The official blog for Fresh Roots Music/SayWord Entertainment hip hop artist-educator, Hired Gun. Follow him as he travels the world, exploring the roots of culture and sowing seeds....
I'm hitting you up to let you know that Reverbnation has hit me with an amazing opportunity to promote myself and my music. Out of tens of if not hundreds of thousands of artists, I was selected with a thousand others in a program sponsored by Microsoft Windows. What does this mean? Well, we are a part of an independent artist web campaign that offers one of our songs FOR FREE for download from the banner below.
What do you have to do? Click on the banner and download my track "Unforgivable Blackness" for *FREE*. No solicitations, no passwords, just click, then download and its over as fast as your internet connection is. What does this mean for me? Exposure and an opportunity for a larger market to possibly check out my music. Thank you all for your support in the past, it has only been through everyone who has commented on websites, purchased the album or voted for me on various awards that I've won, that these types of opportunities continue to open for me. Click on the link below, get some dope FREE music, help me, and let's keep it movin.
....And it has been a pretty strange weather pattern though, rain, sun, rain, sun. Speaking of Strange, my people's Michael McFadden and Acee (you may remember Acee's unbelievable beat for "unforgivable blackness" off the People's Verses....)just dropped their latest, release...self titled "Agent Strange". Myself, IllSpokinn (Spokinn Movement, Sin Sin fam), and Stephanie Diaz are featured on this amazing album. My track is "Hired Hand" and you can hear the track here (click the album cover):
It is available via itunes, napster, rhapsody or wherever dope music is sold.
I also had the opportunity to sit down with Zeb d'essence (of "Rappers are in Danger" fame off The People's Verses) and discuss the URB Next 100, new projects and in general the state of the music. Peace to the middle row.
The musical foundation behind the latest collaborative project between myself and fellow cohort from 3rd Party, Rabbi Darkside...Zajazza is a true loop digger with a love of the classics, and the skills and knowledge to bring it to you live. Musical Puzzle is Zajazza's latest homage to the roots of this culture we call hip hop. You can download the album for free by clicking this link. Or you can click on the album cover. Peep below for the tracklisting and more desription about the project.
Musical Puzzle is a selection of breaks (jazz, soul, funk) mixed with freestyles from NYC hip hop artists. Zajazza tried with this mix to show the direct relationship between music from the 60’s/70’s and Hip Hop. Expect some famous samples used by Dr Dre, A Tribe Called Quest, US3 and more…
Zajazza’s comment: “This project took me like 6 months of digging in the crates of Phily and New York, researching the right breaks and recording some NYC mcees in order to produce this homage to the roots of Hip Hop Music. So, what’s the recipe? Some good records, two turntables, a handheld recorder and some skilled mcees…”
Intro by Kid Lucky (Hip Hop Subway series) and Bill Blass on Kenny Burrel - Midnigth blue Donald Byrd - Wind parade Jimmy Smith - I’m gonna love you just a little bit more babe The Wild Magnolias - Corey died on the battle field Silver Convention - You turned me on, but you can’t turn me off (scratch interlude) Mark Holder - Music Turns Me On Richard Groove Holmes/Ernie Watts - Come Together Barry Ungar - Lightly salted (Hip Hop Subway series freestyle) Donald Byrd - Cantaloupe Island (drum interlude) David Mc Callum - The edge S.O.U.L. - Soul The meters - Live wire George Freeman - The bump Bill Withers - Still bill (scratch interlude) Bobby Blue Bland - Goin down slow Joe Williams - Get out my life woman Lou Rawls - Christmas will be (Hired Gun freestyle) Sly and the family stone - Sing a simele song Sugar Ray - Knock him out (beat juggling interlude) Michel Audiard - Tatou strip tease Guy Pederson - Les copains de la basse Bernard Wystaete - Day dream (poem by Aeden and freestyle by Bill Blass) Driver OST - Driving S.O.B.eat (beat juggling interlude) Sonny Stitt - Slick Eddie Lou Donaldson - Blues walk Brother Jack McDuff - Oblighetto Ronnie foster - Mystic Brew (outro by Rawaness)
Zajazza is a French DJ/Producer who has been traveling around the world since 2002, finding musical adventures in Chile, Brazil, Portugal and New York City. In 2007, he spent a year in Brazil, digging and playing with the best local Hip Hop DJs, and MCs. The same year, he released the mixtape “O Segredo da Beleza“, a selection of the best Brazilian Popular Music he collected while touring. In 2008, he went to New York, and started to work with underground hip hop artists.
Hired Gun on the streets of the lower east side. May 13th, 2 a.m. in a late model black Range Rover with "Crazy" "Al Cayne CAC-TV. Check the Ted Turner Autobiography:
Rocking the spot with Mr. Reo, Zee Santiago, Outspoken, Cuttz and Decora of the Readnex Poetry Squad and several Trinity Students. Video Courtesy of Magee Mcllvaine, Sol Productions/Nomadic Wax
Hip Hop currently is undergoing its mid-life crisis. Looking in the mirror at itself wondering, “what have I accomplished”? Instead of reveling in its found wisdom and maturity, it resorts to living a fantasized youth of frivolousness, and trying to re-live days that were the same as it never was. Among one of the things here in the states it has overlooked are the younger brothers and sisters it has helped to raise worldwide. Senegal, Zimbabwe, England, France, Germany, Haiti, Brazil, Czech Republic, South Africa, Japan, and Israel/Palestine; these and many more countries have embraced the art and culture of hip hop as a way to make the younger generation’s voices heard, respected, and unique.
Despite the global phenomenon that hip hop has become, the reality is that much like the fabric of our society that exports much of our culture but does little to import and respectfully embrace others; many consumers, artists, and keepers of the culture here have little to say about artist from across the way (unless of course they are paying for them to fly out, bag their women, and be idolized…but that’s another story…..). Very sad considering how powerful we know hip hop is as a medium to discuss issues of race, class, community, and just about any subject pertaining to modern society.
Enter Trinity College, and their International Hip Hop festival an event that they have created out of the necessity to give a little more light to these artists whom spit that fire, just in a wholly different tongue. This year (my second in attendance out of the four that it has so far under its belt…it would’ve been three had I not a family trip the year before…) I was honored to be asked to participate as co-host of the event, along with The Princess of Controversy, one of a small handful of American Artists to grace the stage and take part. Trinity College students, headed by Magee Mcllvaine and Ben Herson of Nomadic Wax, originally founded this festival. One of the original students, Zee Santiago is now one of the main organizers along with Katie McGuigan, both Trinity students (shouts to Elizabeth, Jazzy and everyone else on the team!). This tradition is now in its fourth year, and was truly an experience.
Princess of Controversy and myself
Over the course of three days, the festival that is free and open to the public, not only hosts and showcases talent from around the world, but conducts seminars, workshops, panel discussions, and movie screenings of relevant hip hop documentaries. The goal of the festival is to raise awareness, not just of the hot music that you’re missing out on from Haiti and Cuba, but also to bring attention to the serious issues that these artist and communities face in their native countries. The festival is a nexus of Artist/Activist/Scholars bridging gaps to new communities, and fortifying bonds based on the love of the music. You can come and simply rock out, and at the same time you can also go a little deeper and get a glimpse at what is going on in almost every part of the world through these keepers of culture.
The first day and evening was mostly spent preparing for the rest of the weekend. However, an amazing documentary, FangAfrika was screened. Taken from linked.tv:
Fangafrika is a stylized look at the festival in Ouaga, in Burkina Faso, where Africa's best and brightest rappers gather using hip hop to tackle the serious issues facing Africans everywhere.
Throughout the documentary the artists made it clear that hip-hop was a driving force amongst youth to be heard, and to dialogue on issues they were dealing with from sexism to the political treatment of the third world by the first. The best way for the festival to begin was grounding it in a recurring (but not the only) theme, hip hop art and music as a means of social mobility, and social change through facilitating cultural exchange and information..
There was another theme that kept coming up. Hip Hop is down to party.
The night was alive as Mr. Reo, an artist representing Brooklyn, by way of Haiti kicked things off. Commandant Fatso and outspoken representing Zimbabwe were next. After them came the African Underground All-stars, which consisted of myself, David Sharma and Ben Herson on drums, DJ Boo, Bay Muusa and Self Suffice. Bay Muusa is actually one of the main artist from Nomadic Wax and represents Senegal. The irony of this lineup (there are several rotating emcees, beyond Muusa and the band) was that it was more the “African American” Underground All-stars. The Game Rebellion who headlined the first night followed us. The special part of the evening however, came in the cipher at the end. The Rednex Poetry Squad representatives, Decora and Cuttz came on the strength and love of the event, and got on stage to rock with the other artist of the night. Much like two years prior, when I myself simply was at the event as a supporter of the culture, and was pulled on stage, they added more to the authenticity of the event being about hip hop as a community…..a global community.
Day two began with a series of workshops facilitated by Beat Burger Band (yes..THAT Beat Burger, Say Word fam, Jaro, Nasty, Kuzhell made the trip along with Lokey, and John) and myself showing the crowds the finer points of beat boxing and freestyling.
This gave way to a panel discussion on the stereotypes within Hip Hop. On the panel were Dr. Gail Waldu, Dr. Emily Musil, and Professor Nick Conway, all faculty at Trinity. The discussions began to put together a framework of the realities that specifically young black and brown people dealt with in the face of a mainstream culture which looked to limit them, via various biases and negative portrayals of their communities and themselves. After this discussion a screening of Planet B-Boy followed by an actual B-Boy competition. Planet B-Boy followed six crews from all over the world in their quest to win the World B-Boy Championships. The beauty of the film was showing how worlds and communities were again, uniting and expressing their culture through the universal language that is hip hop culture.
The Final night of this festival was far and away its best. Poetic Pilgrimmage, Mohammed Yahya,Zee Santiago, and Blitz the Ambassador blessed the stage, along with special guests M.C. Daniel, Aja Black and Samir (like I said...it was all about community, AJa and Samir actually flew out from Denver, simply to support the event.) The night belonged to one man though....K'Naan. If you dont know, you will soon enough, the Somalian born emcee has slowly been rising and recently released his second album, Troubador. It is rare at a Hip Hop event that you see people, hands in the air, waving them with cell phones and lighters, reciting basically a slow ballad hook. K'Naan is a musician with power and purpose, and literally brought people to tears admist the uptempo rhythms and slick lyrics.
Ultimately, this Festival; to date the only one of its kind in the United States has become a flashpoint of global consciousness and an introduction into the literal "World" of Hip Hop music. Honestly, in my own personal travels, it was fitting that after coming home from Brazil, that I would end up as the host to the home of International Hip Hop music here in the states....
