O shared some music from Leah Smith a few days back. Her voice is AMAZING! Her people reached out to us about a contest they are running and asked that we post this info. No problem! Check out the contest details below.
Leah Smith is looking for the most creative interpretation from her fans of her latest single, "Monster". 30 second videos can be uploaded to http://bit.ly/leahsmithmonster and can be anything from dancing, singing, miming, etc. You must include your name and email address with your submission. The best video submission chosen by Leah will be featured in one of her upcoming fan videos. The winners will also receive an autographed copy of Beautifully Made EP, framed lyrics to Monster with exclusive artwork from Leah’s graphic designer, and a free iPod shuffle. All submissions must be submitted by 11:59 pm on Monday, December 21.
Nneka is dope. An artist you should NOT sleep on. I discovered some of her music a few months back and have been anticipating more music from her. J. Period - the name that really needs no introduction in regards to dj'ing and mixtapes. The two have partnered to present "The Madness", which features guest appearances from M-1 (Dead Prez), Jay Electronica, Zumbi (Zion I), Rakaa (Dilated Peoples), Aceyalone (Freestyle Fellowship), General Steele (Boot Camp Clik) and Talib Kweli.
"Nneka presents The Madness (Onye-Ala) as an introduction to her first US album, Concrete Jungle in stores February 2, 2010 on Yo Mama/Decon/Epic. The album is collection of tracks detailing her personal experience growing up in Nigeria, the corruption and beauty found there and the universal themes of love, growth, and seeking the ultimate truths. The Madness (Onye-Ala) is a peek into the life and sounds of Nneka, as well as a tribute to the influence Hip Hop has had on her music.
Fresh off a featured role in the blockbuster video game, DJ Hero, J.Period presents The Madness (Onye-Ala) as the next chapter in a long line of game-changing mixtapes presented in his unique, storybook style. The acclaimed DJ, Producer & Mixtape King has redefined the mixtape genre with collaborations with the likes of Mary J. Blige, Kanye West, Lauryn Hill, Q-Tip, Talib Kweli, The Roots, Nas, Big Daddy Kane, and others. J.Perid’s most recent work, “The Messengers” (a collection of Fela Kuti, Bob Marley and Bob Dylan remixes featuring K’NAAN), has yielded over 150,000 downloads since its release in September 2009."
Check this joint out! Enjoy!
FULL TRACKLISTING 1. Can You Hear? (Intro) 2. Let the Madness Begin (J.Period Exclusive) 3. Wake Up World (Interlude) 4. Wake Up Africa (J.Period Remix) 5. The Uncomfortable Truth 6. Untainted Love feat. Damian Marley (Interlude) 7. Spread Love (Brooklyn to Zion) (J.Period Remix) 8. Human Rights (Interlude) 9. Changes (J.Period Remix) feat. M-1 & General Steele 10. Conscious Lyrics (Interlude) 11. Gypsy/Infamous (J.Period Exclusive) 12. Hip Hop Comes From Africa (Interlude) 13. Walking (J.Period Remix) feat. Jay Electronica 14. In Transit (Interlude) 15. Show Love (J.Period Remix) f. Rakaa (Dilated Peoples) & Aceyalone 16. For the Good of Humanity (Interlude) 17. God of Mercy (J.Period Remix) f. Zumbi (Zion I) 18. Suffri (Nigerian in Berlin Remix) feat. Fela Kuti 19. Perseverance is Character (Interlude) 20. Strength/Kangpe (J.Period Dubplate) f. Big Boi (Outkast) 21. Heartbeat (J.Period Remix) feat. Talib Kweli 22. In the Heart of Man (J.Period Exclusive) 23. Symptoms of My Madness (Outtro)
[ Bonus Mix: J.Period Dubplates ] 24. Mind vs. Heart (J.Period Dubplate) f. 2Pac 25. Changes 2 (J.Period Dubplate) feat. Lauryn Hill & John Forte 26. Walking 2 (J.Period Dubplate) feat. Nas
I caught Zaki Ibrahim a few days back in a track with the homie Shad and Louwop. I was really digging her voice so I went on an internet search for more and more and more of her stuff. I have not been disappointed. She's dope. I figured I'd throw out one of her joints on this Music Monday. This is "Joy" from a live set at HMV in Toronto, Canada. Peace to We Fans for the footage.
Driving across the bridge and into New Jersey yields a horrid smell. Well I was nowhere near there last night and managed to get the same effect. All from a TV show. For the first time, I sat down and watched the MTV masterpiece “The Jersey Shore”.. I have to say, I watched in awe…
Never in my life have I ever been proud to NOT see minorities on a TV show. Actually that is a lie. There is an African American on the show and he is the cast members’ boss, the irony, and they have to report to him. LMAO, sorry...
Anyway. Let me just start by saying that if I was Italian, I would be hella pissed. The Jersey Shore is nothing but an hour long stereotypical depiction of Italian Americans. I am trying to figure out why MTV would even air such a thing in the first place. The characters alone are annoying as hell. They are 8 Italian American strangers put in a house with a big giant Italian flag on the garage and a 'gynormous' Scarface poster on the wall. Let’s not forget the tacky leopard thing on the wall too.
So we have Angelina, J-Woww, Mike, Snooki, Pauly D, Ronnie, Sammi and Vinni. Staten Island, Frankiln Square and the Bronx are where some of these people reside and if you’ve been there, you already know what it is. These folks play into all of the stereotypes… “Affliction” glitter shirts, gelled up hair, pumped-up bodies (I actually appreciated that part...don’t judge me), long acrylic nails, fake tans, obnoxious tones, the whole bit. It’s amazing because while everyone else thinks the show sucks, those who live this kind of lifestyle probably thinks it’s the best thing since candy.
The women on this show are super-de-duper obnoxious. Snooki needs a muzzle. She doesn’t shut up for a second. Angelina is an attention whore who leaves the house because of her married boyfriend. J-Woww and her tattered blond streaks is a dirty party girl who cheats on her boyfriend (and I can call her dirty because she was wearing the T-Shirt). Sammi is a closet freak, or so it appears. The fellas are surprisingly not so bad. The only real male irritation is Mike...he uses the word “situation’ more than he blinks his eyes. I can list their vocabulary on a gum wrapper citing the words “Yo”, “Situation”, “ova here” multiple times.
Now although I swore not to watch this garbage ever again, next week, a NYC gym teacher commits an assault on one of the characters. Snooki gets man-punched in the face something terrible. It was not a punch, she gets SNUFFED!!! Now I don’t know what’s worse, the fact that a teacher created such a crime or that MTV aired it after the fact. I am slowly but surely thinking that MTV is becoming the white counterpart of BET. The crap that they have been putting on the air is not even quality. It is hot garbage! They should have just stuck to music.
I got to see him perform a couple weeks before his release party at the same spot in Danbury, CT. At Cousin Larry's, the 50th edition of Enter The Cypher, an Open Mic & Hip Hop Showcase, was held. This spot, on a side street that took me 15 minutes to find after driving by it about 6 times is a local bar in Danbury where most likely, the people that go there know each other. It's a very relaxed bar with stickers and posters covering what looked like every square inch of every wall, with a pool table and tvs tuned to sports. A small spot where it cost $5 to get it and $4.50 for a Heineken. Haha. They also sell CDs from what look like locals who may have performed there with prices ranging from $6 to $12 by the end of the bar. I thought that was very unique for a bar and pretty cool that they do that. Never know, you might find a diamond in that kind of rough.
Enter The Cypher is hosted by two school teachers by day, MCs by night named Othello and Nemesis Alpha, collectively known as d_Cyphernauts. There were acts from Connecticut to Maryland performing trying to get their name out at a venue that has held 49 previous shows on every 3rd Friday of the month. From Deto-22 doing cuts off Sharing is Caring, collaborated with Sketch Tha Cataclysm, to The Protege and Roc Doogie (who are both a part of Phenetiks as well as Deto 22 and DJ SirCumference), to a group who called themselves The Presence as well as others from out of state that I can not recall. While some did fairly ok, any one of the Ant Farm Affiliates came out to show and prove. I'm still wondering why most have never heard of them, either as a whole affiliation or as separate artists.
Sketch Tha Cataclysm - Compartments of Darts
The Protege - Provisions
Deto-22 & Sketch Tha Cataclysm - Rebel Music
Phenetiks - AF
It was pretty dope to know there's a spot where heads can come through and hang out, chill, politic (as they say, haha), or kick a freestyle or two. I almost got inspired to get on stage myself but I decided to let the pros do their thing. As the night went on and acts showcased their skills on the mic, it seemed like the crowd was in anticipation for the guest of honor and The Rising Sun Quest didn't disappoint.
I spoke to Quest briefly before he took the stage to perform and asked him a couple of random questions. For a man that has been spitting for about 10 years, I noticed a different tone in his latest music. A little more edgier, more boom bap, more hunger. In my opinion, it sounds like he's going harder at the mic than before. He says that he felt the need to go back to the roots of rhyming back in the days where he used to cipher in Spring Brook, a neighborhood in Waterbury, CT, his hometown.
As he hit the stage, the crowd got amped, live, hyped ready to hear what we all drove to Cousin Larry's for. Many in the crowd knew the words, heads playing pool were nodding while trying to concentrate on not scratching, and I even saw the bartender vibing to the sounds out the speaker. You can tell that Quest has been here and done that before. No stranger to the mic, stage or hip hop. This guy definitely seems like he was born for this. As the show was winding down, I felt inspired to be involved in the movement in some way so I'm playing my part with my blog. With production ranging from Sketch Tha Cataclysm, Deto-22, DJ Syruz and the majority by Defnyshn, Hydrostatic Equilibrium proved to be a great collection to my hip hop catalog.
It's a must hear, in my opinion, and with a sound this dope, it should be your opinion as well. Definitely check it out. You might be missing something you wish you hadn't when he reaches the stars, or in his case, just the big one we all know as the sun.
AntFarm Affiliates Flyer
Othello and Nemesis Alpha of d_Cyphernauts
Othello of d_Cyphernauts
Cee Reed
Roc Doogie
Some audio I caught at the live show...
Nemesis Alpha
Roc Doogie
Roc Doogie
The Mad Bloggers also got together with Sketch Tha Cataclysm on the story of The Rising Sun Quest. Sketch was able to get Quest to take some time out to interview him about his release, past work, Hip Hop in 09 and everything else under the sun. Check it out.....
What's up folks. Thank you for hitting us up for the second installment of Conversations With Tha Cataclysm. Every Friday, I will feature a guest here discussing the finer points of creating hip-hop. In the future, we will discuss a range of topics such as the technical aspects of beatboxing, the mindstate of a battle MC, engineering a hip-hop record, and more. We will also be featuring artists discussing the technical aspects of their albums.
This second episode is co-sponsored by my boys The Mad Bloggers. My guest this week was a frequent guest on my former television program during its tenure on CT public access. (R.I.P. Hold Up And Analyze) Since then, he has gone on to drop for solo projects including his latest EP Hydrostatic Equilibrium. You could pick up his past releases on Little Ax and his own RisingSunQuest.com Ladies and gentlemen, The Rising Sun Quest.
Sketch Tha Cataclysm: So coming off of a solid full length project like Journey Toward The Sun, what made you want to go back to the EP format?
The Rising Sun Quest: Well, basically, though I loved the LP, I felt like I didn't showcase some of the skills I had in terms of straight spittin'. A lot of those joints were conceptual, so the new EP just kinda has that raw MC feel; without structure and more aggressive.
Sketch: Was that decision based on a fan response you got to JTTS or from you?
Quest: JTTS was my most embraced project to date. Lots of people tell me how complete that album was. They're right *laughs* but though it had some elements that the new EP displays, I didn't feel it was enough. It was still in me to let out. Thus the title for the EP Hydrostatic Equilibrium. It was recorded to create a balance between the two projects. (With the previous Surviving Life LP)
Sketch: How has your recording techniques changed through all of the projects? I know the music was created with entirely different production tools back on Stellar Evolution (his debut EP).
Quest: Not much really. Yeah we got different production tools, but we use basically the same recording techniques. Its that Roland digital recorder, just a different version. . . same booth. I think I just take more time when I mix my stuff down. If anything, I'd say that's the biggest difference. Plus, the fact that I stopped making beats frees more time for me to focus on the mix downs and all.
Sketch: There seems to be two schools on recording vocals. Punch-ins and cats that like to rhyme straight through. What's your perspective and which did you use on the new project?
Quest: OK, me and Expertiz go in on this topic a bunch. My feeling is that if you're going to record your shit than do what you feel is best for the track. Don't let that MC pride get in the way of a good recording. First two albums, I hated to punch in. But, that's only because I didn't do it properly, so I could hear the big difference between my words. Now, in some cases its dope to have a contrast in your words when you want to emphasize something, but now I found a way to have a nice transitions between the punch-ins if needed. The bottom line is, punch ins, I'm ok with it, but if you can't spit your shit straight through on stage, then that's where I question your ability.
Sketch: Interesting point. As a performer myself I go back and forth. . . but. . . I have found that it is hard to duplicate some punch-in tracks live. Have you encountered this?
Quest: Not really because, like I said, certain times you want those punch in for the contrast, but that's not really my style. So usually, when I punch-in its only because I haven't perfected my delivery due to it being a new verse or maybe an off recording day. Onstage, I usually get through it, even if it means my vein is going to pop out my forehead; i.e. "Fire In The Sky", I punched in two spots for that track, but when I rock it, I spit it straight through with no hypeman.
Sketch: Lets get into the actual content.
Quest: Hip Hop has content? in 2009?
Sketch: Not really. . . I like to pretend its a serious art form from time to time. *laughs* You don't just straight spit on this EP. . . you take on some heavy topics. . . more on the dark side of things.
Quest: Ok you're right, but I would not feel right if I made an album without that element that is a Quest staple. If you go back, there has to be that one song that stabs at the heart: "Then You Die", "Helpless", "Mistaken", and "You Don't Know", those are a requirement for me.
Sketch: How about "I See You"? We talked about that being included briefly, but do you want to touch on the origin of that song for people who don't know? Quest: Oh yeah, but that's different. I guess the other tracks I named were more for shock value where as "I See You" and "Escape From What" were more the heart stabbers but yeah, "I See You" was an important song to me. I won't say I have my homies dying on a regular basis or nothing like that, but I have lost a few people in my life and also had family and friends locked up. And like I say in the song, we only think of them when there gone and I wanted to try to help realize that though we cant forget those we lost, we have to appreciate the ones we have. Songs like that are why I continue to do music. If I couldn't produce that right there and only could give you darts I would have stopped a long time ago.
Sketch: Something I wanted to bring up before we bounce was the music videos. You've now done four with 3 different directors. How do you approach music videos?
Quest: I don't *laughs* they approached me. Sketch: *laughs* Quest: Arjen (of Elasticbrand) was inspired by "Why I Write" (from Journey Toward The Sun) and he asked if he could do a video for it.
Sketch: Nice.
Quest: Before I hit him back, he e-mailed me a full story board with sketches and all and I was blown away by the work he put in. Before he even heard from me, well maybe he sent them on the second e-mail but regardless. And Snare did "Rock To The Rhythm". He was following me to shows for like a few months, stealing footage from different events. Of course, Dre from Make A Video, he just like you have been helping me out since before I can remember. I guess he had some new camera tricks he wanted to try but he wanted to do "Walk With The Beat". . . *laughs*. . . I don't even really like that song.
Sketch: *Laughs* Honesty!
Quest: But, I say if he is inspired to do the video for it, then let's do it. I'll stand in downtown like an idiot with four people looking like a weirdo in the middle of traffic rapping to no music. *laughs* It's so uncomfortable to do a video.
Sketch: Have you given any thought to how you are being portrayed? Since you put it in their hands?
Quest: Not at all all. Those cats I trust, with the exception of Arjen whom I didn't know at the time. I trust him now after that "Why I Write" joint and "Fire In The Sky" whooo!
Sketch: You look way more comfortable in the "Fire In The Sky" video.
Quest: That's because I was at the southern cross. The REAL southern cross. (Waterbury, CT's site of the former Holy Land U.S.A.)
Sketch: Slow motion shots of you turning and shit. *laughs*
Quest: *laughs*
Sketch: Arjen is the man!
Quest: Yeah man. That's all Arjen. He gave great direction. He had a vision and I just did what he asked. They are artists like me. . . they have a vision and I was their pen.
Sketch: So what's happening next for you? Another album?
Quest: Definitely already have some real dope concepts in mind.
Sketch: There's concepts in hip-hop? After this we cracked jokes for a second and he also reminded me to tell everyone to vote for him in the Hot 93.7 contest.
We leave you all today with the video The Rising Sun Quest's "Fire In The Sky". I want to thank The Rising Sun Quest for taking the time and The Mad Bloggers for spreading the word. I'll see you all next on AntFarmAffiliates.com where my guest will be Cee Reed talking about his new album, Fight Or Flight.
I keep hearing this on XM and I know heads are posting this track from DJ Crazy Toones and Kurupt titled "2 Microphones and a Mic". It's got that old/true school feel. Check it.
Nneka and J.Period are releasing a free project "The Madness" on December 15. "Walking" featuring Jay Electronica, is one of the leaks from the mixtape. I dig Nneka's work and I'm excited for the project, which "is a collection of new tracks and remixes from Nneka." Check ou this joint. Enjoy.
I caught this from the homie over at Move Forward Music. Check out Blitz the Ambassador talking about the making of his Live Sessions video and EP featuring John Forte, Bajah, and Kate Mattison. Enjoy the preview and full song below.
