I woke up on June 26, 2009, early. I was heading up to Boston for 6 weeks for work. I flipped on the television and CNN was still talking about the death of Michael Jackson. It still didn't seem real.
It still doesn't seem real.
I had gone 31 years and he was always a constant in and around my life. I remember lip syncing "Man in the Mirror" at family events. I remember reciting lines from "PYT" to well, pretty young things. I remember the fear that surrounded me while watching "Thriller" in a dark room as a kid (and an adult). MJ's music had meant a lot in my life. He was an entertainer and just a cool person in my eyes.
That morning, as I packed and prepared for my journey, J. Period's "Man Or The Music" (A Tribute To Michael Jackson) popped up. It was like the MJ essentials, filled with classics, rare demos and remixes. It was perfect.
This tribute mix blasted for days and days (and is still played). So, the day before the anniversary of the death of the King of Pop, I share with you again J. Period's "Man Or The Music" (A Tribute To Michael Jackson). So, go get your red jacket with the zippers, white glove, some white socks, dress shoes and high watered pants, and enjoy.
I've had "Living in Technocolor" for a few weeks now. In between random other releases, I found myself going back to the project and blasting it. It's a great listen. Lyrically, the production and the overall concept is dope and delivers yet another layer of the Milwaukee emcee.
"Living in Technocolor" is the follow up to Raze's "Dreaming in Greyscale", coming almost two years after that release and fresh off the success of House of M’s "The Alternate Reality Of…"
The Prologue sets the stage. The Epilogue raps it up nicely. And all the tracks in between deliver on the 21 track LP. And from tracks like "One Hunnid" (talking about all the fakeness in music) to "Rosie Palms" (talking about "self love"), Raze brings a colorful spectrum to his music and this project.
Raze is one talented dude.
Raze has been featured on the blog a few times but we've never interviewed him. So, I reached out to Raze to talk about the new project and one of his favorite subjects, women.
Enjoy.
The Mad Bloggers: What's the difference between "Dreaming In Greyscale" and "Living in Technocolor"? As an artists, do you think you've grown between the two projects?
Raze: DiG (Dreaming In Greyscale) was essentially the story of the man behind the music. LiT (Living in Technocolor) is the music behind that man. DiG was a "how I got here" of sorts. My life experiences, whereas LiT is the product & artistic application of those experiences. Yeah, I feel I've grown, I've had to! As a father, husband, group member/leader, baby daddy, etc. (LOL) The maturity of this album I think really shines through. I've learned how to say some pretty direct and sometimes crass things, in a much more digestable way.
TMB: It's been a while since Dreaming In Greyscale, why so long?
Raze: Well, I started working on LiT in December of '08 right after DiG dropped (that July) after I left my former crew. Shortly after I started recording (4-5 songs in) I OFFICIALLY joined the House of Mutants. I did some work with Gambit & SoulMatikk (formerly D'Matikk) exclusively, and those demos turned into some of the tracks for "The Alternate Reality of..." (The House of Mutants group album of '09). I also put out a "mixtape album" called "Lust Love Hate" comprised of some older material and some new material around those subjects, cuz I felt it really hadn't been explored that deeply in my genre. That was well recieved, but really I took a break from the solo album to focus on the group album and to help put out JC Poppe's debut album "Sleep Therapy". It was definitely a good move because I learned a lot during the recording/producing of those albums, which I applied to LiT. It made sense because we wanted to springboard the solo albums of the House of Mutant emcees off of the group effort, instead of the other way around. It fit the "House of Mutants storyline" better that way in the long run...You'll all see soon after it plays out.
TMB: How long did it take for you to put together "Living in Technocolor"?
Raze: Like I said, I started recording in '08, but took essentially ALL of '09 off. So I guess it'd be fair to say I worked on this album maybe 6 or 7 months total?
TMB: Who did you work with on this new project?
Raze: Well, who DIDN'T I work with is more like it (LOL). I can honestly say minus a VERY few names, I worked with some of the most talented artists in Milwaukee and one in particular beyond. It was great to be able to have so many dope cats down for MY project. I worked with the House of Mutants crew (Lou Tang, Soulmatikk, Trellmatic, myself) plus FINALLY linked up with Miltown Beatdown legend Jihad Barakus. I got a track by Edward Cayce of The Hollowz and my boy SosaDaGr8 who's been a web homie for years. To help with the R&B/Poetry side of things, I got my sister Elle Razberry, Patrice Downey, Bobby Drake and Ms. Cream. I was blessed with gettin verses from APRIME, Frankie Flowers & SPEAKeasy on various songs as well. Plus I got some cameos from Gambit and JC Poppe and this cat named Yung Lil Bullshit that's doin big thangs right now. I've never been one for too many guest appearances on solo albums, but I truly needed these artists to complete the vision and they came thru amazingly for me and I'm beyond grateful for it!
TMB: You seem to tackle a lot of things in your music (Rosie Palms for example off the new project), where does that boldness come from?
Raze: Fam, if people only knew what goes thru my mind half the time...LOL. I've always been outspoken and opinionated. Sometimes it's a good thing, sometimes not so much, but I've accepted that THAT'S ME. So I just put my thoughts/feelings out there and see what happens. Like "Rosie Palms" for example, WHO DOES THAT?!? It's somethin EVERYBODY (don't be a fkn lie) has had an experience or 1000 with, so I wanted to spit on it (PAUSE). But I ain't wanna do it on some regular ish, so I took it to a storytelling/personifying tip. I love that track.
TMB: I've heard you be called, "a creative pillar of House of M", so how is Raze the solo artist different than Raze the member of House of M?
Raze: When you're in a group, its a democracy. So each member has a voice, but each voice is really just a different octave of the OVERALL vocal. A "Rosie Palms" or "Oh Baby" prolly would've been veto'd prolly on a group album, but "Starz at Nite" (from The Alternate Reality of...) wasn't because THE WHOLE could connect and relate, plus be comfortable rhymin bout it.
TMB: What's the hardest thing you're finding out with promoting/pushing your music?
Raze: That the game ain't what it used to be. I mean, I've BEEN known this, but it's kinda disheartening now because as an indie artist, our legitimate ALBUM RELEASES are outshone by web leaks of major artists. Sure, the internet has somewhat levelled the playing field to a degree but there's still so much financially and promotions wise we still can't compete with...unless we pull some Kat Stacks type BS or get a hood model chick to be our girlfriend...LOL
TMB: I've heard the ladies love Raze (LOL). What's that all about?
Raze: Back in the day I was a hoe...no lie. I mean I can't reiterate that enough. I am probably the Wilt Chaimberlain of Milwaukee's hip hop community. I can't say I'm proud of that, but can't say I'm ashamed either. All I know is women have always been attracted to me. I think I've always been a strong, leader type dude that doesn't sugar coat, so amongst an ocean of dudes tellin them what they WANNA hear, I'm givin 'em the real and maybe that built some kinda intrigue or somethin. I dunno, but I'm appreciative of them all....errr, MOST of them (LOL)
TMB: Random question, if you were stranded on an Island with three women, who would they be and why?
Raze: Jill Scott, Kelly Divine and my wife. Jill could sing to me, spit that dope poetic angelic ish. Kelly Divine (porn star) could basically fuck my brains out CONSTANT and my wife could join in with Kelly PLUS keep me fed wit the "white girl chicken" or white girl coconuts...or white girl wild boar...or...you get it (LOL)
TMB: Right, right (LOL). And well, back to the music, if there was one thing you'd want people to take from "Living in Technocolor," what would it be?
Raze: My biggest wish for Hip Hop, and really urban music in general is the return of THE TRUTH to the forefront of it all. I'm tired of gimmicks, tired of rappers gettin exposed, all because they just couldn't "keep it one hunnid" in their songs. If you're a truly talented person, your highs and lows of your past will be forgiven. Because ultimately, it's all about the music, right? Life is vivid, multi-dimensional and colorful as hell. So take advantage of all life gives you. Or, maybe I'm still Dreaming...
The homie OnCue delivers another joint off his upcoming project, "Cuey Sings the Blues," dropping at some point this summer. In the meantime, enjoy "Friends."
So I log onto Facebook one day and I see this guy's name in my news stream. There were a few comments under the status update so I figured I'd look into him and see what kind of music he did. When I found his Myspace Music page, I thought dude was awesome. The song I loved in particular was "I'm Beautiful" because of its message. He is a singer/songwriter/producer and was formerly the emcee in the rap group Emanon. His newest song is called "I Need A Dollar" and serves as the intro for the HBO show How To Make It In America. Enjoy the music.
We've featured Knowledge Moves and a few other artists that are going to be featured in Oshkosh, WI on July 17 and July 13. If you're in Oshkosh (or close to Oshkosh), check out one of these shows.
July 17th with Aesop Rock(w/ Rob Sonic & DJ Big Wiz)
This email came with a bunch of words introducing the artist and accolades and all that. That's all good but the Toronto-based and Ghana-born Kae Sun's video and track speak greater volumes than all those words. Check it out.
I caught this joint in the email today. Great listen. 21 quality tracks from West Coast based The Seed (MC’s Kahlee & Uptown Swuite). It's definitely worth the listen. Enjoy.
Following months of anticipation, West Coast up-and-comers The Seed have released their free street album, BREAKINGROUND, presented by Wild Style Technicians and Dyse One Clothing.
Mixed by DJ Demon and Adikt 1, the 21-track mixtape is designed to give listeners a taste of what to expect from the rising rap duo’s forthcoming studio album.
Joining emcees Kahlee and Uptown Swuite throughout BREAKINGROUND are such up-and-coming talents as Slo-Mo, Blame One, Revolution of the Mind and Tassho Pearce. Beats come courtesy of Adikt 1, DJ Ace, Frank Dukes, and many more!
Another fresh cut from Eternia & MoSS ahead of their album dropping next week. I've heard the advance of "At Last" and the one thing I can tell you, Eternia is dope. I knew that before hearing "At Last" but she goes deeper and is super personal on this MoSS produced effort. Anyway, get ready for "At Last" dropping next week and in the meantime, check out "The Half".
One Week 'til Release Day - AT LAST - Eternia & Moss introduce The Half-Sibling Anthem... for those moments in life when you find yourself saying,
"Your Daddy is my Daddy!"
Eternia & MoSS will release their highly anticipated album "AT LAST" June 29th, 2010 on FAT BEATS RECORDS.
We're back with another episode. This week, we're bringing you cuts from The Roots in celebration of their new album "How I Got Over" (available right now!) O and I are definitely fans of The Roots. We believe in their music. This mix of cuts from them is just a sampling of their overall dopeness.
The homie DJ MP was having some technical difficulties so we gave his computer a mini break (he'll be back for ep 14) and so OC decided to try his hand at putting together this week's mix. It's dope. He did his damn thing. Not bad for short notice. Not bad at all. Anyway, download, press play, turn it up and thank us later!
01. Proceed
02. Doin' It Again
03. Pass The Popcorn
04. The Next Movement
05. Break You Off ft Musiq
06. Rising Down ft Mos Def & Styles P.
07. Don't Feel Right
08. What They Do
09. Act Too (Love of my Life) ft Common
10. No Alibi
11. The Fire ft John Legend
12. You Got Me ft Erykah Badu & Eve
13. Pu**y Galore
14. Don't Say Nuthin'
15. 100% Dundee
16. Thought @ Work
17. The Seed (2.0) ft Cody ChesnuTT
18. Boom!
I've been checking this dude Stanza for a minute. OC put me on to dude by way of ATL radio personality Mo Reilley. The Georgia emcee is dope. He's working on his upcoming project and giving folks a few sneak peaks. "It's Hot Outside" is definitely a nice way to start the summer. Go ahead and enjoy this jawn, the track of the week!
