Sign O’ The Times

Mexicans gon’ love it like, it was for La Raza

Common – Reminding Me of Sef (The Roots remix)

Common is probably one of my favorite MC’s of all time. I can probably narrow down the list to ten and he’d be no lower than number five on that list. From the way he used to be the epitome of a style MC with lyrics that zig-zagged through metaphors–

‘I get charged like a nigga in position, with the stolen card of credit‘

to the way he made a transition to boho-ness make sense, Common is unfuckwithable. Before he made the best album of his career, Like Water For Chocolate, Com got ?uestlove and company to redo the 2nd to last track on 1997’s One Day It’ll All Make Sense, and since then, I’ve been pissed that The Roots haven’t kept on doing this for other artists. This song was the reason I ate at Giordano’s when I went to the Chi, isn’t that right Vlad?

oh yeah, Finding Forever leaked. No link. Here’s the grimiest, a relative term, song on the record, Common – Southside ft. Kanye West

Sunspot Jonz – Angels With Dirty Faces

If you claim to have a ’system’ in your car, play this song the next time you go anywhere. Way before I even knew about the grassroot heroes that are the Living Legends, I knew this song from my cousin’s suburban.

Jay Electronica – I Feel Good

Jay can do grimy, Jay can do introspective, Jay can do lyrcism, Jay can do love shit, and now Jay can do that summer cookout, feel-good (no pun) music? daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn (c) Smokey

Mos Def and Vinia Mojica – Get To Steppin’ (produced by Hi-Tek)

In the post-Donuts onslaught of beattape albums (see: DJ Babu, Alchemist, Evidence, etc.) Madlib tha Badkid keeps showing why he’s the toarchbearer of originality.

my raps y’all bit em up, for that now stick ‘em up

Jay-Z – Regrets

Jim Jones criticized Jigga for selling out, once stating that he used to be “the huslter’s posterchild.” although I’m not going to side with mr. baaaalllllllin’, it is true that Jay once had a very street, for lack of a better word, appeal that is nothing but a facade now (as a sidenote, I don’t think that that’s called selling out, I think it’s called the aftermath of success). In this song, the last on his arguably only classic album Reasonable Doubt, President Carter paints a picture of regrets and self-questioning in a way that isn’t corny or predictable as much of his later attempts of rehashing this would be.

Fat Pat – 25 Lighters ft. Lil Keke

it’d be hard for me to believe that in 2007, people are still doubting the south. Fat Pat (r.i.p.) was simply one of the dopest, and Lil’ Keke continues to hold it down. love it mayne!

Slum Village – 2u4u (original)

you can hear this for about 3 seconds at the beginning of the 2.0 version of this track on Fantastic Vol. II. I always loved the dirtier, rawer sounding Dilla beats.

I haven’t mentioned my mans Ghostdeini in a minute. The Struggle is a Nottz-produced gem is just classic Ghost and The Champ (original version w/ sample and different lyrics) off Fishscale was called one of, if not the best, Hip Hop record of the year by mr. Hip Hop himself, Bobbitto Garcia aka DJ Cucumber Slice, in Vibe magazine I believe.

Juelz Santana – Mic Check remix ft. Young Jeezy & Lil’ Wayne

this is one of the better remixes in recent memory, yeah I said it. it has a ‘Flavor In Ya Ear’ kind of vibe to it. Juelz actually raps and it’s actually good, Jeezy swags his way through an enjoyable verse, but then Weezy F. Baby comes in. now, to me, this is when Weezy made it known that he was a monster on the mic:

‘jack for a Mazda, come back in a Mase-

rati, like how he? why he? cuz I be,

movin’ through the city like an IV,

tryna be monogamous but I got

bitches on my dick like i’m the shit,

cuz i’m the shit’

you can’t deny D’wayne Carter as microphone fiend, but, it is very, very, very important to recognize a distinction, one that many of the people calling Weezy ‘the best rapper alive’ don’t seem to recognize. to truly be recognized as a legend in the game, on equal terms as MC’s like KRS-One, Nas, Ice Cube, Rakim, Common, and so many others, the music has to have something that speaks deeper than lyricism at the end of the day. Nas painted a very human portrait of his surroundings in ‘One Love‘ and ‘NY State of Mind,’ Rakim and KRS literally dropped knowledge, and Ice Cube rose above the simple stigma of a gangster rapper by adding a rebellious consciousness to his music that no one has done at that level to date. my point is that as dazzling and rewind-button breaking as Young Carter’s lines and flows are, at the end of the day they lack the humanity and three dimensionality of legends. the rhymes may get stuck in my head, but I never take them to heart.

P.S. Jay Electronica – Girlfriend

she got into R&B, Hip-House, Bass and Jazz

D’angelo – Everybody Loves the Sunshine

this Roy Ayers cover comes from the infamous Voodoo sessions from D’angelo and co. (?uestlove, James Poyser and Pino Palladino I believe) that also sprung some other joints like a cover of Gangstarr’s Ex to the Next Girl, a Pete Rock tribute and various other jam session-like cuts.

Renaissance Man & Be Easy

by the dude, you-know-who.

whoops, fixed the link now: Common – I Used to Love H.E.R. (9th Wondra remix)

to me and countless others, this song could be a contender for the definition of ‘classic’ in hip hop. the post-boom bappers T.R.O.Y., even when this song gets played out, it can never get played out, and even though Common’s actually perpetuating the less-aggressive side of male-dominance in hip hop by his paternal stance on the woman personified, allll that shit gets kicked to the back when the jam comes out this damn good. i actually think i prefer 9th’s version to the original.

Wale Oyejide – There’s a War Going On ft. Jay Dee

J Dilla Changed My Life Tour

the OG version of this was published by the homie Ahmed over at Tha Hip Hop

* I know this flyer says Paris, I can’t seem to find the pic I had of the Oslo poster, but the design and image is the same.

The day of the show I bounced from where I was staying around the early afternoon, just to walk around the neighborhood of the venue and check it out. The venue, Club Bla, was a small, progressive spot in the middle of two active art galleries and right next to an alley that was adorned with a makeshift chandelier. Around 8 or 9 at night, after waiting for a lil’ bit, a car pulls up to the club and DJ’s Exile and House Shoes are the first to get out, with Aloe, Illa Jay and the rest of their touring crew following. We say greet each other then go inside to check out club and conduct some interviews. Aloe was first up, and after some deliberation concerning how edible the snacks were backstage (the final consensus was, “No”), I got a chance to have a conversation with Aloe Blacc about his progression as an artist, what the J Dilla Changed My Life Tour is about and his favorite Dilla beats.

ALOE BLACC INTERVIEW

For anyone that might not be familiar with you, can you give us a brief introduction?
Aloe Blacc: I started out in ‘95, met up with Exile. He was looking for an MC for a mixtape he was doing. He had a pretty ingenious idea on how to do mixtapes, on the A side Exile would mix the tape, with whatever was hot at the moment, and on the B side we would do basically an album, I would rap on his beats. So when we would go out and sell the tapes, at B Boy Summit or wherever we would go to sell the tapes, people would hear on one side music they were already familiar with and on the other side they would have another 45 minutes to listen to us, till the tape got back to the A side.

That’s a really good idea.

Aloe Blacc: that shit ended up really working for us. The music got out all over the world, from Europe to japan to Australia, everywhere. Eventually one of our fans got in contact with us through a radio station we went to a lot and was just like, yo, here’s a thousand bucks, I want to put out your first twelve inch.

What??

Aloe Blacc: yeah, just a fan.

What twelve inch was this?

Aloe Blacc: PSI and Outside Looking In.

What year was this again?

Aloe Blacc: this was in ‘96, and then we released it in ‘97, right when I graduated from High School in ‘97. Since then, that record made it all over the world, just kept putting out EP’s and singles, did some work on compilations and stuff till ten years later we finally decided to actually drop an album. I guess you could say we had been dropping albums, every mixtape, like the three mixtapes we did, 45 minutes on one side was pretty much an album. It was all four-track, low quality shit that ultimately didn’t make it too far. First mixtape was Stretch Marks, second was Imaginary Friends, the third one was Dawn Second Coming, and there might have been a fourth but I don’t remember what it was. That was when I was in college and I wasn’t really paying much attention.

What college did you go to?

Aloe Blacc: USC.

In Four Square off The Waiting Room you mention something about grappling, I used to wrestle so I was wondering if that reference was made because you did also?

Aloe Blacc: I wrestled freshman year. When I came from Jr. High, my older friends, friends that I was cool with, were on the wrestling team but they only wrestled for one year. So when I went to High School I had already done soccer, basketball, wasn’t too much into baseball, didn’t give a fuck about football, I wasn’t already into sports at all, nothing that had to do with teams because every team that I was ever on lost. I realized that whatever I do by myself I do really well and I’d win. I ended up wrestling and freshman year I was MVP so I was like, fuck it, I did what I needed to do here, and just focused on academics after that.

What weight class were you?

Aloe Blacc: 125 lbs. freshman year.

How do you look back on The Waiting Room now?

Aloe Blacc: I look at it like a stepping-stone. The Waiting Room was long awaited; it took us a while to get to a point where we felt comfortable with our music and our development that we could actually put out an album. The way I look at it now is like that shit is ancient history, leagues and leagues beyond that at this point in terms of our musical growth and our abilities to write song and write music and make Hip Hop something bigger than what it was when we did The Waiting Room.

Your latest solo thing, Shine Through, musically stands out as very different and brave, was that a conscious decision to get on a different tip than Emanon?

Aloe Blacc: it just wasn’t something I could do with Emanon because Exile was making the beats for Emanon and I was just writing the verbal landscape on top of the music. But when I do my solo shit it’s a lot more freedom because I make whatever I want, however I want and Stones Throw’s a good label because they give me that freedom to release whatever I want. The music that came out in Shine Through was stuff that I’d been experimenting for a while. Fucking with the piano and guitar, acapella shit, stuff that never came out, I kept it to myself. Alotta shit Exile hasn’t even heard. I have hundreds of songs that nobody’s heard but me, but I just keep them because it’s kinda like an artist that doodles on his little black book or whatever, or doodles on little pieces of paper that get thrown away except mine don’t get thrown away, I keep them.

Did you or Stones Throw have any reservations about releasing an album so eclectic as yours?

Aloe Blacc: Nah, I wasn’t but everyone around me was.

Laughs

Aloe Blacc: Exile was trippin, Blu was talking about, you should just rap don’t do that, everybody was trippin, but I never listen to anyone’s opinion anyways, I don’t give a fuck. Everybody’s got an opinion and no one man’s opinion is more valid than another. Everyone’s gonna have something to say. Honestly what it comes down to is just going with your gut, if you feel like it’s right then you do it. I know what I want out of life and I know where I’m going. This album is a direct result of me making that planning, making that step. I want the marketplace to know that I’m a songwriter, a producer, a lyricist and I want other artists to recognize that. Not only my fans, but other artists so that way I can start writing—I don’t want be an artist on stage forever, traveling Europe, sucking in fuckin’ second-hand smoke all day —
Laughs

Aloe Blacc: I wanna stay home and write the songs so somebody else—

House Shoes: MY NAME IS HOUSE SHOES AND I SMOKE CIGARETTES, MOTHERFUCKER, DEAL WITH IT!

Laughs

So you wouldn’t want to be defined as just a hip hop artist, you would want to be an artists period?

Aloe Blacc: just a musician, I don’t mind being defined as a hip hop artist, that’s the root, that’s where I came from. But before I got into Hip Hop heavily, I was learning symphonic music and orchestra music, playing the trumpet, classical shit. So it’s not like it’s my only influence. I don’t mind it at all, because everything I do now is definitely informed from what I learned through hip hop; stage performance, song structure, all that.

Is there anything else musically that you want to do that you haven’t?

Aloe Blacc: I would like to start adding more strings to my music, so I’m either gonna take my niece’s violin and learn that shit, or just, I got a lot of musicians friends around me, just have someone come through and play that shit. I don’t mind learning it myself though.

Do you learn instruments easily?

Aloe Blacc: it seems like yeah, but I don’t practice enough to keep the chops up. Like I’ll come up with a song idea, I’ll go to the piano and I’ll learn it, record it and then I’ll forget it. I was just rehearsing with this band for this show I’m doing in Berlin, and I could tell they were playing one of my chords wrong and I went to the piano, I was like, fuck. It took me a while to figure out, to remember what it was that I played, but then when I did it I realized yeah, they were playing a wrong chord. Or when it comes to guitar, I’ll just pick it up and fuck around and make something.

The Spanish speaking part of your music, where does that come from? I’m guessing it comes from your background.

Aloe Blacc: Yea, my parents are from Panama, and basically my whole family. Everybody in my family is from Panama.

Were you born in Panama?

Aloe Blacc: I was born in the States. Grew up listening to all kinds of Latin music and Caribbean music because black Panamanians are a mixture of Jamaican, Barbadian, Dominican and they also learned Spanish when they came to Panama to work on the Canal. That’s kinda my heritage. Having those influences and growing up listening to that music, makes me want to make it, you know what I mean, makes me want to experiment with it. And hopefully, what I really would like to do is figure out how to get the Latin swing of Salsa into Hip Hop and how to make it work really, really well. Because when I listen to Salsa, that shit is so vibrant, so beautiful.

Like even is you don’t dance, it makes you want to dance.

Aloe Blacc: Yea, it makes you want to move, and I want to be able to introduce that, in someway connect it. I think I’ll be able to, I just got to work at it, you know.

Flipping it to this tour, how has the tour been for you so far?

Aloe Blacc: The tour has been really, really good. It’s good to be on tour with Houseshoes and Illa Jay and Exile and get some more bonding experience with some cats that, you know, I see them is LA, but I don’t go out that often to be around, and there’s the shit that I don’t do that adds to bonding experience for other people, you know that I just cant get to, I don’t go out to bars to drink, I don’t smoke weed, I don’t play videogames, you know what I’m saying. So there’s a lot of shit that I just can’t be out throwing down with people that I really want to. This is a good tour, aside from that, the shows have been great. You know, even when there’s only a handful of people, you still just gotta give them the show. They came through to see this, and they came through to learn about Dilla, and they came through to reminisce and celebrate Dilla.

That was my very next question, the tour is called J Dilla Changed My Life. What’s the purpose of the tour?

Aloe Blacc: The purpose of the tour is to be sure that his memory lives forever. That people learn about him, that people remember him, and get to see and feel a live show. Because, you know, a lot of folks never got to see a live show. And the only person that I can see fit to do that would be Illa Jay. I was chilln’ with the cats at House Shoes’ place, we did, I guess it was a listening party for Ruff Draft, and Illa was on the MPC just making beats and I went up to him and was like ‘Yo what do you think about going to Europe, on a tour and doing some of your brother’s songs’. And he was cool with it, and I asked House Shoes and he was cool. So, I was already planning to come to Europe, and I just wanted to maybe build a tour around it. That’s what ended up happening.

When the name Dilla comes up, what comes to your mind?

Aloe Blacc: From a dancers perspective, Dilla created music that made me and all of my homies move in a different way on the dance floor. In LA, we had this club called Unity, and it was popping through the 90’s. It was the dopest Hip Hop venue you could go to, seeing Mobb Deep, Xzibit, Nas, Biggie Smalls was there, Wu-Tang, anybody you could see, we saw for 5 to 12 dollars at Unity in LA. And the music, I could tell, there was a point in time where the music started to gradually get to a point where like all of us really, like the dancers, the heads that really could bust, we would wait for a certain sound, a certain type of beat. And I started realizing over the years that it ended up being like Dilla shit that we’d wait for. We let all the wack toys just have the circle, but then there were certain beats that make you dance better, make you look better, we were usually waiting for Dilla. That was the first thing, that I think what it was, that changed my life. The next point was in terms of how he made the music, of how he created the music, you know, and how it sounded. That shit was just ridiculous, and totally gave me an appreciation for production, you know what I’m saying. I really started to get more heavily into production after listening to Dilla music.

Really quick, your top 5 Dilla beats?

Aloe Blacc: My top 5?

I mean, I don’t know if you could pick of 5…

Aloe Blacc: Nah, I could probably pick 5, a lot of them would proably be on, ah shit, so ok, so for Fantastic, we’re talking Players, on Welcome 2 Detriot we’re talking, Give It Up, on Donuts we’re talking, I don’t even know what it’s called, what’s the Dionne Warwick sample Shoes? Stop, and the De La shit, Stakes Is High, that song is ridiculous.

Also, is there another Emanon album?

Aloe Blacc: Exile and I are trying to plan it out right now. I’m coming up with, I don’t feel like making a Hip Hop or Rap album the way we did before. I don’t feel like doing it, following the same rudimentary, systematic way for here’s a beat, write a rhyme, make a hook, you know. I kinda want to organize this new album a completely different way from the get go to direct the way that I write. I’ve been talking to Exile about it, he’s kinda iffy about it, but I usually get my way.

So you like more of less of the formulaic type stuff?

Aloe Blacc: Less formulaic, that’s right, definitely.

Yea, I think it’s obvious from your music.

Aloe Blacc: Definitely. I mean, if you listen to the new, what is it that I put out, Happy Now, the Chrome Children something.

Oh, The Chrome Children album joint.

Aloe Blacc: Yea, you listen to this shit and the structure is completely different now. I don’t follow any particular kinda structure. I used to be the kinda guy that would always write a real catchy hook, and I don’t feel like writing catching hooks anymore. I feel like there’s something else that can be catchy about the song, but doesn’t have to be this repetitive ass hook. So its just different things that I’m gonna be doing, and hopefully it will translate well with the audience.

Cool, that’s pretty much all I really had planned. Is there anything else you want to say before we cut it?

Aloe Blacc: Buy every Dilla product that you don’t have, go get it. Every dollar that you can spend on Dilla, spend it.

That’s a good outgoing statement. Cool, thanks a lot for the interview, thanks a lot for everything.

While House Shoes and company roll themselves some home-grown comfort, I get a chance to speak with Exile about his upcoming projects. He tells me what it was about Dilla that constantly inspired him and tells me about his own MC/producer album that he’s been crafting.

DJ EXILE INTERVIEW

 

For anyone not familiar with you, can you give us a brief introduction?

DJ Exile: what’s up, this is Exile. Reppin’ Dirty Science, southern Cali in the house, I’m in a group called Emanon. Is this gonna be typed out later or are they gonna hear this?

I’m gonna type it out later.

DJ Exile: OK, I’m from a crew called DS, Dirty Science, Dream Sequence. I got a record out on Sound-In-Color, got an album coming out with Blu on Sound In Color. Um…

It’s cool, anything you would want to say.

DJ Exile: I produced for Mobb Deep, Pearly Gates.

I’ve been meaning to ask you about that, was that originally an Emanon or Aloe song, or did Aloe just happen to record over it?

DJ Exile: yeah, Aloe just happened to record over it and I was shopping the beat and they ended up picking it up.

Do you want to talk about Dirty Science, your latest LP? Just explain what it’s about.
DJ Exile: Basically, I was shopping my beats around and Sound-In-Color got a hold of it and they liked it, they actually originally wanted to do an instrumental album, but I always make my beats for MC’s so I wanted to get some MC’s on there. First I just started working with the MC’s around me like Blu and Co$t, and Aloe and Miguel, a singer, and Blame and eventually the label said they were willing to get some featured artists so then I reached out to Slum Village, did some songs, and Oh No. Well, the Oh No and MED shit came naturally too; we just hooked up and did the joints. It’s basically, I really wanted to let people hear my different sides as far as production and let the Hip Hop world know all the different styles that I can do.

Are all the other artists on there people you would normally work with anyways or people you wanted to work with?

DJ Exile: I would almost say it’s mostly people I would work with normally, but I mean I definetly reached out to Ghostface Killah and Slum Village and Kardinall Official. But the way I look at it, I would have eventually worked with them anyways, really.

What has the response been so far?

DJ Exile: All the critiques I’ve gotten have all been positive, people like the album, they feel the album. I wish the sales were up to reflect that. There were a lot of problems with the release date. It got released early in Europe, it got online and then they released it again in Cali and then there just wasn’t a big push behind it.

To give people who might not know, can you break it down a little bit for how it does hurt an indie artists to have that lack of push or lack of sales?

DJ Exile: well the beats on Dirty Science were the best I had to offer at the moment. I was finally satisfied with the music I was making, and I was like, yes, it is finally going to be put out correctly. I’m at a point where I’m really happy with the music I create, and then when there’s not a push behind it it‘s like getting your hopes up and not getting what you wanted. It’s just kinda like…what’s the word I’m looking for….some kinda metaphor

Disappointed?

DJ Exile: laughs yeah, but the heads that count hear it and I’ve been getting a good response from them. It’s all good, I’ll just keep coming out dope shit so it won’t matter.

I personally really like it, especially the songs with Blu. I’m definitely waiting on that, it should be tight. Is there another Emanon album in the works?

DJ Exile: we have one song done for the album, we’ve been discussing what direction we want to go with it for a long time now. We’re all staying busy doing our music, it’s just a matter of going to work with it.

How do you look back on The Waiting Room now, X amount of years later?

DJ Exile: to me, it’s really just a reflection of where we were at at the time and I feel like we’ve progressed a lot since then. That’s what this next album should reflect.

Speaking about The Waiting Room, it was on the track ‘Six Million Ways to Die’ that, at least I, first heard you spit. Is that something you plan to do more of, or is it just when the mood strikes?

DJ Exile: nah, I have an album already, pretty much already done right now, I just gotta mix it. It’s recorded all on 4 track, just because I like the sound and I don’t own Pro Tools, and I need to get these rhymes outta me, so I did it like that. That should be coming out after the summer, sometime in fall.

How do you like MCing versus making beats?

DJ Exile: with making beats, I mean you make a beat and it puts a certain feeling in your head of what the music is communicating to you and with rhyming you can just expand on that. It allows me to get really personal, actually on a good amount of the record I get really personal and it allows me to just…feel free to express what I’ve learned through life. But there’s also just some rough spittin’ type shit on there, actually, I’d say more than half of the album, the way I approached the recording is I would just freestyling and whenever I messed up I would just go back and record until the song was done. So most of it is like piecing together freestyles.

That’s tight! Do you like the fact that you can get personal on the MCing tip, I mean you can’t really say things literally when you’re making beats…

DJ Exile: I love doing that, I love just coming in touch with myself and being able to express it to people in a way that they can actually digest it. I mean, sometimes I’ll make a song and it’ll be really deep to me and I’ll play it for somebody else and they won’t understand it, you don’t get the right satisfaction out of making music when that happens. But it’s great when you’re spitting something from your heart and someone else can relate to it. That’s the shit.

Going back to the theme of the tour, what does Dilla mean to you as a beatmaker?

DJ Exile: Dilla means to me, not being satisfied where you’re at and always changing and always growing and always using this fucking art the way it should be used, to grow and to turn into something that would be some next shit. Dilla taught me to never be lazy or satisfied with where I’m at, to always be growing.

What about as a fan, what drew you most to Dilla?

Exile: before I knew the name Jay Dee, just being a hip hop fan, and knowing the type of beats I like, he’s pretty much a make-up of everything I like about hip hop beats.

What do you like about Dilla beats?

DJ Exile: it’s just like he can get really funky and really playful like in his early beats, where it just makes you want to spit a rap right there in your head. His shit just makes you want to rap, it’s like a freestyler’s dream. But then he can take it to awhole nother level and get all dark, he can just take you everywhere.

Is there anything else you want to say before we peace?

DJ Exile: I got an album coming out with Blu, it’s actually Blu and Exile. It’s called Below The Heavens, coming out on Sound-In-Color. I have an album that I’m pretty much done with, it’s called Radio, where I sample everything directly off the radio, the drums, the bass lines and everything. It’s being themed around the radio, and then there’s my rap project that’s yet to be titled. The Emanon project is coming out, I got a project with my man Jo Has from Deep Rooted in the works, and my man Co$t, whose on the album, Ca$hisking, be on the lookout for those. I’m gonna be producing a lot of stuff for my man Blame’s record, Blame One, coming out soon. Check for me on the new Soopafly record, homie from Snoop’s camp.

Hey thanks a lot for this interview and definetly, Dirty Science, people need to check it out, pick it up. Thanks again.

Exile: Cool, thanks. Be sure to email me when this comes out too. Peace.

J Dilla Changed My Life Tour – Oslo, Norway (pt. I)

The show began about 5 minutes ago and DJ Exile is getting warmed up on his tables. People are still piling into the place and you can feel the music through the ceiling, booming onto the upper floor. That’s where House Shoes and Illa Jay are chilling, shooting the shit while Aloe Blacc preps himself to play host onstage. He runs downstairs and sheds his low-key demeanor in favor of a more energetic and lively attitude onstage. He weaves between playing host and kicking off verses, all the while reminding the Norwegian crowd that this tour is in honor of J Dilla. And even though all one eager fanboy in the front row could do was shout the opening lines to Emanon’s Count Your Blessings, Aloe never misses a step as he punctuates his set with a dope freestyle. Towards the end of his set, Aloe motions for Exile to step out from behind the turntables and get on the mic. Exile comes out to play a more loose and laid-back counterpart to Aloe’s precise and energetic performance.

As House Shoes takes over DJ duties from Exile, Illa Jay is getting ready to go onstage. Before that though, I got a chance to talk to him about his music and his legacy. He sat there, with a very low-key demeanor telling me how much the music meant, and how that was first and foremost.

ILLA JAY INTERVIEW

Illa Jay, can you just give an introduction to yourself

Illa Jay: Illa Jay, Detroit Michigan. I represent the Yancey Boy legacy, the Dilla legacy. On the real, I’m keeping this legacy going, and that’s just the real.

Do you feel it’s important to do so?

Illa Jay: Yeah, I feel like it’s real important. Just for the fact that people need to know the truth, like alotta people back home, just on the real they don’t know the deal and when you come out here, they know the deal. I’m not saying this necessarily because he’s my blood, just on real shit, he’s the king of that shit, of the beats. They need to recognize

How long have you been doing music? I guess in general and professionally.

Illa Jay: In general music’s been around since I was born. My mom’s and my pop’s are both jazz vocalists. Also my dad placed upright bass, he produces and writes songs. My mom she studied opera and also was a jazz vocalist. Alotta people in my family are songwriters and musicians and music composers, so it’s always been around. Then my brother ca me in and took it to another level.

Damn, I didn’t realize your family was that musical; I mean obviously I know about your brother…

Illa Jay: yeah, it’s literally in the blood. As far as me making it myself though, a year ago this time is when I started honestly making music, as far as making my own. I had always wanted to do it, but at a younger age other people’s other opinions are real important to you and being that my brother was so successful, that was a lot of pressure for me. But as I got older, I was like ‘man, fuck other people.’ Honestly, people are always gonna have something to say, you can’t impress everybody with your music. At the end of the day, they not paying my bills, and also at the end of the day, music, not only is it natural and is in my blood, but it’s something that I love and I have a strong passion for, that will always be there. I would rather be broke and genuinely happy than stacking and miserable. This music shit to me, honestly, it’s not really about the hustle shit. I love music that much that I would literally dedicate my whole life to my music, I love it, it’s my gift and Imma use it to the fullest, and that’s just the real.

Damn.

Illa Jay: laughs

Where you always doing both (producing & MCing)

Illa Jay: Well, actually I recorded a joint with my brother when I was like 13 so I’d always been writing, but I would say I really got serious as far as the rhymes in, I’d say, about sophomore year of high school. Last year around this time I recorded my first music, I play bass guitar, I recorded my bass guitar and I had a little keyboard at that time, recording stuff. As far as making my first beats though, it was at my boy House Shoes crib in L.A. I moved to L.A. too but he moved out there before I did. I would stay at Common’s house, but on the weekends I would go by Shoes house, and he would let me just take over the MP, I started making like 15, 20 beats a day, the first two days from I made like 60 beats that weekend from Saturday to Sunday. It was just there in me, he showed me the basics and shit, but I just got on there and bam, bam, bam, bam, bam. I ain’t go to sleep, I just kept making shit. It went from there on.

You know people are gonna make that comparison between you and your brother, how do you deal with that?

Illa Jay: I just respond to that like, J Dilla was J Dilla, there will never be another Jay Dilla. Bam, Illa Jay is Illa Jay, but don’t get it twisted, I got so much influence from my brother, it’s hard not to especially when at my disposal I got like a million Dilla beats so of course there’s gonna be a lot of influenced, but there was only one James DeWitt Yancey, Jay Dilla, Jay Dee, Dill Withers, and there will only be one. That’s how I answer that.

Have you released anything? Has anything got out yet?

Illa Jay: No, not yet. On this tour, I made an EP for this tour; like seven joints that I’m selling on the tour. It’s pretty much some raw shit.

Self produced?

Illa Jay: yeah, my brother did one track. Just straight up choppin’ up stuff, all the beats on that, with the exception of my brother’s beat. It speaks for itself. I’m working on my album right now. When I get back, I go on tour with Phat Kat and Slum Village, the Carte Blanche Tour. I probably wont get back from that till like June, but after that is when I’m really working on the album. I’m messing with Exile on the beats, Nottz, of course there’s gonna be a couple of Dilla joints. As far as MC’s its gonna be Phat Kat, Guilty, you know I gotta fuck with Black Milk. I might fuck with Black Thought.

Oh shit. Is it just in the beginning stages right now?

Illa Jay: yeah, I’m pretty much in the recording phase right now. Just banging out joints and then after I do so many then that’s when I get into the picking phase and putting them together. I’m just recording now.

How would you describe your sound?

Illa Jay: I would say, um, of course it’s gonna be influenced by, like I said, my brother. You can’t help that. It’s just like real… I dunno, it’s hard to explain. I change up all time, like even with my beat CD’s.

What feeling do you get from your music, or what kind of feeling do you want it to give?

Illa Jay: Just real street shit, as with every Detroit artists. There’s just something about the city that comes out, it’s just so grimy. Like how the city is doing economically, jobs leaving, schools closing. Visually, liquor stores on every corner.

Real Grimy

Illa Jay: Yeah, it’s real grimy. All that comes out through my music, as with any Detroit artist. It’s just that Motown shit.

I read on your MySpace that you and Frank-n-Dank are doing this Cakeboys shit, you guys together as a group. Is that still happening?

Illa Jay: yeah, right now it’s kinda on hold because I’m not in touch with them. They’re in Toronto and shit. Most definetly my album will be out first, but it’s still going on. There’s so much shit going on right now, actually I’m doing, like me and Phat Kat, we’re doing 2^nd down.

Oh shit! Is that gonna be you on the beats?

Illa Jay: Yeah, me on the beats. I’m excited about that. He hit me up about that, and coming from someone I look up to, that means a lot. I would give him beat CD’s and every time I gave him one, there would be like 50 joints on there and he would always pick at least like 6 or 7. He ended up just hitting me up, someone mentioned to him on MySpace about doing a 2^nd down, and he hit me up like, yo, why don’t me and you just do 2^nd down and you produce it? I was like fo sho. I figured that anyways, because every beattape I gave him he picked like 6 or 7 joints, I might as well do the whole album anyways.

And that’s gonna be a full album?

Illa Jay: yeah, a full album.

How’s the tour been? Is this the first time you’ve been on tour?

Illa Jay: yeah, this is actually my first official tour, actually my first time in Europe too, so both at the same time.

How do you like Europe?

Illa Jay: I love it over here. Well first of all, I always wanted to travel so it’s nice to see a whole different side of the world, because it is a whole different world. As far as some cities, places are just way more laid back, like Amsterdam. I’m just at the cofeeshop just smoking, like some regular shit.

Like nothing right?

Illa Jay: yeah, it’s crazy.

Vice magazine chick who was also in the room: Don’t you think the windows are also strange in Amsterdam?

Illa Jay: as far as like the ladies in the windows? You mean the red light district shit? Yeah that’s kinda crazy, people walking around with their kids and shit, posing.

What about the shows? How do you like performing live in front of European crowds?

Illa Jay: First of all, just their response to my brother’s music, I’m not gonna front we get love at home, but here they show so much more love and they appreciate it. I think back home, especially in Detroit, we spoiled with so many good musicians that when a real, real good one comes around, they don’t appreciate it. We bring it over here and they appreciate that real shit. They show so much love, all the shows. All of them, we’ve had pretty good crowds at all of them but even places where the crowd may not have been as large, still the majority of them still been showing mad love. It’s been dope.

How is it touring with House Shoes?

Illa Jay: Honestly, I might not even be out here right now if it wasn’t for House Shoes. He stepped up forreal, like after my brother died, he stepped up as my big brother on some real shit. As far as my first hip hop performance, I mean I’ve done choir and talent shows and shit, but as far as my first hip hop performance, House Shoes had a night in Detroit called Northern Lights, where he pretty much kept the Detroit hip hop scene going. That was the first spot I rocked at. Guerilla Funk Mob was there, they were doing a tribute for my brother. One of the cats from Guerilla Funk Mob was basically like, would you mind doing some of your brother’s songs while we play them live, and we ended up doing a real good show. It was dope. That was the first place I rocked.

Is there anything else you wanna say before we peace out.

Illa Jay: Get ready; we got some fire in Detroit. Guilty Simpson, we got mad shit coming out. I ain’t gonna lie, I got some shit too, I got some fire that’s coming. Detroit is on the up move, watch out. Shout out to Aloe. It went from a small talk, we were just small talking, and he got on that shit and made it happen, I really appreciate that shit. Shout to Shoes, like I said if it weren’t for him I wouldn’t be out here, that’s my DJ. Don’t get it twisted, even if you see me at a show and another DJ got my back, House Shoes is my official DJ, don’t get it twisted. Shout out to Exile, on the real he got some amazing beats.

Thank you, forreal, thanks for letting me do this with you guys.

Illa Jay: it’s all good, thank you. peace

The low-key deamenor Jay had during our interview was pretty much the opposite of his performance onstage, as he ripped through shit like Crushin’ very enthusiastically. Two thirds of his set were spent on his brother’s joints, but the few that were Illa Jay originals didn’t disappoint. My favorites were seeing him do Fuck The Police and Won’t Do. Jay didn’t lose a step juggling his brother’s flows or keeping the intensity that some joints required. It’s not just anyone that knows Dilla’s shit can do it justice.

But you can’t forget House Shoes. As soon as Illa Jay’s set is finished, House Shoes begins his DJ set of original samples, Detroit shit and of course both classic and exclusive Dilla music. He played joints off of the MCA album — for those that do not know, that’s the Dilla unreleased MCA album. The only thing that brought his set down was the lethargic audience; it seemed like the crowd didn’t know how to chill to a DJ in a club. House Shoes didn’t seem to mind. He kept the whole idea of the tour going when he would play stuff like a Badu voicemail commentary on Dilla as an interlude between songs.

I didn’t get a chance to speak to House Shoes professionally (read: on tape) that night, so it took various attempts, one of which was even thwarted by my landlady, to make his interview happen. It happened and he spoke to me about his impressions of Europe and how it felt to tour. He updated me on the things he’s got coming up, things we’d talked about before.

J Dilla Changed My Life Tour pt.II – Oslo, Norway (video)

HOUSE SHOES INTERVIEW

Shoes: yo yo

Shoes whats up man, what are you up to?

Shoes: fuckin jetlagged. Woke up at five o’clock in the fuckin’ morning.

I was about to ask you if you got jetlagged on the way over there (Europe).

Shoes: hell naw, when i went over there it was immediate adjustment.

That’s crazy. But now you’re feeling it?

Shoes: hell yeah, last two nights i went to sleep at 8 in the fuckin night and woke up at 5 in the morning.

Damn, that’s like old man status.

Shoes: yeah, that shit is fucking with me.

Speaking of yesterday, how was the Common video? (in a previous attempt to do a phone interview Shoes couldn’t do it because he had to jet to the set of what ended up being Common’s video for The Game, check for Shoes at 1:56 the mark)

Shoes: it was dope, it was like some 8-mile shit. Some underground little club, on some grimy hip hop shit.

Was it for The People?

Shoes: I don’t even know what the name of the fuckin song was, I was just down there smoking and just hanging out. I got a little cameo shot.

So we’re gonna see you in that shit?

Shoes: we’ll see, unless I get edited out. I’m kinda pale, the light might have been reflecting too much.

Who else was down there?

Shoes: Illa Jay came down, Dave New York was down there, Kweli supposed to come out on Monday, Phil Da Ag, the whole Strong Arm Steady cats was down there. Wasn’t no really no big super star status type shit.

So back to this tour that just finished, overall how’d you like Europe?

Shoes: that shit was fantastic, no pun intended.

How long were you actually out there for?

Shoes: it was, let see, we left on the 11^th and came back on the 1^st. so it was like 20 days.

This wasn’t your first time in Europe though?

Shoes: it was my first real trip, only other time I went was a couple years ago with Slum when I was covering for Dez.

How long were you there for that time?

Shoes: like five days, just two shows and a video shoot.

Now after coming back, what were the biggest differences you noticed between Europe and the US?

Shoes: it’s kinda like the difference between Detroit and LA, but on a waaay broader scale. LA cats got more open ears but they kinda stuck on the Hollywood shit, and over there (Europe) it’s just alllll about the music. That shit cracked my fuckin head when I was in Munich and I played that (taken out by request) shit

The Red?

Shoes: yeah, The Red joint, the sample, the OG shit and they were singing that shit word for word.

Do you have anything memorable from any cities that stand out to you?

Shoes: I would say the two livest shows were… Paris, Paris easily gets the trophy, that shit was nuts, capacity club. Every night I usually play for a little while after the set, but in Paris I played for like four hours after the set.

You serious?

Shoes: yeah, nobody left; everybody was just posting up, going crazy. It was wild, usually when I DJ I don’t DJ for a long ass time, I usually feel the need to have more records than I need. Like if I’m Djing all night I bring like four or five crates type shit. I had one crate and a CD wallet and I just banged it out all night, it was stupid.

Damn, so they were probably getting blessed with some shit then? Hello? Hello?

At this point the phone call cuts off because, as I would find out later, my landlady didn’t pay the phone bill, and over here (Spain) phone and internet is the same company. So the interview was postponed for a good 5 days before I could get a hold of Shoes again.

Shoes: yo yo

Hey Shoes whattup man, what are you up to?

Shoes: just chillin, fuckin around on the computer.

Cool, yo my bad about the whole hassle with getting this shit done.

Shoes: shit happens, it’s all good. It’s all good.

I think we left off last time when you were talking about, we were talking about notable nights in Europe. Any other highlights that standout?

Shoes: the Tubingen show in Germany was crackin really, really hard. It was sweet because I got to hook up with my boy Head who used to DJ for Em back in the day , and he’s actually been living out in Germany for like five or six years, it was good for him to come down, see me doing my thing in his area.

When did he used to DJ for Eminem back in the day?

Shoes: all the way from the inception up through the Marshall Mathers LP.

Oh snap. Speaking of Eminem, have you heard that he’s trying to buy St. Andrew’s Hall.

Shoes: I heard he actually did buy it.

Oh it did go through already?

Shoes: that’s what I was told, I ain’t heard no media confirmations or no personal accounts, but from what I’m told yeah, he got St. Andrew’s. It’s nuts.

That being your home for a minute, do you think anything of that?

Shoes: that’s some dream come true type shit. That’s like Kirk Gibson or Lou Whitaker back in the day, buying Tiger Stadium. The spot that you came up in and introduced to everything that makes you what you are at this point in time, and ten years later you buy the motherfucker. That’s some G shit.

I didn’t even know St. Andrew’s was up for sale, was there any trouble with it, or was it just up for sale?

Shoes: I don’t know, I know there’s not a lot of money in Detroit. I’ve been gone for like 10 months now, but I guess cats ain’t coming out and spending that bread like they used to so I guess they put that shit on the block.

Back to the tour, how were the last shows on the tour? What was the last show again?

Shoes: Dresden was the last show.

How was the last show?

Shoes: it was wild because, when we first got there shit wasn’t moving that fast, you get caught up with just being on tour and then you look at the itinerary and you got three shows left. It was like, damn, this shit has been crazy, mothafuckas are like damn, we ain’t trying to go home yet, put a couple more shows in this mothafucker or something! At the same time though, it’s good to get back to the crib and get shit moving back here.

Is this something you’re gonna be trying to do more? Get out to do more shows outside your area?

Shoes: yeah, I’m definetly trying to stay on the road, get that bread and just play this shit, play that Dilla shit, play that Detroit shit like I’ve been playing in Detroit for the last 10-15 years, from me just being at the helm of all that shit. So it’s good for me to be able to give it to them from the root of the tree.

You mentioned in the last interview that you see yourself as being a vessel of good music. Going along with that, we’ve been talking about how Detroit is putting out real good music, so I was just thinking we could go through the shit that’s coming out of Detroit now and let people now why they should check it out

Shoes: well for the most part, in Hip Hop we’ve set a lot of trends in the last 10-15 years, and the time has finally arrived when people are able to witness the root of the tree where all the shit came from. The tree has grown over the last years and there’s alotta fruit that motherfuckers need to eat, Black Milk’s definitely doing his thing, Guilty, Guilty’s shit’s about to drop, he’s out here putting in work; Dabrye, Wajeed. Wajeed has created an incredible movement, he’s one of the cats that I look up to more than any other Detroit for the business presence he’s created on his own, it’s a model that a lot of cats need to follow.

What is it about Wajeed and what he’s been building that’s something to be admired?

Shoes: just creating the brand, the Bling47 brand. People in Detroit, artists especially, don’t have that business thread in them. He’s showing it’s a lot easier to make your mark when you have that business mind.

Do you think par t of Detroit’s lack of business sense is a reason why a lot of the music stays true to itself?

Shoes: yeah it’s a double-edge sword. The great thing is a lot of people in Detroit just create music to create music. When a lot of the big corporate dollars started coming in, you have cats that were making good music for ten years, and then were like, fuck that, I gotta get this bread, and totally shifted modes and came with that bullshit. Through cats not really being on their business, it’s positive and negative, because a lot of cats wait around just thinking someone’s gonna knock on their door, let me sign you up and cash you out. That’s not how it works.

Get into more specifics of the D, Black Milk. He’s been seeing his stock rise a lot in the past year or so, why should people check for Black?

Shoes: The music speaks for itself. He’s one of the top producers in the game right now and he’s just getting better everyday. Alotta cats are talking about how some of his shit sounds similar, and they’ve only heard the four or five joints outside of his personal material that have been on other people’s projects. Black ain’t getting stuck in one situation, he’s definetly about to broaden his shit. It’s a template for how to build a fire and how to spread it; you look at what he’s done with the Sound of the City, just in the D, getting that shit bubbling and parlaying that into the recent situation with Fat Beats. Cats out here trying to get bread, there’s a way to stay true to yourself and still get that money and I think that’s one of the most important things people need to pay attention to when they look at the Black Milk scenario.

Now moving onto a collaborator of Black’s Phat Kat. For anyone that might still be sleeping, why should they peep out Kat?

Shoes: well Phat Kat is of course, from the inception of the whole Dilla situation, Kat has been a foundation of grimy-ass Detroit hip hop shit. All these cats that are listening to Detroit and seeing what it’s all about, he is one of the reasons, people have looked at him and gained inspiration through him. He’s made his mark in Detroit and now he’s finally moving out and doing it across the globe, outside of label situations in Detroit that weren’t taken care of correctly.

Now onto someone I kind of see as a peer to Kat, Guilty Simspon. I remember at the Oslo show you saying something to the effect of him being one of the better rappers out right now. What is it about Guilty that makes him one of the best rappers out?

Shoes: well this is once again one man’s opinion. As long as you ain’t a pussy, no pussy-ass backpacker who gets scared of motherfuckers who have authority and aggression in their shit, you’re gonna love the motherfucker. Guilty is the new blood of Detroit, the new sound of Detroit. From the minute you hear his voice, his voice is perfect, his delivery is perfect. He’s just another example of good, cocky, ‘fuck off’ Detroit shit. We’re doing what we’re doing; we don’t really give a fuck with what any of yall are doing. It’s on some, bitch, listen up or fuck off type shit.

Is that a good embodiment of what the Detroit attitude can be?

Shoes: Definetly. We know we the shit, you can either agree or …jump in front of a car.

What about outside of the D, what kind of shit should people be checking for?

Shoes: Madlib, all the stones throw cats. Oh no. Oddisee, Kev Brown. I really love Kev Brown’s shit, because I kinda compare it to, for example, De La. De La to me is the most consistent group in the history of Hip Hop. They don’t fold with the times, they’re not worried about current trends, they just make good music and the shit I really like about they shit is they make music for us, cats that’s really involved and worried about contributing to Hip Hop, that’s why I like them and they’ll always maintain their relevance to me. Who else…I got a 12 inch over in Cologne from some cat from Japan, Super Smoky Soul or some shit, he had some joints on there. Who else, who else…no major label shit, that’s the thing, I remember being a DJ back in the day and love when you would come home and have a couple of packages from major labels at your door. Shit ain’t nothing but a credit slip at the record store now.

Do the majors still send you shit?

Shoes: yeah, its fucking awful. I get a box of like 20-25 records and maybe there’s a 12 inch in there I wanna keep.

How much music do you get from people like after you spin and shit?

Shoes: it ain’t like it was in the D. When I was in the D I would accumulate every couple of months like 150 CD’s. Out here I ain’t really got swamped like that yet, thank God, unfortunately it’s like a diamond in the rough, I might find like one or two or three tracks out of a whole box of CD’s I’ve accumulated in six months.

Do you make time to listen to it?

Shoes: yeah definetly. What I usually do is I let the boxes fill, and just invite a few of the homies over and get faded, drink something and usually have some really good laughs.

Do you have any horror stories of just some horrible shit?

Shoes: honestly, probably about 85% of the music I get is like that.

Really?

Shoes: yeah, it’s a lot of tourists.

What advice would you give to anyone out there getting their little shit ready to give to Shoes after Shoes’ House?

Shoes: I would say, probably it’d be two things. First and foremost, be aware of what I’m playing and what I’m pushing. I play grimy Hip Hop shit, Detroit shit; don’t come at me with no ra-ra club bullshit. I ain’t trying to hear that shit. I go through CD’s in 30 seconds, 15 tracks. If I go through the first four or five tracks and that shit is trash, I’m not gonna get to the last 11 joints. That’s one thing, and two is yes men will take you out of the game faster than anything. Listen to your shit in the same vein that you would listen to all the music that inspires you and you apprecitate. Don’t just be happy that you’re making music, get happy about creating something that makes a difference.

Since the last time we spoke has there been any progress on your solo shit?

Shoes: I ain’t really touch too much …(call breaking up for a minute)

Shoes? Can you hear me?

Shoes: yeah I was saying that I’m just recovering from that jet lag, that shit kicked my ass for about a week.

Are you over that yet?

Shoes: yeah I’m pretty much over it now, that shit wasn’t no joke though. I was poppin’ mad shit like, ‘jet lag ain’t fucking with me,’ and then I just went to sleep. Waking up at five o clock in the morning and shit, calendar all fucked up. I got a nice little stack of joints I came up on out there, so I’m bout to get busy on them asap.
Cool, once again, thanks for the interview, good looking. Peace man

Shoes: peace

As House Shoes plays his last record, the bar is closing down. Aloe, Exile and Illa Jay are by the stage, getting ready to pack it up and go, maybe sell some last merch or accommodate a vinyl request. House Shoes is on stage, polishing off a bottle of Courvoisier, getting ready to wind it down. The entire night seemed to go right, from the DJ sets to the MC’s, to what they chose to play, to the legacy that was being represented. If you can catch any of these cats, you shouldn’t miss the opportunity. It seems to me more and more that underground cats know how to put on a good Hip Hop show, rather than a concert.

J Dilla Changed My Life Tour pt. III – Oslo, Norway (video)

got a strong ass grip, but my name ain’t money grip

liked Gladys better when she sang with the Pips

today’s flick provided by the good people at Urban Samurai, doing the grassroot clothing line thing the way it should be done.

as I’m sure the 3 of you who regularly check this shit (for more than just leech all the Jay Electronica stuff I put up) have noticed, I’m not really big on hyping up whatever’s “hot” at the moment. still, after witnessing the advertising frenzy that is T.I.’s newest album, I started thinking about how an artists best work is hardly ever chosen objectively. take Clifford Harris for example, who was underrapreciated by the masses till around the time when he dropped the Jay-Z sampling ‘Bring ‘Em Out‘ in 2005. oddly enough, I’d say that’s right after T.I. reached his zenith as an MC. Trap Muzik, his second album, still stands to me as his best, most rawest, most southern sounding album. he still hasn’t made anything that bangs as much as 24’s and Rubberband Man besides 2006’s Top Back; Be Better Than Me and I Still Luv You are still the most effective introspective tracks I’ve heard from the man without getting all soft and bitch-like; and he did a better job of executing his alter-ego theme with the T.I. vs T.I.P. track than with his entire new album.

Jay Electronica – Bitches and Drugs

Re Ups : Jay Electronica – Victory Is In My Clutches & Jay Electronica – So What You Sayin’ (prod. by Jay Dilla)

I don’t know if I can think of anything else to say about this guy. oh yeah, I’m pretty sure the Victory beat is also produced by Dilla, but after I got a straightening out from the man himself about the Thom Yorke producing Uzi rumor from last time, I won’t say something officially unless I’m 100%.

Talib Kweli – Electrify (prod. by Pete Rock)

one of my favorite MC’s is back at it in a real good way. the hype is real, the hate is not; Ear Drum is official, please support.

Freestyle Fellowship – Inner City Boundaries

“I gotta be righteous, I gotta be me,

I gotta be conscious, I gotta be free”

classic from a brick-laying L.A. underground group that never get their just due. from P.E.A.C.E. to Mikah 9 to the now-bitter Aceyalone, Freestyle Fellowship laid the foundation for so many others. what? you thought today’s picture was just for show?

playing games with my head, what the judge said put me in the red, got me thinking bout a trigger to the lead

no, no, my educated mind said ’suckers gonna pay anyway.’

Jay Electronica – My Uzi Weighs a Ton (produced by Jay Electronica)

Jay Electronica. Jay Electrolysis. The Black Atom.

apparently this kinda old track was made out of cohersion by Jay’s label ( I don’t know which one it was at the time, but now he’s on Badu’s). he continues to raise the bar for MC’s errrywhere.

P.S. the rumor that the track was produced by Thom Yorke of Radiohead turns out to be just that, a rumor. apologies to anyone I might have misled over the internets, but that’s the risk you (read: I) take when trying to siphon through what’s really real over the web or not.

if I’ve sold you on this guy, or if I haven’t, do yourself a huge favor and pay FWMJ a visit to download what seems to be some kind of introduction to Jay Electronica with forewords by both Erykah Badu and Just Blaze explaining how Mr. Electronica became known to them.

Public Enemy – Shut ‘Em Down (Pete Rock remix)

one of the best remixes ever. I mean do you hear those horns??

Black Thought – Subliminal Minded (Criminal Minded freestyle)

this is from a very, very underrated mixtape that The Roots put out before their last very, very underrated album, Game Theory, came out last summer. Thought is just doing what he does best, MCing. if you’re missing the constant references in the track to old BDP tracks, you can start boning up on your history with the OG version by Boogie Down Productions.

illa Jay – I Ain’t Gonna Die

illa Jay is the younger brother of Jay Dee aka Jay Dilla, so comparisons/criticism of his sound to his brother’s are inevitable, but the recent disregard for him on a certain opinionated message board got me kinda salty. music is meant to be heard as just that, music, but dudes are too busy getting their dicks hard over who’s affiliated with who and who’s your co-signer. I got my hands on Illa Jay’s EP over in Oslo, Norway last spring and was pleasantly surprised.