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GIFTED and BLESSED

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

GB is something special. In a musical omniverse drowning in the throwaway output of countless copies of Ableton Live, his music speaks differently. Listen to his recent Xpander EP for his own GIFTEDandBLESSED imprint or his production on All City’s fifth installment of their Los Angeles 10″ series and you’ll know.

Our generation, to our detriment, has all but forgotten the true power of sound. GB has not. After studying the seemingly Salvia inspired sleeve of his latest release, I decided I had to make the link and dig deeper. This is what I found…

HH: So, I recently picked up the Xpander 12″ and was blown away by what it hid in it’s grooves. I looked you up and then realized that i’d been hearing your music for almost 10 years and just never made the connection! For those people who are in that position, who is GB?

GB: I write, produce and play music. GB is a moniker under which I’ve released much of my music. I’m an informal student of what I call “technoindigenous studies.”

HH: You’ve collaborated with Flora Purim, Airto Moreira, J*DaVeY, Steve Spacek, Baatin and a whole host of others. Listening back over your discography, your sound is diverse to say the least. Can you explain a little about your musical pedigree and the kind of sounds that have shaped your evolution?

GB: I enjoy music from around the world. I’m interested in exploring lots of musical territory. I enjoy drawing from many sources of inspiration, not to replicate a vibe someone’s already achieved by instead to see how I may be able to transmute, reconfigure, or add to that. At the moment, when working with others, I’m most interested in going places with them in which none of us have spent much time.

HH: Are you resident in LA? I once saw an interview with SaRa in which they talk about the energies and vibrations affecting the city and it’s inhabitants, creatively and otherwise. Is this a concept you can relate to?

GB: Yes I am currently a resident of L.A., so I suppose I relate to that in the sense that living here I’m subjected to the earth energies and social energies that are dominant. L.A. is the communication center of the world, something like Earth’s throat chakra. It adds up that there’s so much sound being transmitted out of L.A. But on the flip side, for my taste, all of my favorite music comes from throughout the world, from both likely and unlikely places.

HH: You record under a few other aliases too. Could you tell me a little more about them?

GB: I’ve released music as Julian Abelar, Frankie Reyes and the Reflektor. Keep in mind that GB is more of a “character” than anything. There is a sound that has come to be associated with GB. Julian Abelar, though related in vibration to GB, is a very different thing, more focused and intentional. Julian Abelar is an ode to the nagual Carlos Castaneda and his shamanic initiation with the nagual don Juan Matus as documented in his series of books. The name Julian Abelar is a name that comes from their lineage of sorcerers. So again, that project was intentional, and releasing it as Julian Abelar gave me the space to let it be what is was. Had I released it as GB, it might have been considered a disappointment to some who were expecting what they got out of Soundtrack for Sunrise. The Reflektor is a similar thing. And Frankie Reyes is a derivative of my actual name, emphasizing and paying homage to my Puerto Rican ancestry. If you spend time with the music, you’ll get a sense of the subtle variations.

HH: You seem to have a particular affection for analogue electronic equipment. What inspired you to evolve in that direction?

GB: I am most interested in a hybrid sound. My earlier releases were mainly sequenced digitally via computer software with a combination of samples and live instruments (I’ve never used software synths). I’ve played analog synths on most of my releases, but in recent years I’ve spent lots of time learning about the connectivity of these machines and how to use them in a configuration that allows the machines to speak to one another and keep in time with each other, like a band. And of course, this allows me to operate the entire band by myself in real time. Plus the sonic quality of analog synthesis is special. You can hear it immediately. There are many studies you can find out there on the compromises with digital vs analog. But that’s not to say that you can’t do interesting things with digital sound that you can’t do with analog. It’s only a matter of taste and understanding. But having said that, electronic music in general has a definite limit for me.

HH: Talking of inspiration, looking at the artwork on your most recent Xpander release and reading some of the copy on your site, there is a definite spiritual thread running though your art. Is this intentional, and if so, how do you relate art to spirit?

GB: Art for me is an attempt to make matters of spirit tangible. I use art to translate inspiration from spirit into a three-dimensional density-based experience. Art affects its audience, one way or another. My aim is to affect my audience positively, to inspire others to be inspired.

HH: To quote directly from your site you are ‘an active advocate and practitioner of therapeutic sound healing techniques’. Could you expand on this please? What role do you think music has in the human healing process?

GB: Sound health is a very real thing. You can input sensory data into any of the senses and have a healing effect, and just the same you can have a detrimental effect. Without being conscious of it (for most people, anyway), you’re either helping or hurting your body by what you give it. So in my Healing Tones: Inverted Listening release, I emphasized specific colors and frequencies using analog synthesis again with the intention of activating the body’s innate self-healing capabilities. I’ve used these principles in several yoga studios here in L.A. as well as university lecture halls and alternative healing spaces.

HH: The most recent offering i’ve heard from you is the Raices Africanas sound collage under the Frankie Reyes moniker. It features a lot of traditional african drum music. What are your thoughts on the traditional music of the African diaspora and what relation have these rhythms got to your electronic output? Do raw organic drum music and programmed electronic music share any common ground?

GB: African music is inextricably a part of who I am. My rhythms, be they human-generated or machine-generated, are very African in essence. The drum is the most primal universal mode of communication and vehicle for achieving higher mind states. I don’t think we’ll ever stray too far from the drum because it basically equates to our life force itself. And in our technological age, in this transitional moment in human history, electronics are in many ways as organic as hand drums.

HH: What projects are you working on at the moment? Anything we should look out for in the near future?

I will be putting forth more live electronic offerings, as well as more earthy human music. I am still a student of music in the end, so as I continue to learn and expand, the breadth of my output will continue to do the same.

What is Gifted and Blessed? What are it’s aims and objectives?

Gifted and Blessed is the outlet for my music. Nothing more than that.

GB Links:

Website//Facebook//Twitter//Myspace

 


 

Listen: Lola Recommends…

Thursday, April 29th, 2010

As the sun creeps out of its shell, spring is in full swing and music once more takes on the responsibility of maintaining the momentum that will transition us from now to summer. On your marks, get set… Go!

1. House of the Rising Sun – Nina Simone

>> Nina Simone at the Village Gate (Colpix, 1962)

>>> Fast-paced, head-nodding, feet-tapping, sweet, jiving, soulful blues. Despite the underpinning morose lyrics of struggle and strife, Nina and the harmonica will infect any listener of this track with vibes of joy. The non-stop tempo is also worth noting as a refreshing take on the forever re-worked folk song. RIP Nina and thank you for once again bringing New Orleans back to life so vigorously, in the rawest yet happiest way possible.

2. Death and the Flower – Keith Jarrett

>> Death and the Flower (Impulse!, 1975)

>>> By now, you should have caught on to the fact that musically, I’m a lover of epics… This example is no different. Keith Jarrett is a maestro. The title track, Death and the flower is an almost 30 minute odyssey daring one to explore the realms of Africa, the Middle East and beyond. The track starts as experimental world music with recognisable yet undefinable percussion, flutes and all sorts of other instruments that pay homage to the ethnic world. When most songs would finish, at around 6 minutes, he finally decides to switch gears and grace us with his ever-loyal piano, sparsely weaving in and out with jazzy adlibs. Later on, Redman’s saxophone and the rest of the 5-piece join in adding yet more layers. Listeners trust me, be patient with this track – I promise, it will touch all of your senses and reward you for your time. Bursting with positive energies.

3. Reckoner – Radiohead

>> In Rainbows (XL Recordings, 2007)

>>> Yes, this album got rinsed but rightly so. I personally believe that this is Radiohead’s best album since OK Computer. Thom Yorke and posse get this track so spot on (along with Jigsaw Falling into Place, Weird Fishes/Arpeggi and Nude). When they opened up the remix competition on their website a few years back, I diligently listened to about 60 versions of Reckoner hoping to find a re-edit that would supersede the original, to no avail. In that sense, I think Cee-Lo nailed it by merely duplicating the song in Gnarls Barkley’s live performance. The negro-gospel breakdown proves that this band is not constrained by their genre, the disharmonies are so beautifully awkward and the strings are just taking the piss on a different level. If you’re a smart person with good taste, you will pay Radiohead a lot more attention than their ‘alternative/indie’ counterparts. In fact, don’t bother with the rest of them at all.

4. Yes We Can – Oliver Koletzki & Roland Clark

>> Yes We Can EP (Hell Yeah Recordings, 2009)

>>> House music: the biggest thief of inspiring rhetoric, has Obama to thank for resurrecting the spoken-word element in electronic music. From the moment he entered into the political domain, his impassioned public speeches have been sampled all over house tracks. This one, although confusingly titled to imply that the words come from one of Obama’s many speeches, is actually written by Roland Clark. Deep house producer Koletzki, tastefully edits Clark’s lyrics to invoke the right emotions in a way that is reminiscent of classic detroit techno. Do not Resist.

5. A Song for Assata – Common

>> Like Water for Chocolate (MCA Records, 2000)

>>> Keeping on the hopeful tip, this track (along with a trillion others) proves why Common is ridiculously underrated. NO-ONE in hip hop tells such vivid stories as Common does. Not only does he tell the moving tale of Assata Shakur, a Black Panther activist, who was unjustly incarcerated, now exiled with political asylum in Cuba; he also enlists Cee-Lo to contribute his trademark rich, velvety vocals and James Poyser (Soulquarians) to display his talents on production. To understand how deep this song goes, Common actually travelled to Cuba to meet Assata Shakur and features an excerpt of her speaking at the end of the track. For the geeks out there, if you listen well, you can hear Macy Gray, D’Angelo and possibly Erykah Badu singing in the background towards the end (uncredited).

6. Waka / Jawaka – Frank Zappa

>> Waka / Jawaka (Reprise Records, 1972)

>>> As far as prog-rock, jazzy fusion is concerned, it doesn’t get any more psychedelic than this. Guitars riffs, horn motifs and synths galore. Every solo is outstanding and along with that, the arrangement is second-to-none allowing for diverse melodies and seemingly impromptu improvisation. Zappa masterfully brings this ensemble piece together like a trippy-happy-puppeteer controlling a tribe of hippies.

7. Superman on Ice – 13 & god

>> 13 & god (Anticon, 2005)

>>> Probably the most miserable song in this playlist but I couldn’t resist. Dreamy, weeping strings with slightly creepy vocals but for hip-hop,* this is interesting. This underground (American/German) collective deliver quite a niche, almost wabi-sabi sound – you’ll either like it or you wont. Lyrically speaking, 13 & god have a high-pitched, sped up Quasimoto-esq style and talk about abstract concepts that explore both existentialism and metaphysical oddities such as “one day the moon might hold a half a million nice size hoods” and “fast restaurants…” Maybe they just smoke too much green.

*I stand corrected, they call this kind of music ‘indietronica’ apparently.

Givaway: Nneka Hot Tickets!!!

Tuesday, April 27th, 2010

nneka1

No matter where on the spectrum you lay your musical hat, chances are the name Nneka means something to you.

Since the release of her 2007 debut ‘Victim Of Truth’, Nneka’s songs of freedom have amassed a sizable global following.  Her own biography speaks the truth when it says this popularity has less to do with marketing budgets and a whole lot more to do with the content and delivery of her art. Although ‘Victim Of Truth’ was slept on by many, her sophomore offering ‘No Longer At Ease’ (which joins the Root’s “Things Fall Apart” as another LP title garnered from the mighty Chinua Achebe) refused to let us continue in our slumber with its tough-yet-soulful collection of treatises on the political and humanitarian crises we face in our times – not least in mother Africa.To date she’s shared stages with the Roots, Mos Def, Femi Kuti and Bilal and is now all set to hit the road with Damien Marley and Nas for their Distant Relatives album tour. Basically, this woman is not joking…

To cut a long, but pretty interesting story short, we’ve been given the opportunity to give away two pairs of free tickets to her London show at the Scala on Weds 28th April. Free entry to what is bound to be one of the capital’s hottest live shows this year goes to the two lucky people who can answer the following question:

What is the name of the single which Nneka released at the end of March?

The two winners will be picked at random from the list of entries with the correct answer. Good Luck!

EMAIL US YOUR ANSWERS HERE and see below for details of the show, an interview with the lady herself and a Lauren Hill inspired unplugged studio special.

nnekascala

Mixtape: Cal Jader vs. Latin Dub Soundsystem…

Tuesday, April 27th, 2010

LDs

Lewis Parker’s late 90s UK Hip Hop landmark album “Masquerades and Silhouettes” always held a special place for me back in the day. Musically it had an epic scope and was awash with cinematic soundscapes and Jedi knight references, so I’d always wondered about the mysterious identity of it’s producer The Sea, who was behind the beats on this unlikely Hip Hop odyssey. Imagine my surprise then that almost ten years after that in my guise as a Latin music promoter and DJ I would encounter the very same one like the ‘Sea’ spearheading his own project – a collective of musicians pioneering the hybrid Latin, Hip Hop, Reggae and Dance beats of ‘Latin Dub Soundsystem’ and blazing a trail on festival stages across the UK. In the intervening years he’d spent time producing a string of reggae legends in Jamaica, as a tour DJ for the Wailers, and has been at the forefront (or should I say background) of the UK Hip Hop scene orchestrating tracks and albums for the likes of heavyweights Rodney P, Skitz, Yungun, as well as producing a (much overlooked) mini album for Benjamin Zephaniah. Indeed it was working with Zephaniah that went on to seed Latin Dub Soundsystem with the track ‘Uptown’ (included on the mixtape here) incorporating some rolling Latin keys alongside it’s skanking beat and Zephaniah’s killer vocal hook.

So Latin Dub Soundsystem are putting the finishing touches to their debut album which will feature some the UK’s finest Hip Hop talent alongside London based Latin MCs, Argentinian firebrand ragga Hip Hop MC Malena from Actitud Maria Marta (also featured on the mix) and the startlingly brilliant vocals of UK singer Eva Abraham. However in the meantime The Sea and I have concocted a mixtape of Latin, Tropical and global underground freshness from Salsa beats to Latin Hip Hop, Dancehall flavours, Brazilian mash ups, and a large helping of dubwise Cumbia bass alongside a glut of Latin Dub exclusives, unreleased remixes and mash ups! Nearly 40 tracks in just over and hour! Enjoy!

Sms Mix 03 – Cal Jader Vs Latin Dub Soundsystem by Stop Making Sense Festival on Mixcloud

Re-issue: Sound Iration In Dub…

Monday, April 19th, 2010

Manassa Recording/Photo session

When Sound Iration’s ‘Seventh Seal’ 12” rumbled onto the streets back in 1988, it heralded a fresh chapter in reggae music’s evolution. Haunting melodica lines and scattered percussion referenced the ‘golden-era’ of late 70s roots music, but the exchange of a live drum and bass section with pounding digital drums and the minor key melancholy of the cut led many to regard it as the first in a new wave of ‘UK Steppers’ dub records. Built between Jah Tubbys and Rock studios as part of the ‘Sound Iration In Dub’ collection, the whole approach to the production was a radical departure from the norms set by Jah Shaka and the rest of London’s roots heirarchy during the 80s. Nick Manasseh, one half of the Sound Iration production team explains

“There was something about that record that had a different approach. UK roots had been present throughout the 80s, but it was in the hands of Shaka, Mad Professor and the Twinkle Brothers. They all worked in proper studios recording to 2” reels. Sound Iration was one of the first home studio records in the roots scene at that time. We used drum machines and were heavily influenced by that Augustus Pablo minor key sound so it was a different angle. Their [Shaka et al] tradition was still working from a Scientist, raw drum and bass, rub–a-dub feel. I don’t think anyone apart from Russ Disciples had put out a melodica style record at the time.”

Of course, the story doesn’t begin there. By 1988, Nick Manasseh and his then production partner Steve ‘Scruff’ Guilder had more than completed their reggae industry apprenticeships. Scruff had provided the basslines for West London’s legendary roots outfit Night Doctor whilst Nick had secured a much-lauded heavy roots radio show on the then illegal Kiss FM on the strength of the Manasseh Soundsystem. A system he co-founded with Eddie Manasseh and Billy T and debuted at the 1985 Notting Hill Carnival .

“We literally finished the boxes on carnival Sunday 1985. My girlfriend helped me put the last box together on the day. We played carnival from 85 to 90 and then again in 94 and 95. The sound thing was an ambition from the lower sixth form for me.  As a young kid growing up in London and I’d gone to carnival for the five years before that looking at Java playing and was like wow!”

Sticking with soundsystem, Manasseh is no stranger to the clash, his most memorable being the first time they met Jah Shaka in the dance.

“We had a new set. Our first four boxes had been nicked from a van which had been given to us by Joey and Norman Jay.  Rob Catto came in with some money and invested in the sound so we could build 12 new bass boxes. We’d also just bought some more amps from Tubby’s. We cut dubs for the session and it was fantastic. I wasn’t actually that nervous because I’d been going to Shaka solidly for the last three or four years and I knew the difference between him really playing well, and just playing an average session. To be honest, that night was the best that I’d ever seen Shaka play! He was just blazing! We were sounding good though and got a couple of good forwards off the crowd. The Jah Tubby’s crew said that we booted him.  I dispute that. We didn’t boot him by any means, but we made a good strong impact. The victory for us was in not looking stupid! That night we played a lot of our own productions. Funnily enough though, the second time we played Shaka in 1989, he had just got the Sound Iration album on a white label. He dropped ‘CTUFB’ and the whole place erupted! “

In the 20 years between the original release of Sound Iration In Dub and its now imminent reissue, Manasseh has demonstrated a diversity which many of his peers in the UK reggae scene lack. He’s cut plates for the Acid Jazz label, mixed pop tracks for the Chimes, and made successful forays into the hip hop world with the Columbia released Riddimwize project. Home is where the heart is though, and for Nick, reggae is definitely home. Take your pick of reggae royalty and you can be almost certain that he’s worked with them at some point. Either making records, or cutting dubplates for a myriad of soundsystems, including his own.

“I used to have a studio in Brixton which became a big specials studio. Specials sessions can sometimes be a bit of a nightmare! Dennis Brown would come down with like 20 people accompanying him, guns, you know, heavy. This was in a house with a two year old and a pregnant wife so it wasn’t always cool but it was great in a way too. Freddie McGregor once came in for a really good session where we built three new rhythms over Studio One tracks while he was sitting there. I did a brilliant one once for Rodigan with Charlie Chaplin, Brigadier Jerry and Josie Wales. That was a classic session. It was good doing that kind of yard style voicing. Its good to learn how to hold it down and not get flustered. I do remember one session with Everton Blender where he started getting a big screwy, saying it wasn’t so cool working outside of Jamaica with all these ‘foreign people’. I’ve always been quite accepting of that sort of thing though. I relish it in a way. There’s this little fiesty side of me that enjoys it.”

In line with the specials sessions but somehow incongruous with the digital melancholy of ‘Sound Iration in Dub’ are Nick’s newer productions. Even a casual listen to his recent work for the Brighton bred Roots Garden label reveal a much stronger Jamaican feel and production style.

“I decided quite early on that my taste is wider than UK roots. In a funny, paradoxical way, I’m not that good on the UK dub thing. I’ve always been more Jamaican in my taste than Joe from Aba Shanti or Mark from Iration. They’re much more UK steppers than me. Its great to see a resurgence in interest for the more Jamaican sounding reggae. For years I felt slightly isolated on the roots scene. I wanted to play new Jamaican music at a time where guys like Aba Shanti were saying they were only playing UK productions. Jamaican roots is a different vibe. A different tempo. Its not so bass driven, not so heavily minor key. Although I’m getting more and more into mixing dub again at the moment, my thing is all about the vocal. A good vocal turns me on more than anything else. “

Regardless of the creeping popularity of Jamaican style reggae, dub fans the world over will welcome the re-release of Sound Iration’s classic long player with open arms. With some of the original 12”s from the album changing hands for ludicrous amounts in the digital marketplace, those who missed out will now have a second chance to own a piece of dubwise history.

“We’ve been asked a lot over the years to reissue it. I was always unsure and didn’t want to destroy the collectors demand so I just let it be. Basically, Year Zero came along and wanted to do it properly with proper promotion. You don’t get offered that a lot these days, its quite special.  The fact that they wanted to do it, and that the album they just put out is X-Ray Specs, which meant quite a lot to me as an 11 year old, before I got into reggae, made me want to go ahead. It’s great to see six people tapping away at computers, employing PR agencies and the like. Even in these supposedly democratic internet days, its still about who can shout the loudest.”

Ever the ambitious producer, as the daylight begins to wane in Darren Mathers’ Jamtone studio, a regular workspace for the likes of Gussie P, Robert Lee, Earl 16 and of course Nick himself, the conversation shifts to future projects.

“I’m doing an album with Earl 16 which I’ve been recording here at Darren’s. That’s been a lovely experience. We work really well together. I want to do a themed Roots Garden album of the more digital sounding stuff I’ve done for them plus some more unreleased bits. Almost like a concept album really. The whole thing done on a Casio. I’d also like to do another proper Dub record. I mixed a track for the Resonators, one of the last dubs I did. It was one of the best dubs I’ve ever done! I definitely want to do another dub record. It might well be compiled though rather than produced as a dub record. The last proper dub record we did was ‘Step Like Pepper’. Since then it’s been strictly vocals. We’ve got loads of good vocals from our Roots Garden stuff and a proper dub, a reggae dub, always comes from a vocal track rather than being built intentionally as a dub track. There’s no doubt. For me, that is dub music. “

Sound Iration in Dub is due for release on 10th May 2010 courtesy of Year Zero. Follow them here for more information.

Nick Manasseh’s Top Five Roots LPs

1.    Heart of the Congos//The Congos (Black Art)
2.    Bobby Babylon//Freddy McGregor (Studio One)
3.    Visions//Dennis Brown (Joe Gibbs)
4.    Kaya//Bob Marley & The Wailers (Island)
5.    Dub Landings//Scientist (Starlight)

Special thanks to Darren Mathers @ Jamtone Studios for shelter, technical advice, and excellent ginger tea and SHOOK Magazine for allowing me to reproduce this piece for Heads High

Podcast #17: Duke Etienne

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

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Easter weekend. Four days off and very few excuses not to record a podcast so here it is. Heavily inspired by the ritual bank holiday dig through the collection, a selection taking in rootikal dubwise, golden age pirate radio anthems, fresh boom-bap and forthcoming 130 BPM sub bass excursions…..enjoy:

 

Download Duke Etienne Podcast #17

The Observers//Organ Satta
Big Youth//Love Jah Jah Children
Horace Andy//Lets Live In Love
Jah Bunny & Ras Elroy meet Dougie Conscious//Dub 2
King Tubby//Antique Dub
ELUCID//Laser Days
SBTRKT//Inamillion
Blackpocket//U’re a Star (Martyn Remix)
Hem ft. Terrible Shock//On a Mission (Shortstuff Remix)
Ragga Twins//18″ Speaker
Pursuit Grooves//Whisper
U.N.I. ft. H.O.P.E & Shawn Jackson//Cali Soul
Ski Beatz ft. Mos Def//24 Hour Karate School
Bullion//Don’t Talk
Madlib//Floating Soul
Dabrye//Magic Says
Chico Mann//Levanta
Pursuit Grooves//Cosy
Portformat ft. Blaktroniks//It’s On (Swede:art Remix)
Erykah Badu//Turn Me Away (Get MUNNY)
Georgia Ann Muldrow//So Far
Ski Beatz ft. Mos Def & Whosane//Taxi

Video: Richy Pitch featuring M.anifest. Blackstar

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

blackstar_cover_1500x1500

Continuing with the African theme, I’ve been putting together a couple of articles around Richy Pitch’s ‘Ye Fre Mi Richy LP‘ set to drop in June on the ever-reliable BBE imprint. Watch this space for more info on the full pieces, but in the meantime, here’s a most excellent video for ‘Blackstar’, the first single release from the LP featuring US dwelling Ghanaian wordsmith M.anifest.

In some ways, ‘Blackstar’ is probably the least ‘African’ (in a traditional sense) cut on the album. It was actually my least favourite at first but it’s definately a grower. Props to Stringmouse for the video – takes me back to the days when computers took tapes and Mum took care of my washing. Good times….

Posted in Listen, News, Video | Comments Off

Video: Erykah makes us think…

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

ERYKAH-BADU-ME-RINGS

I know this is all over the internet right now but the message is just too much for me not to want to add my voice.

Shot in Dealey Plaza, Dallas the official video for Erykah’s lush Window Seat joint was posted at 3.33am last Saturday. The fact that I’ve mentioned 3.33am will shows you where I’m going with this. Ever the esoteric empress, Erykah’s choice to upload at such a numerologically significant timeframe is a big clue to the kind of symbolism you’ll witness when you click ‘play’.

A guerilla style 5.35min sequence follows her striding across the plaza while simultaneously stripping naked and ends with her thoughts on the Orwellian ‘Groupthink’ characteristic after she is shot dead and lays naked on the ground. Some interpret this as a treatise on the risk of being shot -down as a ‘true’ artist, others are drawing direct parallels to the JFK assasination cover-up which occurred in the same location. My personal view is that it’s both of those things and much more besides (you know Ms Badu is far from shallow so limitations to interpretations are dangerous.). Anyway, being that groupthink isn’t cool, check out the piece, ungroup your thoughts and make your own mind up…

(NB.Some of you may find it little challenging to move beyond the beauty of the Badu booty but stick with it….it’s important!)

Spec Boogie Speaks…

Thursday, March 25th, 2010

IMG_4549Photography: Mel D. Cole

I’m starting this by showing a little love to Amelia (she runs tings) over at Put Me On It. She dropped a post about Spec Boogie’s Bed Stuy joint, which is fire by the way, a wee while back. Time being what it is, passed, and when I finally got to doing the research on the SB I was like “rah….man’s got SKILLS”. Lyrically, musically, visually, his vibes are on point. So, now I’m back in the hotseat and writing again , I figured it’d be a good time to link Mr Boogie and shine a light on his artistry….presenting, Spec Boogie:

So who is Spec Boogie?

I’m just a simple dude from Brooklyn NY who loves art, women and hip hop.

Where are you based?

I’m based out of the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. My father was a native and he moved the family here from California when I was 3 years old.

Does your location affect your art?

Brooklyn has influenced my art for as long as I’ve been an artist. I remember when I was 6 or 7 years old a dude was shot and killed on my corner. About a week later I was going to the store for my mom and some writers were painting a mural for him and it was the first time I saw someone other than myself create a piece of art, from start to finish.

Talking of art, word is that you’re a pretty hot graphic designer too. Do you see similarities between your modes of expression? Do they tend to influence/relate to each other?

I’ve trained myself to keep them separate, most of the visual art I do nowadays is commissioned so I try to create to reflect my client’s point of view rather than my own. When it comes to my personal work, yes. I can’t write a song without thinking of the video, the cover, even clothes that match the song, it’s automatic. I really want to create a video for every song on my upcoming album. I don’t know how likely it is of happening, but I have ideas for every one. Either way, as long as I get to be creative, I’m happy.

Just out of curiosity, apart from your own Spec Boogie site, where else can we see your design work?

One recent project that I’m very proud of is the site for the J Dilla Foundation. The team over there was very clear, helpful and knew exactly what they wanted. They were perfect clients. Being that I’m one of the billions of MC’s who have rocked over his beats for mixtapes etc, I’m grateful to be able to say I gave something back. Shout out to Ma Dukes. Other than that a lot of the work I do is very corporate. I’ve been lucky enough to do work for the NBA, Def Jam, Ralph Lauren and many other brands that I grew up admiring.

sitescreenshot

Your music is delivered via Loosie Music right? Is that your own label? Tell us about Loosie and what it represents…

Yes, Loosie is my baby. My goal is to build it into a creative agency rather than just a record label. The name Loosie is representitve of working class New York, here cigarettes are expensive so if you can’t afford or don’t want to pay for a pack, the corner store will sell you a “Loosie” or a single cigarette. I don’t know how much they are now because I don’t actually smoke cigarettes but growing up they were 25 cents. It’s just something that reminds me of the working class struggle that I try to represent through my music.

While we’re dealing with names, Lessondary is another that is linked with you. What is Lessondary and what should we know about it?

Lessondary is Tanya Morgan (Von Pea, Donwill & Ilyas), Che Grand, Elucid, The Red Giants & Aeon. There are other extended family members but that’s the core. We’re called lessondary because we are all students of the culture. Dope beats, dope rhymes, just dope.

So the Specflix thing. I was on your site recently and was so into what you’ve done that I watched each video from beginning to end in one sitting! What is Specflix? What was the inspiration to begin such a project and how have people responded to it?

Thank you, the response has been great. The inspiration came from wanting to challenge myself. I’m a bit of a movie buff and on previous mixtapes I’d taken Superfly and Do the Right Thing and made mashups so I figured it would be fun to do that for a whole project instead of just one or two songs. The idea to call it Specflix came from my boy Naturel.

Are all the Specflix beats yours? I really like the fact they all feel different.

Not all of them. Some were done by Von Pea, some by me, some are straight from the movie’s soundtrack and some are other people’s beats that happened to have sampled movies I like.

Which Flix is your favourite and why?

That’s a tough one. I think AKIRA might be my favorite becaue It’s the only beat I did on the project that wasn’t a simple 2 or 4 bar loop. I chopped up 3 different songs from the Akira soundtrack to make it but you can’t really tell because the whole soundtrack is drums and chanting. Other than that, I love all of the Von Pea produced tracks. He’s criminally slept on as a producer, one of the best out right now.

Outside of the Specflix series, where else can we hear Spec speak?

As far as projects out now, I am featured on all my Lessondary brothers’ projects. Donwill’s Don Cusack, Che Grand’s Everything’s Good Ugly, Tanya Morgan’s Brooklynati. just look for Lessondary and you’ll find me. I’m on a bunch of outside projects as well this year but none of them have been released yet.

Going deeper, what is important to you as an artist/human being (not that they’re mutually exclusive!)?

Damn son, that’s a tough one, haha.  As both an artist and a human being I feel it’s important to be as honest as you can with your audience and with yourself, because when you are you don’t feel the pressure of conforming to outside opinions. It gets tough when money and business get involved but there is a balance, as long as you know what your goals are.

What drives you to create and what do you think the value of art is?

I create because that’s all I know how to do, I was raised by an artist to be an artist. What I love most about art is that it’s value is relative to whoever is experiencing it. As much as I like to be complimented on my work I love it even more when someone tells me something they got from my music that I didn’t even intend, it just shows how malleable art and perception are.

Looking forward, what is on the horizon for Spec Boogie?

Up next is a mixtape I’m putting together with the help of 2dopeboyz.com & okayplayer.com, it doesn’t have a name yet but it has a theme. That’s dropping in  May, then the debut album, Introspective on June 1st. After that I may put out another Specflix, and I’m working on a project with Dego of 2000 black/4 Hero that’s going to be a bit of a departure from the traditional boom bap type stuff I usually do.

Who or what would you like to work with in the future?

That’s a loooooong list right there. At the top though is Brent Rollins. He’s a graphic artist who has influenced design as it relates to hip hop or “urban” media more than anyone I can think of. He has this kind of collage style that a lot of people do nowadays without realizing that it started with him. On the music side there’s Madlib, his beats are incredible and he’s a great example of a free artist, he seems to have mastered that art/commerce balance I spoke on earlier. And Buckwild because he’s the shit, crazy underrated.

Plug time. Where can we find your art? Links please!

You can find it all on specboogie.com if it isn’t there now. it will be.

Thanks for sharing Mr Spec Boogie. To continue in the giving spirit, here is a little something from SB to we. Its a Lessondary posse cut that didn’t make it to Spec’s Introspective LP because it didn’t fit the theme. Remember, if you like what you’ve heard/seen then make sure to head over to Spec Boogie’s site where you’ll find the whole Specflix series, links to all the Lessondary artists and much more besides.

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