Tech N9ne just released his new EP, Boiling Point, the third EP associated with his K.O.D. album and the fourth installment in the collection altogether. With the new release, I took the liberty of sequencing the EPs together into the K.O.D. tracklist to make one cohesive playlist that I refer to as The K.O.D. Epic. The songs fit into the three segments designated on the original album ("Anger", "Madness", and "The Hole") and are sequenced into the track listing to allow for a smooth transition between like-minded songs and to leave all skits intact. Put it all together and enjoy. Also, read my K.O.D. review here.
Note: I was going to embed a playlist but I did this on iTunes and it's too much trouble to create a third-party playlist and then embed it, you can do all that yourselves.
1. Choking From It (Seepage)
2. Seepage (Seepage)
3. Show Me a God (K.O.D.)
4. The Warning [Skit] (K.O.D.)
5. Demons (K.O.D.)
6. Stress Relief (The Lost Scripts of K.O.D.)
7. Uralya (Boiling Point)
8. Blackened the Sun (K.O.D.)
9. Strange Music Box (K.O.D.)
10. Sundae [Skit] (K.O.D.)
11. Check Yo Temperature (K.O.D.)
12. Asshole (Seepage)
13. F.U.N. [Fuck U Niggas] (K.O.D. bonus track)
14. Like I Died (K.O.D. bonus track)
15. Like I Died [Remix] (The Lost Scripts of K.O.D.)
16. B. Boy (K.O.D.)
17. Fire In AC (Boiling Point)
18. Hunterish (K.O.D.)
19. The Pick Up [Skit] (K.O.D.)
20. In the Trunk (K.O.D.)
21. Should I Killer (Boiling Point)
22. 00N9NA (The Lost Scripts of K.O.D.)
23. Pinocchiho (K.O.D.)
24. Bite Me (Seepage)
25. Alucard (Seepage)
26. Horns (K.O.D.)
27. Hunger (Boiling Point)
28. Paint On Your Pillowcase (Boiling Point)
29. Interview With Jason Whitlock [Skit] (K.O.D.)
30. It Was an Accident (K.O.D.)
31. Shadows On the Road (K.O.D.)
32. Trippin' Comin' (Seepage)
33. Heavy (Boiling Point)
34. Low (K.O.D.)
35. Pain Killer (The Lost Scripts of K.O.D.)
36. Messages [Skit] (K.O.D.)
37. Killing You (K.O.D.)
38. Leave Me Alone (K.O.D.)
39. Alone (Boiling Point)
40. Prayer By Brother K.T. [Skit] (K.O.D.)
41. K.O.D. (K.O.D.)
42. The Martini (K.O.D.)
43. Last Sad Song (The Lost Scripts of K.O.D.)
What up everyone? I know it's been forever since I've done a review but there's been a lot of things going on, not necessarily keeping me too busy, but preoccupying me to the point where I haven't had a real desire to write lately. I also haven't had consistent access to reliable internet for the last few months (my increased presence on Twitter notwithstanding, I have a smart phone, get off my back) so I haven't felt like doing much. But no more. I know the album has been out a few weeks but I really wanted to review this so if you're tired of hearing about it already...cry. Okay, let's get into this.
1. To the World - Kanye West and R. Kelly
Okay, we're really not off to a good start. I don't know how R. Kelly is still taken seriously even a little bit in 2012. This is Kells doing his best Akon impression and singing the most faux-tough guy lyrics ever ("Let me see you put your middle fingers up to the world") that sound like something Eminem wrote in 2004 for Encore and subsequently scrapped. Actually, even Kanye's flow is reminiscent of that era Eminem. The beat, produced by approximately 18 people like most recent Kanye tracks, is extra cheese as well. I don't see me giving this one ANY play again. Instrumental rating: 2.5/5.0 Produced by Pop, co-produced by Kanye West, Hudson Mohawke, Ken Lewis, Mano, Travis Scott, and Anthony Kilhoffer Lyrical rating: 2.0/5.0 2. Clique - Big Sean, Jay-Z, and Kanye West The mumbly singing at the beginning is kind of random...but once the song starts it's immediately a lot more to my liking than the struggle on the last track. There's no track I've ever heard that I've thought "YO THIS NEEDS A VERSE FROM BIG SEAN" but he kind of does his thing on here. Of course, it's for naught once "G.O.O.D. Music's drug-dealing cousin" gets on the mic and delivers one of his better verses in recent memory. The verses Jay gives Kanye on Kanye albums are just incredible...no clue why that fire was so lacking on Watch the Throne. Kanye really steals the show with his verse, though. He seems to have all but left behind his old backpacker persona in favor of an exceedingly cocky (even by his standards) one, but somehow it works for him; his verses are packed with swagger and braggadocio and it suits the mood of the album excellently. Oh, and the beat is really dope...I don't have much to say in description of it, it's not too complex but it works. One complaint though...Sean both calls himself "B.I.G." on this track and compares his crew to Wu-Tang...chill Sean. Instrumental rating:4.0/5.0 Produced by Hit-Boy, co-produced by Kanye West, Anthony Kilhoffer, and 40 Lyrical rating: 4.0/5.0
3. Mercy - 2 Chainz, Big Sean, Kanye West, and Pusha T
For starters, this is more like the Big Sean I'm familiar with. Basic punchlines, basic flow. If this beat wasn't so great his verse would be a real downer (besides the instant quotable, "white girls politicking, that's that Sarah Palin"--this album is chock full of lines like that). Pusha fares better with a more energetic flow and punchlines galore. Then things get weird, with the reggae sample ("Dust a Sound Boy" by Super Beagle) wailing unintelligibly for a few lines before Kanye comes in and the beat abruptly switches to an up-tempo techno. I really wasn't a fan of the change at first, but in time it's grown on me, despite having no apparent relevance to the song other than to make a fairly pedestrian Kanye verse sound more urgent. He manages a great line or two as well though: "don't do no press but I get the most press kit, plus yo, my bitch make yo' bitch look like Precious!" Finally the beat returns to normal for a scene-stealing verse from 2 Chainz...yeah, I said it, loosen up your backpack straps, 2 Chainz is the star of this track. The beat is hard with its heavy bass and dancehall samples over midtempo keys (not sure that "keys" is the right word there but if you don't know what I mean listen to the song). Instrumental rating: 4.0/5.0 Produced by Lifted, co-produced by Mike Dean, Mike Will, Kanye West, and Hudson Mohawke Lyrical rating: 4.0/5.0
4. New God Flow - Ghostface Killah, Kanye West, and Pusha T This track was released well before the album dropped with verses from Kanye and Pusha, while the hook was a vocal sample from Ghost's "Mighty Healthy", and it already was incredible. Pusha spits two excellent verses, and not to be outdone, Kanye contributes one of his best verses in recent memory as well over foreboding piano and a dark, spare instrumental. When the tracklist was released and I noticed Ghost listed as a feature, my first thought was "Wow, Kanye is really still carrying on this corny trend of listing sampled artists as a feature like he did on 'Otis' and 'The Joy'?" and forgot about it. When I finally got my hands on the album and played it, I was VERY pleasantly surprised to see the track had been updated with a MONSTROUS verse from Tone himself, in my opinion the single best verse on the album, and it's hardcore as ever too: "bust hammers with pot holders and yo, dead a cow for its fucking leather" are the hardest bars ever to be associated with a Kanye track in my memory. This is an instant classic to me. Instrumental rating: 4.5/5.0 Produced by Kanye West, co-produced by Boogz & Tapez and Anthony Kilhoffer Lyrical rating: 5.0/5.0
5. The Morning - 2 Chainz, Chef Raekwon, Common, Cyhi da Prynce, D'banj, Kanye West, Kid Cudi, and Pusha T A spare beat dotted with electronic blips sets the stage for this posse cut, which is a pretty solid track but unspectacular. Common makes what is curiously his only appearance on the album, but has the misfortune of following a great Raekwon verse, marking the second time on this album a Wu-Tang member has stolen the show from the artists it's supposed to be showcasing. It's honestly like they heard Big Sean say his "crew deeper than Wu-Tang" on "Clique" and set out to prove him horribly wrong. Really, the verses after Rae are all fairly unspectacular, especially Kanye, who rehashes bars he already spit in the previous track which reeks of laziness. D'banj, who is apparently G.O.O.D. but I had never heard of before, brings a competent hook. Instrumental rating: 3.0/5.0 Produced by Kanye West, co-produced by Illmind, Jeff Bhasker, and Travis Scott Lyrical rating: 3.5/5.0
6. Cold - Kanye West
Yes, DJ Khaled is credited as a feature on the track listing but if you aren't rapping or singing I want to know what business you have getting a "feature" credit. I blame Diddy for this trend. Actually, I never even heard DJ Khaled's signature ad-libs anywhere on the track...there is an outro by DJ Pharris, but no Khaled that I hear. Anyway, this is Kanye's only go for dolo on the album and he fares well, with a heavy-hitter beat again punctuated with electronic blips. Kanye spits some aggressive ignorance on this track, which is notable for offending both PETA ("tell PETA my mink is dragging on the floor"; PETA publicly criticized Ye for that one) and Theraflu ("Theraflu" was the original title for the song but after Theraflu attempted to distance themselves from the track, Kanye changed the name to "Way Too Cold" before settling on "Cold"). This is nothing groundbreaking but a solid track nonetheless with some top-shelf Kanye smack-talk. Instrumental rating: 3.5/5.0 Produced by Hit-Boy, surprisingly all by himself! Lyrical rating: 3.5/5.0 7. Higher - Cocaine 80s, Mase, Pusha T, and The-Dream
I'm going to get a few complaints out of the way right off the bat. First, I hate The-Dream. He's a great songwriter but he's a terrible singer that has no business anywhere near a mic ever, and he stole Christina Milian from me, planted his filthy seed in her, and left her. I'm looking for you, Terius, and I plan to settle this. So you already know I hate this hook because of him. Next complaint is the Brett Favre of rap himself has decided to once again come out of retirement to spit his struggle on yet another track as if ANYBODY in 2012 is sitting around clamoring for more Mase verses. Pastor Mason needs to take his seat and remain in it. Finally it's yet another electronic beat and these are getting increasingly forgettable as the album goes on. Also there's this weird effect that sounds like a baby crying, and I never liked that when Timbaland did it, and he did it better. Pusha drops a pretty nice verse, but with the current of mediocrity he's swimming against it gets lost. Instrumental rating: 2.5/5.0 Produced by Hit-Boy, co-produced by Kanye West and Mike Dean Lyrical rating: 2.5/5.0
8. Sin City - Cyhi da Prynce, John Legend, Malik Yusef, Teyana Taylor, and Travis Scott Massive amount of bass and reverb on this track. I'm not sure who this Travis Scott guy is on the first verse, but he's wack right out of the gate. There's also an obnoxious amount of vocal effects being used in this song, whether it's on the verses, or Teyana Taylor's otherwise beautiful hook. Malik Yusef has a kinda cool spoken word interlude before Cyhi takes over. Now, Cyhi is a decent rapper I guess. He's pretty inoffensive most of the time but he rarely really IMPRESSES me, and that's the same thing here. I'm vibing with the track alright, and Cyhi is just spitting typical Cyhi fare, but then he actually has the nerve to say "she rode the broom on the beach, that's a sand-witch, so I ate her like it" and it was all I could do not to hit skip. A wack punchline usually just makes me roll my eyes, but occasionally you get one of those doozies that about ruins the track...this is one of those times. Anyway, he limps through the rest of the verse before Teyana's sultry voice takes over again--I can't help but think this track would be about 20 times better if it was just her and Malik. Truthfully, I never did hear John Legend on this, but whatever. Maybe I'm not paying enough attention to these tracks to catch the more subtle features; it can be hard to do when there's like 8 people on every other track. Instrumental rating: 3.5/5.0 These beats aren't terrible but you really do expect so much more from a Kanye project. This one is produced by Tommy Brown, co-produced by Travis Scott. Lyrical rating: 2.0/5.0 Kick Travis Scott and Cyhi off this and it'd be worth at least a point and a half more. 9. The One - 2 Chainz, Big Sean, Kanye West, and Marsha Ambrosius "This must be the obligatory inspirational track," I thought, as the choir vocals and lyrical piano melody played and the sultry voice of Marsha Ambrosius began wafting from my speakers. "This is where they tell us how they all worked so hard to get to the top and no one can take it away and you can too and other such uplifting talk." And then suddenly the Floet croons that she's "got a pistol on my hip and it's gonna be some shit, if you want then bring it on, see I'm a motherfucking soldier" and my jaw about hit the floor. Already Marsha has delivered the most hardcore bars on the entire album outside of the Ghostface Killah verse earlier. Anyway, Kanye mostly just brags on his verse, comparing himself to Michael (Tyson, Jordan, Jackson, AND Phelps). Big Sean delivers a verse that even he sounds bored with, but it's not TERRIBLE, barring the "my weed loud, I need a hearing aid" line he sneaks in there. 2 Chainz closes out the rapping with a verse you'll either love or hate, depending on your general feelings toward 2 Chainz, for me it's forgettable. James Fauntleroy brings the track to a close with a sung outro. Instrumental rating: 3.5/5.0 Produced by Kanye West, co-produced by Hudson Mohawke, Twilite Tone, Anthony Kilhoffer, Mannie Fresh, and Lifted, because apparently it takes half a dozen people to make a slightly above average beat these days. Lyrical rating: 3.0/5.0
10. Creepers - Kid Cudi I'm a Cudi fan, but I really couldn't get into this track. The beat has kind of an annoying clapping rhythm that carries on the whole song, and Cudi is mostly shooting blanks lyrically with lines like "if I had one wish it'd be for more wishes, duh, fuck tryna make it rhyme". Come on Scott. There's not much else to say about it; Cudi being the only one besides Kanye to have a solo track, this should've been so much better than it was--something I'm finding myself saying a lot. Instrumental rating:3.0/5.0 Produced by Dan Black Lyrical rating: 2.0/5.0 11. Bliss - John Legend and Teyana Taylor Right off the bat, where have the beats like this been the whole album?! This is easily the best beat since "New God Flow" and possibly the best instrumental on the album. It's very orchestral and cinematic, and it's laced with the beautiful vocals of Legend and Taylor, singing of a "Bliss"ful love. This is excellent material here; every rapper on G.O.O.D. Music has just been showed up by the label's two songbirds. Instrumental rating: 4.5/5.0 Produced by Hudson Mohawke (oh and look, he made a beat more complex and BETTER than all the rest, and completely by himself...you know what they say about too many cooks...) Lyrical rating: 4.5/5.0
12. Don't Like - Big Sean, Chief Keef, Jadakiss, Kanye West, and Pusha T This is easily the most infamous track on the whole album. First, there's the obvious complaint that Keef himself is wack as a rapper. Then, there's the controversy about the culture of violence that Keef glamorizes and the very public ignorance he displayed with the spotlight this track gave him. Then there's the rant Keef tweeted about how he didn't need Kanye's help to blow up. Then there's the horrific diss track Chris Brown put out to Drake over this beat...I'm holding these guys indirectly responsible. Finally, and least offensively, there's the somewhat ironic fact that Keef, easily the worst rapper featured on the album and not a G.O.O.D. Music artist, is responsible both for the album's most popular catchphrase ("that's that shit I don't like") and one of its most successful singles. As for the rest of the artists, we get a solid verse from Pusha, a decent verse from Kanye, a surprisingly dope verse from Sean, and finally an unusually raspy, even by his standards, verse from Jada. Jada didn't deserve closing duties on this--his verse is the most forgettable outside of Keef's. Sean really went in here, this is his best contribution to the album and he steals the entire show on the song. Beatwise, again, this is an outside producer who contributed a fat, pounding beat that is among the best here. Instrumental rating: 4.5/5.0 Produced by Young Chop, co-produced by Kanye West, Twilite Tone, and Noah Goldstein Lyrical rating: 3.0/5.0
OVERALL Instrumental rating: 3.6/5.0 Lyrical rating: 3.3/5.0 Composite rating: 3.5/5.0 Honestly, I feel like I may have been a little overly generous. This album is simply drowned in mediocrity; you expect SOOOO much more musically from a Kanye album and the MCs, despite notable contributions from Ghost and Rae and the consistently solid but still unspectacular Pusha T, mostly fail to deliver anything powerful. And where in the world were Mos Def and Q-Tip? The best songs were the singles we all had heard before it even dropped...other than the addition of "Bliss" I was very underwhelmed by the album tracks. Still, it's not a complete loss, it has enough going for it to make it worth hearing, and a few tracks will certainly get repeat play--but overall it was a letdown. Purchase at your own risk--you'd probably be best off simply downloading the best tracks on iTunes and passing on the rest.
Bands aren't too common in hip-hop music. Typically, the combination of rapping and live instrumentation probably sparks the majority of people to think of late '90s and early '00s nu-metal, and with the exception of a few very talented groups like criminally slept-on Critical Bill and hip-hop-metal fusion chameleons Linkin Park, that tends to be an unsavory lot. On the flipside of that are true hip-hop bands, and well, with the exception of the exceptionally talented Roots, there are almost none of those to achieve any real commercial success, despite the increasing popularity of hip-hop acts touring with live bands.
Enter ¡Mayday!, a 6-person collective from Miami, Florida, who emerged on the scene in 2006 with their self-titled and self-released debut album. Since then, ¡Mayday!'s profile has been steadily increasing, with Cee-Lo Green appearing in their first music video ("Groundhog Day"), an acclaimed sophomore album in 2010 (Stuck On an Island), and appearances in two Lil' Wayne videos ("Da Da Da" and "Get a Life") as his backing band. I, like many others, wasn't a fan of Wayne's Rebirth project (to put it nicely) but the videos served to boost ¡Mayday!'s visibility greatly, leading to a somewhat surprising signing to Strange Music in April 2011 (only surprising because Strange tends to sign artists with whom they already have an established business history and the ¡Mayday! move seemed sudden to this long-time Strange fan).
In reality, the move wasn't sudden at all. The signing was a few years in the making, as Strange Music vice president Dave Weiner had actually been after CEO Travis O'Guin to look into them for quite some time. I won't detail this all here as it has been described in depth in ¡Mayday!'s free ebook, Darker Shades For Brighter Nights (download here). In any event, ¡Mayday! almost immediately embarked on Tech N9ne's "All 6's and 7's Tour" with Jay Rock, Krizz Kaliko, Stevie Stone, and Kutt Calhoun and upon returning home, produced an entire EP for Tech N9ne (Klusterfuk) before beginning work on their Strange Music debut, Take Me To Your Leader. I personally have the project as my album of the year pick so far, as it featured an organic, traditional boom-bap atmosphere mixed with hints of rock and blues along with stellar lyrical performances from co-frontmen Bernz and Wrekonize. The album dropped earlier this April to universal acclaim while the band was again on tour, this time as part of Tech N9ne's world-record breaking "Hostile Takeover Tour". Following the conclusion of the tour, I was able to contact Wrekonize for an interview discussing his band, his solo career, the tour, and their brand new EP, Thrift Store Halos, which releases tonight at 12 ET on iTunes.
Wrekonize's comments are in red.
For starters, can you initiate my readers who may be unfamiliar with the guys that make up ¡Mayday! and your functions in the band?
We're a 6 piece band made up of 4 instrumentalists and 2 vocalists. Plex Luthor is our guitarist, keyboardist, and main producer. Gianni Cash is our bassist, keyboardist, and our second producer. LT Hopkins is our drummer. NonMS(pronounced like "'nonymous")is our percussionist. Bernz and myself make up the vocals.
You just came off the Hostile Takeover Tour, a record-breaking 95-show tour with Prozak, Machine Gun Kelly, Krizz Kaliko, Stevie Stone, and of course, Tech N9ne. How does it feel to be a part of history?
It's an incredible feeling. Very fulfilling experience. It was a very intense schedule and we almost killed each other a few times but overall it was a bonding experience that is often hard to describe and put into words. There is nothing like touring at the level Strange Music does it to begin with. Then add on the fact that you're breaking the world record for a consecutive tour on top of that and it really puts the gold medal feeling around your neck for surviving it.
Was there a moment about this tour that really stood out to you?
The day after we played a sold out show in New York City we were invited on to Sway's morning show on Shade 45 (Sirius Radio). 4 of us from the group were able to perform and we were in studio alongside Tech N9ne, Krizz Kaliko, & Stevie Stone. It was an incredible experience to be a part of that group of artists and be proud of everything that was going out on the airwaves. It meant a lot to me because 10 years prior I was 19 on MTV battling for accolades with Sway hosting. So to return almost a decade later as an established artist on the rise signed to the best independent label on the planet brought me an incredible feeling of accomplishment. I wish I would have done better on the Five Fingers freestyle but i'll knock it out if and when there's a next time.
I attended the final show in Springfield, MO, and I was thoroughly impressed with the amount of energy everyone displayed. What's your band's secret to remaining that consistently high-octane for such a grueling tour?
You have to pace yourself and treat your body right. That's key. Get a good amount of rest and be really careful with how you treat your immune system. I drank a lot but I tried to counterbalance it with vitamins and decent diet, rest, etc.
You recently revealed that you've begun work on a new EP. Can you tell us anything about that?
Actually the EP is done already! We had pretty much the entire thing recorded before we left on the road. It's 7 tracks. 2 of which have been previously released. At the time I'm writing this there's one more day before it is released.
The first music video from Thrift Store Halos, "Darker Shades".
The group's collaborations on Take Me To Your Leader were extremely natural and organic. Every MC chosen seemed to have chemistry with you and Bernz to the extent that they could've passed as just another member of the band. Do you attribute that to the nature of ¡Mayday! that you guys are just super easy to work with, were the collaborations just that carefully chosen, or was it some combination of the two?
Definitely a combination of the two. We are an extremely easy bunch of people to work with. We may be picky with artistic decisions but when we work with artists I believe from our management down to our actual band members we create such a relaxed environment that it brings something organic out of the guests we feature. I'm very proud of that especially when we work with an artist that people would never expect.
Who was your favorite collaborator for Take Me To Your Leader?
I'd have to say Tech N9ne because his verse was so ridiculous on "Badlands". But I definitely enjoyed all the features we locked in for the album. Also loved Murs's verse on "Hardcore Bitches". I prided myself in being one of the ones who really saw the vision of him on that song. Just like I predicted, he delivered. Hard to imagine anyone else on that record now.
I couldn't agree more about that Murs verse, that was my favorite collaboration on the album personally. Can you tell us about collaborations you guys may be pursuing in the near future?
We aren't picky with collaborations. We love to work with people from all walks of life. There's still a few golden collabs I personally want though. Outkast being one, and Nas being another. But at the end of the day we have a great management team who makes collaborating with other artists a very natural cohesive process that I don't even have to be too conscious of at the end of the day.
Your albums to date have been exclusively produced by the band. Recently though, you released a remix to "Badlands" produced by Strange favorite, Michael "Seven" Summers. Did Seven create a new beat to the existing a cappella, or did he arrange a new track for the band to play? Do you see the band ever doing that sort of work with outside producers in the future?
We sent Seven the a cappella for him to remix. Plex serves as our main producer with Gianni Ca$h taking on more duties every other day. But I do think we'd be open to having an outside producer come and work with us. But more of a Rick Rubin type. Not just a beatmaker but a through and through producer. We'd definitely be open to that.
What is the demand like for ¡Mayday! production outside of Strange?
It's growing every day. Which is a beautiful thing. I've known Plex for a decade now and he's overdue to be a sought out producer.
How well do you and Bernz mesh conceptually? Are your ideas generally in tune for a song, is there much disagreement for where to take a song lyrically, or does one of you handle the brunt of the conceptualizing?
Bernz is the idea guy for sure. He is always noting down quotes and things he hears in conversation to bring up in our writing sessions. We have an extremely fluid working relationship. We have our disagreements but for the most part we mesh or clash just the right amount and the material comes out better for it.
What about Wrekonize as a solo artist? Will you be continuing your solo work and will that be through Strange or through some other outlet?
I'll always release solo material. There is something about writing something that is completely yours and knowing you can pull off a record on your own that exhilarates me. It brings me something that working in a group atmosphere can't bring me. That's why I enjoy doing both. Currently Strange is expressing interest in releasing a solo album of mine sometime next year. So we'll see how that pans out.
How different is the creative process for you as a solo artist versus your work with ¡Mayday!?
I love to write things that are personal to me. When writing by myself I drift off and tend to be a bit more cryptic. I just feel like I write things in solitude that I would never write with another person and vice versa. Hence my love for both.
You claimed a solo production credit on Tech N9ne's Klusterfuk released earlier this year, a dubstep-influenced track called "Blur." Did you already have an interest in dubstep music or did Tech specifically approach you for this type of track?
I been trying to find my stride as a producer for a long time now. It's been at a slower pace seeing as I have other duties to juggle. My vocals and video editing take up a lot of time. But I'm working more and more at trying to be a production force as well. I have been into dubstep for some time now. I didn't know if Tech was going to dig the beat or not but I did hear him on it in my mind. It was one of the last submissions for the EP. Bernz & I had laid the hook on it already and it matched up perfectly for a crazy night Tech had just experienced. "Blur" was born.
Will you be doing more production work on your own in the future?
Most definitely!
Some of the readers may remember you better as the MC that won MTV Battle a few years back. The prize was supposed to be a contract with Roc-a-Fella Records. Why didn't that pan out and do you have any kind of relationship with Jay-Z or Dame Dash now?
It was supposed to be a single deal. That was never honored. I never spoke to Dame or Jay after that. My thoughts then, along with my manager at the time, were if they didn't want to work with me, why hunt them down and waste my time. They also had a gang load of artists signed at the time so it seemed like I would be sure to get lost in the shuffle either way. Jay could make it up to me by jumping on a ¡MAYDAY! track though. haha
What role does your diverse background play in your musical taste and style?
My family have always been heavily involved in the arts. Mostly music & theatre. My parents were in a band together when they were in their teens. We always had a great variety of music playing in the house. I feel like my dad bringing in the new hot shit from all kinds of genres opened me up to having an expansive palette for music. My mother was a backup vocalist. She still to this day has impeccable harmonies. She would play records in the car and harmonize to them when we were younger. That was my subconscious ear training. I also do that today.
Finally, can you break down a few of your biggest influences in music?
I take influence from everything and everyone around me. Sounds cliche but it's the truth. Daily conversations and situations that happen around me weigh in heavy on my writing. My parents playing me a wide range of artists including everything from Pink Floyd & Led Zeppelin to Duran Duran to Fleetwood Mac and beyond played a great part of building me into not only a diverse listener but a diverse artist.
Thanks so much for your time. Looking forward to the EP release!
No prob!
Order Thrift Store Halos, which features appearances from Brotha Lynch Hung, Ces Cru, and Del tha Funkee Homosapien, here.
Today we are gathered to lay to rest one of hip-hop's true treasures, Germaine "Canibus" Williams. Mr. Williams was beloved in the hip-hop community for his uncanny ability to advance his career further into the depths of failure than ever before seen. Every failure he suffered was considered to be the absolute low point of his career, but Mr. Williams was persistent, and never settled for what he had already achieved. He was determined to master failure and pilot it to new levels never thought possible, and reached these heights masterfully.
Canibus received his first brush with failure when he linked with Wyclef Jean to release his debut album Can-I-Bus. Unsatisfied with simply having a corny pun in his album title, Canibus chose the worst beats 'Clef had to offer, assuring that the album would be critically and commercially panned. From there 'Bus entered his first major rap battle with LL Cool J, historically marking the first major rap battle to be decided by a single line, when L (ironically Canibus's favorite letter) crushed him by informing him that "99% of his fans didn't exist." Canibus had begun to establish himself as a loser, but his thirst for failure proved insatiable.
In 2002, Canibus enlisted in the military, and while he was away, Jedi Mind Tricks producer Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind used some of Canibus's vocal tracks to make the only 'Bus album remotely worth listening to, Rip the Jacker. Canibus was unhappy with the respect he had earned, as it completely undermined the years he had put in fighting for the opposite, and so he engaged in a battle with Eminem following his discharge from the military, creating the puzzling diss track "U Didn't Care." Canibus adopted the persona of Eminem's character Stan from the song of the same name, marking the first time a rapper has ever been dissed by a fictional character. Canibus was crushed again by Em, who released a comical track mocking "Stanibus" and his voice and subject matter, not even taking the poor little weirdo seriously. Canibus returned to his hole in the ground to continue writing furiously, releasing a slew of albums and essentially disappearing from the radar...until 2010.
Canibus has a love for being crushed in lyrical competitions, and so it was only logical that he would attempt to revive the beef with Eminem, using unpublished verses from Em's group D12 on another diss track, attempting to somehow make Eminem believe his own crew had turned on him. The trick backfired, as Canibus evidently forgot D12 were capable of refuting his story. The following year, 'Bus entered a lyrical skirmish with Slaughterhouse members Joe Budden and Royce da 5'9", and achieved another plateau in failure by releasing an 8-minute diss track to Royce that only contained roughly 10 bars of rhyming, interspersed with Canibus's manic ramblings.
Later in 2011, Canibus had begun to worry that another MC, J. Cole, was encroaching on his territory, as Cole had taken several Ls of his own. Canibus, furious that failure was being achieved and he wasn't involved, took shots at Cole, who was reportedly a huge fan and reacted only with disappointment. Canibus later made a sweaty apology video and released it on YouTube, rescinding his Cole statements.
Then came that fateful day. June 9, 2012, Canibus entered a Pay-Per-View battle with renowned battle rapper Dizaster. With the world watching (you know, the small, small world that doesn't care about the NBA and NHL playoffs, baseball, and one of the biggest boxing matches in recent years) Canibus finally took failure a step too far, spitting a barrage of weak lyrics and eventually forgetting most of his bars and resorting to pulling out a notebook in mid-battle, only to find that he was having trouble reading his writing. Dizaster was given the unanimous victory and Canibus, overwhelmed by the force of his failure, passed from this Earth. The cause of death was given as "choking." Canibus's given age was 37 years old, although this conflicts with Canibus's own statements in his music that he was anywhere between 2000 and 10,000 years old.
The news broke today that hip-hop lost one of its greatest pioneers, Adam "MCA" Yauch of the legendary Beastie Boys. Yauch was diagnosed with lymph node cancer in 2009 and apparently succumbed to the disease early this morning.
The significance of this runs deeper than many may realize. The Beastie Boys weren't just pioneering or influential, they were legendary, and not only in hip-hop circles. Their importance can be felt in the music of Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Linkin Park, and Kid Rock as much as in that of Eminem, Naughty By Nature, Nas, and the rest of hip-hop. They weren't just rappers or rockers, they seamlessly blended the two genres to form a raucous, rowdy mixture that transcended hip-hop's street appeal and brought it into the suburbs and the pop charts, kicking down barriers everywhere they went and opening doors for every white rapper you've ever heard since their 1986 debut, Licensed To Ill, topped the charts (the first hip-hop album to do so). They were the third rap act to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the first and only white rap act to date to receive 5 mics in The Source (also for Ill). Their sophomore album, Paul's Boutique, revolutionized the art of sampling, sometimes utilizing as many as 24 samples on a single track, further breaking ground in the hip-hop culture, as their style would be cited as an influence on many producers from DJ Premier to J Dilla to Kanye West. They were often credited as the white counterparts to Run-DMC and the two groups would heavily influence one another's work (even recording covers of one another's songs at times), creating a dynamic that arguably single-handedly brought hip-hop into the mainstream. Every white rapper, from Vanilla Ice to Eminem to Brother Ali to Asher Roth to Ill Bill to ICP, owes them a thank you for breaking the color boundary in hip-hop. Every rap group to adopt a back-and-forth rhyme style, from Method Man & Redman to A Tribe Called Quest to Naughty By Nature, owes them a thank you for being among the pioneers of the style. Every rapper that became known for an animated, sometimes over-the-top flow, from Busta Rhymes to Lil' Wayne to B Real to Mystikal, has probably taken a little something from the Beasties' nasal, high-pitched, at times comical deliveries. Every rapper, period, owes them a thank you for helping to push hip-hop to national prominence.
The loss of Yauch may mean the end of the Beastie Boys, as their back-and-forth rhyme style was a hallmark of the group. The Beasties had been actively recording and performing up until last year. The death of MCA is tragic for everyone who considered themselves a fan of the group, but on a larger scale, it's a monumental loss for hip-hop. Even if the Beasties continue their career in the future, MCA's absence will take a heavy toll. The Beastie Boys are true pioneers of the genre of hip-hop and legends in music in general, and if MCA's passing is the end of them, it is the end of an era as well. The spirit of MCA will continue to live on through the music regardless of the future of the group, and he will be fondly remembered for his contributions to the world of music.
