After weeks of featuring and spotlighting Milwaukee emcees and producers, we are proud to present, "MKE's Best", a compilation of Milwaukee Hip-Hop in partnership w/Milwaukee's own WMSE 91.7.
We are very pleased with this final product.
A sincere thanks to the talented emcees and producers who lent their tracks for this compilation. Milwaukee has amazing talent and we're happy we could be a part of spotlighting it.
We know we may have missed some people but this was our humble attempt to spotlight as much of Milwaukee's Hip-Hop as we could find.
A special shout out to @EgyptoKnuckles and @ladyblogga for helping us put together the "The Journey to Hip-Hop... Milwaukee" series! And WMSE, thanks for your support!
JC-TRAX, a producer out of Milwaukee hit me with this track he produced for ANTHAMATIC, an emcee also out of Milwaukee. Check the joint out on another Journey to Hip-Hop late pass.
We did a piece on Kid Cut Up a few days back but didn't have a track to share. Recently I did an interview with Kid Cut Up for his The Mad Kids Show on Milwaukee's WMSE and we exchanged emails. He hit me with these two tracks. I felt the need to share with a late pass. Enjoy!
I caught this in the email from the homie MaGestiK LeGenD. Dope track. Check it.
"Hey! Its been a minute! Hope everyone has been great and paid! Here is a new MaGestiK LeGenD track. Amongst other projects, ML and Astronote have formed a powerhouse crew called ((CLASSIC STEREO)). Much more to come."
Dana Coppafeel was among the first Milwaukee heads that we featured on the blog. He was surely the first interview. At the time it was Dana's video for the track "88" that caught my attention. His rhymes and style were fresh, with that old school Hip-Hop feel to it. That his music contains that old school feel shouldn't be a surprise from the self proclaimed "old head" who is in his second childhood.
There was something cool about his lyrical flow and it’s not just on one track. It carried. Coppafeel has been blessing my inbox since we first exchanged emails online and is among the cool heads from Milwaukee that I've never met outside of the matrix. He's my connection to the House of M, KingsHellBastard, Uni-Fi Records and more.
But now Coppafeel is in the midst of his first project, "Coppa's Welfare Foods", and the timing couldn't be better considering our spotlight on Milwaukee this month. He hit me with the advance copy a few weeks ago and I'm very pleased with the new joint (which is available for purchase on CD Baby and preview on Bandcamp.com).
"Coppa's Welfare Foods" is dope from beginning to end. I sat through two solid listens after I unzipped the file. Joints like "Another One", "Chemistry" and "I See Now" speak to the smoothed out side of Dana. Then there are joints like "Damage", "Keep the Motor Runnin'" and "Welfare Foods" that bring that hard-hitting side.
It's all dope Hip-Hop.
Whether it's the smooth side or the hard-hitting side of Dana Coppafeel , it's all lyrical and he has a great handle of word play, plus his features compliment many tracks. As with other joints, "Coppa's Welfare Foods" boasts solid production too.
I reached out to Dana for a Q&A. Here's what he had to say about making music, the new project and what's been going on since the last time we spoke.
The Mad Bloggers: It's been a while since we spoke, what's new?
Dana Coppafeel: To tell the truth, a lot... right now I'm gearing up to push my first ever solo project called "Coppa's Welfare Foods", which is dropping March 13th but you can get it right now on CD baby. I just got done shooting a video for "I SEE NOW" which is what I'm trying to lead off with. I try to stay away from calling it a single. ya know, its Milwaukee, so here it's just some music. My friend D Woods of Alpha Bang Productions is putting it together for me.
At the same time, one of the groups I'm in, KingHellBastard, is currently working to wrap up a vinyl EP with some dope features. We've got Sadat X of Brand Nubians, White Shadow of Norway, Arkobatic, Raashan Ahmed of Crown City Rocker and Strick of EMC. We are on the brink of finishing that... as well as an album called WarRoom, which we are knee deep in already.
The House of M, my other group, we just launched our website www.houseofmutants.com. Everybody in the M is working on solo or other inner group projects at the time.
Last but not least I'm working on another joint project with my homie Da Ricanstruckta. We got a nice size chunk of songs done, we just need to polish them off. So, that's pretty much everything in a nut shell for the most part.
TMB: How do you find time for all your projects?
Dana: [Hahaha] I don't even know. I ask myself that sometimes.. maybe super powers. I guess its just being focused and mainly that I will things to happen. I just feel right now is the time for me to let the me that knows what I'm capable of doing take control. I've been doing this for years in Milwaukee, like 93... so, the knowledge of following something through is quit relevant right now. It gives me perspective on ideal time frames for projects. So, time is nothing but the catalyst. We don't got forever just right now...
TMB: "Coppa's Welfare Foods" is your first solo project, how did it feel putting it together?
Dana: It's a good feeling... this collection of songs, I never really meant them to be an album. Maybe, a free online mixtape or something like that. When I first started this project it was '07 and I was just recording. I wasn't recording for anything, I just wanted to get better at recording and see how other people did their thing. I really just had the Royallton booked every Wednesday night to record. I got a lot of features from all over on the album. Germany to the UK, I got heads from Jacksonville, Savannah, Phoenix, Rockford, Pittsburg, Milwaukee, Madison and New York. I want to connect people with different heads. So, at one point I had like 27 songs all recorded, my friend Dima thought I should turn those songs into an album. I was like NO, lets just do it as a mixtape or something like that. I just thought it was too random a collection of songs but, once we got them mixed a few of them turned out real good and had a great vibe together.
I caught this a few days ago from *hitmayng, a young producer and DJ out of Milwaukee. As we begin to bring things to a close for our Journey to Hip-Hop series featuring Milwaukee, I felt the need to share. He's been DJ'ing since '04 and as he said, over time he got into producing. Last summer he released a compilation of remixes featuring acapellas from Lupe Fiasco, Common, De La Soul and others. He's got an ear. Check out "Mighty Healthy."
Many may know him as the sound behind Melissa Czarnik but Eric is a musician in his own right, with two albums of his own available.
Eric is a band leader, a fan of Hip-Hop (and music in general), a producer (composer) and runs his own label.
I recently reached out to Eric for a Q&A for our Journey to Hip-Hop series.
The Mad Bloggers: How long have you been doing music?
Eric Mire: I’ve been into music a little over twenty years. I started with piano as a kid, picked up guitar in middle school and got really into composition and recording during high school. From there I went to school for music to study composition and wound up in a program that exposed me to more recording and music technology. In terms of Hip-Hop, I've been in and out of the scene in Milwaukee for about 10 years. Back before Melissa and I started Hyperdrive Motivator Productions, I was the producer for a group called the Nowhere Mine.
TMB: When did you form the Eric Mire Band? Who are the members?
Eric: The Eric Mire Band formed in 2007. I recorded and released a solo album and created the group and started performing shortly after. It began with Maurice Cotton phenomenal Gospel/Jazz keyboard player and producer, whom I met while we both worked at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. He played on one of the tracks off the album and was a natural first step when I put the group together. Maurice helped bring Don Bradshaw on board for congas and aux percussion, whom we both knew from the Conservatory and who also played with at Maurice's church. Eventually Brad Bloom, who I went to school with, joined on saxophone. He recorded with us on Melissa's Strawberry Cadillac album and started performing with us after that. And finally we have Chip Baily on drums. Chip was on the church scene with Maurice and stepped up after other drummers didn’t work out.
TMB: How would you describe your music?
Eric: I like to just call it good music. To be more technical it's a blend of Hip-Hop, jazz, gospel, folk, soul and classical. The beauty of the group is that we have such rich and different backgrounds. It's kind of a Hip-Hop/soul band with a jazz methodology. We tend to rehearse a very basic framework for our music, put it in motion and let it go where it needs to.
TMB: What do you see yourself as more, a producer or ...
Eric: I think of myself mostly as a composer.
TMB: What led you to form Hyperdrive?
Eric: I think it grew out of being in the scene for a while and trying different things and realizing that I needed a place that I could pursue my own ambitions. I had very a very clear idea of the music I wanted to create and the business model I wanted to follow.
Check out the Eric Mire Band's video for "Saturday" featuring Melissa Czarnik and shot by my favorite Milwaukee director, Darren Cole.
I caught this EP a few weeks back when we first started this series. A fan of the crew had hit me with an email and a few tracks from Premonition. The project is dope.
Edward Cayce (producer) and Logic (emcee) make up The Hollowz. It took me a little while to track down .
I was able to get in touch with Logic for a quick Q&A.
The Mad Bloggers: Born and raised in MKE?
Logic: Ed is born and raised on the north side of Milwaukee. I was born in Milwaukee, raised in a lot damn places but rooted on the south side.
TMB: How long have yall been doing musically collectively?
Logic: Ed has been producing locally for over a decade, and I am on about eight years performing and since the first cd release. Been rapping for quite some time I guess. Together as a group we have been working for probably the last two years.
TMB: How can people get the new project?
Logic: Garage band should let you download for free. If not, hit up The Hollowz facebook page or shoot us an email the.hollowz@yahoo.com. We'll next day air you a free copy with a free keychain and a membership card to The Hollowz fanclub .... or we'll just email you the EP and call it a day!!
TheMadBloggers.com and Milwaukee’s own 91.7 WMSE have teamed up to bring you “The Journey to Hip-Hop…Milwaukee” (also known as MKE’s Best), a compilation of some of the dopest Hip-Hop artists and producers in the Milwaukee area.
The “Journey to Hip-Hop” series is a new feature on TheMadBloggers.com, spotlighting a city/region’s Hip-Hop scene over the course of a month. They decided to dedicate the first series to Milwaukee.
At the beginning of February 2010, The Mad Bloggers set out on the journey with a simple goal in mind: feature Milwaukee’s best in Hip-Hop. They had always been impressed with the lyrical emcees and talented producers that Milwaukee had to offer since stumbling on the city back in April of 2009.
The Mad Bloggers love Milwaukee, though they've never set foot within city limits or even in the state of Wisconsin. However, something about the Hip-Hop scene there had spoken to them.
The compilation will include The Lab Partners, KingHellBastard, Scott Knoxx, Kid Millions, Melissa Czarnik, House of M, Yo-Dot, Ka$h, Prophetic, Haz Solo, JC Poppe, Frankie Flowers, Taiyamo Denku, Signif, Dana Coppafeel, A-Biz with production from Dylan Thomas, Adlib, Eric Mire, Dave Derrilykt, Trellmatic and several more emcees and producers.
"While no list is ever complete and we're sure we missed some artists with our compilation," said Q of The Mad Bloggers, "we made a humble attempt to spotlight and feature as many artists as we could find and could find us. We hope we did the city's Hip-Hop scene some justice."
With so much music to share, “The Journey to Hip-Hop … Milwaukee” will be a two volume compilation, dubbed “MKE’s Best, Draft” and “MKE’s Best, Light”. The compilation will be available for free download starting March 4, 2010.
Gotta love when we get good music in the inbox. Here goes Rhymefest and Skyzoo doing what they do and well. Wanna hear it? Here it go. Haha...
Rhymefest & Skyzoo "Crack The Code" taken from Closed Sessions Vol. 1 which will be released on 3-2-10.
DJ RTC Commentary On "Crack The Code":
"I really dug into Skyzoo's material while making the first Brainiac Mixtape with Naledge. He put two Skyzoo tracks on the mix and I was more than impressed. I went back into Sky's catalog and eagerly awaited the release of his debut LP, The Salvation. Shortly before the album's release, I had the chance to interview Skyzoo and he told me that he heard about Closed Sessions, and our Dimes and Dozens party in which we bring out of town artists into Chicago and have them perform at our monthly event. He expressed interest in doing the same and I was definitely with it. We organized a show for Skyzoo at The Darkroom, and setup a Closed Session for him the following day. Virgil and Ruben took Sky all around the city before his show, and when he hit SoundScape we could all tell that Chicago had made an impression on him. Rhymefest ended up just being at the studio during Skyzoo's session, the two hit it off very quickly with help from this K-Salaam and Beatnik track and the concept for "Crack The Code" was born. Skyzoo's verse centers on the intricacies of Chicago, while Rhymefest raps about the nature of New York City. It's an homage to two great homes for Hip Hop, and a pairing of two great emcees."
DL Link to Rhymefest & Skyzoo's "Crack The Code" (produced by K-Salaam & Beatnik) from Closed Sessions Vol. 1: http://usershare.net/8d02hgn3w9cv
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