LA Weekly’s Jeff Weiss sits down with L.A.’s “Ambassador of Boogie Funk,” Dam-Funk. The Stones Throw signed selector recently released his five-LP (two-CD) debut, Toeachhizown, jam packed with two hours of the hardest hitting space boogie funk this side of the universe.
In this interview Dam-Funk talks about what inspires him as an artist, his favorite records, and why he wanted to add a different flavor to his live performances. The video was shot, edited, and produced by Jessica Rew and features clips from an electrifying performance by Dam-Funk at the Cinespace in Hollywood.
Today we welcome the mastermind behind Us3, Geoff Wilkinson to Open Mic Presents… Known as the first artist to go Platinum on Blue Note Records back in 1993, Us3 continues to create high-quality sounds, incorporating an array of influences and genres. His latest effort, Stop.Think.Run, made entirely from live instrumentation, employs up-and-comering emcees, Brook Yung and Sene, giving you a very unique and innovative record to nod your head to. Not only should you cop the album, but if you get the chance to see a concert, their 8-piece band is known to rock the crowd time after time. With that said, please join me as I chop it up with the overseas legend himself, Geoff Wilkinson…
Here is a preview, hit the skip for the full feature…
Reyn: Hey Geoff, thanks for stopping in! How are things? Geoff: All good here in sunny London thanks! We’ve just come back from a 21-date tour of 11 countries throughout Europe, so I’m in the recovery position right now…
Reyn: The new album is a hit! How did the recording process go? Geoff: Recording was smooth. I have my own studio where we recorded and mixed everything. This is the first album I’ve mixed straight out the box so that was an interesting process. I actually took a year off last year in terms of releasing something and touring so the prep time for this album was much longer than usual. I wanted to take my time with this one, and try something a little different. I moved my studio closer to my home and completely revamped it. I sold all my old analog gear and bought lots of small shiny boxes that are 100 times more powerful. I feel cleansed!
Reyn: Blending a slew of different genres and influences, Stop. Think. Run seems to have no boundaries. Was that a goal you set out to achieve with this album? Explain some of the different sounds that you utilized. Geoff: I think the variety was a direct result of taking my time and making the changes I mentioned above. I had over 100 backing tracks for this album. Last year I worked every day in my studio, I felt like I had a real creative burst. I brought lots of different musicians in and just played around with different sounds. I had a lot of new toys to play with! I didn’t set out to achieve a specific goal though, I think an album is only a snapshot in time of where an artist is at that particular time. I listened to lots of new stuff as well just to mess up my own head – I don’t like boundaries, I like to experiment.
Today we welcome Michigan emcee, Buff1 to Open Mic Presents… Buff is coming off his sophomore solo album, There’s Only One and has a very heft plate in front of him for 2009. Check out the interview as I chop it up with Buff about his upcoming solo LP, his collaboration album with DJ Rhettmatic, The Athletic Mic League, past ventures and much more!
Reyn: Thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions. Let’s get it started with discussing your most recent album, There’s Only One, which dropped this past summer. Were you happy with the way it came out and how the people received it? Buff1: Yes, very happy with both. I know “Pure” was a difficult act to follow but I’m happy with how it came out.
Reyn: Your album Pure received great critical acclaim, what did you take with you from that release and what did you decide to leave behind in creating There’s Only One? Did you learn anything about yourself from that album that helped you put an even better release? Buff1: I learned that every single aspect of an album is loved by at least one person if you’re good. So its good to touch on past things you know at least one person likes but at the same time I don’t like to repeat things. And I have to make music for myself first and foremost. With that said I do know I have to give people what they want. That was the hardest part about doing a second solo album. So I wanted to take elements that I knew people liked but put a new twist on it. I know people like the stories in “Pretty Baby”, but instead of doing a story on an old soul sample I did it on an 80’s pop sample for “Dream Streets”. Subtle differences and similarities like that. What I learned about myself was that I’m one of the best and this is undoubtedly what I’m supposed to be doing with my life.
Potholes In My Blog is proud to present the production duo Keelay & Zaire to Open Mic Presents… The newly formed group already has a video out for “The Times” featuring Blu, Fortlive and Nino Moschella, and an EP available now on iTunes, Ridin High EP. These two met on the Hip-Hop forums of UGHH and the rest has been golden. Check for this group to make things happen in the time to come as their album debut hits stores March 10th.
Reyn: New on the scene is production team, Keelay & Zaire. Who is Keelay & Zaire?
Keelay: We just two cats that love music and enjoy making music and enjoy the finer things in life aka malt liquor (Cough) St. Ides Holla (Cough.) We really pushin for that sponsor..(laughs.) Zaire: Indeed a fan of the malt liquor, but also as Kee said, where just a couple of cats that enjoy making the kind of music we’re fans of. Of course, we’re hip hop beatmakers at the core, but we’re just some dudes that feel like we can make music our way regardless of what kind of music is thrown our way, and we pride ourselves on that. We probably pride ourselves on that a lil too much (laughs,) but that all comes out in the music which is a good thing in my opinion. But yeah, we want that sponsor (laughs). Read the rest of this entry »
Potholes In My Blog is proud to present hip-hop duo, New Jack Hustle to Open Mic Presents… The group consists of MC Shawn Jackson and producer Newman of Giant Panda. Their debut release has been released, Sound Check, and is guaranteed to keep your neck snapping. With a very unique sound, full of bumping drums, soulful samples and insightful lyrics; New Jack Hustle is a duo worth checking out…
Reyn: How’s it going guys? Thanks for coming out.
Newman: Thank you.
Shawn: Yeah, thanks for having us.
Reyn: So who is New Jack Hustle? Introduce yourselves.
Newman: NEWman on the beats, Shawn JACKson on the raps. Simple as that!
Reyn: How did you guys meet, and when did you decide to make music together?
Newman: I heard Shawn on a song he did with Mekalek from Time Machine. The song was called “Dream Come True”. I knew I wanted to try and get him some beats as soon as I heard that. Shortly after I heard that, I gave him a beat CD, he recorded “Go!” to one of the beats within days. It was pretty effortless. I think when we realized how easy it was to create music together we decided we might as well do a whole project.
Shawn: Boom.
As we honor the late great J Dilla, it is a great pleasure to welcome solo artist, and brother of the legend himself, Illa J to Open Mic Presents… I get chills when I read this interview as Illa breaks down his work on Yancey Boys over those classic Jay Dee beats as well as his experiences growing up in the Yancey family household.
Stay tuned for more J Dilla tributes all week long including a very special DJ YNOT mix coming tomorrow.
Here is a preview, hit the skip for the full interview…
Reyn: Yancey Boys has been out, are you happy with the way people have received it thus far?
Illa: Oh yeah, as far as putting out the album as an artist, I feel as soon as I get the masters it successful. I know some people may like it, some people may not, but that’s the balance of things. It was a fun album to record, and it’s my introduction pretty much as an artist. I still have so much more to say, I am actually working on my next album, but I am definitely happy about this album though.
Reyn: Tell us about that next project.
Illa: Right now I am still writing, and pretty much just polishing up as a musician. I have been mostly on the keyboard the last couple of months and I have slacked a little bit on the bass guitar, so just polishing up on my bass skills and as a musician and a writer. Trying to take my writing to another level pretty much.
Reyn: All the old Dilla beats are on the album, did you have a pretty big selection of beats to choose from?
Illa: When I got the CD, from Mike Ross at Delicious Vinyl back when I met him in around Spring of 07, he gave me a CD with like 38 tracks. There were actually a lot of dope tracks on there and we had to narrow it all the way down. I picked out of those and it was fun writing to it because I connected directly to the song because those were the first songs that I heard from my brother back in ’95 when he was doing stuff with Pharcyde. I would be sitting on the stairs listening to him make some of his first tracks when he really started to get that and started feeling what he was doing. Also, it has a lot of jazz changes and different chords like that, that I relate to. As far as music, I was taught jazz first so I understood where I was going with the album and it was fun writing to it.
Potholes In My Blog is proud to welcome Arts the Beatdoctor of the Netherlands to Open Mic Presents… He has a very unique production style that is keeping necks snapping across the world. I was put on to Arts after his solo debut album, Transitions, a musical journey that should not be labeled as just a collection of beats. I then discovered his two EPs, Fragments, and recently dropped, Progressions. As he works on his newest release, coming 2009, check out my conversation with Arts the Beatdoctor on Potholes In My Blog.
Reyn: Thank you very much for taking the time to answer a few questions Arts, how are things going for you?
Arts: Things are pretty good. After only doing the studio thing for a few years, last year I came out for a tan (which is hard in Holland!) and the first steps of performing my music. I like it, to have both those things going on now at the same time, perfecting sounds in the studio and perfecting performance onstage.
Reyn: When did you first become involved with music and when did you become inspired to become an artist?
Arts: I have been playing instruments for a long time now, I think I started with keys when I was 10, followed by guitar… I really got into production because I wanted to record my guitar songs. So I bought a PC, got some software, and barely touched the guitar after that, but it was the reason to go in that direction initially
Potholes In My Blog is proud to welcome 14KT to Open Mic Presents… His solo album The Golden Hour Soundtrack is out and has been receiving rave reviews (4.5 Potholes). The Golden Hour Soundtrack is not only a collection of beats, but a showcase of 14KT’s creativity and ability to make dope music. A 2008 Red Bull Big Tune finalist, and coming from a very prestigious background of musical groups (Athletic Mic League & The Lab Techs,) 14KT is a producer/rapper to watch out for in the time to come.
Reyn: What’s good 14KT?
KT: Life is great man! I’m thoroughly enjoying life right now.
Reyn: Big ups on making the Red Bull Big Tune Finals; tell me a little bit about the competition.
KT: The Finals went down in NYC. I had a lot of fun there. It was packed. At first the crowd was kinda chill, but then they started really rocking with the producers. The competition was pretty steep because everyone was talented and everyone had there own style of music so it was all about the crowd and what they wanted to hear that night.
Potholes In My Blog is proud to present Cymarshall Law to Open Mic Presents… Cy, an MC hailing from New Jersey has been making quite a ruckus in the Hip-Hop community. His most recent release with producer Mr. Joeker, Hip Hop In The Soul, has been receiving rave reviews. Co-signed by none other than the Blastmaster himself, KRS-One, and a member of the highly regarded Rawkus 50, Cymarshall Law is a dope artist to watch out for in 2009. Myspace Rawkus Profile
Hit the skip for the full interview…
Reyn: What’s up Cy? Thanks for answering some questions with us. Who is Cymarshall Law?
Cy: Cymarshall Law? A Sun, A Father, A Brother, Lover, Fighter, Freedom Writer and Not A Rapper, I’m an M.C. A New Jersey representer, Mr. Hip Hop in the Soul formerly Flesh, I am Hip Hop, and it’s nice to make your acquaintance.
Reyn: Your newest joint with Mr. Joeker, Hip Hop In The Soul, has been out for a little bit now. Are you happy with the fans’ reception of the album so far?
Cy: Yes mos def this looks to be the album that will bring me around the world, the people are really loving it and I’m getting a lot of exciting new opportunities because of it. More people, artists I grew up listening to want to work with me because they heard the album. I’m happy about that to say the least. Some heads are still not behind me fully and I think it’s a shame they wait to jump on the bandwagon and won’t just listen for what’s dope, because Hip Hop started out with you had to be different and original to make a mark, you had to be fresh. Now, it’s about who you know, so because I’m fairly new I’m still going through some people not accepting because they are unfamiliar with the work and people usually take longer to accept what they don’t know about it. It’s cool, it’s expected, but overall the response has been brilliant.
A very special day for all of us here at Potholes In My Blog as we welcome producer/emcee Black Milk to Open Mic Presents… Black Milk is coming off of his critically acclaimed sophomore effort Tronic, and has a bunch of exciting projects and ideas coming up that we were fortunate enough to get the inside scoop on. Please join us in welcoming such a talented and humble musician, Black Milk! Hit the skip for the full interview…
Reyn: What’s up Black?
Black: What’s good, just chilling.
Reyn: Before we jump in, how about you just give us a brief explanation of the name Black Milk.
Black: Really, it’s just something I came up with man. It’s got no deep meaning behind it, it was something that just stands out to get peoples attention when they hear the name, or see the name somewhere, whether they like the name or not (Laughs.) And I know, once they heard the music, it didn’t matter what my name was.
Reyn: Tronic has been out for a little bit now, are you happy with the way people received it critically, commercially and musically?
Black: Everything has been great response, so I definitely can’t complain about that. I put a lot of work into the album in the short period of time that I had to make it. It’s good to see the people reacting with a positive feedback towards the album. I just want to continue to keep dropping jewels and timeless music. My music will last for a minute, which was my whole mindset for the album.
Today we welcome Michigan emcee, Buff1 to Open Mic Presents… Buff is coming off his sophomore solo album, There’s Only One and has a very heft plate in front of him for 2009. Check out the interview as I chop it up with Buff about his upcoming solo LP, his collaboration album with DJ Rhettmatic, The Athletic Mic League, past ventures and much more!
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