ROCK THE BELLS 2011 Review “NEW YORK CITY STUCK OFF THE REALNESS” by Simone A. Santos



Mobb Deep Photos by Prolo Photo


                      On September 3^rd, ‘Rock the Bells’ 2011 festival arrived at Governors Island for one of the most highly anticipated hip-hop events of the year. The four city, four stage event is presented by Guerilla Union who hosted their first annual festival in 2004. Earlier this month, over one hundred thousand fans floated across on ferries from the Battery Maritime Building, located at 10 South Street, in Downtown Manhattan. Hip-hop fans stood on thick lines for hours. It was all about being a part of this grandiose hip-hop extravaganza. It was hot, approximately 88 degrees farenhiet.

 "Rock the Bells is always a special occasion to me,” said hip-hop fan and artist ‘Sav Killz’, also known and Jamel Rockwell. It’s an occasion comparable to the seventies tribute to rock-n-roll, Woodstock. The Daily News reported Chang Weisberg, a Guerilla Union, Rock the Bells Tour representative saying, “If rockers can acknowledge the respect and awe awarded certain works, why can’t hip-hoppers… It’s an education, a way to learn where hip-hop came from,” said Weisberg.

The line-up included Ms. Lauryn Hill, Nas, Erykah Badu, Common, Mos Def, Talib Kwali, Black Star, Immortal Technique, Slaughterhouse, Raekwon & Ghostface Killah, Genius GZA, Mobb Deep, Black Moon, Childish Gambino, Masta Killa, Maino, Cypress Hill and much more. Albums including Nas’1994 ‘Illmatic’, Raekwon & Ghostface Killah’ 1995 ‘Only Built 4 Cuban Linx’, Mobb Deep’ 1995 ‘The Infamous’ and Lauryn Hill’ 1998 ‘Miseducation of  Lauryn Hill’ were all platinum hits, according to Billboard that were performed in their entirety on this year’s monumental tour. On Columbia records, ‘Illmatic’ sold 59,000 copies in its first week. The album certified gold in January 1996 after selling a half million records and then went platinum in 2001. Over one million copies sold in the U.S.
“This is my biggest production, and it only makes sense to do it on the best rap tour,” Nas told the Daily News. 

 From Los Angeles, to San Francisco, New York to Boston the venues are all sold out on show day.  The grounds, flooded with echoes of percussive triplets, melodic instrumentals and soulful samples sent vibes through fans who bopped, swayed, and screamed flowing spiritually united with the emcees. The real hardcore knowledge and experienced based lyrics were telling and the masses recited some tracks verbatim. Almost everyone recited the words to ‘The World is Yours’ where in verse two Nas shouts out his borough, Queens. He politics controversy, stating;

“To my man Ill Will, God bless your life It's yours!-To my peoples throughout Queens, God bless your life- I trip we box up crazy [explicit] aimin guns in all my baby pictures, Beef with housin police, release scriptures that's maybe Hitler's,Yet I'm the mild, money gettin style, rollin foul, The versatile, honey stickin wild, golden child, Dwellin in the Rotten Apple you get tackled, Or caught by the devil's lasso, [explicit] is a hassle, There's no days, for broke days.”



Nas Photos by Prolo Photo

               The golden and platinum era is when Raekwon & Ghostface Killah gave all the hip-hop “honeys” a chance to find their ice cream flavor. “French vanilla, butter pecan, chocolate deluxe, even caramel sundaes…” are the lyrics in the hook off of the platinum hit and early 1994 summer single from the album ‘Only Built 4 Cuban Linx’. Crateworthy.com posted a video of Lakers forward and Queens native Ron Artest at the Los Angeles festival on August 20^th. He was enthusiastically reciting lyrics on stage with former fellow Queensbridge Housing Project residents Mobb Deep’s, Prodigy and Havoc.

Everything about the atmosphere on Governors Island was 1990’s and certainly brought mid-twenty to forty year olds back in time. In this common place people smiled, shared their memories with strangers, and expressed who they were “really” there to see. There was a nostalgic presence on the scene. Hundreds of vendors sold food, drinks and hip-hop paraphernalia. Antoine Hamlin, a twenty year old hip-hop fan and guest of the Wu-Tang Clan said “next year they need to come down on the food prices. Six dollars for a pizza is way too much. It wasn’t even that good.” Tee shirts were a huge seller. For anywhere between $15 and $30 you could get an originally designed tee shirt expressing images and messages correlating you to your favorite artist, group and even album or song. One message read, “Hip-hop is bigger than the Government”. Another read, “I Got You Stuck Off The Realness”, the first words in the bar from Mobb Deep’s 1995 hit single Shook Ones Pt II from ‘The Infamous’ album. Rock the Bells revived the essence of "real" hip-hop in its traditional resonance. Hip-hop was back where it all got started; in New York City.

“It’s all about keeping things real and conscious in hip-hop,” said Hasan Salaam, an emcee in his twenties from Brooklyn. He had a booth selling CD’s and tees, where he gave away fliers that read, “MCMI Apparel- In Hip-Hop We Trust” and stickers saying “Mo Danger- www.mohammaddangerfield.com”, styled in the old ‘Yo MTV Raps’ logo.

The prominence reigned across New York City’s five boroughs. Areas throughout Queens such as Queensbridge, Southside Jamaica, and St. Albans delivered artists such as Nas, Mobb Deep, A Tribe Called Quest and LL Cool J. The Wu-Tang Clan comes “straight from the slums of Shaolin” also known as Staten Island, Park Hill and Stapleton to be exact. The Wu Tang Clan consists of nine artists including the late Old Dirty Bastard (who passed away the same year Rock the Bells started in 2004), Method Man, RZA, GZA, Raekwon ‘The Chef’, Ghostface Killah, Inspektah Deck, and Masta Killa. In the 1990’s, among these names remains some of the strongest and most influential players in the game. Twenty-nine year old producer and engineer, Ben Wollner from France says, “as far as Nas and the Wu, they have of course influenced me and the music that I produce, the spontaneity of it. They have influenced the way that I perceive music overall.”



Raekwon & Ghostface Killa Photos by Prolo Photo

          From boom boxes to walkmans, discmans to iPods- rap has been and is evolving audibly and by societal perception. In the 1990’s, hip-hop serenaded the tops of the Billboard charts. It was becoming the new music culture of the generation. The appeal has evolved majorly over the past decade, whereas the face of hip-hop is more colorful than ever. People from all walks of life come out to share one thing in common; love of hip-hop and the artists and groups that have helped pioneer the movement of it. Now, hip-hop can be found in all areas of society from marketing to university education. As profoundly international as it has become, hip-hop was as born in New York City. 9^th Prince of Wu-Tang Clans Killa Army, RZA’s younger brother says “Rock the Bells is history in the making. It’s legendary hip-hop in its purest form.” 

I WILL NOT LOSE PT.3 by VARIOUS ARTIST - Uploaded by: DJ HURRICANE_STORM - @DJBKSTORM#

http://tweetmymixtape.com/r674im#.TmO3AJYf8_E.blogger

King Sleeps feat. Chiefo Da Leo & NYMI - Nigga Wussup [OFFICIAL VIDEO]

"SOUR & MOSCATO" FRANCHISE LIAISON FT H.K & REMO (ROLL IT UP, POUR IT UP)

Who Shot Cha?.... Sunny Winters Shoots

Sunny Winters has been snapping away diligently. Charmed by life happenings, his career draws closer into realization. A Nikon camera and reflector are his “weapons of choice”. Sunny is an avid traveler who shoots everywhere he touches. Growing up in Brooklyn, he was fortunate to have been motivated by the local yet, internationally known, Jamel Shabazz. “Over the years, he was just Shabazz to me. I have watched him interact with all types of different people in different places and the outcome would always be beautiful,” he said. When I first met Sunny, he looked nothing like his Facebook photos. He had already cut his locks and his bop was so, extra, “Brooklyn goes hard” it didn’t seem like the same down to earth, innovator that I’d anticipated. “I had surgery on my foot a couple of days ago,” he said. So, it turned out to be his limp that I initially took for a bop.

We continued kicking it up Snediker Avenue to a “Brooklyn zooish” background scene. Beautiful green leaves spilled down swaying vines over a lengthy sheet of accordion perforated, stainless steel fence. If it’s gonna represent me, it must represent hip-hop. The graffiti tags decorated the backdrop appropriately to suite ‘theSasAppeal’. The fusion of elements characterized an earthy person from the concrete jungle of New York City and Sunny must have more than an eye, he’s figured me out. “I am spiritual, not religious,” Sunny offered as he shot me wearing my sunglasses. “Should I take these off?” I asked. “No, the sun will blind you,” he said as he called for “Shrimp” to hold the reflector up where he needed it to go. After every twenty shots or so, he would let me look at them on the camera.

Sunny has developed his own globally accessible portfolio. The archives on his websites, theSunnyWinters.tumblr.com and facebook.com/SunnyWintersphotography host a variety of pictures from around the world. Most are edited into black and white images that give off rich antique impressions from the most casual of shots to the most urban. “Photography is my chance to make history,” he said. Making millions is a part of the goal, but the main objective is for Sunny’s stamps to shine on through. Certain places at particular moments in a subject’s existence will serve as a nostalgic delight. From the passing of those very instances to the everlasting settings of sun, there will be a memory to visit and revisit; through the eyes of Sunny Winters. Everyday, he rises to capture our today’s for captivating the future of their tomorrow’s.  

This photo shoot was the first of my anticipated many to come. These images of myself provided me with the evidence that photography is not quite the same as merely taking a picture. The expert quality of these photos distinguishes Sunny a gifted professional. It was comfortable, pressure free and natural. When I saw the same shots that Sunny had taken and shown me on his Nikon, I ran home to review on my computer. As much as I loved the photography, I was disappointed in my clothing selection. Sunny said, “that’s why I prefer to shoot nude, clothes can be such a distraction.” Although, he has sold numerous shots to hip-hop weekly and other media, he exclusively works for McMIREPORT.com. The “collective of life how he sees it”, is sponsored by Sunny Winters. This brand name that he seasons with is said to be the “alter-ego” business part of Taj T. However, when it comes to question his devotion to ambitious creations and wholehearted quality, the photographs speak for themselves. Whether he’s taking pictures of nude women down in New York City subways or of  homeless families on the streets of the “favelas” in Rio de Janiero, he’s concentrating.  

There are two things that Sunny is most critical about when his eye is to the window; light and symmetry. “I think natural light really looks good on our skin,” he says. The subjects are charged somewhere inside the lens where all Sunny’s appeals manifest. He says, “I want someone to look at my pictures and feel fulfilled by the collaborative effort I brought about to capture whatever it was. People can feel when you take what you think other people want you to see.” Aside from Jamel Shabazz’s photography inspiring his talent, generally, people and places are what keep him intrigued. He has a keen appreciation for any differences that can be attributed from all sorts of expression. Image is important to him, and he sees it as “a powerful tool,” as written on his webpage.  He appreciates everything that’s creative. When it comes to other photographers work, Sunny believes that what separates talented professionals from the measly “pic flicker”, is being able to tap into what the person may have been thinking, feeling or seeing when the shot was taken. His philosophy runs deeper.

Sunny’s sister, Nadiah says, “he’s not a Rasta, he’s a hippie. He began growing locks with the birth of his daughter Sa’rai, 9 years ago. In Miami, he had his own catering business and worked as a chef, for 9 years. Ironically, that was when he became a vegetarian in attempts to instill more discipline for growth of mind, body, and spirit. He also has a twelve year old son named Marcell. Koko, his wife is a creative designer who specializes in fashion. As she is working on launching her own clothing line, Sunny helps assist her in every suitable manner. Together, they have traveled to places like Cuba, Mexico and Brazil where Koko assists Sunny with his shoots. “It was a blizzard this Christmas Eve, at like 2 o’clock in the morning when spontaneously the woman called me saying that she was ready. We met at Sterling Street on the 2 line. I was only working with a 3 minute time frame. When the coast was clear she dropped her overcoat and went completely nude; and I started snapping away. Meanwhile, Koko was on the lookout at the top of the subway staircase… We pulled it off,” he said.

Geto Boys- "My Mind is Playing Tricks on Me" Lyrics Sampled

 "I stand alone in my 4 cornered room starring @ candles, listening to gangsta music," Juelz Santana and Prodigy use this verse in their songs without making it come off to sound like just a copy. Sampling lyrics is not a standard procedure such as sampling actual music. Juelz and Prodigy paid homage to Geto Boys when they revived this very first line of this very special song, "My Mind is Playing Tricks on Me". Their different approaches change the essence of  feeling and the sounds are to a new flow. The Geto Boys were on that raw 1991 fresh vibe that maintained a soulful, melodious sensation. Whereas, Juelz flips it for 2003 on the hook of "Dipset Anthem".  Prodigy had his hand on "Mac 10 Handle" in 2006. So then in 2009, the Game brought it back when he said, "I make big money, I drive big cars, everybody know me, it's like I'm a movie star," from the first line in the second verse.
There's no song like this in hip-hop history. It's break down is a precise story. Scarface probably wrote the whole sh!t, he's a ill storyteller. The song lyrics have been sampled time and time again.....

Don Domini - DIMELO MANIN Watch 'VIDEO" Directed by George P. and NMI Films

SHOUT OUT TO CORONA, QUEENS_ JUNCTION, DR, ALL STAR PLAYERS , CHOLADOS N CHIMI TRUCKS ............... SoHK!!!!

Glasses Malone - Eastsidin Official Video 2011

The Notorious B.I.G.'s Everyday Struggle sample of Brethren's Outside Love | WhoSampled

The Notorious B.I.G.'s Everyday Struggle sample of Brethren's Outside Love WhoSampled

Flowetic Justice

HK ‘Da Steamer’ a.k.a. Harold Kennedy is blazing holy sh!t for the streets, anticipating “2012 will be summertime all year for ‘East Coast’ and ‘Crosstown Mob’ movements. “I came in shining,” he said. Just in time for the summer, he was born on June 26^th.

He’s another scorching sun from the streets of Flatbush, Brooklyn with an unforeseen prose. His parents afforded him an enlightened foundation that invited a passion for poetry. "My father played the saxophone and loved Langston Hughes. I love Maya Angelou," he said. HK would sit down and meditate while writing to saxophonist, John Coltrane. "I've really been into poetry since a little kid."

His rhyme flows back to the Biggie era; when BK started to flourish in the game of hip-hop and where his crafts of storytelling and spitting fire started to unfold. “Of the old greats, I was a fan of Slick Rick,” said HK.  Storytelling has always been his thing.

According to their music, he's the “parana in the pond”. Growing up in the ol’ school he’s been shy. Today his alter-ego' word-play is transforming him all over the mic- track to track. He’s says, “I be zonin' when I write now, because you stay the same, They gonna recognize how you might sound,” in his song 'East Coast'.  Until you feel his message it's gonna be hard to recognize his voice.

On the mic his dynamic voices morph creative whirlpools of righteous stories channeled via captivating flows.  “I'm making music for people who find it hard to express their pain,” he says. His parents died when he was only a kid, which in turn caused his family to split up. Left feeling alone without his siblings, HK dropped out of school and stayed true to the “block”; 'School of Hard Knocks'. However, his creativity continued to blossom.

 Eventually, a family friend named Jacqueline Rowe took him into her home. “Jackie was like my aunt. She believed in me and knew what I was working with,” he said.  Jackie helped HK and his group ‘Seventh Element’ get a deal with Iron Mike Entertainment, considering she's Mike Tyson's sister. The deal fell through after HK ended up getting locked up which led to his having to do time in prison. “It's got to a point where I've see, enough. I might not have seen it all but I've seen enough. Nothing else can happen but great.” HK has six kids and only has the highest expectations when it comes to their futures.  “I do a lot with my children,” he says “I've taught myself how not to lose.”As an artist he's adding energy to the Crosstown Mob movement saying, “I have so much ambition that it feels crazy!” It seems like the lows which stagnated his stardom will only be remembered as fuel for future heat. “Now, I'm even more creative, charismatic and diverse,” he says.

Super Sam produces pulsating, 808 knocking beats supporting his chameleon charm on the new East Coast Music Group mixtape. It's expected to drop in September. “It's almost ready,” he says.  Representing Crosstown Mob and Bakery Gang including Young Amsterdam, Big Law, Drew Logan, and China Zenith. In the background, bullets are flying as cars race through snare rolls and HK's on the verse. 'The Life We Live' and 'We Do It Big' are tracks off the new mixtape he's working on with Reign, Bugz, and Cage. “The most important thing is that I love the art,” says HK. “As far as I'm concerned I'll never run out of money so it's just gonna be an experience to experience.”

~Simone A. Santos

Jay-Z & Kanye West - Otis

Young Jeezy - Win (Official Video)

The Heatmakerz; Rsonist Cuts Up the Crack

        
            There’s been a sweet voice refreshing the front of their musical galaxy stuttering, “The Heatmakerz; crack music.” It’s so addictive that people who classify as hip-hop should know when to expect and recite the crave.  The productions are lit and all of a sudden, soul showers start to enhance up to a break. That is when samples sing, percussions drop, digitals explode and the crowds react indicating, Rsonist!

The Anthem was cracking when it first hit the streets of New York City. To this day, it plays like one of the street songs of praise. The Heatmakerz (Rsonist, Thriller, and Weatherman) are well recognized for the record ‘Diplomats Anthem’, which they produced in 2003 under Roc-a-fella. It was directly sampled from reggae artist, Sanchez’ 1994 hit ‘One in a Million’, and could be a tribute to Rsonist’ Jamaican roots. However, besides the Dipset, Camron and Juelz Santana, Rsonist has produced for an extensive number of hip-hop and R&B artists including Lil Wayne, Beyonce, Ludacris, Ghostface, Fat Joe, M.O.P., Nore and Capone, TI, Scarface, Lil Flip, Saigon and Brook Valentine, just to name a few. He hasn’t worked with Eminem but would like to, stating “I think him and Juelz have a similar flow and the sound fits. If you listen to the flow, the way he attacks the beat, it’s the same cadence. I think that it would be a dope change.”

Greg ‘Rosonist’ Green of the Bronx started his music career djing when he was only fourteen. “When I realized that people don’t react to anything else the way that they react to good music,” he said, “is when I fell in love with it.” From djing compositions, he followed the hip-hop instrumentalists’ path of natural progression. Eventually, Rsonist blew up becoming one of New York City’s hottest producers. The Heatmakerz have produced about sixty-five commercial songs for major record labels, another fifty for Koch records and when it comes to mixtapes, “that’s a whole ‘nother story,”  he says. Overall, they’ve produced hundreds of records that can be found in stores.

Inside, past the dark foyer of his mother’s ground floor basement was the paraphernalia. “I have a studio in Jersey that’s over three thousand square feet. I’m making beats for survival when I’m down here; I can’t make the same music there that I can make here. This reminds me of when I didn’t have a dollar in my pocket,” he said. He was sitting in front of his Music Production Center (MPC). On the wall over it, a poster read “Piano Chords”, listing the circle of fifths and keyboard fingerings for major, minor, augmented and diminished scales. “If you bring anyone down here, and I’m not excluding anybody… you bring anybody down here and they’re gonna have a problem,” Rsonist said. Saturating himself with music did not start out as a job. “It’s definitely my passion,” he said. Over time, Rsonist developed a professional ear for music considering he doesn’t know how to sight read. “There was a time when you can ask anybody who was around me; I was making 5 to 6 beats a day,” said Rsonist. “Making um and moving um, it was like a factory” he added. “I believed in quantity,” he said. It’s a matter of music but, when music is your profession it’s also about getting paid. Of the 5 or 6 beats Rsonist was producing each day he says, “If I didn’t like 2 of them I would throw them away. It’s definitely quality first.” 

Back in April at Push Play, he stated “I’m one of the illest producer that ever touched an MPC.” This was proven in November 2009. Rsonist won the Celebrity Beat Battle where he challenged other hit making producers for a “healthy competition”. They squared off, battling beat to beat and Amadeus, Bink and Lord Digga are some of those who were defeated by Rsonist’ compositions. “I did it just to prove a point,” he said. “They didn’t pay me but, people know The Heatmakerz so I just went in there and did what I had to do.” The Heatmakerz sounds are more than mere beats, they are works of mastery. As far as being considered the best in this game, Rsonist crowns DJ Premiere. “I’d have to give it to DJ Premiere first, before me. We’ve definitely held it but, I’d have to give it to him,” he said.

From traditional drum percussive kinetics to digital sound waves, hip-hop music has transgressed emerging energies that can currently compliment today’s resonance of music. “Sampling is more than grabbing a loop, throwing beats on it and putting it out,” he says. However, Rsonist admits that he used to get bothered by comments seen on the internet expressing that this is all that The Heatmakerz do.  “If it was so easy you’d be doing it,” he says. “There is nothing lazy about it.”

Hip-hop has been sampling and electronically mixing songs since its birth in the late 1970’s. Portions of song recordings are chopped up, played as instruments and reproduced into a fresh recording. It was the dj’s on the turntables breaking loops and scratching back then. Now, it’s a matter of Music Production Centers (MPC’s) and good musicians aka producers. “People who sample care about the music! You’re reinventing something and giving it life again. Sampling has been keeping people like James Brown alive. How many times has ‘A Man’s World’ been sampled?” he asked. As a matter of fact, according to cratekingz.com James Browns ‘Funk President’ is one of the ‘King of Soul’ most sampled songs in hip-hop. It’s up there with Al Green’s ‘I’m Glad You’re Mine’, and Melvin Bliss’ ‘Synthetic Substitution’. Sampling is mosaic. It is bringing back the essence of the old and constructively blends it in with what’s new. “You have to enhance the sample. That’s where people get it mixed-up. Sampling is an art,” he said.

“To find a sample you have to first find the sample. You don’t just grab anything to sample. Most producer dig through hundreds of records to find 2 or 3 records they want to buy. Go home to chop it up until you find the right sounds. Meanwhile, to make original beats, you just plug up the keyboard and sound modules, start playing the keys, and whatever comes out of your brain is what’s gonna happen. When you sample it’s a much longer process so there’s no way its lazy.  Then you get less money. At the end of the day you gotta pay anybody you’re sampling,” he says.

Rsonist has been working in the music industry since the beginning of the millennium. “This industry is full of assholes and paperwork gangstas. Why do you think Biggie said; I got lawyers watching lawyers so I don’t go broke,” says Rsonist. “You know what’s going on right now in hip-hop? You have to combine hip-hop and rap,” he states. ‘Look at What You Did’ is one of the tracks off his current project. He’s been rapping for the past couple of years and wishes that it would have manifested earlier to coexist with his life as a producer. However, it’s not too late. When asked what he’s been up to his response was “I gotta bunch of sh!t.”  He is currently working on several projects besides his own including The Lox, Styles P and B.O.B. He has some beats for Ludacris and looks forward to working with Cee-Lo Green.   

~Simone A. Santos

My Life The Truth - Big Law Ft Hk

FRIED OR FERTILIZED- Yung Humma ft Flynt Flossy and Whatchyamacallit

How u like your eggs?

GO GRAB MY BELT- Slick Mahony

Pete Rock & Smif N Wessun "Monumental" Music Video feat. Tyler Woods

D.Chamberz @ Stush Music Studio with HOT 97 DJ DJ MAGIC, JAY NOTEZ, AMAZ...

MATH HOFFA "What It Amounts To" via @MATHHOFFA

A week before Math Hoffa of Brooklyn faces Calicoe of Detroit for the Smack battle competition, scheduled August 7^th , he kicked it with Simone ‘SasAppeal’ Santos & Young Amsterdam to distribute his mixed punch of emcee and artist. He considers himself “a creator,” “aren’t we all,” he says.

In the beginning, “emceeing was a great tool that helped build my self-esteem which in turn inspired me to appreciate it from a more creative position, as an art.”  Today, he’s comfortably able to express himself, battle and make music. Math’s creativity manifests potentially dangerous. He “dares niggas” to believe battle rappers can’t make music or be artists “we’re that new breed… niggas can’t do what we do,” he boasts sharply like the smack of a double-edged sword. “Now, I’m inspired by the competition,” he basses invitingly.

He told Young Jack Thriller on Thisis50, earlier this year that his name ‘Math’ represents an acronym whose calculations amount to the truth. “You can calculate, whatever you do- you will not get a wrong answer as long as you do the right thing, that’s what you get from me; not that industry standard,” he states.  

“Music tells a story,” says Math.  It’s been confirmed that he’ll give a “dose” to anyone who pokes their fitted in the way of him telling his. Yea… he’s the guy who put the smack in Smack, back in ’07 and from an emcee he’s developed into a growing artist proclaiming, “I mean we’ve had our thug era.” His witty punch lines, aggressive flow, and charming BK swag have already placed him on the top of the battle rap game but at 6’3”, he’s not playing ball he’s ready for business,… independent business that is.

Math’s album, entitled ‘A.C.M.D. 3 (All Competition Must Die) received a great amount of views on Youtube and was promoted via all the hip-hop websites and blogs popping. It dropped in the spring and features artists such as Q-Tip and Method Man. He stated that while creating the LP he was at a point in his life where he needed to grow, aspiring to make music for more than the “streets”.

The track “Beautiful” featuring Q-Tip and produced by J. Glaze grooves an early ‘90’s appeal. The sound is something dreamy and dynamic combined with sensual yet appropriate lyrical content regarding a woman. With this he strays far from the typical battle scene and creates music that you will still bop your head to. However, in this case you might just want to get up and dance.

Exposed and absorbed since the “classic golden” and “platinum” eras of hip-hop, Math said simply, “it was out there and I just grew up listening to it.” His earliest memory takes him back to the late 80’s classic by LL Cool J “I’m Bad”. He recalled that his cousins’ walkman always had that cassette on deck. Math would sneak off with it for hour’s rocking and rhyming while hiding, trying to avoid giving it back and wishing his cousin would forget it. “He never forgot.”

Respectfully, Math attributed homage to some of the pioneers he grew up listening to such as Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, Redman, Digital Underground and of course, fallen soldiers Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls.

He came through in a Yankee fitted, Penny Hardaway’s, Giorgio Armani shades and a crispy white-T. He’s still BK all day but he didn’t fail to mention that “this aint no $4 white-T!” Laughs were shared when he responded “It’s not silk, probably Egyptian cotton or some shit.”

“We rock the building with straight bars,” said Math. His long awaited battle versus Calicoe on Sunday will also bring Math’s NYB fam, Hollow Da Don face to face with Hitman Holla of the Lou. Although, Math did not want to predict a winner he declares, “I’m always a winner.” When asked how good he believes Aye Verb, Goodz and T-Rex are at “his”profession, emceeing he responded, “Fat boys aight… but nah, fuck all them niggas!” “I’m the next best thing__ the proof is in the pudding.”

-Simone A. Santos

Kreayshawn - Gucci Gucci

Well Said.

The Heatmakerz ft. Jim Jones & Juelz Santana - Streets On Fire (original)

Firing up your soul with something mellow from The Heatmakerz, featuring Jimmy & Juelz

Charlemagne Shoots Again Missing Lil Mama

Where do they find these low life, Media Slaves?

Charlamagne goes in on Lil Mama but dont let the name fool you, she's too powerful for the ill-bred Power 105.1 "god" .

The 105.1 'Breakfast Club', including radio personalities, Charlamagne the God, DJ Envy, and Angela Yee got up with Lil Mama for some unappropriate bash practice that back fired as Lil Mama strongly defended herself and our community in its entirety. 

It started with Charlamagne referring to her as the voice of the "young struggle face." His extent of education surfaced early in the interview, right where it ended in his personal life. "When you first came out you were what, 17 and everyone said you looked at least 30," he said. Yet, he is a stain face??? It wore layers of extra thick dark on dark on dark spots.

"I gotta very old soul," she responds. Thorughout the interview Lil Mama was irritated by his ugly spirit emanating to her left. He asked questions about Nicki Minaj, Jay-Z and Alcia Keys, and attempted to discredit her for being the talented, intelligent and respectable lady she presents herself as. 

Eventually, Lil Mama is brought to tears. However, it was nice to see that the callers had more sense than the sell out staff. Check please!!!.... Watch the video, he's admits to shooting a brutha in SC. Now, he's in NY, trying taking shots at our Lil Mama.

WU-TANG 'Legendary Weapons'- coming July 26

1. Start the Show (feat. Raekwon and RZA)
2. Laced Cheeba (feat. Ghostface, Sean Price and Trife Diesel)
3. Diesel Fluid (feat. Method Man, Trife Diesel and Cappadonna)
4. Played By The Game
5. The Black Diamonds (feat. Ghostface, Roc Marciano and Killa Sin)
6. Legendary Weapons (Ghostface, AZ and M.O.P.)
7. Never Feel This Pain (feat. Inspectah Deck, U-God and Tre Williams)
8. Angels Got Wings
9. Drunk Tongue (feat. Killa Sin)
10. 225 Rounds (feat. U-God, Cappadonna, Bronze Nazareth and RZA)
11. Meteor Hammer (feat. Ghostface, Action Bronson and Termanology)
12. Live Through Death
13. Only the Rugged Survive (feat. RZA)
14. Outro

Brooklyn Education Initiative

This was truly a NYC hip-hop’sational experience. The panel,’Sampling’ documentary and journalism discussion were all very informative, and reached beyond the surface. The program was ideal for music journalists, students, and hip-hop heads who are interested in moving hip-hop up and onward. Of all of the BK hip-hop festival, this day stands out as the most functional, matter-of-fact/ behind the sence; educational. Thanks BHF!

I must say, hip-hop has definitely been evolving before our eyes. We are growing. This was a predominantly black American culture only ten-fifteen years ago, now everyone’s down and that’s kool. Hip-hop’s everywhere because it always had the heart and the harmony to go, so that’s where it is. Real recognize real hip-hop!!

Dreams Beyond the Landing

                 

                  In Union Square’s, NYC Starbucks, all 5 feet 10 inch stretch of Taela Naomi Brooks stood on line composed with slender elegance and graceful poise. She orders a Grande, soy chai latte in her 3 ½ inch heels. Aside from the bold pumps, her Brooklyn blood radiated friendly and brave when she mentions that her belongings are left alone at the table she’s reserved for the meet. Her long twists spiraled down to the side and back making more of her willowy appeal.  She sat down and said “well, this is how the story went…”

               “Taela, Taela, Taela,” her mother, Glenda Brooks called for her 2 year old daughter to come. However, Taela was not responding. She went looking for her tot and discovered that she had been entranced by the TV. “The only channel that ever played in our home was PBS,” Glenda said. The 1977 Baryshnikov’s production of ‘The Nutcracker’ had Taela mesmerized and Gelsey Kirkland’, ‘Clara’ captivated her dancer spirit.

                  Now, she revisits that meditation whenever on stage, in the zone. “Other than those glimmering moments, remembering what friends or family members are in the audience watching me, I’m not thinking when I dance, its meditation; if you are thinking then you are not do ing your job.”

                  Her first platform was located on the 2^nd landing of the staircase in her childhood home, where her mother remembers having to participate as “the frog”. Today, she’s made a jump landing at the top of her dreams as she collaborates with Tony Award winning Bill T. Jones in the productions ‘Josephine’ starring Deborah Cox (the Josephine Baker story) and ‘Superfly’ featuring music by Curtis Mayfield. “I definitely feel an affinity to the project and woman, Josephine Baker, herself,” she said.  Modestly, Taela divulged that comparisons have been made between the two.

Up until high school she was head over heels for ballet.  Now, she says that she lives to dance any routines requiring her to wear heels with maximum height, yet a minimum of 3 inches.

                                                       

Taela Naomi Brooks with Bill T. Jones

              
                 Her friend of twelve years, Junior Henderson went to see Taela in ‘Josephine’, the preview performance last month. The two attended LaGuardia’s Performing Arts High School in NYC together, where Junior was a drama major. It was the first time that he had seen her act. He remembers a very actively outgoing and focused Taela always having a good sense of humor. However, the competitor in her “tried and really wanted to beat me at everything when we went for a fun day of bowling and playing games at Chelsea Piers,” he said. Glenda says that her persistent and positive daughter has a low tolerance for nonsense, like losing.

                     At the tender age of ten years old, Taela became fascinated by sixteen year old Ukrainian figure skater and champion Oksana Baiul. She watched her and drew inspired by her performance in the 1994 Olympics. That was when she requested her first pair of ice skates. “I got them for Christmas and they were big and plastic but, I knew I would have to use them because I asked for ice skates and that is what I got,” Taela said.

                 

                      She always looked forward to skating at Chelsea Piers ice rink. “She was really into her figure skating,” said Junior. Glenda woke her daughter up at 4:30 every weekday morning “Saturdays I got to sleep an extra hour,” Taela said. Before school she was on ice training at Chelsea Piers. Each summer she went to Lake Placid for figure skating camp. “I really looked forward to it but, it wasn’t social at all,” she said. “Now I work with my figure skating inspiration and first coach, Violet Eagan who founded Brooklyn Ice, where I teach children figure skating at Prospect Park.”

She has taken flight and been making way ever since her first dance recital was held when she was only 3 years old. “I remember one day when we had some company over Taela had gone in the house to put her swimsuit on for the pool. When she returned outside on the patio everyone started to applaud her. I remember her standing there absorbing the energy for a long time. She loved it,” said Glenda. When the curtains opened on her for the first time she was on a real stage. In front of the audience her mother recalls the baby ballerinas, including Taela being adorably frozen stuck in their positions. “Oh, they looked so cute in their little tutu’s staring at us,” Glenda said. Now she enjoys traveling to see her daughter dance and perform across the country.

                   “I knew that Taela was an excellent dancer but I didn’t know that she was also great at acting, I was very impressed with her performance in Josephine” said Junior. “I see her going to Broadway within the next few years,” Glenda and Junior both agree. Although, Taela admits that working with Bill T. Jones is one of her most accomplished dreams to date.  “I could say that I am living my dreams but the only thing missing is the paycheck,” she shared humbly.

                                                                                               

                                                                                                              Simone A. Santos

the Muze

Follow My Rap... Hip-hop is a Movement

"

         Rapping was storytelling through rhyme and poetry. MC's creatively accompanied instrumentals including samples, with savy lyrics to create a track. Now, that society has given the title of being called a "rapper" some odd and shady categorization within the culture, hip-hop music has lost sight of its purpose; telling the story of those whose voices have historically been restricted.

     But, because "we the greatest lil bruh",

         Rapping gave a voice for developing what could have been the movement of a conscious culture and instead we are left with only a market which no longer stands for any rhyme or reason.   Rap stood for rhyme and poetry, but hip-hop today is satisfied by spontaneous thoughts and ideas of helter-skelter phenomenon as long as it can sell.

          The expression does not necessarily present the culture of hip-hop as a movement that will speak with dignity and reason historically for generations to come.

          Rap found hip-hop and now hip-hop's losing its rap.

         What I'm trying to ask is what are you following?  Roscoe Dash' "H.A.M., upgrade from bologna"? or Jadakiss' "We were made to amaze and bring change lil bruh?"

        I'm just saying lil bruh?

B.A.G. (blaque avant garde): POP-UP OPENING

B.A.G. (blaque avant garde): POP-UP OPENING: "OPENING for PASSION: NEW BRAND'S of Young Urban Couture & Design Pop Up Shop debuts in Midtown Manhattan! In the heart of Manhattan, th..."

Keep it Nasty

      "Yall Ready for Nas_
                 Yall Ready to See Nasty Nas?"

       The Q.B. King of lyrical flow, content, & consciousness is back on to "something"? This is a flip for his regular fan base, slash_ followers, who might not be as much in love with 'the truth', and honest enough to say 'Welcome back' 'Nasty' Nas, where've you been? Taking a shot, a good guess is- he's been committed to loving 'the truth', and living the Great Mystery.  

      Remember, "Nas' is half man, half amazing!" As he's dealt with his trying marriage, birth, family issues, tours with Damien Marley and limited hype, slash_ tracks, it is apparent that Nasty Nas' hiatus worked better than an effective placebo. His new release 'Nasty' is 'the truth' .

            "The Ideology is Confusion"

     Respect the game with the understanding that it's life. 

The Simply Complicated

It was as if seeds bearing blood had penetrated deep within the earth’s soil that bloomed electric forces; “Flower power”, Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis continued to propagate the “process of liberation” into the next decade.   

   

 

                     The period was bursting with violence, war and destruction that would forever stain the common fabrics of U.S. American “normality”.  The prominent jazz bass “virtuoso”, Charles Mingus once said that “anyone can make the simple complicated. Creativity is making the complicated simple.” One of United States history’s most significant decades, the 1960’s, can “simply” be described as a time of complication.

Racial and economic classifications and other social concepts were on the cusp of societal and political divergence. People were on either side united in opposing groups.  These modern phenomena brought about the avant-garde jazz sounds of “free-tonality”.  The sonic intensity dynamically absorbed the nation; free-jazz was selflessly filling the emptiness in the people attached to the array of social turmoil current in the U.S.  It was a platform that made room for common grounds.  Musicians Charles Mingus, John Coltrane, Archie Shepp, Art Blakey, Ornete Coleman, and other 1960’s jazz greats creatively manipulated the nation’s international “ugliness” and made it attractive. “Free-jazz is an illusion” neither simple nor complicated, beats forged pulses and rhythms evolved into “free-playing”.

“Free-jazz” was introduced to the world in the 1960’s. “The style must be listened to without this need for self-affirmation. The music does not follow the listener anymore; the listener must follow the music. They transposed in off-pattern dynamics that overshadowed, the traditional European-fashioned ways of playing and listening to music.  “Leading jazz musicians claimed an affinity between their music and radical politics; […] ‘new thing’, ‘free jazz’, ‘energy music’ – suggested revolutionary hopes”.  

1950’s be-bop musician, trumpeter Miles Davis, was a trend-setter on the “smooth” jazz scene (“smooth” refers to the mellow mood quality of that particular jazz sound); until the turn of the century when society’s visions and creative expressions collided. Jazz and society were at a stage of freedom. “The people” moved in a “by any means necessary”, very avant-garde tenor. The “charlatans” swung in harmony with the movement.  A screaming manifestation of sounds surged throughout the world. The music was an expression of the causes and effects extant during a decade bearing turbulent environments. “Musicians play because of the world around them and what goes on […], and don’t forget there was a lot of violence in the 60’s.” 

As jazz musicians moved further away from composing European-style quality tunes, many also began finding double standards in the European derived Christian religion.  “Whoever wishes to become a truly moral human being must first divorce himself from all the prohibitions, crimes, and hypocrisies of the Christian church.” Yusef Lateef, Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane and Art Blakey are among some of the jazz musicians who began to embrace Islam.

The Muslim religion sparked their fascination with Arabic and Indian music. Jazz music adopted traditional elements from a panorama of worldly ingredients. This convergence of “spiritual unity to complete communion and communication with the globe as a unity- and, through that, love, and peace for everybody and salvation in pan-religious ecstasy… cosmic ascension and elation to mythological suns and nebulae and heliocentric worlds” expanded the fields.

Ornette Coleman made Peace in 1959. John Coltrane introduced A Love Supreme in 1965. Yusef Lateef blended Japanese, Chinese and Egyptian elements to play the blues, producing a record titled The Golden Flute; A flat, G flat, and C in 1966. In this piece, Lateefs’ flute dances over the raga like a charmer entices his cobra to dance out of a basket. Miles Davis worked with Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea to record Filles de Kilimanjaro in 1968.  All of these works were designed using the essentials of the world harmony, “free-jazz” approach.

 The influential acoustics during the 1960’s included powerful voices. President John F. Kennedy, Medgar Evers, Malcom X, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. publicly addressed social injustices and lead in the call for equality and civil rights for all humankind universally. Their calls were answered to by rallying allies as well as assassins. In 1970 improvised electronics blended with rock rhythms and pitched “Fusion or jazz-rock”.

It was a new approach to the musical abstract, as theoretical as the ensuing Vietnam War. It was as if seeds bearing blood had penetrated deep within the earth’s soil that bloomed electric forces; “Flower power”, Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis continued to propagate the “process of liberation” into the next decade.  

In An Arts Essence~ Off of Jamaica Ave.

On Tuesday, as the moon gradually crept from behind the clouds, the artistic New York City community sparkled of ‘Art, Food and Soul’. A nice crew of artists gathered for an open mic in the heart of downtown Jamaica, Queens. The event featured vocalist, spoken word and visual artists, and host Henry ‘Distinguish’. Humorously, he introduced talents to the stool.

 ‘Spit Fiya’, presented by Samantha Inniss and Jessie ‘Cypha’ Bowers was held at a petite art gallery. Cypha, curator a Gallery 161, measured it up as being the “forefront of the community.” The venue, shadowed by menageries of commercial, wholesale, retail and front rented structures, regularly acts as an outlet of creative expression for the arts. 

Outside of the gallery there was a convergence of enthusiasts chitchatting up aural ingredients from “back in the days” to “sugar loaded cereal boxes” which included enticing toys. Polite tones echoed “to lure children into a lifestyle of poor eating habits,” from a dread brother supporting a cased instrument on his back. As his wise, geeky pitch subconsciously rose to compete with the passing car vibrations of Rick Ross, we laughed. “Child stuffing McDonald’s fries,” he commented, made no ‘picture perfect’ sense but witted those listening.

On the inside, colorful trays of fruit, vegetables, and little pinwheel sandwiches were sold for donation prices. Water, wine, and a sparkling beverage called ‘Izze’ balanced the ambiance; adding to the nature of the night. Attire was casual and more or less your trendy, ‘Urban Outfitter’ with a shot of extra soul. Hip-hop cultured high-top ‘Gumby’s’, locks, ‘fro-hawks’, and low-fades flavored the artists personalities.

African-American modern-folk art colored the white spaces of the illumined wall. The artist, Kareem ‘Inf’ Hayes showcased his paintings depicting faces, bodies, earth, wind, flames, graves, skeletons and serpents. In the midst of a rich, black, grave background stood a rich dark brown Soul mother carrying implicit notice.  ‘Inf’ did not attend but visually his statement was silently telling.
 Poets and lyricists with bars and beats, left the audience fully “plugged in and tuned out,” as in one of the hooks of closing feature performer and artist ‘Sosoon’.

19 year old Taylor Pickett-Stokes introduced a spontaneous stage name ‘Soulful T’, upon her unexpected opening performance. She kicked two acapella verses of Jill Scott’s ‘A Long Walk’ before an unanticipated poem fluidly drew listeners closer to her emotions.


           

“Who I used to be… caused me to go blind every day,” Soulful T harmoniously expressed.  The man portrayed in the framed portrait on the wall sat right to the rear peripheral of her vocal release.  The audience faced the flames of passion that abstracted the anonymous man in the relative painting.
Feature performer, Element an Apollo Finalist, poet and artist with the Nuyorican Poet’s Café “went in”. His polished lines were as clean as his sharp cut, suited look. However, he got dirty when he spoke of the ‘South Jamaica Aphrodisiac’, where he referred to HIV and himself as “a condom in reverse.”  With sex ad’s avidly running wild and cigarettes being New York City’s new expressive assault, his poem promoting safe sex lit on a topic that momentarily has become a 'V', for “vintage” faction.

“Support and show love,” Cypha urged the attendees to continue supporting the creative arts and music in Jamaica, Queens. He brought notice to its going through a commercial metamorphosis’. Applebee’s may be the first sign of this “new and improved” downtown tang. However, “we are the geniuses,” he stated, “realize that they come into the hood to copy write our styles.” On Thursday, June 9, 2011 ‘Private Beauty’, by Jocelyn M. Goode, “a new series of nudes on paper” will be premiered at Gallery 161.  

Poet, Chris Slaughter asked in one of his poems, “when is it ever okay to live invisible?” His prose in perpetual motion led to the direction of responding “never!” Staying involved with the children, creative expression and the community is always a good way to penetrate positive social awareness.