Gnawledge Records

www.GNAWLEDGE.com

2009-07-17T12:29:00.001-07:00

We've retired the ol' blogspot and moved over to GNAWLEDGE.com

Update your RSS feeds and warn you neighbors.

CD Release Concert in Ojai

2009-07-09T10:03:00.000-07:00

On FRIDAY JULY 10th ---> USA debut of our new album Granada Doaba will be hosted at Farmer + the Cook in Ojai, CA.

The show is free!

The concert will feature live performances by:

Russ Baggerly (Flamenco guitar)
Stanislov's Dog (Middle Eastern music with Daniel Eshoo, Rod Martinez, Raymond Powers)
Twin Trip (indie rock with Felix Penny and Micah Van Hove)
Gnotes + Teddy Jack (electro-acoustic guitar)
Gnawledge (global hip-hop with Granada Doaba)

Music will start at 7pm. Before the concert at 6pm, Canyon Cody will give a talk about his Fulbright research project about multi-cultural music in Spain. There will be drinks and delicious organic food. For more info, email canyon [at] gnawledge [dot] com

Granada Doaba remix project

2009-04-13T18:05:00.001-07:00

Gnawledge's instrumental record Granada Doaba is done and the remix project has just barely begun, but we already got some amazing contributions...

First, a peek into the kitchen of French rapper Kaya while she practices lyrics over the Granada Doaba instrumental "Nunca Fui A Granada" [featuring Gnotes on the guitar + cajon]. Video recorded in the Albaicín (Granada, Spain)

Gnawledge - "Nunca Fui A Granada (Kaya Remix)" Download MP3

Second, we got a wicked bilingual dance track from Moses, an MC from the nuAi tribe.

Gnawledge - "Bohemia Al-Andalus (Moses Remix)" Download MP3

anyone else down for a collab?

Murs "Everyday" (Gnotes Remix)

2009-04-13T17:53:00.000-07:00

Gnotes contributed a beat to the Murs remix contest. Always a dutiful rule-abider, Gnotes' instrumental contains no samples (as per stipulated); Gnotes plays live bass, guitar, accordion, bongos and MPC.

Murs - "Everything (Gnotes Remix)" Download MP3

James Blunt? really?

Knaan + Granada Doaba [Music Video]

2009-03-06T12:59:00.000-08:00

music video smashup silliness to fill the time before Granada Doaba's April 21st release.

much thanks to knaan, chubb rock, carlos saura, el niño de las pinturas, sunny marley, afro dz ak, mohammad dominguez and tú también.

Knaan "ABCs" (Gnawledge Remix)

2009-02-24T17:36:00.000-08:00

Knaan - ABCs (Gnawledge Remix) by elcanyonazo

The first Granada Doaba mash-up is from El Canyonazo, who hadn't done a proper smashie since "Emergency Xxplosives". The vocals are from Knaan's "ABCS" [feat. Chubb Rock] from his new album Troubadour.

Free Download: Knaan "ABCs" [Gnawledge Remix]

The instrumental is "La Senda del Abuelo" from our hip-hop flamenco album Granada Doaba, featuring Gnawledge bredren Afro DZ ak on trumpet and Mohammed Dominguez on the darbuka drum. The guitar sample is from flamenco guitarist Juan Habichuela's song "Coge la Senda" (featuring singer Marina Heredia's voice at the end) from his Latin Grammy award-winning album Una Guitarra en Granada.

While in Granada, we were lucky enough to work with Juan Habichuela' grandson, an amazing 19 year old guitarist of the same name, but we'll have to save that story for another day . . .

BUY --> Knaan's new album Troubadour

Bohemia Al-Andalus [Yanng Remix]

2009-02-03T18:13:00.000-08:00

The first Granada Doaba remix is from a Spanish MC named Yanng, who sharpened his canines performing every week with a live band at the Sunday JamSessions at BoogaClub in Granada (Spain).

Free Download: Granada Doaba - "Bohemia Al-Andalus" [Yanng Remix]

Yanng came by the Gnawledge studio with his compañero Asis (video below) and freestyled over the instrumental "Bohemia Al-Andalus." Yanng went home with the beat his brain and scribed us a Doaba anthem:

"Eso no son rumbas de feria,
es una fusión de músicas serias.
Música antigua, ahora hecha nueva."

Much respect to Yanng for breaking the seal on the Granada Doaba remix project.

Anyone else interested? We got strumentals --> doaba@gnawledge.com

Kaya - Metaform Crush Remix

2009-01-23T16:11:00.000-08:00

The producer Metaform is working with Gnotes and Elemental Zazen on both of their upcoming albums, but this here's just a likkle bootlegd remix of his track "Crush" from Standing on the Shoulders of Giants, one of my favorite albums of 2008.

Metaform - "Crush (Kaya Remix)" Download MP3

Kaya [aka Cat Gomez] is a French MC based in Granada (Spain) who collaborated with Gnawledge on Granada Doaba. For the anglophonos in the room, she's rappin in français until 1:38 and then reboots into espangñol for the finish.

Metaform's blenditure of instrumental hip-hop and old-school funk is right up my cup o'tea alley. Support the artist.

Gnotes - "Guitars in the Trunk"

2009-01-20T17:56:00.000-08:00

The first track form Gnotes' 2006 album INTHRUMENTAL, "Guitars in the Trunk" is about the Gnawledge Records trip to Cuba for the 10th annual Havana Hip-Hop Festival. We brought a mobile studio down to do some recording with Anonimo Consejo, a pair of Cuban MCs.

When we arrived at the José Martí International Airport, the security agents were unbothered by our guitars and drum machines, but they were not happy about us importing microphones into Cuba.

Video by Canyon Cody.

Lyrics:
"The human voice is a beautiful thing,
but the human voice is a powerful thing.
They confiscated our bags when we got off the plane.
Suitcase with instruments and all types
of machines that make beats,
but they only took the mics.
Charged with illegal vocal amplification,
Locked my mic behind the cell
but released us form the station.
Homeless, lazy, lifeless, sunk.
Technics in the backseat,
Guitars in the trunk."

Purchase Gnotes' Inthrumental @ iTunes, Amazon or CDBaby, but whatever you do, don't bootleggus.

MySpace: Gnotes + Anonimo Consejo

Gnotes "Angels Are Trouble"

2009-01-16T14:58:00.000-08:00

From Gnotes' 2006 album Inthrumental from Gnawledge Records, "Angels Are Trouble" explores the dangers of tings so good. Featuring bad lypsync from Canyon Cody, reefer madness and brazilian devils.

Purchase Inthrumental @ iTunes, Amazon or CDBaby, but whatever you do, don't bootleggus.

Gnotes "Windmills"

2009-01-09T11:51:00.000-08:00

Recently back from Granada (Spain), Gnotes breaks the seal on 2009 with "Windmills". Gnotes made the beat, big ups to Russ Meyer for the footage

Gnotes is back in Seattle with a new album coming in the Spring.

More musik --> Gnotes @ MySpace

Afro DZ ak > Press Clippings

2008-12-05T11:19:00.000-08:00

In 2008, Afro DZ ak's solo debut Elevation got spins + ink across the country. Here's a selection of what the press had to say:

"You ever heard of an emcee you can also play the trumpet? Me neither... Lyrically, Afro DZ ak doesn't slack on the mic as he weaves through different topics with ease and an uncanny ability to connect with the listener... The sweet singing in the hook and instrumentation reminds me of vintage ATCQ" Rap Reviews

"It sounds as though the music could be coming from a Miles Davis record, not a hip-hop album." Tufts Daily

"This record is one that should fly off the shelves, making strides to bring people together through positive songs." Rider News

"Not often does one come across a musical hybrid like the rapping and trumpet-playing Afro DZ ak... The album fails to disappoint with its combination of conscious, intelligent lyrics and skillfully played music." NYU News

"Elevation will turn heads as the album is defiantly booming with inspiration and successfully manages to separate itself from the stereotypical sound in hip-hop." Buffalo Spectrum

"The winning ingredient in this eclectic hip hop stew is the music. DZ ak colorfully loops soulful horns, organs, and other jazzy tidbits over beats that leave even the most discriminating of listeners susceptible to head bobbing. " The Noise

"Uplifting and thought-provoking" Lost at Sea

Afro DZ ak Interview

2008-10-25T11:48:00.000-07:00

Birth of the beat:

Afro DZ ak elevates Boston underground

Published in the The Heights
Thursday, October 23, 2008

By Michael O'Brien

His dad was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, while his mother was born and raised in Kansas. At Tufts University, he majored in international relations, and after college he has worked in community development and education. One of the causes he supports is the affordability of higher education. Sounds a lot like Barack Obama, but it's actually the pedigree of Pete Shungu - also known on stage as Afro DZ ak - a trumpeter, rapper, and spoken-word poet who writes smooth, jazz-influenced hip-hop and performs in Boston's notorious underground scene. He just released his debut album Elevation on Gnawledge Records, which was founded and is managed by Canyon Cody, BC '06, and Sean Dwyer, BC '04. Despite the difference in occupation, the similarities between his and Obama's personal histories aren't purely coincidental: Obama has constantly been a source of inspiration for Shungu ever since he read Dreams from My Father, in which Obama discusses his life, particularly the reality of his multiracial heritage. This background is one of the subjects Shungu explores in his music.

Shungu was introduced to music at an early age when his mother signed him up for piano lessons. "I was a typical kid who hated practicing, but that kind of sparked my interest in music in general," he says.

In the fifth grade, he picked up trumpet and also started getting into hip-hop, listening to an eclectic assortment of artists, ranging from Public Enemy to A Tribe Called Quest, and from De La Soul to Naughty by Nature and Dr. Dre.

"When you first get into music you don't see the distinction between what's commercial and what's conscious," Shungu says.

He says commercial rap started declining around the time he was developing his own musical consciousness. Around this time, he discovered alternative hip-hop pioneers like Common, Mos Def, and Talib Kweli. From listening to these artists, he developed his own artistic style. He rejected the mainstream's raw, thug mentality and opted for the intelligent, conscientious one of the aforementioned alternative pioneers. For Shungu, music became an approach for tackling important issues.

It wasn't until years later that he discovered his passion for jazz. "My high school had this music director who was really into jazz and completely opened my mind to all different styles of music," he says.

His jazz influences include Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Freddie Hubbard. He admits that, though it sounds cliche by now, Davis' earlier style in classics like Kind of Blue and Birth of the Cool profoundly influenced his own. He focuses on trumpet playing that is emotional, rather than fast.

"I'm not going to say I can play like Miles or anything, but being about emotion and not being about playing a million notes is something that made me able to play with a lot of different people. In addition to my own album, I play trumpet on probably 15 other albums with hip-hop bands, rock bands, and jazz bands."

Throughout high school, he stuck with his musical commitments by playing in the concert and jazz bands, while also playing soccer. By the time Shungu graduated from high school, he was composing his own parts for trumpet. Once he was in college, he started getting into rhyming and rapping.

"It was kind of a gradual process," he says.

He graduated from Tufts University in 2003, majoring in international relations. Unlike a lot of the musicians he has worked with, he hasn't been in bands all his life; though he wrote music and lyrics, he didn't start performing until after college.

Besides his solo work as Afro DZ ak, Shungu is a former member of the Eclectic Collective and also plays in a six-piece soul band called Soul Movement. He met Dwyer at a show a few years back at the Western Front in Cambridge. The two burgeoning musicians exchanged information, and Dwyer eventually called Shungu. After that, they lived together in an apartment in Somerville, Mass., for a year and half.

"At the time we knew about each other's music. We respected each other and started working on music," he says.

Dwyer, whose stage name is Gnotes, released an album titled Inthrumental in 2006, on which Shungu contributed trumpet parts. After meeting Dwyer, he was introduced to Cody, whom he describes as Gnawledge's "brain child."

"People ask me, 'Are you a part of a label?' I say it's more like a family, a collective of artists supporting each other."

After Dwyer's album was released, the two got to work on Shungu's. It took about six months to put together. Some of the tracks were written as long as four years ago, but most of them were recently put together within the last year, and some of the beats were picked up from friends. All in all, the process was smooth.

"Since I'm a musician as well, a lot of it is organic. I play keys on a few tracks so I'll come up with a keys groove and then make the beats myself."

Dwyer engineered the album, layering Shungu's various parts into catchy, cohesive songs.

Shungu admits that he has no consistent artistic process, but spontaneously writes musical parts and lyrics whenever he is inspired, particularly when he is driving.

"A lot of time I would be listening to instrumentals in the car and come up with lyrics in my head, write them down, and later develop the track," he says.

He currently works for a nonprofit company called Access, assisting high school seniors in the Boston public school system with the financial aid process for college. The job, he says, is a lot like being a guidance counselor, but is solely focused on college preparation. Overall, he loves working in education and thinks it is a good balance for his musical aspirations, and also another source of inspiration.

"The work that I'm doing gives me material to talk about in some of my writing," he says.

His outlook for the future is to keep working on music and in education.

"I don't think I'd feel complete if I gave up either music or working with young people."

Afro DZ ak - "Shine" (Music Video)

2008-10-17T06:51:00.000-07:00

From Afro DZ ak's new album Elevation, "Shine" was produced by Willie Green and features Afro's mighty trumpet. The video was produced by Canyon Cody, recorded in Somerville MA.

Check out the lyrics, preview the music @ Gnawledge, and buy the album at CDBaby, Amazon and iTunes.

Interview: Afro DZ ak

2008-08-21T11:02:00.000-07:00

This interview took place over email while Canyon Cody was in Spain working on his Fulbright project and Afro DZ ak was in Boston finishing his album Elevation.

Canyon Cody: What did your parents listen to when you were growing up?

Afro DZ ak: My mom played violin when she was younger. She listened primarily to classical music - I remember being a little embarrassed when she dropped me off at school and the other kids could hear classical music blasting on the radio. But now I'm so grateful for being surrounded by classical music when I was young, because it gave me a much greater understanding and appreciation for all styles of music as I got older. My mom also had an old record collection-- The Beatles, Aretha Franklin, etc. Through my dad and his side of the family, I was also introduced to music that reflected my own African roots - both traditional and modern Congolese music. I think the first tapes that I bought included Cooleyhighharmony (Boyz II Men), The Chronic (Dr. Dre) and Greatest Misses (Public Enemy).

Canyon Cody: When did you start playing trumpet?

Afro DZ ak: I first started with piano lessons when I was 8. I think a lot of musical ability came from my mom's brother -- he's a piano and flute teacher. My interest in the trumpet actually came from two sources-- first, I went to a summer camp at a local community college where we got to try out all different types of instruments. When I got to the trumpet, that was the one that really stood out for me. But the main reason I started playing the trumpet was... a girl. Yeah, in 4th grade I had a crush on this girl who played the trumpet. I was real shy back in the day, and I used to think about how if I learned to play the trumpet, I could sit next to her in band class and win her over. So I started playing trumpet in 5th grade. Since she was one of the best players, I had to practice hard if I wanted to move up in the ranks of all the trumpet players and sit next to her. So that was some good motivation. I took private lessons and practiced every day, and by the time 6th grade rolled around I was first chair and she was second! Though the crush wore off, we ended up becoming good friends, and years later I told her about how she helped inspire me to play the trumpet and we were able to laugh about it.

Canyon Cody: Did you learn trumpet on your own or did you have a mentor?

Afro DZ ak: My trumpet teacher's name was Joe Scannella. He was really into dixieland music, so I played a lot of that. More importantly, as a great trumpet player himself, he taught me all kinds of indispensable tips on playing the trumpet that helped me become the player I am today. But it wasn't until high school that I really started to develop a greater understanding and appreciation for music, especially jazz, thanks to my high school music teacher Eric Haltmeier. He got me into Miles, Trane, etc; and the rest is history. I played in a jazz improv group in high school called Microcosm that was led by Mr. Haltmeier, and that was the catalyst for me becoming a specialist at improvisation, versatility, and bringing creativity and feeling into my music.

Canyon Cody: What are some of your favorite hip-hop songs that feature trumpets (either live or sampled)?

Afro DZ ak: It's funny, there's actually more hip-hop tracks with saxophone lines that I really dig than there are with trumpets. Some people can't tell the difference betweent sax and trumpet, but I know instantaneously. Some of my favorite sax samples are Pete Rock & CL Smooth's "T.R.O.Y.", Queen Latifah's "UNITY" and Pharcyde's "Passin' Me By".

In terms of trumpet lines, I love how US3 flipped Freddie Hubbard's trumpet solo from Herbie Hancock's "Cantaloupe Island". I also like that real simple trumpet line on Digable Planets' "Cool Like Dat". Lords of the Underground's "Funky Child" has some dope trumpet samples on it too. I'm good friends with a couple of live hip-hop bands that feature trumpets: Audible Mainframe (from Boston, currently in LA) and Lifted (from Boston, now in NYC). Talib Kweli did this track called "Y'all Stay Up" featuring the Youngblood Brass Band, with live trumpets, tubas, trombones... that track is on point.

Canyon Cody: When did you begin to develop as a lyricist? Were you first a (written) poet or did it come from freestlying with other MCs?

Afro DZ ak: Back in the day when I was a kid, I was always more into creative assignments than essays at school, but I never really wrote my own poetry for fun, it was more just for school. I definitely developed as a musician earlier than I developed as a writer. It wasn't until college that I really started to write my own material, and I actually started writing rhymes before I started on the poetry tip. The first rap I recorded was called "Take the A Train". I think I wrote it while I was home from college sometime before my sophomore year at Tufts. It was a collaboration with my brother Nick (aka Mooks). Originally we went by the name "Afro DZ ak" collectively, but then I took over sole possession of it since he didn't have a 'fro. We recorded it at my brother's friend's house in Jersey, and he had Fruity Loops so I made this real bootleg beat and we dropped the track to it. Back at Tufts, I recorded a couple tracks with Stickemz (aka B Reese) and EZV (aka DJ Health) and freestyled at a parties, but never rocked any real shows until my senior year, which is also when I started with spoken word poetry.

Canyon Cody: From your music, it seems like you believe that music can promote positive change. Have there been songs, or musicians, in your life that have influenced you to be a better person, or work for a better community?

Afro DZ ak: As far as musicians/artists that inspire me, the first person that comes to mind is Omekongo Dibinga. I first met him because he was a TA in a course I took at Tufts called African Politics. We immediately connected, in part because we're both Congolese born in the US. Omekongo was one of the first spoken word poets who really made poetry come alive for me - his poems touched on poignant issues about Congo and Africa in general, about racism, sexism, commercialism, about setting a positive example for young people. Probably more than anyone else, he inspired me to write and perform and develop my own poetry. One thing that stands out to me about Omekongo is that he challenges himself to address issues beyond just those that most obviously affect him. For example, he is one of few Black heterosexual male poets I have seen openly speak out against heterosexism / homophobia in his poetry. He also has traveled the world extensively which I think is crucial for someone to really broaden their own frame of mind, and he works tirelessly with young people (in DC these days) to educate and promote positive messages.

I don't know if there have been songs that have influenced me to become a better person, but there are definitely songs that renew my energy and desire to make change, songs that I just put on repeat sometimes because they sustain me in my quest to make a positive difference. Some songs like that would include Blackstar's "Knowledge of Self (Determination)", J-Live's "Brooklyn Public" (a track about being an inner-city school teacher), Arrested Development's "Mr. Wendal", and Pharoahe Monch ft. Talib Kweli & Common "The Truth". I feel like one of the keys to being an MC is listening, just listening to music all the time, listening to other peoples' constructive criticism, listening to your own heart and staying true to that.

Canyon Cody: Tell me about your work in the Big Brothers program.

Afro DZ ak: I got started with Big Brothers when I was a freshman at Tufts through a community service organization called the Leonard Carmichael Society (LCS). I got matched up with Tevin on St. Patrick's Day in 2000, when he was 8 years old. So we've been matched together for over 8 years now, half of his life. He's changed a lot over time, and he has a lot of negative influences around him, so even though his mom does everything she can to provide for him, I know things aren't easy for Tevin. We have our ups and downs, but over the years we've shared so much together: going to Celtics games, Sox games, museums, the beach, recording music, playing sports, going sledding, just hanging out.

I really consider Tevin a part of my family, I think one of the reasons I first decided to be a Big Brother is because I missed my biological brother Nick when I went off to college. While my relationship with Tevin is completely different from my relationship with Nick (who is now 24), Tevin really is like another brother to me. Tevin and Nick have met each other a few times also and get along real well. Most matches through Big Brothers/Big Sisters last only a year or two, but Tevin and I have developed a bond that goes beyond the requirements of the Big Brothers program and represents a real friendship. He knows that I will always have his back.

Canyon Cody: How did you get connected with The Eclectic Collective and how did you decide to part ways?

Afro DZ ak: I first connected with The Eclectic Collective at concert at Harper's Ferry in Allston, and the promoter (Onslaught, aka Lionel Brown) booked me as the opening act for the show. In addition to The Eclectic Collective, there was another live hip-hop act called Audible Mainframe who performed as well. The whole show was real dope, and it got me excited about live band hip hop/soul in Boston. Especially this one song by EC, "Souls on Ice", which literally made me want to grab my trumpet and jump on stage and start playing while they were performing. At the time, I had recently started playing with a Worcester-based band, Soul Movement, we got booked for another show with the EC. After that show, they asked me if I wanted to join the band, because they were looking to add a horn player to their sound and they were diggin the trumpet that I had played during my solo set and the Soul Movement set.

As far as my leaving the band, that was one of the hardest decisions I've made, but one that in retrospect I'm happy with. In a way, EC was a victim of their own success. Things got to the stage where everyone was quitting their day jobs to tour with the band full time, and I felt like I had too much to give up to do that. I love my job with ACCESS, working with high school students, and both for my own sake and the sake of the students I work with, I wasn't willing to give that up. Also, musically the band was steering more and more away from hip hop & soul and becoming more and more rock, and while the music was still good, it wasn't really me. I wasn't down with putting all my eggs in one basket, especially when I felt like I had so much to offer in my day job. And since I have left the band, I have been able to do so many things, including playing all over Gnotes' and Elemental Zazen's albums, joining the Gnawledge family, and recording my solo album, which I never would have been able to do otherwise.

Canyon Cody: You must really love you day job -- tell me about your what you do.

Afro DZ ak: I am a Financial Aid Advisor for ACCESS (www.accessboston.org). I work one-on-one throughout the school year with High School Seniors in the Boston Public Schools to help them get financial aid for college. Filling out the FAFSA, applying for scholarships, taking out loans, etc; etc; I also do presentations, parent nights, etc; about financial aid. I work in collaboration with teachers, guidance counselors, and administrators in the schools to meet with students during the school day and make sure they get all the financial aid they deserve so that money doesn't prove to be a barrier preventing them from achieving their college dreams.

The strong majority of BPS students receive free/reduced lunch and many are the first in their families to go to college. The vast majority are students of color. The schools I work at are Brighton High School, Greater Egleston Community High School, and Boston Adult Technical Academy. In the process of assisting students with the financial aid process, I also serve as a mentor to countless students, helping them navigate the often overwhelming process of getting through their crucial senior year in high school while putting all the necessary pieces of the puzzle together to go on to college.

Elemental Zazen's Boston Farewell Show

2008-08-19T05:49:00.000-07:00

On August 29, Elemental Zazen will be performing in Boston for the last time before he moves out to Seattle. Fresh from a 5 country European tour, Zazen will be performing with his live band, featuring appearances from Gnotes, Brix, Burnt MD, The Macrotones, Kabir and DJ Slipwax.

The Middle East (Upstairs)@ 9pm. $10 adv / $13 at the door

An Afro in Paris

2008-07-30T12:33:00.000-07:00

Afro DZ ak + his mighty trumpet in Paris -- all videos recorded from July 27-29th (2008) during Gnawledge Records' European tour.

NOTRE DAME

RIVER SEINE

Afro's trumpet + Barack Obama's highschool basketball jersey by the River Seine, playing the opening riffs from Gnotes' "Beautiful Story"

JAM SESSION

We stopped into Le Caveau des Oubliettes, which has a live jam sessions 7 days a week. Unfortunatly we were there on "Pop Rock" night, so the house band ran through some cheesy covers, but Afro brought the funk.

Afro DZ ak's BoogaClub Jam Session

2008-07-20T06:17:00.000-07:00

Our final night in Granada before heading to Barcelona, the Gnawledge crew went to BoogaClub for the weekly jam session. Usually the house band starts the night and eventually invites other musicians to come up on stage for a song, but Afro DZ ak's mighty trumpet left such an impression that they adopted him as part of the crew for the night.

After our concert on Thursday, we feel fairly homey at BoogaClub... but onwards and upwards we go: mañana a Barcelona.

Gnawledge en Granada

2008-07-19T04:43:00.000-07:00

Gnotes, Afro DZ ak, and Elemental Zazen live+direct in Granada, Spain on July 17th 2008, playing with Richard Dudanksi on the drums. Big ups to CostaTropical.com for filming the show and posting the footage.

Elemental Zazen "Handcuffs" (Music Video)

2008-05-20T08:56:00.000-07:00

Warning: Kinda graphic before breakfast.

With special appearances from George W. Bush, Tony Blair, Vladmir Putin, Ronald Reagon, Richard Nixon, James Buchanan, John Tyler, Herbert Hoover, Milard Filmore, Robert Mugabe, Augustino Pinochet, Fidel Castro, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Franklin Peirce, Teodoro Obiang Nguema, Condeleeza Rice, Dan Quale, Oliver North and The Pope.

From Elemental Zazen's new album The Glass Should be Full

Canyon Cody Press Clippings

2008-05-15T05:57:00.000-07:00

Interview published in CARMEN, a Spanish magazine based in Granada

Concert Videos from Granada, Spain

2008-05-10T03:48:00.000-07:00

Gnotes - "Still Glowing" (Produced by Cyrus Cassidy)

Gnotes - "Throw Your Nickels Up" (Remix ft. Mighty Om)

Elemental Zazen - Electronic Press Kit

2008-04-28T12:53:00.000-07:00

The Glass Should Be Full
Release Date: May 20th, 2008
Buy the CD: CDBaby or Amazon

Download Press Kit (.pdf) / (.jpg)

Photo Gallery / Lyrics
Reviews / MySpace

Contact: Canyon Cody
canyon@gnawledge.com

"Fast, furious, raw, and reflective... Verbally nimble and righteously indignant, Zazen rhymes with a purpose"
-- The Boston Globe (January 18, 2008)

In 2005, when Elemental Zazen started working on his sophomore release The Glass Should Be Full, he envisioned the album as a political manifesto for radical social change - revolutionary hip-hop in the tradition of Public Enemy. Over the next two years, a series of tragedies in his personal life interrupted his plans and forced Elemental Zazen to shift his focus to survival.

"Fuck it. If I die tonight, I hope my last rhyme was tight"

In 2006, Elemental Zazen lost a close family member in a tragic accident, and then lost most of his worldly possessions when his house burned to the ground in a five-alarm fire. The following year, Elemental Zazen (real name Jason Trefts, age 25) was diagnosed with a life-threatening tumor in his occipital lobe, which required immediate brain surgery. His new album narrates the fear, hope and anger of a disillusioned revolutionary struggling against both political injustice and personal tribulations.

Recently profiled in The Boston Globe's "5 Locals on the Verge in 2008," Elemental Zazen raps with an aggressive flow, attacking the mic with honest grit and athletic lyricism. With an urgent need to tell his story, Zazen limits his guest appearances to an elite group of veteran and emerging underground hip-hop producers: Kno (Cunninlynguists), Maker (Glue), Joe Beats (Non-Prophets), Gnotes, Scroll, J.Ferra and Confidence.

Musically diverse, the album ranges from riotous fist-pumping anthems ("Handcuffs" and "No Survivors"), to subtle, reflective rhythms layered with lush instrumentation ("Silence of the Now" and "Machine" feature live trumpet, guitar, bass and violin).

With intricate rhyme-schemes penned by an angry scholar, The Glass Should Be Full is explosive hip-hop with a revolutionary purpose: "I'm a socialist vocalist focused on roping the hopeless in."

The son of international school teachers, Elemental Zazen was born in the US and raised in Al Taif (Saudi Arabia) and Beijing (China). Despite growing up in vastly different countries, Zazen saw a similar pattern of exploitation and injustice everywhere he called home.

Unwilling to accept a system that produces inhumane poverty and opulent wealth side-by-side, Elemental Zazen focused his fury into his 2004 debut The Adolescence Weapon - which The Weekly Dig praised as "one of Boston's most enlightened hip-hop discs in recent memory."

On The Glass Should Be Full, Elemental Zazen continues the fight against global inequity, but this time his rhymes are laced with an urgent appreciation of life: "All of the events that have happened to me in some ways have opened my eyes to the brilliance of life, so without them the album wouldn't have more upbeat songs like 'Machine'."

***Elemental Zazen - "Machine"

Prod. by Elemental Zazen
Featuring Gnotes on guitar/bass
(free mp3 downlaod )

***Elemental Zazen - "Handcuffs"

Prod. by J.Ferra and Confidence
Featuring cuts by DJ Slipwax

After The Weekly Dig featured Elemental Zazen in "10 to watch in 2007," Jason Trefts went into the hospital for brain surgery on July 24 2007. During his recovery period, Zazen started writing about his too-soon confrontation with death: "It's strange needing a will at this age / feeling caged, betrayed, jotting it down on the page." Later that year, Elemental Zazen appeared on Gnotes' album Rhymes and Beats and soon got back to touring New England with his five-piece band.

Since 2005, Elemental Zazen has shared the live stage with Immortal Technique, Kool Keith,
Mr. Lif, Cunninlynguists, Ill Bill, Murs, Cage, Boot Camp Clik, Masta Ace, Camu Tao, Akrobatik, Glue, Louis Logic, Slaine, Ed OG and Animal Collective.

The release show for The Glass Should Be Full will be on May 24 2008, at the famed Middle East (Downstairs) in Cambridge, Mass. Elemental Zazen will be touring Spain, England and France in July and August, then starting a PhD program in Sociology at the University of Washington this fall. For the past six years Zazen's has worked as as a Residential Counselor at a home for mentally ill young adults in Arlington, Mass.

Zazen's influences?
"Dao. Wind. Water. Trees mostly. Hand out the car window. Running away from things and towards other things. Life on other planets. Time travel. Insecurity. Girls. Being poor. No more alcohol and drugs. Finally getting some sleep."

What about favorite bands?
"Radiohead, Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade, The National, Joy Division, TV On The Radio, Sufjan Stevens, Caribou, Sigur Ros, The Black Keys, Interpol, Death From Above 1979, Broken Social Scene, The Cure..."

Favorite books?
The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac
Post Office by Charles Bukowski
Man's Fate by André Malraux
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

Buy the CD at CDBaby or Amazon

Gnotes @ WERS 88.9 FM

2008-03-27T15:34:00.000-07:00

Gnotes, Mr. Lif, Akrobatik, Jake the Snake, and Big Shug were selected to represent Boston hip-hip as part of WERS 88.9 FM's Live Local Music Week. Listen to Gnotes perform "Tower of Babylon" and "Sun Don't Chill" live on-the-air, with appearances from Afro DZ ak and Kabir.

Gnotes - "Live @ WERS" (mp3 download)

In The Studio : Gnotes
By Jessica O’Byrne

Sean Dwyer, a.k.a gNotes, has come a long way since his adolescence spent playing sports and grunge music. Since then the Seattle native has taken on the East coast in a big way, being recruited to play Division I football at Boston College and—even more impressively—establishing himself one of the most promising up-and-coming emcees in Boston. Dwyer, whose demeanor is simultaneously confident and unassuming, arrived at WERS accompanied by fellow Gnawledge Records musicians Afro DZ ack and Kabir, respectively contributing trumpet and vocals to the mix. In between performances, Dwyer discussed his hands-on approach to music (he contributes instrumentals to nearly every track on his recently-released Rhyme and Beats), an upcoming trip to Granada, Spain (where he will spend the next few months creating a global hip-hop record along with Gnawledge Records co-owner Canyon Cody—to the tune of a $20,000 Fulbright musicology scholarship), and records that Gnawledge intends to put out in the near future.

When asked about the occupational hazards inherent in switching coasts, Dwyer responded, “In a lot of ways Boston is where I’ve really cut my teeth, because it’s been the more developmental years…but Seattle’s just a much more accepting environment to art and music in general. I feel like more heads come out to support shows—not that they don’t in Boston—but I feel like it’s just a more open environment.” Nonetheless, for better or for worse, Boston has become Dwyers’ home as he develops his unique sound while simultaneously working alongside Canyon Cody at establishing Gnawledge.

From the first measure of “Tower of Babylon”, which opened the live mix set and can be found on Rhymes and Beats, two things were immediately clear: first, that these tracks are light years away from the ‘bitches-n-hos’ anthems that clog so much of contemporary radio rap; second, that the three men in the studio are talented musicians with a very serious—but not somber—message. Instead of the negativity that has so unfortunately characterized much rap music, gNotes’ songs are of the more hopeful variety. This message is translated into the obvious passion with which Dwyer performs his music.

This passion was even more evident in the raw, heartfelt manner in which he sang the opening of his second track, “Sun Don’t Chill.” Although the music is positive, it is far from heavy-handed—“Sun Don’t Chill” is kept interesting by the unexpected shifts in the beat and clever jabs at popular culture: at one point in the song, Dwyer sings “Dollas dollas kill, y’all,” obviously referencing—and perhaps criticizing—a similar line that appears in a Wu-Tang Clan song.

Dwyer will be out of the country recording and touring Europe for the next few months, which is all the more reason to check out Rhymes and Beats, along with other upcoming Gnawledge releases (for those who are interested, all of said releases—and some sweet preview tracks—can be found at gnawledge.com ).

Powderhouse Birthday Jam

2008-02-11T01:10:00.000-08:00

Here´s a peak into the Gnawledge kitchen: a mini-jam at Afro DZ ak's recent 27th birthday party in Somerville, MA. Backed by Gnotes on the MPC and Frank on the guitar, Afro DZ freestyles with his trumpet inside a cypher of multi-instrumentalist MC´s.

Enjoy the hors d'œuvres, a little something we whipped up to whet your appetite for Afro DZ ak´s upcoming solo debut Elevation. Now get out the kitchen, because we got a trumpet feast to cook.

Peace to Afro´s brother Mooks behind the camara, Benny Blanco, Jimi P, and the other partygoers who stopped by Powderhouse Studios to hear some Gnawledge music.

Gnotes > Press Clippings

2008-01-29T08:55:00.000-08:00

The Globe - March 10, 2008

The Boston Herald - February 18, 2008

The Weekly Dig - October 9, 2007

The Heights - February 15, 2007

Le Provocetuer - November 14, 2007

Elemental Zazen concert videos

2008-01-27T13:46:00.000-08:00

With a punk´s energy and a poet´s focus, Elemental Zazen rocked a packed house last night at the Middle East downstairs.

Recorded from the vantage point of a side stage monitor, the videos feature Zazen´s rambunciotnus live band, with Gnotes on the guitar closest to the camara and Todd Thurheimer playing bass on the other side of Zazen. Onstage, but outside the frame, are KEH Drums bangin out beats and DJ Slipwax on the wheels of steel.

With rowdy crowd in the house, Zazen offered a live preview of his upcoming album The Glass Should Be Full, to be released by Gnawledge Records in May 2008.

The show also boasted live painting by Writous, a Boston graf artist who was recently featured in The Herald in an article written by Chris Faraone.

The post-game recap from concert promoter Leedz: ¨I usually dont post bulletins AFTER a show but this time i feel its necessary. Last Nights show, Meleodesiac CD release party, was insane. We didnt have one national act and did close to 400 people in the venue. Big up to all the acts, 3sp, Left Over Wine, Slipwax, Zazen and his band, Melodesiac, Ricky Mortis, Writous, and Elephant House. Each act played their role perfectly and last night was a perfect example of what can happen when every act hussles. But more importantly each set was tight and the fans were great. I was completely in shock on how well it went. For a night with all local acts, we proved again that we have our own scene here in Mass and dont always need big national acts to pack up a venue. I cant wait to work with all of these artists again and next time i guarrantee it will be even bigger.¨

For more melancholy mayhem, catch Elemental Zazen performing live at the Paradise Lounge on February 19, 2008 at Gnotes´ final show in Boston before heading to Spain to collaborate on El Canyonazo´s arab/flamenco hip-hop record.

Luz Aire y La Calle

2007-11-20T11:29:00.000-08:00

As part of the XXVIII Festival de Jazz, there's been live music in the streets of Granada every Saturday. The festival's organizers gave Gnawledge permission to record this week's performance, but while we set up in Plaza Nueva, the capricious ensemble rerouted themselves to Plaza Bib-Rambla instead.

Disappointed about a missed opportunity, me and my pair of Rode NT2-A mics caught the attention of a trio of musicians (below) who asked us if we'd be interested in recording their performance.

But Granada overprovides. Not 5 minutes later we met another group of musicians who were also performing in the street that afternoon. Stuck between a sofa and soft place, we decided to leave the didgeridoo and violin behind and record instead with Luzaire, who played a fusion of flamenco, arab, brasilian and afrocuban music.

The mp3s below were recorded live on the street on November 17, 2007.

Luzaire - "Guajirilla Ruborosa" (mp3)

Luzaire - "Mano Franca" (mp3)

The video has no sound, so play it with the audio clip below.

Luzaire - "Breve y Sincero" (mp3)

Luzaire - "Muy Triste El Mar" (mp3)

Luzaire - "Conventos Vacios" (mp3)

Again, the video has no sound, but check my brief appearance at the very end.

Luzaire - "La Palmera Airosa" (mp3)

Luzaire - "Mírame Madre" (mp3)

que bien rollo!: A sunny Saturday afternoon in the public domain, listening to borderfree music by the Rio Darro.

rightclik + download all 11 mp3s (zip = 53mb)
Also, check out Una Vuelta en Granada for more pictures.

2007-10-08T05:41:00.000-07:00

Gnotes - "Throw Your Nickels Up" from Rhymes and Beats.

Buy the album at Amazon, CDBaby or iTunes

Check Gnotes on MySpace for additional info.

2007-03-15T21:33:00.000-07:00

Video of gNotes and Afro DZ ak freestyling at Tufts University, moving from the mic to the trumpet, from live drums and to organic rhymes

Check out more at Gnawledge.com

2007-01-28T21:14:00.000-08:00

New videos from gNotes performing at the Radix record release show.

gnotes - "Punchlines" (John Mayer Remix)

gnotes - "No Man's An Island"

gnotes - "Pete the Banker"

2007-01-05T21:22:00.000-08:00

Edutainment from Afro DZ ak, dropping gnawledge on the mic and through his trumpet.

"Action is what gives words traction
And true service to others is its own satisfaction" Afro DZ ak

"The youth need a little inspiration
Beyond the mass media infiltration" Afro DZ ak

Much repect to Speakerheart for producing these films.
Check Speakerheart.com for more.

2007-01-01T11:50:00.000-08:00

Blog entries previous to this date were posted retroactively to the original publication date of the articles.

2006-05-04T17:03:00.000-07:00

Ryan Wade: plays well with others
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

When Gnotes, aka Sean Dwyer finished the music for his new album Inthrumental, he asked Ryan Wade, BC '05, to design a cover that matched the album's unique sound of joyous instrumental hip-hop. "Before I even saw [Wade's] design, I knew I would love it. I sent him the album and just a few days later he sent it back with the music converted to paint," explained Gnotes.

Any artist with a major in studio arts can paint a pretty picture, but Wade has the unique ability to interpolate music and visually adapt the sound for the cover art. Since graduating he has designed the artwork for two albums and a DVD cover, and hopes to continue working with musicians and filmmakers in the future.

Like most young boys, Wade enjoyed drawing dinosaurs, trucks, and comic book superheroes, but didn't seriously consider art as a career until college. "Instead of watching TV in my dorm room, I'd just go mess around in the art studio," he said. He cites Art Nouveau, Rick Griffin, and Paul "Diddy" Hughes as his biggest art influences and currently works primarily in watercolor and graffiti stenciling.

Earlier this year, director Francisco Saco asked Wade to design the cover for his new skate film, Distant. Wade's colorful cover reflects the fluid, dynamic cinematography of the film, which features stunning shots of amateur skaters in different countries around the world.

"There's no better way to get to know a city or town, and all its local flavors, than on a skateboard. Just rolling down the streets and looking all around you. Seeing what there is all around you. It's the best way to travel, best way to meet people," said Saco.

The soundtrack alone is worth the price of admission, featuring Blockhead, Talking Head, Warren Zevon, and more. The music and cinematography are first-rate, but I don't know a thing about skateboarding, so I sent the film to my little brother, who is a connoisseur of fine skate cinema.

Here is my brother's review of the film:
"My name is Sunny White, age 10 in fifth grade and I am reviewing the skate video, A Journey through the Lens. Some of the things that I thought were cool were that the producer went around skating with friends and videotaping local skaters from Boston, Costa Rica, Spain, Japan, France, and Holland.

"Another thing I liked was how creative they got with the cover of the DVD. I thought the skating in the video was really good. I thought it was cool how they showed how all the skaters fell. I liked how they had skaters from different levels, some good and some not so good. I liked how they used the negative image in some of the video.

"I think this is one of my favorite skate videos that I have seen."

Like my brother, Saco has been skateboarding since he was a kid and one day decided to bring his video camera along to film his friends' tricks. "At first, I wasn't doing anything coherent, just filming," he admits. Then he brought his camera and his skateboard to Europe and filmed sessions in Madrid, Cannes, and Amersterdam. "That's where I got the idea to make an 'around the world' skate video," explains Saco.

Saco is currently finishing his second film, Tortilla Flats, based on a Mexican immigrant who faces racial tension and classism while working at a burrito restaurant.

Last year, a group of BC students recorded an album of spoken-word poetry and asked Wade to design the artwork. Myran Hunter, Martine Russell, Noah Dixon, and Sean Dwyer called themselves the Dorm Room Griots because the album was recorded entirely on campus. Keeping with the spirit of independent, locally produced music, the album's art was designed by Wade and fellow senior studio art major Ian Greenwalt. Hunter, now a high school English teacher in Washington DC, reflected on his experience with the album and the importance of Wade's art:

"Working on the Flow From Above was a huge accomplishment for many individuals. It was truly amazing to see a group of college students come together in the most humble and meager of means inside a small, cluttered bedroom of a dorm and construct a piece of work that resonated so many ideas, styles, thoughts, and passions. Seeing the artwork done for the album really solidified the whole experience. No longer was it something that was talked about, it evolved from an abstract concept into a concrete piece of artwork filled with an abundance of expression and life. It was an excellent project that allowed the artists involved, including myself, to truly set themselves free."

Wade recently started a silk-screening company in order to sell his art on T-shirts and hoodies. Anyone interested in custom orders can reach Wade at BornToBeRad@gmail.com or see of his artwork at Gnawledge.com

2006-03-30T09:00:00.000-08:00

Broadcasting directly to you iPods
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

When I was a freshman, I used to wander around campus on Friday afternoons handing out my underground hip-hop mix-tapes to friends and random passersby. When I was a sophomore, I started DJing at WZBC 90.3 FM so that I could reach more listeners, but you still had to live in Boston and be awake at 1 a.m. in order to hear my show.
Senior year, I made the jump to global distribution by starting my own podcast. There's a good reason why "podcast" beat out "reggaeton" and "sudoku" to be selected as 2005's Word of the Year. Everyone from Barack Obama to the Boston University hockey team has a podcast - why shouldn't you have one too?

What is a podcast?
Podcasts are like mp3 radio programs that broadcast directly to your iTunes, which you can then transfer to your iPod or burn to a CD. Once you subscribe to a podcast, new episodes will automatically arrive in your iTunes like stocking stuffers delivered while you sleep. Since podcasts are MP3 files that save directly to your computer, you can listen to them anytime, like TiVo for the radio.

Some of the most popular podcasts include the BBC's daily five-minute news synopsis and MTV's weekly new music mix. There are also plenty of amateur podcasters who produce shows from their bedrooms about the stock market, international hip-hop, Buddhism, and every other imaginable topic.

The best part is that all podcasts are free, free, free. You don't need to sign up for an account or enter your credit card information in order to subscribe, just one click of the mouse.

How do I subscribe to a podcast?
iTunes makes downloading podcasts as easy as buying songs from the iTunes Music Store, but a lot cheaper. Browse through thousands of free podcasts organized by genre in the iTunes podcast directory and then click "Subscribe" to immediately get the newest episode and eventually receive subsequent releases.
If you don't have iTunes you will need another RSS feed aggregator (or "podcatcher") such as Odeo or Juice, both free. Google Reader is another great free tool for subscribing to podcasts and other RSS feeds such as blogs.

You can find more podcasts at http://www.podcastdirectory.com. If you find a podcast that is not available in the iTunes podcast directory, you can still manually subscribe in iTunes by clicking "Advanced" in the iTunes menu and selecting "Subscribe to podcast." You then paste the podcast's unique RSS feed, such as http://www.gnawledge.com/podcast.xml, which will direct iTunes to your desired podcast.

Most podcasts are hosted on Web sites that offer a direct link that will open iTunes and automatically subscribe you. For example, you can subscribe to my international hip-hop podcast at http://www.gnawledge.com. On some computer configurations, you might have to subscribe manually as shown above.

How do I start my own podcast?
Anyone with a microphone and an Internet connection can start their very own podcast and spread their voice around the world. First you will need some music software such as GarageBand or Adobe Audition, which will allow you to record and edit your mp3 radio program.

In order to turn this mp3 into a podcast, you will need to create your unique RSS feed. This can be a bit complicated, but there are numerous programs available at www.podcastingnews.com that automate this process and require you only to fill in the blanks. If you don't have a Web site, you will need someone to host your podcasts for you. Odeo offers a simple, all-in-one podcasting package that includes Web hosting and RSS feed support.

What's the future of podcasting?
Most podcasters today are unpaid amateurs who do it for nothing more than the simple joy of connecting with listeners of similar interests, but with 10 million people currently listening to podcasts, big businesses are starting to take notice. Advertisers are projected to spend $80 million on podcast advertisements in 2006 and record companies are looking toward podcasting as an effective means of new media marketing. Radio Disney even plans to offer free, ad-supported podcasts that target 6- to 14-year-old children.

As video iPods become more popular, video podcasts are going to become a means for distributing music videos, Internet TV shows, and shorts films. And when that iPod cell phone eventually comes out �

2005-11-17T14:55:00.000-08:00

Hell hath no fury like a rapper scorned
By Canyon Cody
Originally published in The Heights

After Immortal Technique released Revolutionary Warfare, Vol.1 in August 2001, the United States government responded by passing The Patriot Act just two months later. If you thought The Patriot Act and the war in Iraq was about fighting terrorism, then let Immortal Technique drop some gnawledge for you:

"A fake church called the prophet Muhammad a terrorist / Forgetting God is not a religion, but a spiritual bond / And Jesus is the most quoted prophet in the Qu'ran / They bombed innocent people, tryin' to murder Saddam / When you gave him those chemical weapons to go to war with Iran," he raps on "The 4th Branch."

Tech isn't your typical "socially-conscious" rapper with polite rhymes about peace and love. His style is belligerent, his verses are vulgar, and his gnawledge is raw, the sort of stuff you need to chew on a minute. For fans of intelligent, revolutionary, hardcore hip-hop, there hasn't been a better rapper since 2Pac went to Cuba.

Immortal Technique will be performing at the Middle East on Sunday and granted a rare interview with The Heights to talk about his history, his upcoming album, and his controversial political views.

They say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, but Tech raps with the fury of five centuries of women, men, and children scorned by colonialism and capitalism.

Born in a military hospital in Peru, raised in Harlem, and imprisoned in Pennsylvania before emerging as the most feared battle rapper in New York, Immortal Technique has some serious grievances with the American government.

Kanye recently caused a media frenzy by saying, "Bush doesn't care about black people." Tech's been screaming that for years, with a much more articulate voice and a lot more supporting evidence.

Though he's often compared to rappers like Chuck D, dead prez, and KRS-One, Tech said his real influences are W.E.B. Du Bois, Jose Carlos Mariategui, Malcolm X, Che Guevara, Augusto Sandino, Harriet Tubman, and Marcus Garvey.

Like Ras Kass before him, Immortal Technique doesn't just rap about living in the hood - he understands the larger historic and economic forces that perpetuate poverty and racism. As a result, Tech doesn't peddle petty beefs with other rappers. Eminem raps about having "so much anger aimed in no particular direction," while Immortal Technique points the crosshairs of his scope directly at the heart of the beast: the U.S. government and the corporations that he says control it.

"You might have some house n- fooled, but I understand / Colonialism is sponsored by corporations / That's why Halliburton gets paid to rebuild nations," he raps on "Cause of Death."

But Tech's anger wasn't always focused in the right direction. "In high school I was always doing stupid shit snatchin' nigga's chains, gettin' into fights. I look back and I wonder how I could even live like that, but I brought that attitude with me from the streets to Penn State," he said.

While still in college, he was involved in an altercation sparked by a racist comment that led to a broken jaw for a white student and a year in prison for Immortal Technique.

"When I came home from prison, I was living with my parents. I was on parole and I couldn't get a job. It's a very humbling experience getting out of jail," he said.

Tech started going to battles to earn some money, but ended up also earning a reputation for being a ruthless MC. "I wanted to make sure that people knew that I wasn't just one of these little backpacking fucks who rhymed in a circle," he said in a previous interview. "I never got destroyed or roasted by anyone, period. Anyone who says different is getting their father slapped up and their mother thrown down a flight of fucking stairs just for lying."

"Finally I decided to take all the songs I wrote in prison, with that young angry pissed off voice and release an album. Because even if I sold five a day, that's $50, I could buy groceries with that, you know, I could eat," he said.

The result was Revolutionary Warfare, Vol. 1, which eventually earned him a place in The Source's "Unsigned Hype" column in November 2003. He started getting offers from major labels, but decided to remain independent after reading up on the exploitation of artists in the music business. As a result, he released Vol. 2 independently, which means he owns all of his own masters and pocketed all the profits from the 75,000 copies sold.

Tech's career has been the ideal model for the do-it-yourself underground hip-hop MC. Tech decided against signing to a label because they wanted him to change his style, to downplay his politics, and ignore his black and hispanic heritage.

"That's the difference between the Civil Rights movement and the Black Panther / Hip-hop Generation. In the beginning we wanted to be down with America, not as second class citizens, but really to become full American citizens. We wanted to be down with America so bad that we were willing to fight and die in America's wars. And when we got back, we still weren't allowed to be full American citizens.

"America told us that we were basically here to work and die, kinda like how America treats Mexicans today. We tried that. So now then the hip-hop generation is sayin, 'Fuck waiting for America to accept us. We'll build our own America inside of you.'"

Two years ago, he bragged that, "My grind right now is unsurpassed. I have no booking agent. I have no manager, so it all relies on me. My manager is my voicemail, cell phone, and my e-mail."

He's now vice president of his own label, Viper Records, with plans to release his next album The Middle Passage, in mid-2006. By now I figured he would have hired a publicist who would reply to my interview request, but to my surprise an unknown number from a 212-area code popped up on my cell phone:

"What up nigga? This is Immortal Technique!"

2005-11-10T04:35:00.000-08:00

Interview with Gift of Gab
By Canyon Cody
Originally published in The Heights

Never take advice from a rapper. If you don't see me back on campus next semester, blame Gift of Gab from Blackalicious.

While interviewing him over the phone, Gab's advice to me was, "Take the cash from your student loans and start a record company. That's what we did." I explained to him that Boston College doesn't have much of a hip-hop scene and he laughed.

"Neither did UC Davis," he said, "but that's where we all met. Me, DJ Shadow, Lyrics Born, Lateef, Xcel - we all met at the college radio station."

With misappropriated tuition money, the crew started SoleSides Records in 1992, later to become Quannum Projects. The independent label released Blackalicious' first two EPs, Melodica and A2G, and its full-length debut Nia. The duo finally signed to a major label in 2000 and unleashed Blazing Arrow, one of the most sublime hip-hop albums ever released.

A-Side
Blackalicious - "Powers"

The new Blackalicious album, The Craft, sounds surprisingly little like its predecessor. Instead of chopping up samples, Blackalicious producer Chief Xcel put together an all-star band featuring Spearhead bassist Carl Young and Beastie Boys percussionist Alfredo Ortiz to create the lush instrumental sound heard on tracks like the lead single "Powers," "Supreme People," and "Lotus Flower," featuring George Clinton.

"What I love about this album is that you can't tell what's a sample and what's a live performance," said Gab. "Xcel originally made the beats on the MPC, but then stripped them down.

"Then we went into the studio with the band and they just jammed on top of his beats for like eight hours a day, three days in a row. It was like a Miles Davis session. Then we took the best parts of the jam session and Xcel's original beats and put them together."

B-Side
Blackalicious - "Rhythm Sticks"

While Xcel drives the beat, Gab rides the groove with his signature lyrical gymnastics. Keep your finger near the rewind button because Gab's got the sort of ridiculous flow that demands a double take. Gab is probably too hooked on phonetics, rehashing his infamous exercise in extended alliteration reminiscent of "Alphabet Aerobics."

Blackalicious - "The Fall & Rise Elliot Brown"

"I've been rapping since I was 12, just battling kids in the neighborhood, so for this album I wanted to do something more. I wanted to tell stories that created visuals for the listener," he said. The album is a cinematic experience that reinforces Gab's reputation as a socially conscious emcee who manages to avoid the temptation of hippie-dippy proselytizing.

"I don't consider myself a political person. I just use common sense. I'm an observer. If I see something happening over and over again in my community, then I make the connection and I comment on it."

2005-05-02T03:55:00.000-07:00

A good time had around the Galaxy
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

What is the meaning of life? The nebulous answer is 42, according to A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but like an interstellar game of Jeopardy, the tricky part is finding the right question.

The film adaptation of Douglas Adams's classic sci-fi novel begins with a bang, but loses momentum as its superb cast aimlessly bounces around the galaxy.

The initial bang is the Earth's destruction, vaporized by the alien Vogons in order to build an intergalactic freeway. Fortunately for Arthur Dent, played by Martin Freeman from the BBC's The Office, he is saved by Ford Prefect, an alien disguised as a human in order to do research on Earth for additional entries in the interplanetary best seller A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Mos Def proves himself a phenomenal actor starring as Prefect, with subtle wit, quirky facial expressions, and impeccable timing. The first 20 minutes of the film, in which Dent and Prefect escape impending doom by hitching a ride with one of the spaceships that just destroyed Earth, are exciting, engaging, and hilarious. From here the film falls a bit flat, wandering around the galaxy in pursuit of plot lines.

The story is saved by an eclectic cast of quirky characters from around the universe. John Malkovich makes a quick appearance as preacher Humma Kavula. Sam Rockwell (Confessions of a Dangerous Mind) gives a hilarious performance as galaxy president Zaphod Beeblebrox, with two heads and half a brain.

Beeblebrox's smug smirk, country drawl, and dim wits might remind viewers of a certain real-life president, but Beeblebrox doesn't wield any real power. He's just a political diversion for the expansionist, bureaucratic Vogons, who actually run the universe.

The film's humorous banter is enough to keep the movie fun as the hitchhikers jump from ship to ship in pursuit of a supercomputer (voiced by Helen Mirren) built by the ancient Magratheans that has spent the last 7.5 million years coming up with the answer that explains "life, the universe, and everything." To everyone's frustration, it finally offers "42" as the answer, leaving the hitchhikers back on the road again in pursuit of the question.

It's hard to say who will enjoy Hitchhiker more, the die-hard fan or the first-time hitchhiker. Those who read Adams's 1979 novel and its four sequels, listened to the late '70s radio series, watched the 1981 BBC miniseries, played the 1984 videogame, or read the early-'90s DC comics, will inevitably appreciate subtle references but complain about various inaccuracies.

The film is probably easier to enjoy for those outside the cult, because the film's real charm isn't the quasi-philosophy of the books, but the eccentric acting and wonderful visual effects.

Director Garth Jennings and screenwriter Karey Kirkpatrick, who revised the script that Adams nearly completed before his death in 2001, deserve praise for resisting the temptation to turn the film into an orgy of special effects.

Instead, Jennings hired Jim Henson to do the pupeteering for the Vogons, and Marvin the Paranoid Android actually has Warwick Davis inside the robot costume. The simple visual effects complement the quirky humor of the cast.

The most important thing for any hitchhiker to remember, according to the cover of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, is "Don't Panic!"

There are parts of the film that will tempt viewers to wish they had left the book as it was, but don't panic, because the superb acting and visual fun make for a great ride.

2005-04-28T12:51:00.000-07:00

Mixtape Friday: Dorm Room Griots' Flow From Above
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

For my little brother's 10th birthday, I sent him The Giver by Lois Lowry. The story follows Jonas through his apprenticeship under the Giver, an old man who serves as his community's Receiver of Memories.

Like the Giver, West African griots have served for centuries as keepers of memories. Griots are oral storytellers who use poetry and music to teach their village about its history. In America, griots became rappers, but somewhere between Senegal and the South Bronx, these rappers forgot the history they were entrusted to protect.

Today, the village of hip-hop suffers from a serious ignorance of its own past, which extends past New York in the 1970s. Modern-day spoken word poets like Saul Williams are hip-hop's true storytellers, but griots are not supposed to be celebrities; they're supposed to be functioning members of every village.

A-Side

Myran Hunter "We Have Forgotten"

At Boston College, a group of poets called the Dorm Room Griots have recorded Flow From Above, an album of spoken word poetry. They will be performing with musicians and DJs at the record release party on Friday at 9 p.m. at The Perch in McElroy.

On "We Have Forgotten," Myran Hunter, BC '07, speaks about the African musical and social history that hip-hop has sold out. "You can purchase an alternate ego, a lavish lifestyle, worldwide recognition, or even a whole new identity. All of this can be yours for three easy payments of your past, your present, and your future," Hunter says.

Noah "The Conflict"

"We are the BC '06, on this track from his upcoming rap album. Noah brings variety to the poetry album, rapping about the inherent conflicts involved in struggling to succeed in a country that was built on slavery.

B-Side

Martine Russell "Moonbeams"
Griots are both men and women, but hip-hop refuses to pass the mic to females. On "Moonbeams," Martine Russell, BC '06, sings her ode to the urban village, the "birth-mother to b-boys and b-girls." Her poem celebrates the persistence of a battered, but not beaten, metropolis, "survivor of Nixon and drug wars / all the while she continues to smile."

Sean Dwyer "Woodrow Wilson"
Time for some American history. "It's no wonder to which demographic democracy reaches / it's been since Woodrow Wilson when a president wrote his own speeches," raps Sean Dwyer BC '04.

More than guns or drugs, hip-hop promotes consumerism. Rappers are like commercials, encouraging listeners to buy, buy, buy. On his track, Dwyer explores how blind consumerism leads to global injustice: "I need to purchase more dead weight, my clothes have more pockets / Am I purchasing death? Wait, how'd they pay for those rockets?"

2005-04-21T11:38:00.000-07:00

k-os interview
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

With a traditional drummer, a hand percussionist, and a DJ tapping beats on his MPC, rhythm filled the Paradise on Tuesday, with Canadian rapper k-os leading the crowd through a powerful, but disappointingly brief set while opening for Handsome Boy Modeling School (HBMS).

It was no easy task recreating the diverse instrumentation on k-os' two phenomenal albums, 2002's Exit and 2004's Joyful Rebellion. Instead of bringing a brass section on the tour bus, k-os delegated the responsibility to his guitarist, who proved his Spanish flamenco skills with blurred hands.

K-os' music has a natural energy to it that makes it sound more alive than the majority of over-produced commercial rap. During our interview, k-os talked about his musical roots in Trinidad, where he lived before moving to Canada when he was 12.

"Watching my uncle in Trindad making steel drums at home from scraps of metal that he found, that really gave me a grass roots understanding about music and how you should make it," he said.

K-os enjoys considerably better success in Canada, where any of his five music videos are regularly played on Canadian television. His first single, "Crabbuckit," won him Single of the Year at the Canadian Juno awards.

When he performed his hit single, the electric standup bass player strummed the song's infectious baseline, which it borrows from The Cure's "Love Cats." Instead of referencing The Cure, the more obvious earlier owner, k-os led the crowd into its original owner, "Hit The Road Jack."

For k-os, touring in America is always a strange experience, one that he admits he doesn't especially enjoy. He has toured Europe with The Roots, but looks forward more than anything to performing back home in Trinidad. K-os said he's not surprised that he doesn't get as much exposure in America.

"America blasts its music all over the world, and it makes it seem like the only way to be black is to be American black.

"Especially with hip-hop, Americans totally ignore black people in Canada, or in the Caribbean, or in Africa. That's why I was so into Bob Marley, because he was this black guy who was totally not American and America couldn't ignore him," he said.

HBMS headlined the concert, but disappointed with an inevitably unsatisfying perormance. The recent HBMS album, White People, is a beautiful collaboration between two producers, Dan the Automator from Gorillaz and Prince Paul from De La Soul, featuring guest appearances from Del tha Funkee Homosapien, Barrington Levy, Cat Power, and Jack Johnson.

Of course, none of these people were on tour with HBMS, just waiting backstage all night to perform their one contribution. Instead, HBMS decided to simply play their beats with cartoons of the guests projected on a screen behind them.

HBMS tried to compensate for the absent performers by incorporating skit comedy in its show. After k-os, the crowd seemed amused, but mostly disappointed.

Photo by Anna Schindelar

2005-04-21T00:47:00.000-07:00

Mixtape Friday: Is there hip-hop in heaven?
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

"Pope," an old Prince song, features The Artist singing, "You can be the president, I'd rather be the pope."

He was prioritizing his post-game perks, because St. Peter definitely made sure Pope John Paul II skipped to the head of the line to the pearly gates. Because of the foreign policies of our recent presidents, Clinton, Reagan, and Bush will "have some 'splaining to do," as Ricky Ricardo used to say, on their judgment day. Hip-hop will probably not pay much attention to John Paul II's death. Hip-hop's interest in religion, embodied by Kanye West, is more concerned with diamond-encrusted Jesus pendants.

On his first posthumous album, released two months after his death in 1997, 2Pac sings, "Should we cry when the pope die? My request/ we should cry if they cried when we buried Malcolm X."

A-Side

Richie Rich - "Do Gs Get To Go To Heaven?"
Though hip-hop tends to focus on Earthly pleasures and rewards, every once in a while rappers consider the thereafter.
Dedicated to 2Pac, this track features Richie Rich praying that his friend made it to heaven, which then leads him to consider his own sins. He asks God, "And if I took a life or perhaps sold some dope/ would you discriminate upon my entry to the gate?" It's not quite repentance, but it is confession.

Ice Cube - "When I Get To Heaven"
On a smooth beat with a chorus of Marvin Gaye singing, "This ain't living" from "Inner City Blues," Ice Cube attacks racist Christians who held the Bible with one hand and whipped slaves with the other. He raps, "400 years of gettin' our ass kicked/ by so-called Christians and Catholics, but I'ma watch 'em burn in the fire." Ice Cube looks forward to an eternal life in heaven better than mortal life on Earth: "They won't call me a nigga, when I get to heaven."

B-Side

2Pac - "I Wonder if Heaven Got a Ghetto"
More than any other rapper, 2Pac reflected and obsessed over his own inevitable death, which naturally led him to consider if there was a place in heaven for him.
"Let the lord judge the criminals," he raps, expecting God to understand that his sins were the products of the sinful, racist world he grew up in. 2Pac wondered if his prayers were heard, worrying that he's probably already dead in hell, wasting his prayers with the other condemned.

Common "Geto-Heaven, Pt. 2" [ft. D'Angelo]
Common reflects on earthly temptation and eternal redemption: "Young girls is thick, righteousness is narrow." This track isn't really about the afterlife, but about finding heaven wherever you are right now. D'Angelo provides cherub-sweet vocals for Common's search for heaven on Earth. He raps, "Can't imagine goin' through it, without soul music"

2005-04-14T01:34:00.000-07:00

Mixtape Friday: I'm too sexy for my shirt
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

I pray every night before I go to bed: "O Lord I pray to Thee, please bless us with another D'Angelo album. Amen." In an open letter to D'Angelo printed in Esquire, John Mayer wrote, "I'm writing to ask you to put out a follow-up to one of the few records to change my life forever, Voodoo." Our grandchildren probably won't know a thing about Jay-Z or Nas, but backseat lovers in 2083 will still be making nookie with D'Angelo playing in the background.

Unfortunately my prayers have gone unanswered, leaving me with nothing but music from his two albums, 1995's Brown Sugar and 2000's Voodoo, and a random assortment of guest appearances, remixes, b-sides, and rarities. With such a small selection, I cherish every D'Angelo appearance, especially on Method Man's "Break Ups 2 Make Ups" and Common's "Geto Heaven Part Two."

A-Side

D'Angelo - "Devil's Pie" (Mark Ronson Remix)
In my mixtape column from Jan. 20, 2004, I wrote "The eight second breakbeat at 1:41 into [The Strokes'] 'Someday' begs for a b-boy with two turntables and a mixer to loop the drum solo into a hip-hop beat."

Apparently, New York DJ Mark Ronson reads my column, because a year later we get this phenomenal remix mash-up featuring the vocals from D'Angelo's "Devil's Pie" and a funky beat that samples The Strokes' "Someday."

Lauryn Hill - "Nothing Even Matters" [ft. D'Angelo]
D'Angelo makes no secret of the fact that he's a big Star Wars dork. He once said, "The way I see it the radio stations and the media is like the Death Star, and I'm gonna be Luke Skywalker." This was the revolution that was going to save music and Lauryn Hill was his Princess Leia. This track from Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was the most soulful male/female duet since Donny Hathaway and Roberta Flack.

B-Side

D'Angelo - Untitled (How Does It Feel)
The song's uber-sexual video featured D'Angelo completely naked, his body chiseled like Michaelanglo's David. It turned D'Angelo into a sex icon, a role he was never comfortable with.

The Roots' ?uestlove, who served as musical director for Voodoo, described D'Angelo as amazingly insecure about his body: "Some nights on tour he'd look in the mirror and say, 'I don't look like the video. It was totally in his mind, on some Kate Moss shit.' So, he'd say, 'Lemme do 200 more stomach crunches.' He'd literally hold the show up for half an hour just to do crunches."

During his concerts, women in the crowd would start chanting "Take it off!" He hated being objectified and felt unappreciated as a musician. D'Angelo was too sexy for his shirt, but so sexy it hurt. He ended up canceling most of the tour and hasn't released anything since. ?uestlove's explanation: "What he wants is to do is get fat."

2005-04-07T04:30:00.000-07:00

Mixtape Friday: Kweli makes friends with Day
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

It gives me the giggles to think about how awkward it's going to be backstage at tomorrow night's spring concert at Boston College.

What will Talib Kweli, Howie Day, and Robert Randolph chat about before the show? Where will the UGBC put them? In the guys' locker room, sitting on the benches like it was halftime with the basketball team waiting for a pep talk from Al Skinner?

I don't know how this happens, but the UGBC consistently brings quality underground hip-hop to Boston College. There is definitely a supply and demand problem here, because I know not everyone at BC was as excited as I was to see The Roots, Common, and Nappy Roots.

We even had Vanilla Ice in the Rat, which was to this day, the most hilarious concert I've ever been to. "Go ninja, go ninja, go!"

A-Side

Talib Kweli - "Put It In The Air"
Kweli complains on this track that "half these motherfuckas can't pronounce my name." At BC, Kweli will likely find that more than half the students don't even know his name, but one can hope he'll earn new fans with a good live performance.

Kweli made his debut with Mos Def on Black Star, their classic collaboration from Ruckus Records in 1998. Every hip-hop fan has this album, and everyone else should at least download "Re: DEFinition" and "K.O.S. (Determination)."

From there Kweli collaborated with DJ Hi-Tek for 2000's Reflection Eternal, featuring "The Blast" and "Down for the Count." In 2002 Kweli finally released Quality, his aptly titled debut solo album, which features a hilarious introduction from Dave Chappele. With "Get By" Kweli enjoyed his first major mainstream hit single, with a little help from the production of Kanye West and a soulful sample from Nina Simone's "Sinnerman."

B-Side

Robert Randolph "Tears of Joy"
Pedal steel guitarist Robert Randolph and his Family Band know how to throw a party. It's easier to find recordings of his live shows than it is to find his studio albums, which tells you something about Randolph as a performer. Randolph plays the dirty blues like Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix, but there isn't a good word to describe his sound, so I'll invent one: funkbluesadelic.

Howie Day - "?"
Howie Day is ... umm? Honestly I don't know anything about Day beyond what I might guess from looking at his picture: Pretty boy with sweet, sometimes sad songs about sensitive issues. Rolling Stone describes him as "emotionally naked." I don't know how I feel about that, but I look forward to becoming a fan of his, because live shows are the best way to fall in love with a new musician. Hopefully BC students will come with an open mind and learn to like the performers they don't know yet.

2005-04-07T04:27:00.000-07:00

Don't call it a comeback, Jeffreys' been in Europe for years
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

When Garland Jeffreys decided to take some time off from his epic music career during the '90s, it was for all the right reasons: He was staying at home to help raise his young daughter with his wife. Now he's ready for a comeback and the music world needs him more than ever.

In fact, maybe it's just America that needs him, because the rest of the world has been enjoying Jeffreys' eclectic mix of rock, reggae, and soul for decades. Though he remains popular in Europe, most in America don't know his name.

There are a few exceptions - Bruce Springstein and Lou Reed are fans, friends, and occasional collaborators of Jeffreys. His music began with a distinct New York classic rock sound in the '70s and incorporated more soul, reggae and Latin music in the middle of his career.

For Jeffreys, these styles didn't come from outside influences, but from incorporating his own history into his music. Jeffreys is as diverse as his sound, growing up in a multi-racial family, part black, part white, part Puerto Rican, and part Native American. His lyrical content, like his musical style, reflects his diverse background.

Maybe now, 33 years after his self-titled debut album and 13 years since his last American release, Jeffreys is finally about to get the exposure his music deserves since recently signing with Universal.

Jeffreys, a true Rock 'n' Roll Adult (to use the title of his 1982 album) is busier than ever. He's out on a celebratory tour, which brings him back to Boston for the first time in 15 years. Jeffreys will perform in Somerville tomorrow night at Johnny D's Uptown with his full eight-piece band, The Coney Island Playboys.

Unfortunately, none of Jeffreys music from the '70s and '80s has been reissued on CD, other than his Wild in the Streets: Best of 1977-1983. This compilation features his reggae groove on "I May Not Be Your Kind," his exploration of interracial relationships.

Now 61 years old, but well-rested from his recent sabbatical, Jeffreys is ready to make a splash in a music scene long after most of his peers - Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Graham Parker, Paul Simon, Lou Reed, and James Taylor - are getting ready for retirement.

Before it became a gimmick for Jay-Z and Linkin Park, mixing styles came naturally for Jeffreys. His body of work is diverse and expansive enough that any music fan will find something to fit their taste and his live show tomorrow promises to be a blast.

Don't miss Jeffreys tomorrow night or you might have to wait another 15 years for the next show.

2005-03-31T18:17:00.000-08:00

Mixtape Friday: P2P brings power to the people
By Canyon Cody
Originally published in The Heights

     I am a copyright anarchist. I support willy-nilly downloading and refuse to be guilt-tripped by millionaire rock stars for stealing their $16. My momma taught me to share, so despite the RIAA, I proudly duplicate music and share it with my friends.
The Supreme Court is currently hearing a copyright infringement case against Grokster, a file-sharing program similar to KaZaA. Lower courts have upheld Grokster's innocence based on the Supreme Court's 1984 decision that absolved Sony of copyright liability for illegal uses that consumers might make with their VCRs.
      At bcheights.com you can legally download brief 15-second clips of the songs featured on the mixtape. If you want the full versions, you'll have to be sneaky - these songs were never released commercially because they are filled with uncleared samples and egregious copyright violations.

A-Side
Double Dee & Steinski - "Lesson 1 (The Payoff Mix)"
      In 1983, Tommy Boy sponsored a DJ remix contest for Globe & Whiz Kid's "Play That Beat Mr. DJ." The winning entry came from DJ duo Double Dee & Steinksi, an impressive musical collage featuring 24 diverse vocal and musical "quotations" from disco, funk, rock, movies, television, and everywhere else. Unfortunately, it was a legal nightmare for Tommy Boy's lawyers, who advised against releasing it because it would be impossible to clear all the samples, leaving Double Dee and Steinski without a penny and banishing the song to bootlegdom.

      For Double Dee & Steinski, the grass is always greener on the other side of the bridge. Instead of using just one musical bridge, they jump back and forth through a collage of 10 second rhythm samples from Herbie Hancock's "Rockit," The Supremes' "Stop in the Name of Love," and the Incredible Bongo Band's classic breakbeat "Apache."

B-Side
Double Dee & Steinski - "Lesson 2 (The James Brown Mix)"
      James Brown has been sampled in hundreds of rap songs, but never before has a track combined five different James Brown songs at the same time. I won't ruin the surprise about which songs they use - the most enjoyable part of listening to these songs is trying to figure out the samples, but here's a hint: Clint Eastwood and Bugs Bunny are in there too.

Double Dee & Steinski - "Lesson 3 (The History of Hip-Hop Mix)"
     This became the most famous of the trilogy, based around Herman Kelly and Life's "Dance To The Drummer's Beat." It begins with a warning from Otis Redding, "We gonna do a song that you never heard before," leading into JFK announcing that "the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans," and just for fun, they throw in a Groucho Marx joke. For more info about Double Dee & Steinski, check out 2001's phenomenal DJ documentary Scratch.

Steinski "The Motorcade Sped On"
     After an amicable split from Double Dee, Steiski again grabbed attention with his mix featuring samples from media coverage, mostly Walter Cronkite, of the JFK assassination. But CBS, fearing "trivialization" of Cronkite's legacy, refused clearance on Cronkite words, leaving Steinski again with no way to capitalize on his creation.

2005-03-17T09:19:00.000-08:00

Mixtape Friday: It's Rex Manning Day!
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

I get sick of songs pretty quickly, especially when my roommate plays his new favorite tune every five minutes. Imagine how sick you are of U2's "Vertigo" after watching the iPod commercial a million times. Now imagine how sick of it Bono must be, and yet he still has to perform it at every stop on tour.Musicians usually resort to playing covers for two reasons: Either they don't have enough original material or they're sick of playing their own songs. When Jack Johnson appeared in concert on March 3 at the Virgin Megastore, he played a number of covers for a different reason: he couldn't remember the lyrics or the chords to his own songs.

Bay Area DJs Sway and King Tech host a radio show where they put famous rappers on the spot and test their memory of the lyrics to their own songs. It's hilarious to listen to Ice Cube struggle to remember the words to his own classics from years ago.

A-Side

Led Zeppelin "Stairway to Heaven"
The first 250 fans who purchased Johnson's new album In Between Dreams were rewarded with a special yellow bracelet that allowed us to see Johnson perform. Instead of letting us wait inside, the sadists at Virgin forced us to wait outside in the bitter cold. At one point it appeared like Johnson had finally arrived, but to everyone's surprise, Paul Peirce from the Celtics emerged instead from a black Escalade to buy 50 Cent's new album, which was released on the same day. Finally at 12:30 p.m., an identical Escalade rolled up and Johnson popped out, smiling and tan.

He took requests from the crowd, but apologized when he couldn't remember the words to some of his older songs. Someone in the crowd jokingly suggested "Stairway to Heaven" and Johnson tried to humor him, but only managed to remember the first few chords. Johnson didn't seem bothered when he couldn't remember his own songs, but he was clearly frustrated that he forgot how to play the Zeppelin classic.

B-Side

Charles Wright "Express Yourself"
This funky track from 1969 by Charles Wright, was later made famous when sampled/covered by Dr. Dre as a member of N.W.A. The uplifting song doesn't really fit on Staight Outta Compton, an otherwise nihilist gangsta rap album, but fit perfectly as a transition between Johnson's happy-go-lucky songs.

Ernie Mars "Plastic Jesus"
One fan nonchalantly set up a microphone to record the concert, which Johnson not only tolerates but encourages. His Web site even offers a place for fans to trade bootlegs of his live shows. Over the years these have included covers of "Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer," Robert Johnson's "Dust My Broom," Jimmy Buffet's "Pirate Looks at Forty," Bob Marley's "Trenchtown Rock," and Sublime's "Garden Grove." The only true cover he sang at this show was Ernie Mars' "Plastic Jesus," with its famous lyrics, "I don't mind if it rains or freezes/ Long as I have my plastic Jesus/ Riding on the dashboard of my car."

2005-03-17T04:22:00.000-08:00

Dedicated Citizen Cope fans wait outside in the cold
By Canyon Cody

Published in The Heights
Photo by Anna Schindelar

Singer-songwriter Citizen Cope passed through Boston during spring break at a moment of transition in his career. He is not yet popular enough to fill larger venues, but apparently too popular to fit all his fans into the small Paradise Lounge.

Many were unable to get tickets before they sold out and instead decided to stand outside in the freezing cold and enjoy the concert by peering through the bar's windows.

Citizen Cope deserves to be playing at major venues and will most likely never return to a stage in Boston as small as the Paradise Lounge, the small bar next to the Paradise Rock Club.

It was a special treat for his fans in the crowd who knew all the words and sang along, only to be tricked when Cope would slightly deviate from the lyrics on his album just to make sure everyone was still paying attention.

Cope performed songs from his phenomenal new album The Clarence Greenwood Recordings and his self-titled debut. He was backed by an exciting band that featured an organ player and a hyperactive drummer whose kinetic energy on tracks like "Son's Gonna Rise" contrasted Cope's mellow, almost sedate stage presence.

Citizen Cope's voice was full of passion and pathos, but his facial expressions hardly revealed a light in the attic. Cope's eyes remained thee-quarters closed through the entire show and he somehow managed to belt and wail without opening his mouth more than a sliver.

Cope did a great job of adapting his songs for the stage and avoided simply playing the songs as they sound on his album. For his encore, Cope returned with only his acoustic guitar, giving his band a well-deserved break.

His only cover of the night, Bob Dylan's "Simple Twist of Fate," came during the encore. He said he was never into singing covers, but Dylan's lyrics touched him, so he learned the words. "Now that I've learned the words, I might as well play the song," Cope joked in one of his brief interactions with the crowd.

His voice resonated in the small venue and his Bob Dylan-esque growl imbued his lyrics with genuine emotion. Cope's non-singing stage presence, however, was disappointing for he hardly engaged the crowd while onstage. The singer made up for it by hanging around after the show and signing autographs for his fans who had pillaged the Paradise for Citizen Cope promotional posters. As a musician, Cope is an impressive performer, but as an entertainer he lacks a certain showmanship that would distinguish his live shows.

2005-03-03T16:11:00.000-08:00

Infectious joy from Jack Johnson
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

While the sun struggles to break through the blizzard in Boston, Jack Johnson's new album In Between Dreams brings much appreciated warmth to an otherwise dreary winter of bland, gray music. It's a bit more upbeat and multi-layered with various instruments than his previous albums, but it's still filled with Johnson's characteristic relaxed vibe and subtle, poignant lyrics.

Johnson's music will make you feel good on the inside. The timbre of his voice and the simple plucking of his acoustic guitar convey a contagious joy in life. Johnson seems so content with life that his melodic smile might seem exaggerated, until you remember this guy spends most of his time surfing and playing guitar on the North Shore of Oahu.

In fact, Johnson's life at the beach was so good that he was initially reluctant to pursue a music career at all. Johnson decided against signing to a major label and dealing with record companies and all those "mediocre bad guys" he sang about on his last album, On and On.

Instead Johnson started his own label, Brushfire Records, with his wife and friends, releasing his phenomenonal surf movies, September Sessions and Thicker Than Water, and their equally great soundtracks.

The only person happier than Johnson might be his wife. Many of the best songs on In Between Dreams are love songs dedicated to her, including "Do You Remember?" on which Johnson sings about first meeting his future wife: "I was crazy about you then and now/ but the craziest thing of all/ over 10 years have gone by/ and you're still mine."

On "Banana Pancakes" Johnson sings about staying inside and making banana pancakes with his wife and kids on a rainy day. While some might envy the lavish Cribs on MTV, Johnson paints a much more attractive picture of his domestic life: "We could close the curtains and pretend there's no world outside."

Johnson supports hiding from the outside world sometimes. On "Good People" he sings, "Where did all the good people go? I been changing channels/ I don't see them on the TV shows."

Since his first album Johnson has been an outspoken opponent of television and its effect on our culture. On iTunes Originals, an album he released last year, he explains the inspiration for his songs: "Sometimes I get embarrassed when I turn on the TV, you know? Cuz' we're all the same thing and when I see some other humans acting so silly on some reality TV show, just to sensationalize, it just kinda makes me feel stupid."

"Staple It Together," "Never Know," and single, "Sitting, Waiting, Wishing," are Johnson's most upbeat songs to date, with funky reggae rhythms and occasional jazzy piano. Johnson adjusts his flow for these songs, nearly rapping his way through his verses. While most rappers brag about their bling, all that Johnson can do is "tell you that my metaphor is better than yours."

Some people like their musicians bigger than life, but I prefer mine full of life. Johnson overflows with soul, in a quiet sort of way.

In order to promotes his new album, Johnson signing autographs at Virgin Records on Newbury Street today at 1 p.m. He will also perform songs from In Between Dreams, but you will need to show your purchased copy of the album in order to get into the concert.

2005-03-03T09:07:00.000-08:00

Mixtape Friday: Leaky faucet plagues industry
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

There's nothing more distracting than a leaky faucet. I don't know why record companies can't hire some beefy security guard to protect albums from leaking before they come out, but once they hit the Internet, these songs spread faster than nude pictures of Paris Hilton.

The unfortunate consequence is that the rest of the album often disappoints after a great lead single. 50 Cent's "Disco Inferno" leaked months ago, but it's infinitely better than the rest of his new album, The Massacre. After Dr. Dre's beat from "Disco Inferno" whetted our appetite, all we get for a main course is a truly atrocious album with a homoerotic picture of 50 Cent on the cover.

But we keep our hopes up - here are two upcoming albums with leaked tracks that point towards greatness, but don't get your hopes up too high, or else the let down will hurt.

A-Side

Beck "Go It Alone"
Following the heartwrenching breakup that inspired his last album, the dreary but beautiful Sea Change, Beck is ready to strut his way back into bachelordom on "Got It Alone." An unfinished version of Beck's new album, erroneously titled Ubiquitous, recently found its way onto the Internet. The real album, Guero(which is Mexican slang for a blonde, fair-skinned white boy), was produced by Odelay and Midnite Vultures collaborators the Dust Brothers and will be released on March 29.

Beck "Girl"
The new album returns to the goofy hip-hop funk of Beck's previous albums, but you can't undo his musical maturation since "Loser." This song is a similar up-tempo jam, but every sound seems to be in the right place, rather than the sloppy fun of his older albums. The breezy "Oohs" and "Aahs" in the background make a soft bed for Beck's dilly falsetto and bluesy guitar riffs.

B-Side

Common "Corners"
At last year's Mod parking lot concert, Common told me that his new album, BE, would be released within a few months. Almost a year later and there's no album, but at least we got two leaked singles.

Fellow Chi-town native Kanye West produced "Corners," which features one of the most impressive guest appearances in years from The Last Poets, a collective of revolutionary black poets from the Civil Rights era.

Common "Food"
Ever since Common and Kanye appeared together to perform "Food" on Chappelle's Show, hip-hop heads have been hungry for this album. Common promises that it will represent a return to his old-school style, which will be appreciated after his last album, The Electric Circus.

According to Common, his new album will be his "best work ever." Though I know better, I can't help but get my hopes up.

2005-03-03T04:14:00.000-08:00

Interview with Citizen Cope
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

Rarely will I do this, but I'm going to spare the reader a long-winded introduction and just come out and say it: You need to stop reading this and go buy Citizen Cope's new album, The Clarence Greenwood Recordings.

If you don't like it and later regret your purchase, I will personally refund your money. That's how good this album is.

There's nothing especially unique about what Citizen Cope does - he's a singer-songwriter in the tradition of Woody Guthrie, John Steinbeck, and Bob Dylan, but Cope incorporates subtle hip-hop rhythms to accompany his gritty, woeful wail and acoustic guitar. Beck is the closest thing around today to Citizen Cope's hybrid of folk, funk, and hip-hop.

But while Beck busies himself with experimental meanderings, Cope gives listeners what they want, proving that it's better to be good than unique. There's no need to reinvent the wheel, as long as you roll with style.

Nowadays, singer-songwriters tend to be pretty boys with pretty songs, but Citizen Cope sings about his reality, which hasn't always been pretty.

"I sing about the people around me, the people I've met in D.C. and all over the place, but they're not always normal, model citizens," said Citizen Cope during our recent interview.

Listening to Citizen Cope is like reading a Jack Kerouac story filled with lovers and lunatics. On "Pablo Picasso," Cope sings from the perspective of a deranged man in love with a woman painted on a wall mural. Even when he sings about someone estranged from reality, it is obvious that Cope sings with sympathy.

"I try to put myself into the reality of the character, no matter how crazy he is," he said.

Citizen Cope, aka Clarence Greenwood, released his self-titled debut in 2002, but soon after left his record label, Dreamworks, because they weren't sufficiently promoting his album. He bought himself out of his contract using the advance from his next album and then signed to Arista, recording The Clarence Greenwood Project in the interim time.

The album's lead single, "Bullet and a Target" features Citizen Cope at his best. Cope layers piano and strings over the best beat you'll ever hear on a singer-songwriter's album.

The rhythm and percussion stands out throughout the album, integrating hip-hop breakbeats and live drums.

"When I was growing up, I tried to learn the guitar and the trumpet, but I couldn't play at first, so I started making beats, messing with drum machines and samplers," said Cope.

Before he was Citizen Cope, Greenwood was the DJ for a funky, laid back Washington, D.C. hip-hop crew called Basehead.

"Hip-hop taught me a lot about song structure, about the idea of measures and choruses," said Cope.

Cope's previous dabbling with hip-hop shaped his cadence, rhyme scheme, and narrative structure, but in contrast to Everlast or Wyclef Jean, Cope's hip-hop influence is subtle and well integrated.

In Citizen Cope's music you can hear bits of Bob Marley, bits of Ben Harper, and bits of Al Green, but Citizen Cope is no carbon-copy imitator.

His music is deeply personal and there's an audible honesty in his words. Citizen Cope's songs reflect the natural genesis of his musical talent.

"I couldn't afford all these expensive drum machines and samplers, so I just picked up the guitar and started plucking at it one string at a time, getting to know each string with my heart, instead of trying to understand it with my head," said Cope.

The album features a guest appearance from Carlos Santana on "Son's Gonna Rise," a hectic tale about racing to the hospital with his pregnant wife going into labor in the backseat.

Me'shell Ndegeocello plays bass on "Sideways," a beautiful song full of pathos and regret about lost love, where Cope laments, "These feelings won't go away."

Soon everybody will know about Citizen Cope, but before then you can take advantage of his relative obscurity by seeing him perform at the intimate Paradise Lounge on Wednesday.

2005-02-24T04:03:00.000-08:00

Police shut down BU porn magazine release party
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

"I expected more nudity," complained one Boston University student at the release party for BU's new porn magazine Boink.

Compared to the full-frontal male and female nudity inside the new magazine, the release party at the Roxy on Thursday was quite tame. Large ice luges in the shape of male and female genitalia were the only open demonstration of private parts at the club, other than the pictures featured in the 96 page inaugural issue.

The party at the Roxy was billed as an adult-themed night and the invitations specifically stated that all attendees must be over 18 years of age. Unfortunately, that's not adult enough to legally drink in the state of Massachusetts, and as a result of underage drinking, the whole club was shut down at 12:30 a.m. by police and officials from Alcohol Beverage Control.

Until that point, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves on the dance floor and it took the police quite some time to get everyone to actually leave. Most people stuck around to get a free copy of Boink before they left.

Boink is similar to the new sex-themed Harvard magazine H-Bomb, except Boink is unabashed porn, featuring BU students as models, writers, and photographers. The undergraduate models featured nude in the magazine, both male and female, were all in attendance at the release party.

During out interview, Alecia Oleyourryk, a BU senior from upstate New York and the creator of Boink, said that the magazine is an accurate reflection of the interests of normal college students and reminded everyone that the magazine also includes articles concerning college sex life.

Subscriptions to the magazine are available from its Web site (www.get-boinked.com) and single issues will be sold at Newbury Comics. According to Boink's Web site, "the title was selected because it's dynamic and fun, like the sex act to which it refers."

Boink will be sponsoring sex-themed discussions at BU beginning on March 3, when the magazine will host a talk at BU with Jen Sincero, author of The Straight Girl's Guide to Sleeping with Chicks.

2005-02-24T03:57:00.000-08:00

Mixtape Friday: RIP Hunter S. Thompson
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

If it wasn't for Hunter S. Thompson, "I" wouldn't be here. The father of gonzo journalism was the first to bring himself into the story, refusing or unable to remain inconspicuous and unobtrusive. After 67 years, Thompson recently took his own life, delivering a blow to counterculture at a time when crazy eccentrics are hard to find.

Thompson didn't just write, he ranted and raged. He broke all the old rules of journalism about objectivity and sobriety. His life of drugs, guns, and motorcycles produced the fantastic stories found in his semi-autobiographical books, including Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Hell's Angels.

I'm sure Thompson will continue to cause trouble wherever he ends up, especially now that he's reunited with his old friend and fellow merry prankster Ken Kesey, who died in 2001, and kindred spirit Ol' Dirty Bastard, who died in 2004.

A-Side

Bill Withers "Ain't No Sunshine"
As a writer for Rolling Stone and later ESPN, Thompson could write about anything under the sun. For the counterculture movement, there ain't no sunshine with Thompson gone.

The original and still best version of "Ain't No Sunshine" appears on Bill Withers' first album, 1971's Just As I Am. At only two minutes, Withers' brief original has spawned hours of imitation, but nothing compares to the original heartwrenching breakup song.

D'Angelo "Ain't No Sunshine"
Even Withers himself would acknowledge D'Angelo as a legitimate disciple. D'Angelo knows, he knows, he knows (26 times he knows) that he should leave his lover, but a world without her is too dark to tolerate. This song is really the inverse of the chipper "You Are My Sunshine," sung instead from the dark side of the moon after a painful breakup.

B-Side

Michael Jackson "Ain't No Sunshine"
Only one year after the original, Michael Jackson covered "Ain't No Sunshine" as the first track on his first solo album, Got To Be There. With skin so white, there clearly ain't no sunshine in Jackson's life. He opens the song with a spoken intro: "You ever want something that you know you shouldn't have? The more you know you shouldn't have it, the more you want it." I'm not in the business of kicking a man while he's down, so you'll have to insert your own joke here about Jackson's forbidden desires.

DMX "Ain't No Sunshine"
Hip-hop has poor self-control. It doesn't know when to leave an old song alone. DMX turns a beautiful song about lost love into a gritty song about robbing someone for money. The song fits well on his debut, It's Dark and Hell Is Hot, and features DMX at his best, but it lacks the vulnerable soul that made the original great. Recently, rapper Akon again turned the tune into another rap song, with better success.

2005-02-17T03:54:00.000-08:00

Mixtape Friday: A Stereo Held Above My Head
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

Ask Lloyd Dobler: When you're in love, it can be hard to find just the right words. John Cusack's character from Say Anything overcomes his stumbling tongue by simply holding his stereo above his head and letting Peter Gabriel sing what Dobler couldn't articulate himself.

Poet Rainer Maria Rilke had some advice for young lovers: Do not write love poems. "They are the most difficult," he writes, "for it takes a great, fully matured power to give something of your own where good and even excellent traditions come to mind in quantity."

The point is that very few of us are blessed with a gift for romantic words, and Lloyd Dobler and I are not two of them. For Valentine's Day we have to rely on "In Your Eyes" to whisper in her ear the words we couldn't find ourselves.

A-Side

Bob Marley "Is This Love" (Horns Mix)
Simple love is the most attractive. Marley can't offer her the world, but he can promise her, "We'll be together, with a roof right over our head." On-campus Boston College couples will relate to Marley's tale of tiny dorm beds: "We'll share the shelter of my single bed." Instead of the overplayed original on Legends, check out the version on Marley's four-disc boxed set. The remix is similar enough to remain familiar, but new enough to be exciting again, like hooking up with your girlfriend's sister.

Van Morrison "Crazy Love" [ft. Bob Dylan]
Better than the original, even though mumbly Bob Dylan clearly does not know all the words.

Citizen Cope "Sideways"
Breaking up with your girl is an inevitably regrettable decision. Freedom never tastes as good as she did, and eventually you find yourself feeling like Citizen Cope: "I keep thinking that time will take them away, but these feelings won't go away." Valentine's Day is perfect for reconciliation and there's nothing better than make-up sex.

B-Side

Jack Johnson "Tomorrow Morning"
50 Cent might consider himself quite the P.I.M.P., but Jack Johnson proves that he's the true Don Juan. On an amazing album released exclusively through iTunes, appropriately titled iTunes Originals, Johnson sits in the studio strumming his guitar, singing bits of tracks from On and On and explaining where the inspiration for his songs come from.

"Tomorrow Morning" began as a message he left for his wife while out on tour and unable to reach her. On the answering machine he sang, "What would you do if I wrote you a song? Would you give me some loving when I get home? Would you be mad at me if I had a hard time getting ahold of you, but baby I try all the time." Johnson explains, "That was the end of the message, and that was all I wrote it for, to try and get my wife to laugh instead of being mad at me for being so bad at getting a hold of her."

I still have a lot to learn about what women like, but I'm going to guess that she was pleased.

2005-02-10T03:50:00.000-08:00

Birthday blues and booze
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

"Your 21st birthday is a night your friends will never let you remember," wailed Jose Ramos, lead singer of the blues band playing on Monday at Wally's, a small 50-person capacity jazz and blues bar in the South End.

After about 12:45 a.m. Ramos was right: I can't remember a thing, except for the music. I remember perfecting the rhythms coming from the slick, quiet bassist, the grinning, hyperactive drummer, the showboating guitarist, and the funky alto sax, pumping away in a packed bar where the members of the band flirted with the customers' girlfriends, drank like they didn't have to work in the morning, and played like they were throwing a party in their own living room.
Not even tequila can erase the memory of listening to live music, sitting so close to the drummer that you can feel the snare rattle your ribs.

A-Side

Nas "Half-time"
At 21, I can't help but reflect on what I've achieved in the last year. For me, 20 was not as productive as it could have been. Certainly not as productive as Nasir Jones, who at only 20 years of age released his classic debut Illmatic. Nas dropped out of school in the eighth grade, eventually making a show-stealing appearance on Main Source's "Live at the Barbeque" when he was only 18. Then, instead of wasting his time in college like me, Nas spent the next two years working on his debut.
Lil' Romeo "My Baby"

But Nas certainly wasn't the youngest rapper, because 11-year-old Lil' Romeo made history when this No Limit mini-soldier became the youngest recording artist to top the Billboard singles chart, breaking Michael Jackson's record. Jackson's first No. 1 hit came when he was 14 with "Ben," a touching ballad sung by a young boy - and I'm not making this up - to his pet rat named Ben.

B-Side

Fabolous "I Can't Deny It" [ft. Nate Dogg]
But Lil' Romeo didn't have to earn it like medium-sized Fabolous did, because spelling-extraordinaire "ef ay be oh el oh you es" isn't the lucky son of No Limit CEO Master P. Instead he was the lucky friend of DJ Clue, who decided to build his Desert Storm franchise around a lazy-tongued Brooklynite. A catchy summer lead single with Nate Dogg led the 20-year-old Fabolous into his ill-timed debut Street Dreams, released on Sept. 11, 2001.

Dr. Dre "Nutin' but a G-Thang" [ft. Snoop Dogg]
When he was rapping on Dr. Dre's The Chronic, Snoop Doggy Dogg still couldn't legally enjoy gin with his juice. At only 20 years old, Snoop was already performing at the MTV Music Awards. Unfortunately he was also arrested that same night for suspected murder. His 21st birthday, only one month later, must have been somber, despite his Doggystyle, the first debut album ever to debut at No. 1, coming out only one more month later.

Kobe Bryant "K.O.B.E." [ft Tyra Banks]
It's a lot easier to be a great athlete at 20 than to be a great poet at the same age, but Kobe nonetheless declared himself "Thug Poet" on his lead single. His album was never released because it was apparently unsalvageable. To put in perspective how bad this album must have been, remember that big brother Shaq's rhyme skills were sufficient enough to release five rap albums. Instead of trying to partner Kobe up with a talented musician to help him along, the guys at Columbia decided to let Tyra Banks sing a duet with him. Interestingly, it was at the video shoot with Banks that Kobe met his future wife Vanessa.

2005-02-03T15:45:00.000-08:00

Kill Bill soundtracks remixed
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

The soundtracks to Kill Bill, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 were mixtape masterpieces put together by Quentin Tarantino and Wu-Tang Clan leader The Rza. The Rza was chosen to score the kung-fu epics as a result of his ethnic credibility after being officially drafted by the Asian Delegation during the Racial Draft on Chappelle's Show.

Most of the songs on the soundtracks are either covers of long forgotten originals or cult movie theme songs. Only a few of the tracks are individually remarkable, but the combination of hipster songs from every era and corner of the globe makes a fine mix.

Taking Tarantino's theme of juxtaposition a step further, a group of DJ's have released a remix mashup album called Hanzo Steel, one of the most innovative mash-ups since Danger Mouse's Grey Album.

A-Side

Billions McMillions - "Ironside Jumpoff"
When Uma Thurman, aka "The Bride" aka "Black Mamba," gets angry, whether in a knife fight in a suburban kitchen or at the hospital with a necrophiliac trucker, dizzying horns foreshadow the impending rampage. The sound effect comes from the theme song from the old TV show Ironside, composed by Quincy Jones (who, incidentally, is an alumnus of Boston's Berklee School of Music).

Tomoyasu Hotei - "Battle Without Honor or Humanity" (Nas Remix)
Nineteen seconds into this song, the beat drops so hard, it'll break your big toe. Unfortunately the cheesy 80s electric guitar solo ruins the song. Blackstone and Atari, who apparently also sensed the hair band vibe in this Japanese pop-rock song, put the vocals from "Shout" by Tears for Fears over the beat. An uncredited remix floating around the Internet featuring Nas' gritty lyrics from "Made Your Look" is a better match.

B-Side
Nancy Sinatra - "Bang Bang" (Remix)
Frank's better half sings a quiet tale of revenge that perfectly fits the Kill Bill story, with lyrics originally penned by Sonny Bono: "Bang bang, my baby shot me down." This remix pairs Sinatra's sultry voice with the hard drums and squeaky London accent of Dizzee Rascal's "Fix Up, Look Sharp" [aka "The Big Beat"].

Billions McMillions - "Missted Nerve"
Nurse Daryl Hannah whistles an eerie, gleeful tune as she heads down the hallway in the hospital towards an unconscious Uma Thurman. The whistle appears on the soundtrack to Vol. 1 as Bernard Herrmann's "Twisted Nerve," but DJ Billions McMillions throws some meat on the simple tune to make a funky treat. Instead of just mashing two songs together, Billions McMillions bakes a three-layer cake with the original whistle, the syncopated Lain hand claps from the flamenco disco track "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" by Santa Esmeralda (also from Vol. 1), and the bouncy beat from Missy Elliot's "Pass the Dutch."

2005-01-27T15:42:00.000-08:00

Timbo does it for the nookie
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

What are you gonna produce today, Timbaland? "Whatever I feel like doing! Gosh!"

Super-duper beat producer Tim Mosley makes hits for anyone with $275,000 to spare, which means he's worked with everyone from Britney to Snoop. Timbaland is responsible for some of the bounciest beats in hip-hop history, including Jay-Z's "Big Pimpin," Jadakiss' "They Ain't Ready," and Cee-lo's "I'll Be Around."

Though Timbaland could work with any rapper he wants, he tends to prefer to work with R&B singers. If it wasn't for his sexy production on Genuwine's "Pony," millions of horny junior high school kids would be left without a beat for their awkward, freaky dancing. Despite his six-figure price tag, Timbaland really does it for the nookie. His best beats were made for a slew of sexy, svelte black girls with beautiful voices. And then there's Missy Elliot, too.

A-Side

Aaliyah - "If Your Girl Only Knew"
Aaliyah was Timbaland's first muse. Here Aaliyah relishes her role as home-wrecker, taunting the unsuspecting girlfriend of her most recent sexual conquest. When listening to any of Timbaland's beats, wait for the breakdown near the end, when he cuts away the fat and leaves nothing but the phat.

Missy Elliot - "4 My People" (ft. Eve)
Timbaland and Missy go together like Ella and Louis. Over the years Timbaland has bequeathed more hit beats to Missy Elliot than anyone else. Though popular culture tends to prefer skinny girls, Timbaland always knew Missy had soul to spare, regardless of whether she has to shop at Lane Bryant. "4 My People" is an uncharacteristically rapid club beat for the dynamic duo with a spitfire verse from Eve.

B-Side
Tweet - "Oops (Oh My)"
Accidents happen. Oops, I slipped in the snow. Oops, I spilled my milk. Oops, my skirt fell down and my shirt came off too. Enough with the excuses, Tweet. You hardly seem to mind your "accidental" nudity: "I was looking so good, I couldn't reject myself. I was feeling so good I had to touch myself." Missy Elliot jumps into the masturbation fantasy: "I was eyein' my thighs, butter pecan brown." That's Missy Elliot for you, always thinking about food.

Aaliyah - "Are You That Somebody?"
Is that a frickin' baby wailing in the background? Is Timbaland making random clickity sounds with his mouth? Back when this song came out, it was a strange concoction, but in retrospect, it's just classic Tim.

Alicia Keys - "Heartburn"
Timbaland's beats are generally instantly recognizable, with stuttering synths and a heavy bounce, but this one's different, sounding more like a theme song to a 1970s blaxpoitation film.

2005-01-20T08:34:00.000-08:00

With Dre & Co. on the beats, let The Game Begin
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

The hype surrounding The Game made him seem more like a marketing gimmick than a rapper. Dr. Dre signed him to Aftermath because he was from Compton, home of gangsta rap pioneers NWA. 50 Cent made him a member of G-Unit because he also got shot during a botched drug deal.

No one knew whether he could actually rap, but The Game could definitely star as a video game character in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

His debut album, The Documentary, proves The Game is more than a cheap publicity stunt and might re-establish the otherwise lifeless West Coast hip-hop scene.

The Game's lyrical content won't send listeners reaching for the rewind button with astonishment, but the album's superb production and The Game's decent flow guarantees listeners won't need to skip any tracks either.

The production roster on The Documentary is absolutely preposterous for a debut album. Jay-Z had to release ten albums before he got this sort of all-star line-up to produce The Black Album.

Timbaland, Kanye West, Just Blaze, Eminem, and Hi-Tek each bless The Game's grimy growl with fresh beats. But lest we forget the lessons of the 2004 Yankees, a superstar line-up doesn't automatically guarantee a championship.

Fortunately, Dr. Dre serves as sonic director, lending a cohesiveness to The Documentary that's rare on albums with so many producers. Dre put more effort into The Game than he has with any of his Aftermath projects since 50 Cent's debut. Surprisingly, the five tracks Dre produced, including the old-school g-funk in "How We Do," aren't the best beats on the album.

Just Blaze produced the hottest track on The Black Album ("Public Service Announcement") and now brings his infamous horns to two of the best beats on The Documentary, "Church for Thugs" and "No More Fun and Games."

Apparantly, Kanye West has recently discovered the 33 RPM button on his turntable and his offering, "Dreams," is a nice departure from his typical violin solos and sped-up samples.

The Game is outshined by both 50 Cent and Dungeon Family producers Cool and Dre on the album's best track, "Hate It or Love It." 50 Cent's mellifluous flow glides effortlessly, whether it's from verse to hook or from rapping to singing.

Here and throughout the album, The Game raps barely well enough to justify the beat. Every once in a while he will utter a mildly clever line, but he mainly spends his verses reminiscing about NWA, 2Pac, and the good ol' days of West Coast hip-hop. Just in case anyone was not aware of his affiliation with Dre, The Game references the doctor 35 times in 70 minutes.

There's really nothing mentionable about The Game as a rapper, but The Documentary bangs from beginning to the end, perfect for driving fast with the speakers blasting.

2005-01-20T03:39:00.000-08:00

2004's worth remembering
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

There were a lot of rap songs I liked in 2004 that I would prefer to never hear again. The shelf life of radio-friendly hip-hop is extremely brief, after which the initially catchy beat gets stale and goes bad.

Music shouldn't be reviewed immediately after it's released, as first impressions can be deceiving. The funky synth on J-Kwon's "Tipsy" was delicious upon its first taste, but six months later the beat sounds like a cheap, silly version of Queen's "We Will Rock You."

Now that we have some distance between us and 2004, it's time to look back at what is worth remembering from the year passed. There were plenty of pleasant songs on the radio this year, but only a few had anything more going for them than a novelty of newness. The following songs are the ones that will last:

A-Side

Nas "Bridging the Gap" [ft. Olu Dara]
Nas and his pops collaborate to bridge the unnecessary gap between hip-hop and music. Jazz legend Olu Dara struts and swaggers his way through a thumping beat, telling stories about his music career and raising the young Nasir Jones.

Jay-Z "99 Problems"
Rick Rubin emerged from his hip-hop hibernation to craft the heaviest rock/rap beat since "Fight for Your Right." The wee Beastie Boys could never handle a beat this thick, but Jay-Z does justice to the bearded guru's offering. Hopefully, we won't be forced to wait another ten years for the next Rubin beat like we did for this one.

Cee-lo "I'll Be Around"
How could Cee-lo possibly be inconspicuous when his flow is so doggone ridiculous? He might be the soul machine, but Timbaland's bouncing, twittering trumpets provide Cee-lo with his fuel.

B-Side

Franz Ferdinand "Take Me Out"
There's beauty in the breakdown. Somewhere between 54 and 55 seconds into the song, the whole track falls apart and reemerges anew with a different beat. The transition begs for listeners' accompaniment on the air drums, with full headbanging action.

Eminem "Rain Man"
On an otherwise mediocre album, "Rain Man" was a hilarious throwback to what made Eminem great in the first place. You might think Eminem must have been tripping on mushrooms to write such a strange, abstract song. Eminem is famous for his irreverence for authority and celebrity, but never before has he been so indifferent to the rules of song structure. After a few minutes of ambiguously gay miniature golf and accidentally killing Christopher Reeve, Eminem brags, "I ain't even gotta make any goddamn sense, I just did a whole song and didn't say shit."

2004-12-17T16:14:00.000-08:00

How To Get Signed offers industry secrets
By Canyon Cody
Originally published in The Heights

Kurt Cobain sent at least 20 copies of his demo to record labels without a response before he was eventually discovered. If he had read George Howard's new book, How To Get Signed, he would have known that sending unsolicited demos does nothing but waste postage. If you really want to get signed, follow the advice in Howard's book, and call your mom to tell her that your video is going to be on MTV soon.

Unfortunately, Howard is the first to tell you that it won't be that easy. As the former president of Rykodisc Records, Howard witnessed first-hand the mistakes that artists repeatedly made. In fact, Howard's book goes into such detail about the difficulties and pitfalls of building a music career that many readers might realize they would rather just work at Tower Records.

"This isn't meant to discourage you," writes Howard. "I'm telling you this so that you don't get discouraged when some or all of these things happen to you along the way. It's just part of beginning a career in the business."

For those crazy souls who decide to pursue a music career nonetheless, Howard's book offers a simple but thorough guide to catching the attention of a record label. He says that getting to this point is the most important step: "You will find that most successful artists share the sense that their music must be heard."

Written in a conversational tone, Getting Signed is an easy-to-read guide to every step involved in catching an A&R's attention, including what exactly should be included in a demo package.

Howard explains that the definition of a "label" is ever-changing, but it essentially means anyone who is willing and capable to reproduce, advertise, and distribute your music.

Howard recognizes that new technology is fundamentally changing the infrastructure of the music industry, which could threaten turning his sadistic guidance into obsolete advice in the post-mp3 apocalypse.

"The music industry is changing around me," Howard admits. "The record industry as we know it appears to be going away." Nevertheless, in one form or another, Howard says labels will continue to exist because they serve a function that artists are unwilling or incapable to do themselves.

Howard also argues that the record industry's obsession with illegal downloading is more of a red herring than the actual cause of falling CD sales. In fact, Howard writes, "As a technologist, I believe fervently that the Internet and other technology can be actualized as wonderful tools to help a musician's career."

In an interview with The Heights, Howard said, "More and more, there are bands that [are] just saying, 'We're going to make all of our money from touring,' and the record label becomes the engine that drives those things. They don't ever expect to see a dime from the label. It doesn't mean the labels are obsolete but just that they are providing a different service."

As a result, artists are forced to interact with labels in order for their music to be heard by the masses. Howard's book goes into detail about the procedure for dealing with labels. "As with every aspect of this business, the more you understand, the less likely you are to get taken advantage of, and the more likely you are to succeed."

Musicians might feel frustrated by Howard's tendency to speak about music as though it was a business rather than artistic venture, yet he reminds his readers, "By the act of sending your demo to record labels, you are buying into the culture that defines your music as product."

2004-12-09T03:32:00.000-08:00

Street's Disciple
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

On Street's Disciple, Nas proves again that he has perfected the balance between popular and underground hip-hop. His lyrics are meaningful, but not overweight. His production is catchy, but not jiggy. His guest appearances are entertaining, but not relied upon. Nas sarcastically raps, 'it's trendy to be the conscious emcee," but for him it comes naturally.

Except for 2Pac and Outkast, rappers never actually have enough material to justify a double album. Nas' newest is filled with great tracks, but suffers from too much filler and sounds like a great watered down album.

2004-12-09T03:26:00.000-08:00

John Legend at BC tonight
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

Neo-soul singer John Legend is currently enjoying a hit single, "Used to Love U," on MTV and critical acclaim for his debut album Get Lifted.

On the cusp of super-stardom, Legend will be performing tonight at 9:30 p.m. at Boston College in the Rat, sponsored by the Black Student Forum. Tickets are $15.

Legend's album features stellar classic R&B piano ballads with a contemporary hip-hop edge. He has collaborated heavily with Kanye West, who co-produced much of Get Lifted.

Legend is also the first musician signed to Kanye's new label, GOOD Music. At this odd transitional phase of his career, Legend finds himself performing in a venue much smaller and less prestigious than he is used to when touring alongside Kanye, but Legend is now breaking into his own solo career.

Legend has worked alongside the Black Eyed Peas, Jay-Z, and Alicia Keyes, to whom he is often compared because of his amazing talent as a pianist. His style of sultry love songs are a wonderful blend of the best qualities of down-tempo hip-hop production and sultry old-school R&B (think Donny Hathaway, not R. Kelly).

Legend's most famous collaboration occurred with Lauryn Hill on "Everything is Everything" from her Grammy-gobbling solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.

Though Legend might be a bit disappointed to find out where he's going to be performing, he will definitely be the only person disappointed at the show.

2004-12-09T00:29:00.000-08:00

Will Noah take over Boston?
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

Boston hip-hop has no king. Since 1991, when Ed O.G. released his hometown classic Life of a Kid in the Ghetto, no Boston rapper has put up a convincing fight for the title. On the verge of releasing his solo debut, Noah Dixon, CSOM '06, is very aware of the vacancy on the local throne.

Part of the reason for the strange, fragmented hip-hop scene in Boston is the city's college scene. Hip-hop has always had an uneasy relationship with institutions of higher learning - who can forget pastor Mase back in the day rapping about some guy flaunting his Ph.D. - his "player hatin' degree." Boston College certainly isn't the most likely place to find the next big thing in rap, but Noah is no native of Chestnut Hill. Long before I ever knew about Newton or Brighton, I heard stories about Noah's hometown from fellow Roxbury-native Ed O.G. Will Roxbury repeat?

Noah "Wait a Minute"
Be very careful not to get this song stuck in your head, or else you'll end up walking around all day humming "dut-dut-duhdut, dutdut-duh-dut." This track samples Suzanne Vega's "Tom's Diner," the simple, repetitive acapella pop song from 1987 that oddly resembles the I Dream of Genie theme song. Noah had to wait for the sample to clear before he was sure it could ever make it on the album.

In The Sopranos, Tony's daughter Meadow returns from her first year at Columbia as an intellectual-snob, obnoxiously over-using complicated words when not needed. Part of the problem with many college-educated rappers is that they write rhymes like research papers. Mr. Lif and Akrobtik are great Boston emcees, but their political themes and complicated vocabulary make them come off as nerd-rap to most. Noah is very clear about his style: "I make party music." This isn't to say his flow hasn't benefited from his education, but only to say school hasn't ruined his cool.

Noah "Get Back Yo"
The bonus track to the single features a short guitar lick over a fast, radio-friendly beat with a bit of Neptunes flavor - think of NERD's "She Moves" or Justin Timberlake's "Like I Love You." The speedy beat forces Noah to play catch-up and gives him the chance to show off his spitfire double-time rapping. Until Twista's recent commercial success, conventional wisdom said that lightning-fast raps should be limited to rare B-side occasions like Jay-Z's phenomenal verse on "Is That Your Chick?" As these two tracks show, Noah shares with newly-hired Def Jam CEO Jay-Z a flexible, dynamic rhyme style that can adapt to a wide array of beats.

Like most lead singles, "Get Back Yo" is more catchy than quality, but Noah promises that this is just the bait to lure fans into the more personal and introspective tracks on the album. Look out for The Conflict in late February as part of an on-going trinity to eventually include Revolutionand Change.

2004-11-18T11:17:00.000-08:00

Sly and Robbie lay down reggae riddim
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

How cool are Sly and Robbie? Too cool for words.

During their three-hour performance at The Paradise on Tuesday, Sly and Robbie were so immersed in their funky reggae rhythm that they didn't say a single word. Instead, the live drum and bass duo laid down a danceable groove while an all-star lineup of guest appearances controlled the microphones.

Drummer Lowell "Sly" Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare have been pioneers in reggae music for decades. Robbie played the bass on Bob Marley's "Stir It Up" and worked with Sly alongside Mick Jagger and Pete Tosh. Tuesday's show was the last stop on the pair's 25th anniversary celebration tour.

Sly, who earned his nickname by listening to Sly & the Family Stone while growing up, revolutionized reggae music in the early '90s by embracing the electronically programmed beats that became ragamuffin, or ragga for short. The group's beats provide the background for plenty of modern reggae dancehall, including the hit "Murder She Wrote" by Chaka Demus and Pliers.

Back in the day, the duo literally lived off only bread and water while touring in order to save up enough money to start their label, Taxi Productions, which they launched featuring the breakthrough of Black Uhuru.

During the show, Sly picked his drumsticks back up and proved he's still an amazing drummer despite his new role as a beat producer. His fast-paced syncopated rhythms were so intricate and complicated that they sounded as if Sly had produced them on his drum machine.

Robbie roamed the stage plucking away at his bass, flirting with college girls in the front row, and clowning with his silent partner sitting at the drums.

While Sly and Robbie took care of the rhythm and beat, guest singers rotated onstage to accompany the reggae legends. Keyboards, saxophone, and trombone comprised the rest of the backing band for Tony Rebel, who has been touring for nearly as long as Sly and Robbie. Rebel brought his Rastafarian dancehall groove into the mix along with sultry singer Blue Fox. Half Pint was the final act, bringing a bit of youth into a show dominated by aging, but still rocking, old-school reggae stars.

At no point did Sly and Robbie drop the beat for even a moment's rest, leaving the dancing crowd satisfied but exhausted by the night's end. Robbie ended the show with a bass solo so impressively dirty that he stared at his own hands with a disgusted look on his face.

2004-11-18T10:20:00.000-08:00

America mourns ODB
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

First Yasir Arafat, now ODB. Russell Jones, aka Ol' Dirty Bastard, aka Big Baby Jesus, aka Dirt McGirt, would have turned 36 years old on Monday, but passed away two days prior. The cause of death remains unclear, but the biggest surprise is that ODB survived this long.

Every time ODB went to jail, he'd come back with a new nickname. In addition to a long list of violent crime convictions, ODB was arrested for shoplifting a pair of $50 sneakers and for being found nude in the lobby of the Four Seasons Hotel in Berlin. He was the first citizen to be arrested under a new law that made it illegal for convicted felons to wear bulletproof vests. During court proceedings, he was scolded by the judge for falling asleep and calling a female attorney a "sperm donor." He was truly an old dirty bastard. May he rest in peace, though he certainly didn't live in peace.

ODB - "Shimmy Shimmy Ya"
What do ODB and the Jesuits at Boston College have in common? They both stand firmly opposed to the use of condoms. "Oh baby, I like it raw," ODB croons repeatedly on the hook to "Shimmy Shimmy Ya." Not surprisingly, ODB left behind quite a legacy. The modern-day Johnny Appleseed fathered at least 13 children, proving to his fans that he didn't just make up stuff in his rhymes - ODB practiced what he preached. That's keeping it real.

Mariah Carey - Fantasy [ft. ODB]
"Man, this girl is totally crazy," ODB must have been thinking to himself while recording with Mariah Carey, who might be the only person more imbalanced than ODB. "Me and Mariah go back like babies with pacifiers," he raps in his characteristic sloppy drawl. ODB was the best hip-hop cartoon since Flavor Flav; who else would jump on stage at the Grammy's to complain that Wu-Tang should have won instead?

ODB - "Got Your Money" [ft. Kelis]
ODB made his name as the eccentric member of the Wu-Tang Clan, but his biggest hit as a solo artist featured a radio-friendly beat produced by Pharrel Williams of the Neptunes and a catchy hook sung by Kelis. No one seemed to give ODB the memo that this was supposed to be his tame PG-13 TRL hit. He dedicates his biggest moment in the spotlight to "all the pretty girls, and the ugly girls too, cuz you pretty to me anyways, baby." There's an odd sensitivity to ODB, who was just a gentle Big Baby Jesus.

Pras - Ghetto Superstar [ft. ODB and Mya]
This track from the Bullworth soundtrack features ODB imagining himself as a U.S. senator walking the streets of the ghetto. ODB's ADD makes it hard for him to pay attention long enough to sustain a story for an entire verse. Trying to follow a logical path in ODB's narrative is nearly impossible, but his heart was always in the right place.

2004-11-18T03:23:00.000-08:00

Without an enemy, Eminem falters
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

On his new album Encore, Eminem disappoints and impresses at the same time. He has always enjoyed a God-given talent for rapping, but it was his meticulous attention to rhyme scheme that made the difference between simply impressive and absolutely amazing albums.

Eminem comes off like a procrastinator who had two and half years to record his follow-up to The Eminem Show, but instead finished it in a rush at the last second. Like an intelligent student writing a late night term paper, Eminem cruises on natural ability, but still sounds tired and repetitive.

For better or for worse, producer Dr. Dre's beats perfectly match Eminem's flow. The doctor's beats lack their normal G-funk bounce, but remain better than those of most other producers. The problem is that Eminem and Dr. Dre shouldn't be compared with average rappers and producers. Eminem's beef with Benzono and Ja Rule inspired him to more passionate lyricism than anything found on Encore, but they were still petty feuds with lessers. If Eminem wants to assert himself as a legitimate candidate for the best rapper of all time, he needs to learn how to push himself to a higher standard on his own rather than relying on others to push his buttons for him.

The biggest problem (and biggest consolation) is that Eminem seems to be completely aware of this problem. He has always been at his most vicious when he feels threatened by another rapper, but on "Toy Soldiers," Eminem admits that he needs to demonstrate more self-control in the future. He raps, "It's not a plea that I'm coppin/ I'm just willing to be the bigger man if y'all can quit poppin/ off at your jaws/ Well, then I can/ cuz frankly I'm sick of talkin'."

The problem with this song and much of the album is that Eminem is rehashing subject matter that he has already kicked to death on better songs previously released on DJ Green Lantern mixtapes in the last few years.

On "Evil Deeds," Eminem brags, "Sometimes the average listener rewinds and plays me 20 times." On previous albums this has been true, but there isn't a single verse on Encore like the second verse in "Square Dance" from The Eminem Show, which required multiple listening before you could get you head around his lyrical gymnastics. On Encore, there are brief flashes of the impressive multi-syllabic rhymes that fans expect from Eminem, but he doesn't sustain his virtuosity for more than a line or two.

On "Big Weenie" Eminem rambles about his legions of jealous enemies, until he eventually admits, "It's pointless/ Why do we have to keep on going through this?/ This is torturous." The album isn't torturous, but it's certainly pointless. Eminem's irrepressible talent shines through his lazy verses nonetheless, which makes Encore a disappointment, but not a waste.

2004-11-11T14:12:00.000-08:00

Vote for Lauryn Hill '08
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

Waiting in line to vote in the election this year felt like waiting in line for food in the college dining hall. You know you need to choose something, but the options look so unappealing that you would rather not have anything. Some of the options are cleary worse than others, but how repulsive the chicken looks doesn't make the bland fish look any more appetizing.

When will we get a presidential nominee who people will want to vote for because they actually like him and not just because they hate the other guy? Probably not before the food in McElroy becomes a delicious culinary delight. Though the next election is still four very long years away, the Democrats are already looking for the future of their party. Nas and Wyclef Jean have declared themselves candidates. These are their platforms.

Nas - "If I Ruled the World"

Last night while playing Risk with my roommates until the wee hours of the morning I realized that our recently reelected president understood something about the world that I did not: Life, like Risk, is a game of world domination. Everyone from George Bush to Pinky and the Brain wants to take over the world, and Nas is no exception. On this duet with Lauryn Hill, Nas outlines his plan for when he's the man in charge. His first order of business: "I'd open every cell in Attica and send them to Africa."

Sadly, like most other politicians who want to rule the world, Nas seems more interested in the personal perks than the greater good. He raps, "If I ruled the world and everything in it, sky's the limit/ I'd push a Q-45 Infinite." I would hope for a bit more ambition from my leaders than the hope of driving a $55,000 car. Nas should at least try to get some multi-billion dollar no-bid construction contracts for his homies.

Wyclef Jean - "If I Was President"

Presidential candidates tend to promise the world on the campaign trail, but refuse to offer concrete strategies on how they actually plan on achieving or funding their proposals. Wyclef is no exception. In "If I Was President" he offers vague, crowd-pleasing promises like, "Instead of spending billions on the war, we can use some of that money in the ghetto."

What are your specific education proposals for reforming our failing schools in the inner city, Mr Jean? "Tell the children the truth. Yeah. The truth," he proposes. Unfortunately, Wyclef doesn't think the country is ready for such a straight-talker in the White House. He sings, "I'd get elected on Friday, assasinated on Saturday, and buried on Sunday." If Wyclef really thinks he'd be assassinated, then I'd definitely vote for him if he chose fellow-Fugee Lauryn Hill as his vice president and successor. Instead of looking to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to bring diversity to the White House, vote Lauryn Hill 2008.

2004-11-11T09:15:00.000-08:00

Heiruspecs
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

Live instrumental hip-hop tends to have its heart in the right place but falters in its presentation. It often seems like the emcee's lyrics are struggling to be heard above the band's accompaniment. Unfortunately, in order to avoid this problem, live hip-hop musicians often attempt to replicate the looped-sound of traditionally produced beats. The Roots, the most famous live hip-hop band, are notoriously guilty of both.

The three musicians and two emcees in Hieruspecs are perfect examples of how rappers and musicians can collaborate to create a progressive musically-based hip-hop album.

The crew hails from St. Paul, where it earned a reputation opening for fellow Minnestota-native Atmosphere. Who would expect Minneapolis to produce so much great hip-hop?

As a whole, the group's newest album, A Tiger Dancing, is the most enjoyable live instrument hip-hop albums of all time. Unlike groups like The Roots, Heiruspecs avoids the distracting musical wanderings typical of overly talented musicians. They seem more interested in entertaining the listener than impressing the critics.

As a result the album is listenable from beginning to end, with standout tracks including "Swearsong," where emcee Muad'Dib shows off his syllabic gymnastics, "5ves," where the live drums hit noticeably harder than your typical computer-programmed beats, and the beautifully romantic "Heartstrings," where emcee Felix shines as a subtle, poignant poet.

2004-11-04T16:55:00.000-08:00

Jack Johnson as Consolation
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

Tuesday was a sad day for America. I will try not to exaggerate the issue, but I feel sincerely afraid of what might happen in our world during the next four years. For the moment, I can find no energy for protest. There is something so alarming about what I see occurring in my country that I cannot confront it directly.

In times like these, I escape to music. At its very best, music can do something that I cannot: It can simultaneously condemn the ugliness and celebrate the beauty in the world. On a day when Americans in 11 states have decided to vote homophobic bigotry into marriage law, I don't need music to remind me of the injustice that surrounds us. Today I need music for hope, or at least consolation. Here hip-hop can't help me, and instead I turn to the simple poetry of surfer guitar player Jack Johnson.

A-Side

Jack Johnson "Times Like These"
Liberals are inclined to talk about the president's re-election as if it marks the end of the world, but the slow, cyclical life of the Hawaiian surf has taught Johnson not to overreact to bad waves. From his perspective, the endless back-and-forth power struggles of politics, filled with "those for peace and those for war," are as meaningless as they are inevitable.

His words are simple, but his subtle wisdom is reassuring: "In times like these/ In times like those/ What will be will be/ And so it goes." All I can do now, Johnson seems to say, is ask God to grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. From the beaches of Honolulu, the politicking in Washington, D.C. seems distant and relatively unimportant to Johnson. When listening to Johnson, I'm not trying to forget or ignore the dirty politics in D.C.; I'm trying to remember the beauty that exists everywhere else.

B-Side

Jack Johnson "Cookie Jars"
The problem is not George Bush. The problem is the 59 million Americans who voted for him. Johnson sings, "We only receive what we demand/ And if we want hell then hell is what we'll have."

Why are so many middle-class Americans willing to support a president who does not support their interests? Because the television media coverage of the election was so poor that most voters were woefully uninformed. I understand exactly how Johnson feels when he sings, "I would turn on the TV, but it's so embarrassing." The right-wing bias of Fox News doesn't bother me as much as the general incompetence of television news. Jon Stewart rightfully criticized the political hacks on Crossfire for hurting America by turning politics into some sort of entertainment spectacle. "You're doing theater when you should be doing debate to inform citizens so that they can be knowledgeable," Stewart said.

2004-11-04T10:07:00.000-08:00

Online TV from BC Grad
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

In 1998, Drew Massey had a great idea, but the world wasn't ready for it yet. Six years later, his dream of combining television and the Internet has become a reality. The result is ManiaTV!, the first online streaming live television channel, which has left plenty of people asking themselves, "Why didn't I think of that first?"

With nothing more than the Windows Media player free software and a broadband Internet connection, like the one available at Boston College, viewers can watch music videos and shows for free, without registration.

Massey graduated from BC in 1992 and began work with Forbes before starting a professional men's magazine, POV. He eventually sold the magazine in 2000 to GQ, which gave him time to begin working on ManiaTV!

"In some ways, we're going against the grain," Massey said in an interview with The Heights, "but in another way, it makes total sense. We broadcast on the medium that is the favorite of the youth market. We're playing music videos, short films, sports features, skateboarding videos, all the stuff college kids with high-speed Internet access want to see."

Without the FCC regulating the channel's programming, ManiaTV! is free to broadcast music videos like Eminem's new controversial video, "Mosh," though it is still edited.

When Massy first envisioned ManiaTV!, the Internet wasn't ready. Instead of rushing into pursuing his dream before the Internet could support it, Massey waited until broadband Internet access hit a critical mass.

"We waited until there were 20 million viewers with broadband, which is the same number of cable TV subscribers there were when MTV launched," Massey said.

The comparison with MTV, or at least what MTV was when it first started, is an appropriate one. ManiaTV! is leading the way into uncharted territory, earning comparisons to William Paley's CBS and Ted Turner's CNN.

The biggest advantage of ManiaTV! over MTV is that Cyber-Jockeys (CJ's) host live shows and chat with viewers in real time over webcams and Instant Messenger.

Massey said: "We believe that the viewer will enjoy the community. You can chat with the CJ's and request a song. Within a few seconds, everyone is watching your video. People already have TiVO, they have OnDemand, but most people would prefer to watch something live."

ManiaTV! is not only the first online live channel that broadcasts 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but the only television station anywhere that is live all the time. That means no repeats.

Since going online on Labor Day, www.maniatv.com has enjoyed more than 12 million hits in eight and a half weeks. The site's October traffic doubled from September and Massey said, "We haven't even really started marketing yet."

ManiaTV! specifically targets the young, hip, and technologically savvy, and the station has found major interest from advertisers. Whereas a regular hour on television might contain 16 minutes of commercials, there are only a few minutes on ManiaTV!.

2004-11-04T03:05:00.000-08:00

The New Danger
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

For the last few years, Mos Def has been all over the place. He's been acting, performing in his rock group Black Jack Johnson, and hosting Def Jam Poetry on HBO. The only thing he hasn't been doing since he released his classic debut Black on Both Sides is rapping. Not surprisingly, his new album, The New Danger, is also all over the place. Sadly, Mos doesn't actually rap all that much on the album but instead alternates between inaudible mumbles and soulful wailing. The result is an album filled with musical genius that fails to congeal into a cohesive unit. The album sounds a lot like a very diverse live performance, jumping from classic blues rock to Kanye West. The New Danger begins awkwardly, but after a few songs, Mos settles down and that lasts through the end of the album. Standout tracks include "Sex, Love and Money," "Blue Black Johnson," and "The Beggar."

2004-10-25T16:50:00.000-07:00

Seniors love their Two-Car Garage
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

A few guys from different parts of the country meet each other during their freshman year at college. At first, some play instruments, some don't. They become friends and eventually form a band. They move in together off campus and turn their basement into practice space. They perform for their friends at local bars. This is how real bands get started.

Local band Two-Car Garage is part of a college tradition as old as cold pizza for breakfast, but unfortunately it is a tradition largely unpracticed here at Boston College. After forming at the end of their sophomore year, the members of Two-Car Garage moved off campus, where they evolved from a bunch of friends who jammed together into a band.

Drummer and song-writer T.J. Gordon, BC '05, says it was the band's time living off campus together that offered all of them the chance to improve as individual musicians and come together as a group. "We had a constant practice schedule, which was great for me, because I had become the band's drummer by default since we didn't have anyone else," says Gordon.

Last year, the band started playing at different BC events, including a benefit concert for the Emerging Leader Program and the Another Choice on Campus talent show, where it won third place. It was last year's undergraduate government-sponsored Battle of the Bands where the band first caught BC music fans' attention, winning first prize.

The band features dueling guitarists and vocalists Anthony Camilleri, BC '05, and Ethan Schuler, BC '05, who both reference local bands Dispatch and Guster as musical influences. Schuler sings in the University Chorale but had never played guitar before coming to BC. Camilleri, on the other hand, has played since he was 14 years old and spent an entire summer assembling pipe hangers in a factory to earn enough money to buy his first guitar. Bassist Justin Virojanapa, BC'05, might have also ended up as a guitarist if it wasn't for his older brother, who already played guitar and needed a bassist for his high school band.

Two-Car Garage's most ear-catching member is violinist Dave Samikkannu, BC '05. His bandmates describe him as the most musically talented in the group, having played classical violin since he was 4 years old. "There are a lot of songs that don't have a part for the violin, but he's so amazing that he can just listen to it a couple of times and fiddle around, no pun intended, until he finds a good place for the violin in the song," explained Gordon. Sometimes, the band even transcribes the lead guitar part into something that Samikkannu can play instead.

Two-Car Garage branched out from campus this year and began playing local college bars, such as Kinvara, where the band played Oct. 5. "It's hard to get started as a band while you're in college because you basically need to bring the crowd with you, but most of your friends can't come out to see you at a bar until your senior year," said Gordon.

The Kinvara show gave the band a chance to play a few fun covers along with the band's 13 originals. "With the violin, everybody expects some Dave Mathews Band, and we give them what they want. We'll do 'Ants Marching' because of the great violin solo, but also 'The Devil Went Down to Georgia,'" said Gordon. "Just for fun though, we'll also throw the Spice Girls' 'Wannabe' in there, too."

Now that Two-Car Garage has managed to bring crowds to its concerts, the group's members have started looking into the future, especially considering that they are all seniors. At least of few of the band members will remain in Boston, but for now they are focusing on performing and recording during the rest of this year.

Two-Car Garage will perform at Great Scott's on Nov. 8 and then return to Kinvara on the last day of classes, Dec. 10.

2004-10-21T13:46:00.000-07:00

Eminem Attack President
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

What will Eminem do for his Encore? Some have speculated that he will vent some political anger on his upcoming fourth album, due Nov. 16. Will Eminem finally stop wasting his venom on easy targets like Britney and Benzino and instead channel his rage toward a more deserving enemy? Unfortunately, the album's horrible lead single ("Just Lose It") points to no such maturation and setting the release date for two weeks after the election rules out the possibility of having any real political consequences.

As a result, Eminem bypassed the lethargic and cautious record label to host a new DJ Green Lantern mixtape, Shade 45: Sirius Bizness, which also serves as an advertisement for Eminem's new channel on Sirius satellite radio. Eminem then enlisted underground emcee Immortal Technique to back up his big words with some actual socio-political knowledge.

Eminem "Mosh"
Until now, Eminem's strongest political words were, "Fuck Bush!" Earnest they may be, but ineffectual nonetheless. On this track, Eminem elaborates on his political views with more than two words: "No more blood for oil/ We got our own battles to fight on our own soil/ No more psychological warfare/ They trick us into thinking that we ain't loyal." Despite the Patriot Act, dissent is still truly patriotic.

Eminem got it right: "I'm like a skillet bubblin' until it filters up." Marshall Mathers might not be Howard Zinn, but he is an exaggerated barometer of suburban white America's adolescent angst, reflecting a festering anger among the uninformed and apathetic. On his last album, he stood with these kids, the ones with "so much anger aimed in no particular direction, just sprays and sprays," but after four years of the Bush administration, even Slim Shady understands that it is now time to direct our anger toward those who actually deserve it.

Immortal Technique "Bin Laden"
The difference between Immortal Technique and Eminem is that Tech read a book before he wrote his anti-Bush tirade. "Bin Laden," also on the Shade 45 mixtape, features Immortal Technique at his most politically vicious, blaming the government for the inner city crack epidemic and attacking Ronald Reagan for funding al-Qaida.

Technique compares George W. Bush to Osama Bin Laden, telling Americans that "Bin Laden was a CIA tactician/ They gave him billions of dollars and funded his purpose/ Fahrenheit 911, that's just scratchin' the surface." Tech explains the current insurgency in Iraq, not as evidence of fanatical loyalty to the old regime, but as the natural self-defense of a people from a foreign invasion. American ghettos would also defend themselves from invasion, Tech says, but it wouldn't reflect support for the Bush administration, but rather an instinct of self-preservation.

2004-10-14T16:42:00.000-07:00

Ozomatli Explodes with Energy Onstage
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

One could waste plenty of hyphens trying to describe Ozomatli's sound: Hispanic funk-rock-rap with salsa-merengue roots and punk-rock energy. Describing Ozomatli's live performance needs far fewer words: remarkable.

The Los Angeles-based 10-man collective brought a contagious energy to The Paradise Rock Club on Tuesday night and maintained complete control of the ecstatic crowd throughout the two-and-a-half hour show, which featured an uninterrupted flow of songs from the group's self-titled debut and its newest release, Street Signs.

The band's rowdy cacophony of horns and percussion inspired excited dancing from everyone in the crowd. The only people who seemed to be enjoying themselves more than the screaming crowd were the ebullient performers onstage who jumped and screamed with a seemingly ceaseless supply of energy.

With a dozen multi-ethnic musicians onstage, Ozomatli is truly an international orchestra in which timbales, turntables, and trumpets come together for a free-wheeling party of rhythm and horns. The performance featured solos from nearly every member, including the dirtiest clarinet solo Boston has heard since Benny Goodman.

Ozomatli also features two emcees, Justin Poree and Jabu Smith-Freeman, who throw poltically-conscious verses on top of the polyrhythmic percussion of drummers Jiro Yamaguchi and Mario Calire.

The rest of the band, when not performing, chips in with additional percussion by banging away at anything they can hit with a communal set of drum sticks circulating on stage.

In an interview following the concert, Yamaguchi told me, "Playing in Boston is fun because the crowd is full of college students who are trying to have a good time. As for us, we always have a good time."

The highlight of the evening came with a guest appearance from trumpet genius Tony Lujan, who dazzled the crowd as he was accompanied by mariachi guitar played by Raul Pachecho [ed. note: a fellow Thacher alum] and scratching from turntablist Rene "Spinobi" Dominguez.

Without any single leader, Ozomatli is truly an ensemble of superb musical talent who know how to rock a crowd. It would be nearly impossible to avoid catching the infectious energy that literally comes down from the stage as the members of Ozomatli descend into the crowd for a conga line that ends each of their shows.

After the band's conga line at the South by Southwest Music Festival last year ended with two members in jail for a noise ordinance violation, Ozomatli kept this rowdy party indoors.

The only thing better than Tuesday night's show would be seeing former members Chali 2na and DJ Cut Chemist (now of Jurassic 5) performing with their old crew. Nevertheless, any fan of live music should never miss an opportunity to see Ozomatli perform.

2004-10-14T15:38:00.000-07:00

Best duo in hip-hop
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

Six years after Mos Def and Talib Kweli rightfully declared themselves "the best alliance in hip-hop," the pair has finally returned. Unfortunately the dynamic duo isn't releasing a sequel to Blackstar, but instead separate solo albums from each emcee. Since Mos and Talib parted ways their careers have headed in decidedly different directions.

Mos Def, recently nominated for an Emmy, has been focusing on his burgeoning film career, acting on Broadway and starring as Ford Perfect in the upcoming film adaptation of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

In contrast, Kweli has remained on tour and in the studio, earning himself the respect of even Jay-Z, who rapped "Truth be told/ if lyrics sold/ I'd be lyrically Talib Kweli."

A-Side

Mos Def "My Life"
Hip-hop heads are bitter about being forced to wait half a decade for the follow-up to Mos Def's classic debut Black on Both Sides. We expected the second coming of Christ with his recently released The New Danger, but sadly it's nothing more than a very enjoyable album that could have been better.

The vast majority of Mos Def's musical ventures since his last album have been live performances with his rock band, the Black Jack Johnson, who appear throughout the new album. As a result, for better or for worse, The New Danger sounds more like a live show than a studio creation. The music is diverse and intriguing, but unfortunately Mos Def doesn't shine lyrically as he has in the past. In fact, he eschews rapping altogether for much of the album, instead acting as lead singer and even background vocalist for his band. Nevertheless, the album is entirely enjoyable from beginning to end, though hopefully we won't have to wait until 2009 for the next one.

B-Side

Talib Kweli "Beautiful Struggle"
Instead of wandering all over the musical galaxy like Mos, Talib Kweli has stuck to what he does best. Kweli isn't a charismatic crooner like Mos, but he is smart and talented emcee dedicated to sharp lyricism. While Mos was busy hosting Def Jam Poetry on HBO, Kweli released his solo debut, Quality, which earned the respect of the underground while slowly catching the attention of the mainstream.

The Kanye West-produced single "Get By" got heavy radio rotation, which apparently inspired Talib to try to reproduce his MTV success on his new album with the almost-identical single "I Try."

Beyond this, Beautiful Struggle is a very solid album, nothing more but certainly nothing less than what fans expect from Kweli. The album also marks the return of former collaborator Hi-Tek, who produced Talib's classic Reflection Eternal back when Rawkus Records, now bankrupt, was the best underground record label in hip-hop.

2004-10-07T12:34:00.000-07:00

Kanye lives up to the hype
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

While many superstar artists allow their media hype to overshadow their actual music, some still struggle to raise the standard even when they are the standard. Despite his recent over-exposure, Kanye West has continued to produce innovative tracks for a diverse group of emcees at a furious pace. While he makes millions on royalties from radio hits like "Jesus Walks" and superstar collaborations with Jay-Z, Kanye has also remained dedicated to his roots in the subterranean hip-hop scene, offering phenomenal beats to Talib Kweli and Dilated Peoples. But after a year of non-stop Kanye on the radio, even Chuck D started to wonder why "somebody gets top-notch producer credits for speeding up old records." Rather than stagnate and disappear, Kanye has recently elevated his game with two new tracks for underground heroes Common and Pharoahe Monch.

Common - "Food"
In the last few months, it seems like Kanye has been selling beats to anyone with some cash, but when fellow Chi-town native Common asked to collaborate, Kanye made the upcoming album, Be, a priority. The public caught its first glimpse of the result over the summer, when Common and Kanye appeared together to perform "Food" on The Chappelle Show. Hip-hop heads bumped a poor quality MP3 rip of the live show that was circulating on the Internet until a studio version of the song leaked recently.

If for nothing else, Kanye deserves our thanks for accompanying Common back to his classic emcee style after his recent eclectic intergalactic music journey, Electric Circus. Though I support artists like Andre3000 and Common who experiment with less conventional projects, hip-hop sorely needs another classic album. Common's return to rap will most likely give Kanye yet another reason to brag about himself.

Pharoahe Monch - "New World Symphony"
If for nothing else, Kanye should be respected for bringing lush musical instrumentation back to hip-hop. Of course, to really give credit where credit is due, Israeli violinist Miri Ben-Ari deserves to be recognized as the source of much of Kanye's genius. Though he sculpts her violin sample into a great beat, I can't imagine Kanye actually composes Ben-Ari's ridiculous violin solos, which grace the end of most of Kanye's tracks. I appreciate his decision to offer this beat to Pharoahe, who enjoys great respect in the underground but (so far) minuscale sales.

Maybe the Kanye touch will have the same effect on Pharoahe as it did on Twista, catapulting his career from underground purgatory to certifiably platinum. "New World Symphony" doesn't disappoint either, promising in the chorus "We are the future, you are the past." In his verse, Pharoahe prophesizes about America's future under the current president, "In twenty zero nine, speech will be a crime."

2004-09-28T22:30:00.000-07:00

Rockin' Out at The Rat
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

During a particularly loud moment in Asobi Seksu's performance in the Rat last Tuesday, the three Boston College police officers working at the event stared at the oncoming wall of noise with a mixed expression of confusion and irritation. Fortunately, they seemed to be the only ones not having fun, as the rest of the crowd obviously enjoyed the trio of indie-rock performances.

The event was co-sponsored by WZBC and the UGBC as part of the ongoing concert series in the basement of Lyons. Up-and-coming rock groups Paula Kelley, Asobi Seksu, and 27 were on all on the bill for the show.

Unfortunately, a late beginning and a long set from Paula Kelley left only 45 minutes for the two other bands. Kelley performed songs from her 2003 album The Trouble With Success, which was chosen as one of the best local albums of the year by the Boston Herald and the Phoenix.

The show was preceded by a talk given by Eric Reeves in Devlin 008. Reeves is a professor at Smith College who has testified several times before Congress on the ongoing crisis in the Sudan.

In addition, the $5 suggested donation at the concert went to the non-profit organization Doctors Without Borders in support of Genocide Awareness week.

The highlight of the evening was surely Asobi Seksu. The foursome demonstrated a delicate ability to create an overwhelming rush of white noise while nevertheless retaining a melodic, almost pop sound, reminiscent of groups like My Bloody Valentine. The group has found a considerable following in the last few years and, despite WZBC's motto of "No Commercial Potential," Asobi Seksu even has a video on current circulation on MTVu.

Lead singer and keyboard player Yuki Chikudate has a beautiful, soaring voice that still struggled to stay above the thumping drums and thundering guitar of the band. Asobi Seksu's songs would build up to an explosion of sound that approached the noise of a jet engine, only to be perfectly deconstructed to the barebone kickdrum of drummer Keith Hopkin and built back up again.

The last to take the stage, 27, warned that it would only play three songs, which worked out considering the fact that they were only left 15 minutes. The threesome, like the other two bands, boasted a female lead singer. In terms of the sheer mass of sound, 27 sounded quiet following Asobi Seksu. In sharp contrast to the spastic guitar playing of Asobi Seksu guitarist, James Hanna, who would jump around the stage as he thrashed away, 27's guitarist sat quietly in a chair onstage as he plucked away.

How could you tell the concert was a success? There were even groups of students dancing, which is always rare at a BC event. WZBC and the UGBC will continue to sponsor the concert series in the Rat throughout the year.

2004-09-28T13:23:00.000-07:00

CNN vs. QVC
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

Chuck D used to say that rap was CNN for black people, but today hip-hop looks more like QVC. Emcees used to be journalists who described their urban reality, whereas now rappers serve as unofficial spokesmen for bourgeois brands like Burberry and Louis Vuitton. So far in 2004, there have been 81 rap songs on the Billboard Top 20. Thirty-seven percent of these songs mention at least one brand name, according to www.agendainc.com. Hennessy (52 times) and Cadillac (49 times) were referenced most often, but Toys 'R' Us and U-haul got only eight and three shout-outs, respectively. It's a sad day for hip-hop when one can't distinguish between the music and the commercials when listening to the radio.

A-Side

Run-DMC - "My Adidas"
Back in the day, of course, things were different. Run-DMC unintentionally started the trend of corporate sponsorship with "My Adidas," an ode to the rappers' favorite sneakers. Following the success of the song, Russell Simmons invited company executives from Adidas to attend a Run-DMC concert at Madison Square Garden in 1986. Simmons promised his brother, Reverend Run of Run-DMC, that they could get an endorsement deal if they took off their Adidas sneakers and held them up during the performance.

When the Adidas execs saw the crowd's enthusiastic reaction, they began to grasp the power of product placement in music. For the next four years, a sponsorship deal worth $1 million annually guaranteed that Run-DMC would never be seen without their Adidas. While Chuck D and KRS-One believed in the revolutionary political power of hip-hop, Simmons viewed the movement in terms of marketing. "The hip-hop community is the biggest brand-building community in the world," he said.

Nelly - "Air Force Ones"
Years later, Nelly decided to mimic Run-DMC and write a song about his generation's sneakers. Whereas you could hear a genuine passion for Adidas coming from Run-DMC, Nelly's song sounded more like an extended radio jingle. Not surprisingly, Nike soon turned the video into a commercial, which turned Nelly into a corporate mascot with as much artistic credibility as Tony the Tiger. The problem isn't the corporate sponsorship, per se, but Nelly's ridiculous contention that he didn't write the song with the intention of getting a Nike deal. He feigned suprise when (gasp!) Nike decided to give Nelly his own line of sneakers. It's too bad that Nelly's superb marketing skills couldn't come up with a better name for his sports drink than Pimp Juice.

B-Side

The Game - "Whole City Behind Us" (ft. Kanye West and Ludacris)
Music videos have looked like commercials for Benzes and Cristal for a while, but now commercials look like music videos. A new television ad for cell phone company Boost Mobile features three of the most popular emcees in hip-hop rapping into their walkie-talkie phones. Incorporating popular music into an advertisement is certainly nothing new, but the lines between art and advertisement are now becoming so blurred that one can hardly tell the difference. This song was originally released inan Ampd Boost mobile commercial and will also appear on The Game's new album.

Busta Rhymes - "Pass the Courvoisier"
Like Nelly, Busta swears he had no intention of establishing a business relationship with Courvoisier when he wrote this song. Not surprisingly, though, after the sales of Napoleon's cognac went up by 20 percent in the United States following the release of the song, the rapper and the alcohol company hopped in bed together with a lucrative promotional deal.

The October 2002 issue of Fortune magazine describes a memo obtained from Sony music in which the company blatantly offers to include product plugs in the lyrics of an upcoming album by boy band B2K. In addition, Lori Lambert, vice president of strategic marketing at Epic Records (the Sony division that represents B2K), said that the same offer could be extended on behalf of "most of our pop acts." Though more blatant than the instances involving Nelly and Busta, the idea remains the same: Hip-hop has sold its soul. All the fake pimps in hip-hop have gleefully accepted their new roles as whores for corporate sponsorship.

2004-09-21T13:17:00.000-07:00

The Genius of Rubin
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

Rick Rubin can do whatever he wants. He might look more like Jay-Z's bodyguard than his producer, but Rubin has proved thrive and again that he has the golden touch no matter the genre. Together with Russell Simmons, he co-founded Def Jam while still at NYU. His first hits included L.L. Cool J's "I Need A Beat" and Public Enemy's Rubin-produced debut Yo! Bum Rush the Show. From there he's worked with everyone under the sun and continues to be one of the most progressive and innovative players in music.

A-Side

Run DMC - "Walk this Way"
Rick Rubin is a man of ideas. In 1986, hip-hop was still trying to gain mainstream success in a mess of hair bands. Aerosmith was on the other side of the career curve, apparently past its prime and over the hill. Then Rubin had a simple idea that would change popular music for the next decade: bring rock and rap together on one stage, remixing Aerosmith's original classic with a new hip-hop sound. Everyone from Limp Bizkit to Eminem can attribute the seeds of their careers to this one song. This technique, taking a classic song and remaking it as someone else's, would become one of Rubin's specialties

Beastie Boys - "Fight for Your Right"
Licensed to Ill was the next step in the evolution of rap-rock, featuring samples from Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, not to mention the mean guitar solo from Slayer guitarist Kerry King on "Fight for Your Right." The album also made it acceptable for white kids to like (and purchase) hip-hop, making it the first rap album to reach No. 1 on the Billboard albums chart.

Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Under the Bridge"
Though Rubin made his name with hip-hop, he has mainly focused on rock since his amicable split from Simmons and Def Jam in 1989. When he was enlisted to produce Blood Sugar Sex Majik, he moved the band members into a mansion where they lived and recorded for several months. Today, that's a common practice, but at the time it was considered bizarre. Though he actually produced the beats for Def Jam artists, with the Chili Peppers Rubin's role was more broad and less clearly defined. He was the sonic director of the entire project, acting as guide for everything on the album, including Anthony Kiedis' lyrics. While working together, Rubin discovered a page in a band member's notebook about overcoming his heroin addiction. Initially Keidis didn't think the lyrics fit the album, but Rubin convinced him otherwise. The result was "Under the Bridge," which became the album's biggest hit. The lesson: always trust Rubin's judgment.

B-Side

Johnny Cash - "Hurt"
Before passing away, Johnny Cash said, "Rick saw something in me that I didn't know was there anymore." The Rubin/Cash collaboration surprised nearly everyone, not only because of its critical and commercial success, but also because of its choice of songs. Their most recent album, The Man Comes Around, the fourth installment in the American series, features Cash singing his cover versions of songs originally written by Sting, the Beatles and Depeche Mode. Rubin convinced Cash to cover songs that he would have never previously considered, such as Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt." Cash took Trent Reznor's deeply personal lyrics about his battle with drug addiction and turned them into his own, while Rubin's sparse arrangement leaves plenty of space for Cash's harrowing voice. No one could have imagined the 70 year old Cash's return to cult popularity, but with Rubin he found his way onto MTV2 and college indie-radio.

Audioslave - "Show Me How to Live"
Rage Against the Machine recruited Rubin for the follow-up to The Battle of Los Angeles, but when Zack de la Rocha quit the band in 2000, Rubin suggested that the rest of the band join forces with former Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell. Rubin went on to produce Audioslave's phenomenal debut and is currently working on the follow-up. In 2004, the self-described workaholic will also work with Slipknot, Weezer, System of a Down, Nine Inch Nails and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Jay-Z - "99 Problems"
"You crazy for this one Rick," raps Jay-Z in a shout out to Rubin, who made his glorious return to hip-hop in order to contribute a beat to Jay-Z's retirement party, The Black Album. Surrounded by fluffy Neptunes beats, the heavy guitars and drums reminded everyone how much hip-hop needs Rubin again. In the phenomenal video for the song, Rubin looks mean and shaggy with his long ZZ-Top beard.

2004-09-14T16:13:00.000-07:00

KO-S Rebels against the current
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

Who will save hip-hop? Most people would look to New York, Los Angeles, or maybe Atlanta for the next revolution, but while gangsters from all over the country try to take over hip-hop with ever bigger guns and egos, there's a joyful rebellion going on just across the northern border. Instead of trying to take over, Canadian rapper K-OS is attempting to change the rules of the rap game with his newest album Joyful Rebellion and the result couldn't be more enjoyable.

K-OS' 2001 debut album Exit gathered awards and acclaim for its unique musical hybridity. Like its predecessor, Joyful Rebellion seamlessly moves from reggae to folk rock while still remaining a hip-hop album (unlike Andre3000's The Love Below, for example).

What distinguishes K-OS from most emcees is a diverse musical talent, allowing him to incorporate live instruments into his songs without letting the music draw attention away from his lyricism, as often occurs with groups like The Roots.

K-OS manages to avoid all of the possible pitfalls that often ruin such musically ambitious albums. Though the album crosses musical borders, it never feels like an aimless wander. K-OS maintains a sonic and thematic consistency that pervades the album, holding it together as a cohesive unit.

The lead single, "B-Boy Stance" is a gritty old school hip-hop joint that samples a short Public Enemy loop, the only sample to be found on an album otherwise notable for its lush instrumentation. In many ways, K-OS is taking hip-hop back to its revolutionary roots, but unlike Chuck D's Fear of a Black Planet, this album delivers its message with a vibrant joy instead of violent anger. According to K-OS, rebellion is an internal struggle to make ourselves better people (and therefore better emcees).

Throughout the album, K-OS searches to find his place. On "Man I Used to Be" he admits, "The things I said I wouldn't do, I did them." From there he tries to find his way through an internal rebellion against external temptations.

The best song on the album, "Crabbuckit" takes the funky bass line from The Cure's "Love Cats" and flips it upside down to create a dirty blues rap song where K-OS compares himself to a crab stuck in a bucket. Pianos and saxophones fly around while the infectious bass line gives a K-OS a strong foothold to show off his lyrical skills. Even if he weren't such a talented musician, K-OS would still be an impressive emcee. He manages to drop intricate syllables into the perfect groove between beat and melody.

To write a fair and balanced review, both the strengths and weaknesses of an album should be mentioned, but K-OS's Joyful Rebellion leaves little to be criticized. All of his songs are meticulously composed with a great attention to nuance and detail. As a rapper, a singer, and a musician, K-OS might not save hip-hop, but he has certainly resuscitated it with a beautiful infusion of fresh air.

2004-06-01T10:09:00.000-07:00

Justin Bua: an artist for a new generation
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

On Wednesday nights, Justin Bua teaches a basic drawing class (FA 207) at the Univerisity of Southern California in Harris Hall, room 210.

Outside the classroom, Bua is the best-selling living artist among college students and the pre-eminent visual artist of the hip-hop generation. In his spare time he's making music videos, starting his own shoe line, and trying to change the way America views art and treats our artists.

"It's unfortunate, but to a lot of people, art is associated with wealth. People think you need lots of money and education to go to an art museum, but my stuff is different. My art is rooted in street culture," explained Bua in an interview with The Heights.

Like a Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel, Bua's artistic world of colorful magical realism, seen in paintings such as The DJ and The Piano Man, reflect the racially diverse reality in which he was raised, interpreted from the distorted memories of his childhood.

"Forever, artists have been painting kings and military leaders. I am also painting the heroes of my time, whether the DJ, the graffiti artist, the baller, or the piano player," said Bua. "Growing up in New York in the '80s, I looked up to these people."

Despite his unconventional themes, Bua's art is structured in remarkably traditional methods. His class at USC teaches the basics of drawing the human body, and since attending the prestigious High School of Music and Performing Arts his own education has focused on classical techniques.

At 16, he took a year off from school to perform with a professional breakdancing crew, The New York Express, in over a hundred shows all over the world. Later in life, his passions for art and hip-hop culture collided to produce his urban-themed paintings.

"What we were doing in New York at the time, I mean, we weren't defining it as hip-hop, it was just our life," explains Bua.

"There was no real need to name it. Yeah, I was b-boying and emceeing and all that stuff, but I wasn't going around thinking, 'Yeah, this is hip-hop,' because it was all I knew."

In addition to his unique and immediately recognizable artistic style, Bua is most notable for his keen entrepreneurial business sense. He has made a name for himself in music videos, most notably Slum Village's "Tainted," and television commercials such as his recent campaign for the video game NFL Street.

Bua has recently expanded beyond the canvas into designing his own shoe line called the PF Flyer, which will feature his artwork. Only 1,008 pairs of the three different designs will be available, but Bua plans on expanding in the future.

There are also plans for an upcoming line of hats and a book of his paintings. "I didn't always have a good business sense, but it's a hustle and you learn along the way," said Bua.

Though this sort of business ambition is commonplace among musicians such as Jay-Z, Bua laments the fact that artists so rarely make money from their work. "I think artists aren't taken seriously in our culture and it's because our values are all f- up. I'm trying to open up the possibility for artists to be respected and appreciated like musicians or actors are. Part of that includes being able to make money."

Once someone starts making money from selling hip-hop culture, some will inevitably label the artist a sellout, something Bua promises he could never be: "You have to worry whether kids think you're selling out, but really that's not a really concern for me, because there are some things I would never do. I'm a vegan, so I will never do anything for McDonald's.

"It is simply not an option, not for a million dollars," he continued. "I would like to move into hemp shoes, but even now I know I would never use leather."

To Bua, there is a clear distinction between selling art and selling out. He said, "I am respecting and exalting my heroes, not just using them to make some money. I plan to keep being entrepreneurial and I don't think there's anything wrong with that, because I plan on changing the industry.

"I want to be a pioneer that changes the way people buy and sell products. I don't want to just put more crap in the stores and make a dollar."

2004-05-25T16:07:00.000-07:00

Not a Common sight
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

This year's surprise end of year concert was a surprise for even the students in the Undergraduate Goverment who organized the event. While rumors spread around campus about who the secret performer would be (Spin Doctors? Maroon 5? Blues Traveler?), the real headlining act, Talib Kweli, canceled three days before the concert.

Liz Fulton, co-director of Community Events, scrambled to find a new performer at the last minute and miraculously managed to bring Chicago rapper Common to help Boston College students celebrate the last day of classes.

Throughout the afternoon giddy BC students enjoyed the carnival atmosphere in the Mod parking lot, where there was no shortage of free burgers, hot dogs, and fried dough. With classes finally over, students played on an inflatable obstacle course, escaped from the spring heat in the dunk tank, and took advantage of the caricaturist.

In the early afternoon, Kotter performed on the side stage while students enjoyed the festivities and beautiful spring weather. There was supposed to be a number of bands that were all going to perform, but like Talib Kweli, they all canceled at the last minute, leaving only Kotter to rock the stage until it was time for Common to perform.

During our interview, Common said he was excited to perform at BC. "Normally when I perform, everyone in the crowd knows me and all the words to my songs. They've been fans for like 10 years, so all I have to do is show up and everyone goes crazy."

"But somewhere like here, most people probably don't even know who I am, so that just means I have to give an even better show and earn myself new fans," he continued.

Common's performance was energetic and entertaining, filled with a variety of new songs from his latest, Electric Circus, and his upcoming album Be, along with old-school classics from Resurrection and Like Water for Chocolate. The crowd was most excited when the opening chords from "The Light" began, screaming and singing along with the chorus. Common's affable stage presence and good humor was the perfect match for the great weather and collective good mood of the students done with classes.

The DJ gave an impressive exhibition in turntablism, scratching up a storm as Common showed off his b-boy skills by break dancing across the stage. In contrast to most rappers today, Common has always worked to keep all aspects of hip-hop alive instead of focusing exclusively on the emcee.

Common then asked for a volunteer from the crowd to come up on stage and freestyle with him. Plenty of aspiring rappers raised their hands for the chance to rhyme with Common, but only one, Kahleil Blair, BC '04, aka Maverik, got to come up to exchange verses with him onstage.

Common opened with an amazing freestlye that must have been hard for Blair to follow, proving once again why even Jay-Z admits, "Truthfully/ I wanna rhyme like Common Sense."

But even Common, along with everyone in the crowd, was impressed by Blair's impromptu performance. Maybe if the headlining act cancels at the last second again next year, then BC could get Blair to perform instead.

Unfortunately, the entire performance lasted only an hour and Common quickly left after the show, leaving everyone wanting a little bit more. BC students took advantage of the great weather and lingered in the Mod parking lot, enjoying the moment of fun before studying for finals began.

2004-05-25T15:52:00.000-07:00

Dwyer to release post-grad hip-hop album
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

Beggars can't be choosers, which is why most young artists are forced to accept the undesirable terms and conditions of a music contract with a major label when offered the chance.

Sean Dwyer, on the other hand, demanded more than any record company would offer: "I want complete creative freedom and I want to own all of my own music."

In an industry where Michael Jackson, and not Paul McCartney, owns the rights to the Beatles' entire catalog, Dwyer quickly realized that he was going to have to record, release, and distribute the album himself in order to avoid sacrificing his artistic rights.

Trying to do all of this while still fulfilling his school responsibilities as a full-time student at Boston College Lynch School of Education proved nearly an impossible task and, as a result, his album remains unfinished as of gradation.

"I really wanted to have it all done by graduation so my friends could hear it, but trying to do it all by myself while I was still in school was just too much," he said.

Sadly, this means that only a handful of people have heard even the unmastered demo copy of his solo debut, tentatively titled Broken Spoke. The hip-hop album boasts production from Alec Tervenski, BC '04, who is known as Adept and also produced beats for fellow Boston College emcee Noah Dixon, BC '06. Noah's full length debut album will be released in September.

As a senior, Dwyer won't be back at college in September, so this summer he plans on finishing the album and finally releasing it. Most of the album is already complete and was recorded in BC's recording studio in Campion.

Dwyer said, "I had all of my classes in Campion and never even looked in that room. I certainly didn't expect there to be a recording studio behind those doors."

Dwyer's rhymes are careful poetic constructs delivered with a self-assured confidence that avoids the typical rapper's arrogance. Unlike many rappers, Dwyer's lyrical content doesn't hide behind the beat. Even if you took the beat away from his verses, they easily become poetry that can stand on their own merit.

As a result, you are just as likely to see Dwyer reading his work at an open-mic poetry show as you would be to see him freestyling at an emcee battle.

Or you might even see him without his rhymes all together, singing and playing acoustic guitar at a local bar with alum Ryan Read, BC '02. Before playing music together, they played football at BC before Read graduated and Dwyer quit the team.

During his junior year, Dwyer went abroad to Florence, Italy. He said, "In Italy, I was really removed from hip-hop culture, so I really focused on my writing and guitar playing. When I came back I was excited to get back into rapping again, because it definitely made me a better writer and better musician in general."

It was also in Italy where Dwyer first started playing music professionally: "I had been doing the open-mic thing for years, but in Italy I had a job playing guitar in local club. The idea that someone would pay me to do what I love, to play music, was crazy to me."

When Dwyer returned to BC, he began playing again with Read, performing at O'Briens, Becket's, and other bars around Boston. Dwyer also has an acoustic guitar album recorded with Read and there are plans for another in the making.

Now that he will be graduating, Dwyer says he can finally focus on his music. "Even though looking back on it, I know I had lots of time and I probably could have done it, trying to do all the business parts of it while still getting homework done and trying to write new music was just too much," he said. "Hopefully this summer everything will be done."

Careful with his words and yet strong in his delivery, Dwyer has a lot to offer as an emcee, but what distinguishes him from the rest are his impressive musical skills and ability to write a cohesive narrative. Especially today, hip-hop needs more musicians and poets like Dwyer.

2004-05-04T15:40:00.000-07:00

Art For Awareness
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

When is art just art? When the Global Justice Project and UNICEF of Boston College sponsor a weekend of socially conscious art, poetry, and film in the Vanderslice Cabaret room to inspire and educate the community through artistic and verbal expression.

"Just Art was a small idea that was turned into an impressive reality last year," said Brigitte Hamadey, who organized Just Art with Gabriella Suau, UNICEF director. "This year we just tried to keep it going and make it better in order to give artists on campus a chance to share their talents."

The typically bare and sterile Cabaret room was transformed into an astonishingly beautiful gallery of painting and photography by BC undergraduate and graduate student artists. The artwork of student Eli Akerstein and alum Aimme Kallaugher were especially impressive and stood out in the multi-faceted art event, which lasted from April 22 until April 26.

Roberta Kaufman, BC '75, opened the weekend with a speech about her experience as a freelance photographer. Also performing on Friday was Long Division, a three-man Latin jazz band featuring Michael Collins, BC '07.

The highlight of the weekend was the open mic night sponsored by Naked Singularity. Spoken word poets Alixa Garcia and Naima Penniman gave inspired performances in addition to "Shades of Silence," a performance by internationally known spoken word artist and activist Carlos Gomez, sponsored by the Hip-Hop Culture Club. A member of Def Jam Poetry family, Gomez's poetry was entertaining and inspiring, and touched on issues of international injustice such as prostitution in third world countries, as well as personal issues regarding love and betrayal.

On Sunday, Just Art escaped from the confines of the Cabaret room and brought music to the courtyard of Lower Dining Hall. A celebratory drum circle, sponsored by the Music Guild, was followed by a live reggae band called Wildest

Drums brought hoards of students outside to escape from studying for finals. Soon jubilant dancers were bouncing around while others tapped away at drums. It was a rare site to see BC students break out of their shell and dance around with such excited abandon.

In addition to the music and art, there was a discussion on activism for social justice led by professor Charles Derber and a film festival featuring politically-themed movies like City of God, 1984, and Eyes on the Prize.

"Arts Festival is great, but it's only once a year," said Hamadey. "Just Art is a wonderful opportunity for all the hidden artists at BC to come out."

The weekend was in fact a great opportunity, not only for the artists, but for everyone who enjoyed the myriad beautiful and entertaining events.

2004-05-04T15:36:00.000-07:00

Eminen shines, but his band bores
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

Even Michael Jordan couldn't save the otherwise horrendous Washington Wizards, but at least he turned them into a decent team worth watching.

Similarly, even Eminem can't save the otherwise ignorable D12 album, D12 World, but at least you can skip around and listen to all the phenomenal verses from Eminem and decent production from Dr. Dre and Kanye West.

Part of Jordan's failure to bring the Wizards into the playoffs can be attributed to his old age and weak knees, but Eminem is obviously at the top of his game right now, so there is no one to blame but his teammates.

It's not that the other members of D12 are horrible rappers, but their generic content and delivery wither in the huge shadow of Eminem, the "lead singer of the band." The album opens with "Git Up" and an especially ridiculous verse from Eminem, who then unfortunately hands off the baton to his less-gifted crew.

Sometimes Eminem's verse is first and you can simply skip the rest of the song, but often a jewel is hidden in the heap of mediocrity, such as on "Get My Gun," in which Eminem's hilarious rap about a jammed gun is surrounded by the others' forgettable verses.

In terms of rapping, there isn't enough Eminem, but in terms of production, there's too much. Eminem has once again used D12 as a guinea pig for his continued experiments with production, but no one needs six songs produced by Slim Shady. Fellow D12 rapper Kon Artis, aka Denaun Porter, produces three tracks on the album; yet, his work for D12 never sounds as good as when he produces for 50 Cent ("Stunt 101" and "PIMP").

Kanye West offers an excellent beat for the title track, but the song ends forgettably without a verse from Eminem. Even Kanye's Middle Eastern violin melody outshines the bland rhymes from D12.

Unlike the hometown crews of Nelly or Cam'ron, most of D12 can actually rap surprisingly well, especially Proof. Their inability to shape interesting verses out of their natural talent proves that a nice delivery can't compensate for empty, repetitive subject matter.

Dr. Dre probably hates to waste one of his beats for D12, but he nevertheless obliged the requests from his white little brother and produced the ominous "American Psycho II," featuring B-Real from Cyprus Hill.

The surprise guest on the album is underground producer Hi-Tek. Best known for his classic collaboration with Talib Kweli, Reflection Eternal, Hi-Tek is instead paired with Bizarre, quite possibly the worst rapper of all time, for the album's only solo cut, "Just Like U."

It's always painful to hear a quality instrumental butchered by an ignorant, talentless emcee, but despite his utter lack of talent, Bizarre at least grabs the listener's attention.

It would be difficult to say whether it's because of his horribly disgusting and inappropriate subject matter (even compared to Eminem) or because of his laughable lack of skill, but Bizarre's verses are at least mentionable for the fact that they are difficult to ignore.

Unfortunately, that can't be said about the other, admittedly more talented members of D12. If you're the type of person who forgets someone's name 30 seconds after you've been introduced, then you have no chance of remembering the difference between a verse from Kuniva or Swifty.

For fans of Eminem, the D12 album is full of great verses from the best rapper alive, but it amounts to nothing more than a decent album with a catchy single to keep Eminem on the radio until his solo album comes out at the end of the year.

2004-05-04T10:35:00.000-07:00

MixTape Friday: Spring Hope
By Canyon Cody
Originally Published in The Heights

Right when you think hip-hop finally sold the last of its soul, someone with soul to spare comes to save the day. The last few months have been full of decent but disappointing releases from Dilated Peoples, dead prez, and D12, but it now seems as though we are in a spring renaissance of quality hip-hop. While Usher soars in terms of sales, these artists are taking hip-hop to new heights in terms of quality. Backpackers rejoice! Could the second coming of hip-hop finally be upon us?

Talib Kweli - "Lonely People" The Beautiful Mix
Recently, an unfinished version of Talib Kweli's next album The Beautiful Struggle leaked on the Internet and got posted on Okayplayer.com. Kweli was furious and replied with a post on the site to vent his anger. To the guy that posted the mp3s he wrote, "Are you that much of a loser that you gotta live off another man's work?" He continued, "I will find out who you are and you will be dealt with accordingly." As a result, the album's release date will probably get pushed back even further, but in order to please his fans in the interim, Kweli has released a mixtape called The Beautiful Mix hosted by "Rick James, bitch!" (aka Dave Chapelle).

The standout track is "Lonely People," produced by Kanye West, featuring a John Lennon sample from "Eleanor Rigby." I bet Grey Album producer DJ Danger Mouse could offer Kanye some advice about the impossibility of ever clearing the Beatles' sample, but that's the beauty of underground mixtapes.

Pete Rock - "Appreciate" Soul Survivor 2
In my opinion, Pete Rock is the best producer of all time, with DJ Premiere, Rick Rubin, and Dr. Dre as honorable mentions. His classic collaborations with CL Smooth produced two of my favorite old school albums (Good Life and Mecca and the Soul Brother), so when I heard that his soon to be released solo album Soul Surivor 2 featured Talib Kweli, dead prez, Rza, Pharoahe Monch, and Little Brother, I thought it was too good to be true. Though I shouldn't have been surprised, the best track on the album turned out to be Pete Rock's reunion with CL Smooth, "Appreciate." If you're not careful, the catchy chorus will get stuck in your head forever: "2, 4, 6, 8, who do we appreciate?" 9th Wonder and Kanye West are imitating today the smooth sample-based production origninally perfected by Pete Rock years ago.

Brother Ali - "Self-Taught" Champion EP
Don't sleep on Brother Ali! There isn't a more talented and less appreciated emcee in hip-hop than this Minnesota native. Like Eminem, you need to get over the fact that he's white before you can really appreciate him, but he's not just white; he's almost pink. The albino rapper addresses his uniqueness on "Forest Whitiker" from his Rhymesayers debut, Shadows on the Sun: "I'm albino man, I know I'm pink and pale/ And I'm hairy as hell, everywhere but fingernails."

Most importantly, Ali proves himself a truly talented emcee and not just a genetic gimmick, which makes the album one of the best in recent memory. Make sure to peep "Dorian" and "Blah, Blah, Blah" featuring Slug from Atmosphere. Just released was Brother Ali's new Champion EP with nine awesome tracks, including "Self Taught" where he explains "There's a thin line between anger and hunger/ and I ride a unicycle down the middle."

Danger Mouse and Gemini - "Ghetto Pop Life 2" The Twenty Six Inch EP
Ever since his Jay-Z remix project, The Grey Album, grabbed everyone's attention (including, unfortunately, the Beatles' lawyers), Danger Mouse has enjoyed more notoriety than sales. Fortunately for him, Danger Mouse's earlier album with emcee Gemini, Ghetto Pop Life, is finally getting the attention it originally deserved. Now Danger Mouse has the industry at his doorstep begging for a DM beat, but first he decided to release The Twenty-Six Inch EP with Gemini, featuring two new songs (including the sequel to his debut album's title track, "Ghetto Pop Life 2"), remixes of songs from their LP and guest appearances from Cee-lo and Sadat X.

2004-04-27T14:22:00.000-07:00

Emerson students start records label
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

In terms of resume building, Emerson sophomore Molly Casey definitely has one of the most eye-catching extracurricular activities: president of a student-run music label, Emerson Records.

"The record label is run entirely by students, but nothing was really happening with it for the past few years. This year we really decided to do something," said Casey in an interview with The Heights.

In addition to their academic responsibilities, Casey and the rest of the students on the staff of Emerson Records have turned the inactive record label into a thriving young organization that recently signed its first band, Audible Mainframe. The label plans to release the band's first record next month.

"We don't really know what to expect in terms of sales because there's no precedent at Emerson Records for what we're doing. We're not getting paid or anything, so this is supposed to be a learning experience for us and it definitely has been. We're all really excited to hear the album once they finish mixing and mastering it," said Casey.

To promote the band's debut album and raise money for charity, Emerson Records brought old school hip-hop pioneer Jeru the Damaja to the Jorge Hernandez Cultural Center in South Boston last Saturday.

The unusual venue wasn't an ideal location in terms of accessibility and acoustics, but Jeru and especially Audible Mainframe gave an inspired show for the small crowd of dedicated hip-hop fans.

In addition to the headliners, Emerson records brought the Deck Deamons, an amazing DJ quartet which includes DJ JayCeeOh, and the Floor Lords, who have been break dancing in Boston since 1981. From their youngest member (13) to the oldest (37), the Floor Lords left the audience in awe with their dance moves and their unique custom b-boy and b-girl sneaker from Saucony.

The graffiti of a local crew called Hi Cost Low Art complemented the music and the break dancing perfectly, making the entire experience perfect for true hip-hop fans.

Jeru the Damaga has been synonymous with quality old school hip-hop since his classic 1994 debut The Sun Rises in the East. Jeru's separation from Gang Star following his beef with Guru has apparently prevented him from performing all of his DJ Premier-produced hits

Despite a good set from Jeru, the star of the show was Audible Mainframe. The eight-person hip-hop band comprises guitar, bass, drums, trumpet, saxophone, with a DJ and emcee.

Their energetic live show and eclectic combination of rap, funk, and rock gives Audible Mainframe a contagious energy spilling into the crowd.

The band's politically progressive lyrics, musical virtuosity, and kinetic stage presence puts Audible Mainframe in good company with bands like The Roots and Ozomatli.

Audible Mainframe will be playing a live acoustic set on WAAF (107.3) on May 2 to promote its record release party at the Middle East Upstairs on Wednesday, May 5. Its debut album Framework will be available for $5, and local emcee Jake the Snake will perform.

2004-04-27T12:25:00.000-07:00

Head to Lupo's
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

Boston is blessed with a great assortment of music venues ranging from the edgy and always dependable Middle East in Cambridge to the fancy Wang Theater in the Theatre District.

The best local concert venue, though, unfortunately isn't that local. It's Lupo's at the Strand in Providence, RI.

Despite being only one hour closer to the musical epicenter of America, it appears as though many musicians would prefer to only travel to Providence if they have to leave New York, rather than coming all the way to Boston.

Or maybe it's just that Providence has the best live music club north of New York. Lupo's attracts a consistent flow of top notch performers who are too big to play in a smaller Boston venue like The Paradise, yet still not big enough to fill the FleetCenter.

In the next few weeks alone, Lupo's will host Bouncing Souls and Reel Big Fish on June 20, and Incubus on July 2. This week, BB King, whose Boston bar/club was closed last year, will be at Lupo's on May 1 in addition to Talib Kweli on April 28.

The arrival of Talib Kweli in at Lupo's is just one example of a fairly major artist coming to Providence who will not perform in Boston on the same tour. On the night after his Lupo's performance, Kweli heads back to New York for another concert rather than continuing on to Boston. This trend is especially noticeable among popular underground rappers. In addition to Kweli, The Roots and the fifth semi-annual freestyle battle called the Mic Wars will appear at Lupo's.

The superior hip-hop concert selection in Providence, despite the smaller city size, cannot be attributed to a greater demand in Rhode Island for urban music but is a direct result of how great of a club Lupo's is.

Though the Middle East and the Paradise are phenomenal clubs, they both have a reputation as primarily rock clubs, despite their often diverse schedule. The reputation isn't entirely undeserved though. The Paradise is, after all, officially called "Boston's Legendary Rock."

The ambience of Lupo's is comparable to the Middle East but considerably less claustrophobic. There is plenty of space in front of the stage for mosh pits and generally rowdy behavior without needing to worry about crashing into anything but fellow fans.

The balcony is the best view in the house and allows people to escape the crowded pit of fans near the stage. The acoustics and lighting are superior to just about anything in Boston. No matter where you are, you can hear and see the music on stage just fine.

Unlike the reputation of many other bars and clubs in Providence, Lupo's is a very strict enforcer of the legal drinking age and will only accept real identification. The beefy bouncers are not subtle with underage drinkers or anyone else causing trouble, which can add added entertainment to your visit as long as you're not the poor guy in trouble.

An announcer repeatedly reminds the crowd over the PA system that they are in a non-flammable building with plenty of fire escapes. The motivation is to calm patrons following the recent club fire tragedy in Rhode Island, but its more irksome than comforting.

For some reason, artists seem to stick around after the concert at Lupo's more often than they do here in Boston, and music fans aren't ushered out of the venue as hastily. As a result, Lupo's might be your best chance to get that coveted autograph from your favorite musician.

Though Boston offers plenty of concert options, the trip to Lupo's is worth the fast and cheap train or bus ticket to Providence. Find a friend at Brown with whom you can stay the night, and enjoy a nice night in Rhode Island.

2004-04-27T05:26:00.000-07:00

Mixtape Friday: Classic Rock Remix
By Canyon Cody
Originally published in The Heights

"Hey DJ, got any classic rock?" I love classic rock, but it's not party music. There is something fundamentally wrong with partying to music that your parents still listen to. I'm glad your family can all agree on Billy Joel on summer road trips, but at a party the music needs to bump louder, dirtier, and a lot sexier. Nevertheless, I try to accommodate everybody's tastes - but like Atmosphere said, "I'm the type of DJ that only plays what I like." Here's the closest thing to classic rock that you'll hear me play while people are dancing.

Rolling Stones - Sympathy for the Devil (Remix)
The original version of this song is just about as perfect as music can get. Fortunately, the Neptunes respected the basic structure of the classic on their remix but threw a thick bassline under Mick Jagger's vocals to make it even more danceable. The remix amounts to something like an Irish coffee: A nice cup of joe gets even better with an added shot of whiskey for the extra kick. If you don't immediately recognize the bongos because of the new beat, then Jagger's opening lines will certainly catch your attention: "Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste." The Neptunes get points for self-restraint, but that's about it.

Sublime - Summertime (ft. Pharcyde)
In general, playing this ode to the Southern California sun while I'm here in Boston is kind of depressing. A Sublime song is perfect for warm weather and wafting weed at the beach, but it's a bit chill for serious partying. Once again, Pharcyde slightly alters the original to make it more appropriate for dancing, throwing some meat on the bassline and a few rapped verses in between Bradley Nowell's singing.

Public Enemy - "He Got Game"
There's something a bit sneaky about hip-hop. It's both exciting and a little disappointing to find the original song that Kanye West turned into a modern radio hit, because it seems like he's pretending he created the song all by himself. Producers need to be more meticulous with their bibliographies and cite for the public where they stole the hook for their new song. Or they should just include a whole verse of the original like Public Enemy does with Buffalo Springfield's "For What it's Worth."

Jay-Z - Encore (Danger Mouse Remix)
The best part about DJ Danger Mouse's brilliant Grey Album was that it didn't sound like your typical mash-up, where a DJ superglues 50 Cent's lyrics to Britney's beat. These hybrids are surprisingly entertaining when done well (see below), but they ultimately sound hollow and uninspired. Danger Mouse, in contrast, made it sound like the Beatles actually went into the studio with Jay-Z to record this song.

Red Hot Chili Peppers and Ludacris - "Stand Up"
Here's your basic mash-up song: Take two unrelated songs and mash them together. What separates this song from the pack is that it actually works; the Red Hot Chili Peppers have (or at least used to have) quite a hip-hop sound to them already. Most of Blood Sugar Sex Magik, including "Suck My Kiss," was produced by Def Jam co-founder and hip-hop producer Rick Rubin, which makes it the perfect beat for Ludacris to rap over.

Jay-Z - "The Takeover"
When Puff Daddy released his painfully horrible version of Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" for the Godzilla soundtrack, I blamed Jimmy Page for not only granting permission but for also actually going into the studio with Puff to re-record the guitar solo. In contrast, The Doors made the right decision to give Jay-Z clearance to sample their classic "Five To One." Though they rarely permit their songs to be sampled, The Doors' drummer John Densmore finally agreed after Jay-Z promised that he would donate a significant portion of his royalties to charity.

2004-03-30T10:17:00.000-08:00

MixTape Friday: Radio Hell
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights.

I loathe the radio. I would be tempted to give up music altogether if I had to rely on Ramiro and Pebbles on Jam'n 94.5 to bring me my hip-hop. Am I just one of those obnoxious music snobs who dislikes a song just because everyone else likes it? No, it just turns out that the masses have pitifully poor taste in hip-hop. Nevertheless, in an attempt to better understand the musical taste of the proletariat, I sat down to listen to Billboard's Top 10 Rap Singles.

A-Side

#1 - J-Kwon "Typsy"
This song deserves my most venomous criticism, but I'll admit it: I can't help shaking my ass when it comes on. This week my roommate asked me, "How could everybody in the club get tips? Isn't the bartender usually the only one that gets tips?" Oh God.

#2 - Chingy "One Call Away"
This is the best proof that just because you have more than one hit, it still doesn't mean you're anything more than a one-hit wonder. If you hear a song like this every 20 minutes and you still can't remember any of the lyrics other than the catchy chorus, then it's not hip-hop, it's radio pop.

#3 - Ludacris "Splash Waterfalls"
I've got nothing nasty to say about Luda; unlike most rappers, at least he admits he's just a cartoon.

#4 - Jay-Z "Dirt Off Your Shoulder"
You should be embarrassed for yourself every single time you actually "brush some dirt off your shoulder" when this song comes on.

#5 - Cassidy, ft. R.Kelly "Hotel"
When you see R.Kelly wearing that silly Batman mask in the video, your instincts say there must be a joke there: "Maybe next time you videotape yourself pissing on a little girl you might remember the mask and avoid the lawsuit" Ha-ha! Good one.

B-Side

#6 - Twista "Slow Jamz"
Chuck D finally came out and said it: "I'm trying to understand how somebody gets top notch producer credits for speeding up old records." Obviously everything Kanye touches turns to gold (or platinum more likely), but turning goofy Jamie Foxx into Nate Dogg was truly impressive.

#7 - G-Unit, ft. Joe "Wanna Get To Know You"
I seem to remember 50 Cent rapping, "I don't dance around like Diddy." And now what's he doing in the video? Dancing around like a little girl. Eminem must cringe every time he hears this song.

#8 - Ying Yang Twins, ft. Lil Jon "Salt Shaker"
I refuse to listen to this song

#9 - Sean Paul "I'm Still In Love With You"
Is America incapable of enjoying more than one Jamaican musician at a time? We loved Marley for 25 years without feeling the need to learn about other reggae artists, and now it's the same with Sean Paul.

#10 - Petey Pablo "Freek-A-Leek"
Hearing Lil' Jon yell "What?" and "Yeah!" in a real song is even funnier and more ridiculous than watching Dave Chappelle make fun of him. I liked this song the first time, when Usher did it.

2004-03-23T22:15:00.000-08:00

Murs Interview
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

Canyon Cody: On your new album you say, "I wanna blow up/ but I don't wanna go pop." Why do you think some artists refuse to sell out, and why do others seem to have no problem with it?

Murs: It's just the respect you have for yourself and for hip-hop. I'm too proud of my music to do some stupid sh-.

CC: Do you think those other people, someone like Da Band or Loon, are proud of their music or do they just not care?

M: Loon is different situation. He's from my 'hood, he grew up near where I'm from. He's got some problems, decision-making stuff, and that's always been the case. I dunno, his brain wiring is all f-ed up.

CC: How has your life changed since you signed to Def Jux? Because even though it's an "underground" label, Def Jux still has the resources to really promote your album.

M: It's been good. Good and bad. I mean, I still haven't seen any money from Def Jux. In fact, I'll probably end up owing them money after this whole thing, but that's just the way the music industry is. I still haven't enjoyed the sort of success that I feel like I deserve, especially for how hard I work. I'm not blaming anyone; it's just not my time yet.

CC: On your last album you said, "If I don't go gold, then my people say I flopped/ But if I go triple platinum, I'm not hip-hop." What would be a success, in terms of sales, with your new album?

M: I'd be happy to move 100,000 units. I'd love to sell 13 million records of course; it's not like I'm trying to keep my album sales down because I'm in the underground or whatever. But I'm not 50 Cent, and that doesn't bother me. I'm not mad that I'm not friends with Ludacris. I like my group of friends. I'm proud to be friends with talented people like [Def Jux founder] El-P.

CC: How do you feel about people downloading your album from the Internet?

M: I totally understand why kids download. As long as they get my stuff and they like it, I can't really get too mad. I'm still a huge hip-hop fan like them. I go out and buy like three or four albums every Tuesday, but that's because now I'm in a financial position where I can do that.

CC: Has making hip-hop a profession affected your love for the music?

M: Yeah. I mean, that hasn't really happened to me yet, but I can see how the business could do that to you.

CC: Is that one of the reasons why you've been considering retiring?

M: Oh for sure. Really though, it's just that I don't really get along with others.

CC: Anything else on your mind?

M: Yeah, I wanna give a shoutout to John Cena and Trademark. And I'd like to say that Gordon from Sesame Street is an adulterer and a punkass b-. And you better come to the show.

2004-03-23T12:18:00.000-08:00

Murs + 9th = Classic
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

To an underground hip-hop fan, a Living Legends, Definitive Jux, and Justus League collaboration is nothing more than a wet dream: something fantasized about but probably too good to be true. After listening to Murs' new album Murs 3:16 - The 9th Edition, which features production entirely from 9th Wonder, hip-hop fans will probably need to take their bedding to the laundromat for a cleaning.

A few years ago, Murs was traveling through Europe, showing up at rap concerts, and convincing performers on the night of the show to let him open for them. Halfway around the world, producer 9th Wonder was sitting in his bedroom, using Fruity Loops to layer an a cappella version of Nas' God's Son on top of his own mellow, fluid beats.

A year later, Murs signed to underground superlabel Def Jux, and 9th was the critically-acclaimed producer of the debut from indie favorite Little Brother. Murs and 9th were both bubbling just under the radar that defines commercial success, and they decided to do an album together.

Then Jay-Z happened. The reigning king of rap was impressed by one of 9th Wonder's beats and hired him to produce a song on The Black Album alongside Timbaland and the Neptunes. Suddenly, 9th Wonder was the hottest producer on the block and Murs, for a second, worried that 9th would forget about him.

Instead, 9th used the collaboration project as an opportunity to show off his producing abilities and, as a result, created a number of beautiful instrumentals, but at times, he also seemed to be trying to demonstrate his ability to produce radio-friendly singles. On "Bad Man," 9th Wonder and Murs jump on more bandwagons than an Amish hitchhiker, rapping about exaggerated sexual exploits over a high-pitch Jamaican dance hall sample, as if to say, "I can do the Kanye West thing, too."

In general, though, the production and rapping are superb, exactly what you expect from two artists of this caliber, but nothing more. The album doesn't astound; it is simply very good. At his best, Murs tackles the problems with underground hip-hop, such as on "And This Is For," in which he warns white fans against using "the N-word" and laments the fact that albums from white rappers sell so many more copies than his do.

On his last album, Murs declared that it was "the end of the beginning" of his career. "Now it's the end of that 'cause now I gotta do in-stores, photo shoots, interviews," he complained. Def Jux, his new superpower record label, expected him to contribute to the marketing of his album, and Murs seemed annoyed with the additional responsibilities that produce a commercial success. With increased exposure of his new album, Murs now hopes to reap the benefits of his efforts and enjoy increased sales.

Murs (which, among other things, stands for "Makin Underground Raw Sh-") brings a distinct West Coast flavor to Def Jux and the underground in general. He isn't as lyrically abstract as most Def Jux artists, such as Aesop Rock. He's also black, which in underground hip-hop is becoming something of a novelty. His West Coast upbringing also exposed him to fellow Los Angeles natives Sublime and Red Hot Chili Peppers, both of whom he references as major musical influences.

Murs' background brings a unique perspective to hip-hop: He's no drug dealing gangsta like 50 Cent ("I'm more Coldplay than I am Ice T," he raps), but he's not a daisy-wielding, suburbanite hippie like De La Soul, either. In fact, it's surprising that there aren't more rappers like Murs: He grew up in the 'hood and, as a result, personally experienced the issues that affect poor black Americans, but never actually started shooting people or selling crack. Murs comes off like a regular guy with some stories to tell, the best of which is "Trevor an Them," a hilarious story of a 7-11 robbery gone wrong.

"Walk Like a Man" is the most impressive demonstration of 9th Wonder's progressive production and Murs' unique storytelling ability. 9th divides the song into three separate movements to complement the mood of each verse. In the first verse, Murs decides to get rid of his gun ("I never did use it/ What's the point of holding heat if you're never gonna use it, stupid?"). 9th creates a somber mood for the second verse, which chronicles the murder of Murs' friend. In the final verse, Murs raps about the funeral and the retaliatory murder of the killer. Instead of bragging about his violent history, Murs admits, "Now I'm haunted with remorse, and I wish I hadn't done it."

Murs' new album won't disappoint those who eagerly anticipated his collaboration with 9th Wonder, but no one will be astounded, either. Both of them are capable of more, but until then, Murs 3:16 - The 9th Edition will keep the underground happy.

2004-03-16T12:04:00.000-08:00

Cee-lo overflows with soul on classic new album
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

In the event of an emergency, when drowning in the bland wasteland of music in the TRL-generation, Cee-lo's new solo album, Cee-lo Green is the Soul Machine, can be used as a quality flotation device.

Following years as the standout member of Goodie Mob, Cee-lo broke into his solo career with his 2002 debut, Cee-lo Green and his Perfect Imperfections. The album was just that: perfectly imperfect. Despite quite a few unnecessary musical digressions, the album anticipated both the brilliance and sloppiness of Andre 3000's The Love Below, but lacked the radio-friendly "Hey Ya!" to boost its sales.

The critical success but commercial failure of his solo debut can be largely attributed to the fact that Cee-lo did all the production himself. On his follow-up, Cee-lo brought some of the best in the game on board and challenged the most successful mainstream producers to broaden their musical horizons.

Timbaland took a break from his day job (carrying Missy Elliot on his back) to produce Cee-lo's new single "I'll Be Around." The club song bounces on top of loud trumpets and African drum percussion and is accompanied by a great music video (though not as creative as his video for "Gettin' Grown" in which the egg-shaped rapper dresses up like a Teletubbie).

Cee-lo even conjured a few interesting beats out of the Neptunes, who could probably compose a hit song with nothing more than a stick and a hard surface but really haven't produced anything with much artistic merit in quite a while. "The Art of Noise" and "Let's Stay Together" are both demonstrations of the most dangerous quid pro quo deal in hip-hop: Pharell will give you a nice beat, but you have to let him sing on the hook.

Even DJ Premier breaks out of his characteric style of jazz samples and scratched hooks (which, by the way, no one has ever complained about) on "Evening News." Surprisingly, the best production on the album comes from fellow southern boys Organized Noize, who offer a silly, mischievous beat layered with a xylophone and a stuttering piano on "Childz Play." Here we see one of Cee-lo's many sides, when his fun, playful alter-ego comes to play with an equally puerile Ludacris, making one of the few guest appearances on the album.

Of course, the highlight of the show is not the amazing production but none other than Mr. Cee-lo Green. By force of sheer energy, God-given talent, and irrepressible freakiness, Cee-lo is truly funky.

Born to two preachers and raised in the streets of Atlanta, Cee-lo's personality overflows with so much zeal and soul that even when he falters, he sounds good.

On his last album, Cee-lo seemed preoccupied with showing off his "closet freak" eccentricities. Yet, on his new effort, from the infectiously catchy chorus on "Living Again" to beatnik spoken-word poetry of "Sometimes," Cee-lo seems confident of his unique place in hip-hop, and now he is just strutting around.

"My Kind of People" contains an entertaining interpolation of "Pass the Dutchie," the 1982 pop-reggae hit from Musical Youth. The best songs on the album are "All Day Love Affiar" and "Die Trying." The former is an endearingly simple but sweet serenade to his wife while in bed. Unlike the exaggerated braggadocio used by most rappers to woo their women (such as Usher, who apparently has the beat that makes the booty go clap), Cee-lo offers nothing more than to "make it a Blockbuster night."

From his outfits to his lyrics to his singing ability, Cee-lo is everything that Andre 3000 wishes he could be but fails to match. On his first album, Cee-lo showed the world he had beautiful music inside of him but was unable to present it in a commercially palatable way.

Cee-lo has followed through with the promise of his debut with his remarkable new album that deserves to reverse his former reputation as the "second-best Southern rapper."

On the album, Cee-lo raps, "Sometimes I don't think people think I'm as good as I really am." After Cee-lo Green is the Soul Machine, there shouldn't be any more confusion about it.

2004-03-16T11:59:00.000-08:00

De La Soul is not dead
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

Hip-hop pioneer De La Soul brought its left-of-center flow to the Middle East on Feb. 28 to support Music for America, a partisan, political nonprofit organization working toward getting one million new young voters to participate in the 2004 elections by promoting concerts around the country.

For years, De La Soul has being trying to shake its "hippy-hop" image earned after its classic debut Three Feet High and Rising, but De La Soul members Pos, Trugoy, and Maceo have resisted the temptation to exaggerate their gangster image to compensate for their undeserved flower child reputation. Onstage, De La Soul came off as it does on its albums: friendly, smart, fun, and easy-going.

Opening for De La was 4th Pyramid, who is promoting his single on the new compilation from underground hip-hop super-label Def Jux, where he recently signed. 4th Pyramid, an emcee from Toronto, caught the attention of the underground with an instrumental album he produced when he was just 16 years old.

In an interview with The Heights, 4th Pyramid said, "This whole thing is huge, but look, I'm still out here all on my own. I mean, I ain't got no tour manager, no DJ with me on the road. Right now, I'm a one-man wrecking crew, a one-man army. But just wait for [Def Jux] to roll through when we're on tour."

Also opening was Zonk, a trip-hop band from the Bay Area in California. They won a download contest with Music for America, which awarded Zonk with the chance to open for De La Soul. The band was filled with vibrant energy and played an excited set of diverse music, with lead singer Nic McFiendish bouncing across the stage with the microphone stand straddled between her legs the entire time.

The highlight of Zonk's performance was when two emcees, Bolo of Pawray and Mic Kaos, came up to give the band some hip-hop flavor. Like De La Soul in the '80s, Zonk's most enjoyable quality was that it seemed like they were having a good time along with the crowd on stage.

Once De La Soul arrived, the crowd exploded, but not in the raucous way one expects from a hip-hop crowd. Of course, De La Soul doesn't attract the typical hip-hop crowd and, as expected, the Middle East seemed to be filled with people drinking who probably used legal id. to get a wristband.

Despite recently releasing two great albums in the Art Official Intelligence trilogy, most of De La Soul's fans were initially attracted to its groundbreaking earlier work. As a result, the crowd reacted the most to classics such as "Me, Myself and I" and "Roller Skating Jam Named 'Saturdays.'" During our interview, De La Soul frontman Posdnous said that a new album is finally set to come out later this year. "We had a lot of trouble with our last record company, who weren't going to release part three, but now we're pretty much ready to put it out there. We also have another album coming out after that, but it doesn't even have a name yet."

Unfortunately, De La Soul stuck to its popular old stuff and didn't bless the crowd with any tastes of the new album.

During an intermission, a video played with a brief segment put together by the concert organizers. They tried to convince the crowd to vote by reminding everyone how close the result of the presidential contest was in 2000. After the show, they handed out packets filled with 10 mail-in voter registration forms and information about such issues that are important to young voters, such as reproductive rights and education funding.

After the show, De La Soul stuck around to talk to fans, which mostly consisted of women who were invited on stage by Pos and Trugoy (who now just goes by Dave) for their closing ode to meaty girls, "Baby Phat." The show was entertaining and proved that De La Soul still has quite a bit of soul left in it and that it's not yet time to retire De La's number into the hip-hop Hall of Fame.