, and rather finds calmness in those foreign words. As for business goals, we want to hear our songs on movie soundtracks. Greg has done a considerable amount of composing for modern dance and on the web, so film and TV just seems like the natural progression.
Adam Bernard: There are quite a few emcees featured on your album. Why do you think downtempo and hip-hop work well together? Greg Smith: That was an experiment to us. We were looking for a way to tie in Murai with Karma Response Unit. We had no idea how it would work, but we have total respect for the emcees from KRU so we just jumped on it. “Another Day” was the first project with emcees and it ended up as the first single from Tozai. The songs with the emcees have become some of my favorites.
Adam Bernard: What’s a live Murai show like? Greg Smith: We are mainly a studio band, as I play most of the music and Yui does the vocal leads and background. We will be moving around a lot in the next few years so we have to keep our shows simple, just Yui and a mic, and me with my trusty MacBook and bass.
Adam Bernard: Finally, since this is the start of 2011, what are your hopes for the year, both musically and otherwise? Yui Murai-Smith: To keep doing what we are doing. We love the sound that came out of Tozai. We both love vocal harmony, so I would look for plenty of that on the next album.
This clip for BS and Truth Now's "Macro Meets Micro" is certainly not your traditional fare for a hip-hop video, and in this case that's a very good thing. The photography is beautiful and there's simply no way you can take your eyes off what's going on. Kudos to the Fam!LL duo for putting something together that's so different and beautiful.
Imagine a band that goes through so many lineup changes that not a single original member is left. That’s the story behind The Season Premier, which currently has zero original members, but a ton of support from the musicians who started it. Currently the band is made up of what they feel is the finalized lineup; singer Justin Garza, drummer Riley Knapp, guitarist Travis Wilson, and bassist Terrence Wilson.
I recently sat down with Justin and Travis to find out how the band came to have that current lineup, the process they put themselves through before deciding on it, and their plans to create a Mayan civilization.
Adam Bernard: Justin, The Season Premier is your baby, so to speak. Tell everyone about the origins of the band.
Justin: It’s kind of funny, it wasn’t originally my band. About a year, year and a half ago, I became the singer, but knew what I wanted to do with the whole direction and the sound, and where I wanted it to go, and where I wanted to take it as a career, and just made it real serious. We started playing show and things started taking off and we got to the point where our old guitarist, who had originally started the band, was like hey, we just don’t know if we can commit to this, we don’t really know if we have what it takes at the moment to take this further as far as the commitment level that you and Riley (the band’s drummer) really bring to the table. At the time Riley and I kinda had done everything as far as the creative process for the band, so we found a couple new dudes and it’s been that way for not too long now and it’s been great. It feels better than ever.
AB: So there are technically no original members of the band left.
Justin: There are no original members of The Season Premier. I came in, and Riley came in, at a late time. We both own the name for it, trademarked it, and they (the original members) were totally cool with it. They were like, this is your guys’ thing. Clearly you guys can do it. They were really supportive about it, which made it much easier.
Travis: This whole thing’s been in the works since July or August, that’s when Justin and I started talking and he came to me with the opportunity and the idea of me playing and assisting writing because he felt like they wanted me to take it to another level. I didn’t want to jump into anything right away because playing music is something I really want to do as a career and I wanted to find the right group of guys to do it with, I wasn’t gonna settle, so before I committed we spent a lot of time together and we wrote music to make sure that our styles matched and that we had the same vision. A lot of problems with bands now is not getting along and really we just wanted to make sure that we got along and that we could be honest with each other, and call each other out on certain things, and hold each other accountable for our role in the band, and eventually it just came together and it was a no brainer for me to join. After that we were looking for a bass player and my brother Terrence had played bass with me in high school bands and stuff like that. He was in the pre-med department at Arizona State University and had over the summer decided that wasn’t what he wanted to do, so he was at a crossroads in his life, changing majors, or what he wanted to do, and when I presented it to him it couldn’t have been a better time, he was like “I’ve been thinking about this and I’d really love to play again.” He started talking to Riley and Justin to do the same thing I did, make sure this was the right spot for him, and it all just fit together and we banged out a bunch of songs that I think are rad.
AB: It sounds like you really thought everything through, you didn’t just put an ad up on CraigsList.
Justin: It was a long long long process. We had some people help us out with not so much the organizing, but kind of figuring out how to make a smooth transition because he had gained some buzz and gotten some exposure in the past from when the previous members were there and we didn’t want to come to a standstill and become irrelevant like a lot of bands do when they just fall off and you’re like “what the hell happened to that band?” We didn’t want to be that band, so we were like, how can we still create buzz? Let’s go record. We had the old guys record a couple more songs with us, released those, and created some more buzz, but at the same time it was kind of like me and Riley were in two bands. We were playing with the old dudes, but we knew that they were leaving soon, and we were writing and recording and building content for the new Season Premier. It was really hectic. We were extremely organized. I have two fat white boards in my room that I write everything down on; deadlines, how things are gonna look. We’re just organized like crazy, and we don’t really sleep anymore {laughs}. Our new motto is we can sleep when we achieve the success that we really want. There’s plenty of time to sleep once we’ve hit where we want to be.
AB: But then you’re going to want to enjoy all of that, so you won’t even sleep then.
Justin: Exactly! We’ll be up all night enjoying it.
AB: Other than writing music together, what kind of process did you have for gelling? Were there team bonding exercises? Trust falls? Group retreats?
Travis: We hang out almost every day. We go through our goals, and what we need to accomplish together to meet deadlines, and to stay on top of it, and to stay proactive on everything. We’re always writing, always doing something. Now that we’re all real dedicated and this is what we want to do, every day we try to do something, as small as it is, just something to better the band. That’s what we’ve been doing and we’ve had a lot of positive response from fans and people in the industry taking notice. It’s really exciting.
AB: The new single is “Streets of Gold.” Doesn’t this seem like an expensive way to create roadways?
Travis: Absolutely.
Justin: But if you’re gonna do it you’re just gonna go balls to the wall, right?
AB: It worked in Munchkinland.
Travis: We’re trying to build a Mayan civilization where it’s all just gold and riches.
AB: If you do that it will end in a year and a half, though. So there are plusses and minuses. It’ll look really good for a couple weeks.
Travis: We’re gonna rewrite the calendar, too. That’s another deadline we’re trying to meet right now.
AB: Take out the whole daylight savings nonsense. Wait, you live in Arizona, you don’t even have to deal with it.
Justin: No, we don’t. However, the other day I was extremely late to a meeting because my iPhone didn’t reset because daylight savings occurred and I was an hour late, which kind of sucks, so I guess that kind of affected me in a way.
AB: Ugh. Getting back to “Streets of Gold,” why don’t you close this interview by telling everyone what the song is all about?
Justin: Travis was originally doing solo stuff and was going to use it for that project. He brought it to us, had a verse and a chorus, and then I helped him finish the rest of it.
Travis: I love all types of music and I'm not downing pop music at all, but I really feel like on some levels, kids deep down want something more, everybody does. They want something better for themselves. I was out on tour with a band, just filling in playing guitar, and I was writing the whole time, stuff for me, and I really wanted to take our sound to a level where it could be fun and exciting and also have a positive message to where kids could really get into it and be inspired and talk about something other than going to the club and drinking. The song is about running from whatever holds you back and the chorus is “cuz the whole world says I can’t, I bet I can be free from everything on the streets of gold.” It really emphasizes the fact that whatever you’re struggling with, whatever habits, whatever’s going down in your life, you can make the change and you can find an outlet that you can focus on that will allow you to live and be the person that you respect, so when you look at yourself in mirror you feel good. It’s basically a fun, groovy song that can also push a positive message.
Welcome to your weekly dose of pop world musings. Covering all things pop culture, this week Pop Shots is hitting you with thoughts on everything from Justin Bieber and Katy Perry arriving on two highly rated television shows, to the re-arrival of Jersey Shore, to Rihanna’s arrival in the UK pop chart history books, and since it’s Pop Shots you know everything is seasoned with a little bit of attitude.
With 2011 just getting started it’s a good time to take a look at what our hip-hop scene needs to accomplish this year to build towards becoming nationally known. With that goal in mind, I’ve put together a list of the 11 things I want to see happen for Connecticut’s hip-hop scene in 2011 (and man am I glad it’s not 2019, because that would make for a very long column).
* I’d like to see our emcees and DJs travel out of state more. We’re already off to a good start as Sketch Tha Cataclysm is consistently performing in NYC, godAWFUL is taking a year to tour the country, and DJ Halo is spinning in Europe for the remainder of the month. It seems very common sense to say, but it needs to be reiterated, if we’re going to become known outside of the state we have to perform outside of the state.
* We need to attend the shows of artists who stop in CT for a tour date. Connecticut can be an easy state to ignore for touring artists if they’re not booking Toad’s. For many it can be a much needed day of rest in-between preforming in NYC and MA. This is why it’s so important to attend the shows that do get booked here. Artists talk, and if we develop a reputation as a state that loves hip-hop that word is going to spread quickly and it will be great for everyone involved.
* Our emcees need to collaborate more, and not just musically, but in sharing information. We have a lot of smart artists who know a lot of different things about creating music and getting it to people. Combine all that knowledge and something much bigger could be happening here.
* We also need our artists to collaborate with artists outside of the state. A guest spot on another artist’s album is a great way to be heard outside of CT that doesn’t require any travel fares.
* The creation of an identity is something we fight for every year. Right now a lot of CT hip-hop artists are following either the underground, or mainstream, format. While many of those artists sound good, we’ll never have our own identity if we don’t have an artist or two break the mold and create a Connecticut sound.
* The words “local” and “showcase” need to be eliminated from all flyers and show titles. Both have horrible connotations at this point and drive people away from the very things we want them to embrace. Just tell people you’re putting on a show and give them the lineup of artists. Naming the show, if it’s a monthly event, would also be a big step in the right direction, as it gives people something to remember and can create repeat attendance.
* All beefs need to be squashed, whether they’re with artists, producers, or just random people in the scene. We are not big enough to have inner issues. They just make it look like our eyes aren’t on a prize any bigger than local fame.
* We could really use a website or three dedicated to the promotion of CT hip-hop. We’ve had a few in the past, but they’ve mostly been message board based sites that didn’t feature any real content. We need dedicated sites that will help expose our talent.
* Our emcees need to start making more music videos. Yes, I realize MTV and BET aren’t calling, but YouTube and Vimeo are. People are discovering music via those sites more than anywhere else at this point. A few good music videos will also help spread the word of CT hip-hop far beyond our state’s borders because if the video is good enough bloggers everywhere will pick it up.
* Our artists need to bring their work to younger audiences. d_Cyphernauts do a great job of bringing hip-hop to the younger generation through their annual AFA Hip-Hop Summit at Westhill High School in Stamford, but we need more artists following suit. Hip-hop is a youth oriented culture. How can you expect to get anywhere performing to 30 year olds?
* Last, but certainly not least, we need the fans of hip-hop to be consumers of hip-hop. That means shelling out the $5 to see a show, or buying a CD from an artist you really like. Art is a valuable resource and we’re getting some great art from our local emcees at asking prices that are incredibly low considering what they’re providing us as listeners. We need to show them some support.
The Bay Area has been home to one of the best hip-hop scenes in the country for quite a while now and one group that’s played a large part in that scene’s growth is Oakland’s Zion I. The duo of DJ AmpLive and Zumbi have been building things in the Bay since 1997, and last year released the critically acclaimed album Atomic Clock. Atomic Clock made my RapReviews year end top ten list, and this week I caught up with both AmpLive and Zumbi to get the story behind the album, as well as how going the indie route has changed over the years, and what they like about both the underground and mainstream hip-hop scenes.
The Northeast oftentimes gets looked over by the hip-hop community. Thinking the only things past Massachusetts are ski lodges and a Poland Spring factory, many hip-hop heads miss out on a lot of talented artists. One of those talented Northeasterners is Brzowski. Originally drawn to music by Black Sabbath at the age of 12, Brzowski is currently making quite the name for himself with his mic skills. He just released a collaborative effort, Brzowski+Moshe Like Woe Remixes, last week, he’ll be touring Europe in April, and he’ll be releasing his next album, A Fitful Sleep later this year. This week I caught up with Brzowski to find out more about his music, where his unique perspective comes from, and how a Canadian girl nearly sent him, and everyone he was on tour with, to jail.
Adam Bernard: Many emcees have hard to spell monikers because they choose to spell a traditional word in a different way. Your name is just straight up hard to spell. Why’d you go with Brzowski? Brzowski: It is my mother's maiden name. I started using it around 1998 in honor of my grandmother who performed as a professional wrestler, “Bobo Brzozowski,” many years before I existed. She was always very supportive of my creative endeavors. I took out a few letters so it would be spelled more how it is meant to be pronounced - BRR-ZHAO-SKEE
Adam Bernard: As a huge pro wrestling fan I wish we could talk more about your grandmother, but I gotta get to music related questions. Spending time in Maine, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts you know the Northeast, and New England pretty well. Would you say there’s a defining vibe for the area? Is there a sound that is “New England hip-hop,” and if there is, or isn’t, do you think that’s a good thing? Brzowski: I can't say that there is a defining “New England sound.” It's definitely East Coast / New York influenced, and rather hard-edged, because it gets cold as hell here. I tend to listen to and align myself with artists that are taking a more experimental, or non-traditional, approach. There is some serious hip-hop history in New England, but that doesn't mean that there aren’t some weirdos breaking new ground out here. The problem is that there are not enough progressive cats, in my mind. I constantly have to sit through five “traditional” acts to see the one dude who talks offbeat on purpose over techno. I'm a snob. Ha! That said, the scene is healthier in Maine than in many places I've been. The talent is top-notch. All in all Massachusetts has come a long way in the last eight years as well, and more centrist hip-hop goes over a bit better there. Rhode Island I'm a little worried about, as there is hardly anywhere left to perform.
Adam Bernard: That’s even becoming an issue in big cities. Let’s talk about the sound you’re bringing people. Brzowski: Well, the new album, A Fitful Sleep, will be out in the spring of 2011, and I can't wait to get this out. It is fairly dark, personal, and melodic. It's not the kind of record you throw on partying with your crew at 2AM. Unless your homies are into The Cure or Type O Negative. It is more the kind of record you experience in headphones, or in the car by yourself. It is designed as a solitary, introspective experience.
Adam Bernard: I’m sure some small minded folks take one look at an emcee who’s in places like Maine and Rhode Island and think “what the heck could he possibly have to talk about?” Brzowski: I'm sure there are, because I encounter them on the road all the time. My rapper ego kicks in and I get just get up there and rip harder and faster and with more panache than their pathetic fifth rate Wu-Tang impression can fathom. I enjoy out-classing people... it's a character flaw.
Adam Bernard: What topics do you cover with your work and what unique perspective do you think you bring having grown up and lived in the Northeast? Brzowski: Topically, you have to be true to yourself. I grew up listening to, and playing, metal and hardcore until the late 90s, and I bring that aggression and urgency to the table. I broke the law, wrote graffiti, made unhealthy decisions, got in fights... but I also painted pictures, read books, taught myself to be well-spoken, volunteered at the Center for Marxist Education, fell in love a few times, and went on to get two college degrees in Fine Art. Every person has a unique experience to communicate, it’s just a question of how well they can channel that into lyrics and performance. I honestly believe that there are amazing and relevant emcees and artists everywhere.
Adam Bernard: In addition to your recorded work, I’ve heard your live shows are a really good time. What’s a person in store for when they come to see Brzowski live? Brzowski: I think I finally struck the right balance a few years ago between my dark-content material and a comedic stage-banter persona. It makes the bitter medicine go down easy. For years I had this hardcore approach to performing, like “OH-MY-GOD-I-LIVE-THIS-SHIT-AND-IM-DEAD-SERIOUS.” It would be scary and off-putting to people who did not have access to the reference points I was coming from. Most hip-hop fans didn't get it. They would be like “who's this lumberjack with a Venom t-shirt pissed at?” Now I'll tell a bad joke, engage a heckler, ask for someone to bring me a whiskey mid-song, make fun of the opener's matching outfits, do impressions of other rappers, whatever. The humor is mostly to amuse myself. It was a coping mechanism to deal with crowds that I confused regularly, and ended up a part of the show. I jump around and sweat and swear and rap and sing and drink and share bawdy thoughts. I'm a serious cat, but I'm having fun, SERIOUS FUN!
Adam Bernard: Give me one supremely crazy, or simply strange, story from one of your shows. Brzowski: Back in 2006 I was on tour with Epic and Chaps in Canada and this girl was adamant about everyone signing her breasts. Then she left the party quickly saying “I have a test in the morning... at high school!” I gagged a little. She was a second year senior. Shows are 19+ in Canada. Whew! No jail for us.
Adam Bernard: That’s a close one! Finally, since we’re entering a new year, what message does Brzowski have for 2011? Brzowski: Buy some music. We are not just nomadic t-shirt salespeople. Seriously though, support your local underground musicians and go see touring acts when they come through. You have to participate in your own subculture for it to survive.
This song may not have been recorded in 2011, but WordSpit still isn't a joke in this, or any other, year. I also happen to think "Not A Joke This Year" is a great, inspiring way to get motivated for the next 11+ months. If you're doing your thing and on top of your business you're not a joke this year either, so sing along with the chorus.
Despite their name there’s no reason to wave goodbye to So Long Davey! In fact, being that the band formed in 2007, many people are still waving their first hello to them. The San Diego quartet of singer David Vaughn, guitarist James Austin, drummer Michael Behymer, and bassist Filip Miucin, have been hopping on tours and giving people a dose of their glam infused dance rock for a couple of years now, and their latest release, The Fashion, spawned the single “Love Hurts,” which has surpassed the 10,000 views mark on YouTube.
Recently, I caught up with three-fourths of So Long Davey! and found out about their origins, their lead singer’s unique look, and how an obsession with Dexter led to them being swarmed by Miami police.
Adam Bernard: You guys came onto the scene in 2007, but when did you officially start as a band and what was the process of finding your sound like? David: James and I met in ’06. We both really liked music and wanted to play music, so we became friends that way. All of us pretty much met on MySpace. It just kind of felt like one of those fated, it makes sense, sort of organic processes that rarely happen in a life. Through writing I realized I don’t want to write music with somebody and not have them part of the feature, and James, at the point, didn’t really mind writing music and having it go under my name, but I wanted it to be something we created together, and then to have like a brother situation where we were all playing music together. That’s when we found Michael, who was just graduating from San Diego State and wanted to be in a rock band and forget about his Psychology degree. That’s how it’s been ever since. We have our influences from newer bands like Fall Out Boy and Say Anything, who we love and played with, but even James and I were just singing along with The Beatles and talking about all the instrumentation and all that stuff, so I think our roots run far before any of us were born, to stuff that’s super current and really new, and we’re always on the same page, so that makes it nice.
AB: I notice you said you met on MySpace. With the news that News Corp. is getting fed up with the site’s downturn, MySpace might be gone pretty soon. If and when MySpace goes away is that going to be like losing a nightclub, or is it going to be like losing a pair of underwear? David: I think a year ago I ran across the first comment that James ever left on my page and it was really interesting and cool, but I don’t know. Personally, it’s kind of one of those time capsule things. We didn’t really have a place to showcase our music and at the time MySpace was the best available option. I feel like bands are being discovered by new fans more on YouTube than on MySpace these days. I think for musicians MySpace was an ideal spot, and I understand some of our fans have a type of stigma behind thinking about MySpace, so that also becomes complicated because a lot of them have moved on to other social networking sites. I’d like to take a screen capture of our page if we find out it’s going away. I want to remember what it’s like. That is definitely where our band grew up. It’s definitely where our first fans found us and how we made a lot of friends with a lot of other bands who we played with in the past. Right now, though, bands, no matter how popular they are, aren’t really getting played on MySpace, so I don’t really think it’s necessarily going to be something we’ll completely miss.
AB: You mentioned building a fan base there. Is your hometown of San Diego a good place for glam infused dance rock? David: I would say no. I think we’re very much involved in the pop punk scene in San Diego, and a lot of bands we love playing with and who we’re friends with in the area share a lot of the same fans, but they’re not glam infused dance rock at all, they’re not glam, they’re not really dancey, a lot of it’s like a post Blink 182, post Fall Out Boy kind of vibe. I was looking at the definition of what New Wave was and it really describes our band. It’s a band that evolved in the punk scene, but definitely to the left, but plays all the same shows and has maybe even the same fan base. I think that’s what we are. I don’t know what generation, or what wave, of New Wave, but we really don’t play with bands that are like us.
AB: You are instantly recognizable, as you have a very unique look. How did you come to develop that look and what does it represent for you? David: I always had my hair short and my mom always wanted me to grow it out. When I was finding what kind of music I wanted to do I went to a Lenny Kravitz concert in ‘02 with some high school friends and he was so cool. He had the biggest fro I’d ever seen in my life and I told my friends “I want to do that, I want to grow my hair out and just let it do its thing and just be wild.” I did that for a long time, but I didn’t feel like it was my personality. Everyone was associating me with old school R&B and I felt more rock. I wanted to do something different, so I started clipping it up. We were on tour in Florida at one point and I was complaining (about it). We had one more show and I said “as soon as we get back to San Diego I’m cutting the sides off. I hope it stands up on its own.” I went back and called my barber lady and she shaved the sides of my head off and it actually stood up, so I was happy about that {laughs}. The makeup, I have W magazines and random crap that I like to read. It’s very glamorous. I just like doing stuff that makes it seem fun, and that’s what our message is. I don’t think anything is supposed to be overtly sexual, or anything but overtly fun.
AB: Speaking of fun, you’ve been on a number of very fun tours with high profile bands. What are some of the wilder stories you’re legally allowed to tell me from those times on the road? James: David and I are both very big fans of Dexter. We used IMDB and looked up the actual address of the apartment of the show. We got really excited when we were in Miami because we found it. We drove over there, basically thinking we’re being slick, snuck in from the side, hopped over a couple of fences, and ended up in the courtyard of the Dexter apartment complex. Michael was there, too. We walked up to the apartment, ever so casually, and David and I took a picture in front of the door all happy. It was like a minute, minute and a half David: Not even. James: We walked down the stairs and someone who lived in the apartment complex tried to stop us. Michael: He put his hand on my stomach and I was like don’t touch me! James: He was trying to stop us from leaving the premises. We just walked away from the guy and ran to our car. Three blocks later we were swarmed by Miami metro police who thought that we were breaking into an apartment. The funny thing about the entire thing is nobody knew what Dexter was. We were explaining to the cops, “look, we’re from San Diego, we just wanted to see this TV show apartment, so we took this picture in front of it.” We had all of our IDs taken, hanging our heads in shame while people were driving by us, and it was all stemming from the fact that we just wanted to see this apartment from a TV show. David: Even the guy who lived there had no idea that they had this whole television show about the apartment that's above his apartment. James: It was one of those things where the first cop that asked us had no clue, but radios in to the other guy like “they were seeing the show Dexter.” “You don’t know what Dexter is? It’s a really cool show.” “Oh, so they’re telling the truth?” So basically we’re not legally allowed to set foot on the property that is the Dexter apartments. David: We’re not legally allowed to be there ever again or we’ll be arrested for trespassing.
AB: So you’re really screwed if they ever invite you to do a scene. You’ll have to do it on a soundstage. David: I think we’re gonna have to be like, you have to recreate the set in Hollywood, because I don’t really know if we’re allowed in Miami.
AB: Wow, so you’re allowed in Miami even less than the Jersey Shore kids. David: {laughs} We’re hoodlums.
AB: I see you’re also pretty gangster on the internet, as you do your thing on Twitter. Unlike a lot of artists you actually follow quite a few people. Is this a true fan interaction thing for you? David: We followed you today, we saw your tweet. We’re kind of Twitter whores. I’m probably the biggest one. I love it because everybody says whatever they want, whenever they want to say it, and they re-tweet all of the other absurd things everybody else says. As a band, in general, we’re very upfront with what we think, there’s not a lot of reservation, so I think it’s a natural process for us to love Twitter. We have a cool people list and anybody who promotes us belongs on that list. We get a lot of cool fan props and people love telling people about us. I feel like that’s our new home for social networking. I feel really connected to our fans that way. We can read what they’re doing and they can read what we’re doing, and we can comment on their stuff and they can comment on our stuff. We’re not a closed off band, we want to be friends with as many people who want to be friends with us. I’m just glad people want to know what we’re doing. And we have rules. We know not to get political. We encouraged people to vote, but we don’t want to say who we voted for. Another rule is you don’t take naked pictures of yourself on your phone.
AB: That’s a good rule more people need to learn. David: We’re kind of glad some people didn’t follow that rule, though {laughs}. We won’t say anybody’s name.
AB: Finally, what can listeners expect next from So Long Davey!? David: Our number one focus is getting on tour. We’ve done a lot of sporadic touring, but it’s been a while since we’ve gotten in the van and done the long haul. That’s gonna be a huge thing for us. There’s definitely going to be new music from us next year and there’s definitely going to be touring from us across the US. Hopefully we’ll get out even beyond that because we definitely have fans in Europe. Story originally ran on SubstreamMusicPress.com.
Welcome to your weekly dose of pop world musings. Covering all things pop culture, this week Pop Shots is hitting you with thoughts on everything from two of Paramore’s founding members leaving the band, to Discovery Channel leaving Michael Jackson’s autopsy alone, to an 80’s pop star leaving her extended absence to get back into our ears, and since it’s Pop Shots you know everything is seasoned with a little bit of attitude.
Can an artist tweet themselves into musical obscurity?
This is a question Soulja Boy must be asking himself after the first week sales of his latest album, The DeAndre Way, clocked in at a pitifully small 13k, while his number of Twitter followers rose past 2.5 million. If all of his sales came from his Twitter followers it would mean that a little more than half a percent (.5%) of those followers purchased his album. Clearly social networking is not working for Soulja Boy, and this may turn out to be the norm, rather than an anomaly, for mainstream artists.
Soulja Boy seemingly did everything right in terms of engaging his audience, responding to fans, and telling people his album was out to the tune of 70 tweets on his album release day, 20 of which were directly related to the album dropping (which is a number so high I would have unfollowed him immediately). All the self-promotion didn’t matter, though, and that’s what’s really interesting. Why would 2.5 million people following someone if they aren’t interested in their work?
This is where underground and independent artists have a distinct advantage. Years ago it was posited that the internet would level the playing field in regards to mainstream versus independent artists, but in reality it’s just accentuated their differences. In the case of social networking, it’s shown the extreme chasm between mainstream and independent artist-fan relationships.
Mainstream fans care about the details of an artist’s life, underground fans care about an artist’s music. So even though an underground artist may only have a couple thousand followers, of those thousand followers a much higher percentage are actually interested in the music the artist creates. They’re not following to be taken along for a ride through a Hollywood lifestyle, because there is no ride through a Hollywood lifestyle to be had with these artists, there’s only the music.
I follow a lot of local emcees. I follow Big Stat (@BigStat) because I love seeing how his career is progressing, getting up to date videos from his shows, and reading news about which tours he’s opening up for. I follow godAWFUL (@godAWFULPBX) because I want to know what he’s up to musically and I’m looking forward to getting updates about his upcoming year-long tour around the country. These are artists I’m invested in as far more than just a distraction. When they release new music I want to hear it right away. This is why I follow them.
At the same time I follow a bevy of mainstream artists and celebrities just out of curiosity. I don’t follow them because I’m going to support everything they do, I follow them because they’ll occasionally say something interesting, and I think it’s funny when their lives are mundane.
Unfortunately for Soulja Boy, his first week album sales indicate most of his 2.5 million followers only clicked “follow” out of a similar curiosity and aren’t invested at all in his career. They want to read his 140 character musing about Kat Stacks, or whatever the latest hip-hop controversy is. The news of a new single, or album, dropping doesn’t even register on their radar.
Fame is not all that it’s cracked up to be. At least not anymore. Celeb-Reality TV, the shows we all watch, but rarely admit to enjoying, on VH1 and E!, has turned the lives of celebrities into fodder for a relaxing 30-60 minutes, or a semi-juicy conversation with a friend. Celebrity has less and less to do with talent, and more and more to do with the general interest of the masses. Those masses, however, are only connected to those celebrities when they want those moments of relaxation or gossip. Soulja Boy found out the hard, and very public, way that just because people are interested in his life doesn’t mean they care about his work.
It may seem odd to say, but on the internet not being famous can be a distinct advantage. Sure, you’ll have significantly less fans and followers, but at least you’ll know they actually care about your work. I think Soulja Boy would gladly give up 2.4 million of his Twitter followers if it meant the 100k that were left were as rabid about his music as those who follow indie acts such as Immortal Technique.
The fact of the matter is, the more fans a mainstream artist has, the smaller a percentage of those fans are truly invested in his (or her) career. Thanks to Soulja Boy we now have the numbers to back that up.
All Rika wanted to do was cut school to visit her grandfather, whom she hadn’t seen, or heard from, in years. A funny thing happens when Rika and her friend arrive at grandpa’s town, though, they find it’s infested with zombies.
Here’s what you need to know about Zombie Hunter Rika. Rika loses her arm to a zombie bite, her grandfather, the master surgeon, gives her the arm of a famous zombie slayer, and suddenly it becomes Rika’s job to save the world from the zombie apocalypse. Why couldn’t grandpa had given her a regular person’s arm? Well, that would have made for a short, boring, movie, now wouldn’t it?
The production qualities of Zombie Hunter Rika are, at times, laugh out loud hilarious. The zombie hunter arm, once on Rika, is nothing more than a cheap rubber costume part that looks like it was found on sale at Party City. When she bends her arm you can even see the creases in it. The zombie makeup is slightly better than the rubber arm, but we’re still not talking The Walking Dead here.
It’s the camp nature of Zombie Hunter Rika that makes it so enjoyable, though. It’s clear they’re not taking themselves very seriously most of the time, and the rare times that they do are the only low points in the movie. I know, they didn’t want to make a purely camp zombie flick, but the dramatic change in personality one character has is so random, and happens so instantaneously, you just wish they’d have ignored character building altogether and gone straight to the zombie slaying.
When sitting down to watch a movie called Zombie Hunter Rika you probably already know what you’re getting into, and it ain’t Shakespeare. That being said, unless you’re proficient in Japanese you’ll need your reading glasses, because Rika is in Japanese with English subtitles. Zombie killing, however, is a universal language, and Zombie Hunter Rika is a fun, albeit oftentimes ridiculous, romp.
Since TopR and Foul Mouth Jerk work and tour as a team, it only makes sense that I follow up last week’s Foul Mouth Jerk feature with an interview with TopR. An emcee who describes his music as “feel good music for fucked up people,” TopR spent most of his formative years in the Bay Area. He moved out of his parents house at 15 and has now spent the better part of half of his life touring. Heavily influenced by hip-hop, punk rock, and graffiti art, TopR says “my musical influences have always been strongly anti-establishment, which helped shape my world view from a young age.” This week I sat down with TopR to find out more about his views, his music, and how he came to have a plethora of knowledge regarding everyone’s favorite celebrity religion, Scientology.
Adam Bernard: Despite living the first handful of years of your life on Long Island, you’re essentially from the Bay Area. That being said, would you consider your sound “Bay Area hip-hop?” What about your sound is, or isn’t, “Bay Area?” TopR: I've been told that San Francisco, and the Bay Area in general, is almost like a character of its own in my music, and living in San Francisco has always been a major inspiration towards what I write, so by definition my music is Bay Area music. I don't have that Mob Music turf sound that other Bay Area artists have, but you can definitely hear the influence. I grew up on New York rap, so that’s the sound I gravitate to, but so did Heiro and Bored Stiff, who both were major influences on me back in the day. But yeah, my music is a Bayed out as its gets as far as I'm concerned.
Adam Bernard: You are a bazillion albums deep at this point (bazillion being an approximation). What keeps you going at such a feverish pace, and has there ever been a time when you felt burned out? TopR: I came up around people who recorded hella songs all the time as a lifestyle. Cats would always get together and make songs. That really was never my thing. I always hated writing in the studio and would spend all my time writing bars and compiling verses from the best of what I had written. I never dropped an album early on because I was more focused on freestyling and battling, so by the time I started recording I felt like I had fallen behind many of my contemporaries in the Bay Area scene. Since it takes me so fucking long just to craft a song, I believe every God damn thing I record should be released. I saw so many cats I kicked it with sitting on albums of material that would never see the light of day and I never saw the point of it, so from my first full length LP on I took it upon myself to drop an album a year, and every single song I made would make it on one of those albums. I moved to Asheville, NC recently and took a break from writing and recording for about a year, but now I'm finally starting to work on music again. I'm pretty burned out on it now to be perfectly honest, but I'm also going through a transitional phase where I don't care about my music “career” or making a living from it anymore, so I feel as having fun and being creative becomes my main focus musically again I'll get back to being more prolific. We'll see.
Adam Bernard: Your most recent album is the L-Ron Hustler Mixtape. This is a concept album. For those who haven’t heard it yet, explain the concept and why you wanted to record this album. TopR: The concept is that I'm a cult leader named L Ron Hustler aka Topper Koresh and my fan base is a cult called the Branch Gurpcitians. The idea came from a number of things. I had some left over songs from my previous effort, The Marathon of Shame, that hadn't been released and a bunch of random beats sitting on my hard drive from a bunch of producers that didn't seem like they would fit into a cohesive project without some sort of thread tying everything together. Sam Flores had recently given me a drawing for my 30th birthday of the Indian god Ganesh with my face and each of its six arms holding markers, a mirror of coke, a blunt and some other foul shit. I had just gone through the experience of releasing Marathon and many of the reviews had these backhanded compliments about how I was a gifted and respect rapper, but only to a cult following of skaters, metal heads and drug addicts. Basically, the were insinuating that I didn't make “real” hip-hop for true hip-hop heads or whatever. Instead of getting upset, I embraced the idea and came up with the character of L Ron Hustler. I read Dianetics and other Scientology books, studied cults and their leaders intensely as well as anti-scientology views and arguments. I kind of became a lightweight expert on the history of cults in America in the process. I decided to make it a mixtape even though it was all original beats. My boy Jamie DeWolf, founder of Oakland emcee battleground Tourettes Without Regrets, has been a huge supporter and fan who I had been wanting to collaborate with for a years, who also happens to be the actual great-grandson of L Ron Hubbard. He is one of the only “slam” poets who I find remotely tolerable, so I recruited him to host the album. I used the Sam Flores art for the cover. Dick Nasty mixed it all together with cult leader sound bites and although a lot of the songs were hastily recorded 2-track mixes, and others barely mixed at all, it came out pretty fucking good.
Adam Bernard: For your next project, which I’ll assume you’re already working on, are you going the concept route again? What can people look forward to next? TopR: It’s tentatively entitled Life of the Party and is less conceptual then my other releases. A lot of it is a scathing diatribe about the currant state of hip-hop, talking shit on the new wave of gun rappers and the lack of support for traditional sounding underground hip-hop. A lot of it is party and drinking music. I guess you could say it is loosely about my transition from a broke grimy street urchin in San Francisco to a happily married somewhat responsible adult in Asheville. The “Life of the Party” is tongue and cheek. It’s more about the death of my party animal persona. I don't intend to release any solo material for a while after this, instead focusing on my group with Foul Mouth Jerk. For that reason I may call it Swan Songs. We'll see, it’s still a work in progress.
Adam Bernard: Having seen you perform live a couple of times I can say your shows are quite the experience. For one of your call and responses you ask people to shout “fuck you TopR.” Most emcees want people extolling how great they are, why do you want the crowd yelling “fuck you” at you? TopR: Because Ice Cube did it first and he's fucking awesome. Beyond that, my music is pretty self deprecating and is my way of navigating through the crippling anxiety I have due to massive self-loathing, doubt and insecurity. Since so much of my music is serious in tone, yet I'm actually a fun loving dude who just likes to crack jokes and be a dick, I feel like adding some comedy to the live show creates some much needed levity. It lets the crowd know that I don't take myself too seriously and neither should they. It’s a fucking party for Christ sake and I'm a just a miserable loser like the rest of ya’ll so let’s just put that out there from the gate. I call my style “feel good music for fucked up people.” I think that explains it all.
Adam Bernard: At this point in your career where are some of the most interesting places, either physically, or creatively, hip-hop has taken you? TopR: I've been touring and sharing the stage with legends in this hip-hop shit since I was 17 or 18, I'm now 33, and that alone makes it all worth it. I've gotten dosed without my knowledge by Granola Funk Express fans selling merch, sold drugs to rock stars on Warped Tour for gas money, fucked that one bartender at the venue for kicks and ended up marrying her six years later. I've had orgies with strippers backstage, a capping battle with Shock G in the back of a Winnebago in Portland, got in a fistfight with The Earthlings, Living Legends and Heiroglyphics vs. a bunch of security guards in New Mexico, I set fire to my DJ's girlfriends curtains at a house party in Santa Cruz, recorded a song with Z-Trip gone off thizz in AZ, and ate Italian cheeseburgers in East Orange, NJ with the Artifacts. KRS-One knows me by name. I have fans with quotes from my songs tattooed on their bodies. I've had people tell me my music saved their life. I've had people tell me my music ruined their life. I lived on people’s couches until I was 27 years old, and they didn't mind because I could rap really well. I've had heroes become best friends through graffiti and hip-hop. I lived my childhood dreams and then some.
Adam Bernard: Finally, how the heck did you end up with the name TopR? TopR: I was homeless in Santa Cruz as a teenager and since I only kicked it with broke college students, the only food they could kick down was Top Ramen. One day tripping balls with my boy KEFR PCF at some fucked up drug front cafe on Pacific Ave, I decided that it would be hysterical if I started writing it (as graffiti). I imagined some poor malnourished UCSC student on the verge of a breakdown seeing it scrawled on a dumpster in some cutty side street and it being the final straw that lead them to mass murder or better yet, suicide by cop. It shortened to TOPR out of a need for efficiency when tagging. Eventually the name Top Ramen didn't fit me as a rapper since I hadn't touched the stuff in years and since everybody called me TOPR anyway, so the abbreviated name stuck. An unfortunate and random name for an unfortunate and random man with an unfortunate and random music career documenting an unfortunate and random lifestyle. Perfect, really.
It’s New Year’s Day. There’s a chance you’re hung over. That’s no way to bring in a new year! (Sorry for shouting) Ignore that headache and start 2011 off correctly, with a little Homeboy Sandman. “The Carpenter” is one of the most explosive tracks off of Sandman’s 2010 release The Good Sun, and the video is one of the most creative you’re going to see. THIS is how to start a year!
For more on Homeboy Sandman check out the following features:
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.
