Adventures In Rap

Back in September the boys from La Base invited me to play a club gig with them. They work in nightclubs (antros) playing mostly cover songs of the latest hits – from rock to reggaeton. Rappers are a rare breed here in Mexico so the band felt that it would give them an edge to bring me along to rap on the songs that feature rap, I didn’t need to learn the words because I could just tailor my verses to fit the songs (as few understand any of it anyway!). Bringing a rapper on board could add a lot of value to their product and, for me, nothing is better than rocking with a live band. Plus the pay is very good and we might be looking at an opportunity to make the music earn and balance my working life out a bit.

The club in question was MIA in Tampico. Tampico is on the Gulf Coast and to get there from my home in San Luis Potosi you have to cross the jungle covered corner of the state on the way to the sea. The lads were playing Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights and the plan was for me to join them on Saturday because of my work commitments during the week. On Saturday I went to my music classes as normal and then hopped on a bus. It was hard to pass through the paradise that is La Huasteca but the pouring rain made it a little easier although it didn’t ease my passage - I was told that the bus took 6-7 hours but 8 1/2 hours later I was just pulling into Tampico and then stepping out into the rain soaked streets. I always have trouble with my phone when I go out of state so there was a bit of confusion connecting and we were almost due at the club. I took a taxi straight to MIA and met the lads there (finally, I got to tell security that I was “with the band” hahaha). There was just time for me to nip to the house we were staying in a few blocks away and have a quick (cold) shower and change clothes before zipping back and hitting the stage.

This was my first experience rapping in a club and it was brilliant, lots of people and a big stage to roam around, plus MIA is a kind of swanky place and of course we had an open bar to provide for our thirsty work! We were actually playing a shortened set because Saturday night featured a famous band as the headline act so we played 1 set instead of the usual 2 meaning that the only bad thing was that I only performed a few songs! When we were finished I was ready to go back on and do it all night!

Well, I didn’t get to go back on but I did enjoy the open bar and taking pictures with the beautiful girls in the place, the next band was pretty cool too (I even earned myself a nickname – “El Pedote” or “The Drunk” oops). A little trick I have to stop me getting sleepy is that I don’t take my watch with me but in fact this just adds to the surreal feel! 8 hours on a bus, straight to the stage and then getting drunk until, hmmm, I’m told it was about 6am hehe. After that we crashed out and awoke sometime the next morning from whence it was straight into the van for a hungover bumpy backseat ride home (since this night I have switched from Rum to Brandy on the advice of Eddy the guitarist – far less aggressive!).

So, all in all a 15 hour round trip to perform 4 songs and I didn’t even see the sea! Nevertheless it was well worth it – a good piss-up (and payday), lots of nice girls and of course the rush of performing live on stage! The remainder of the ride home was uneventful but I am hoping that next time I can persuade them to stop off in paradise for a dip in those waterfalls!

*All photographs courtesy of Tampico VIP

Performance Entertainment And Community Excitement

Titulos De La Calle

I’ve been slacking on the blogging recently so I’m going to take a look back at some of the big events from the year in which the world of music really opened up for me.

First up I am going to go back to an awesome event back in the summer called ‘Titulos de la Calle’.

The night before I was drinking Micheladas with my mate Patrick and I was awoken on Saturday morning (feeling a little worse for wear) by the sounds of Hip-Hop wafting in through the window from the venue next door. I got up to investigate (i.e. looked out of my bedroom window) and I saw a few people milling around and a little sound-checking going on so I called in on my way to my guitar class.

I met the organizers and discovered that it was an all-day event celebrating the four corners of Hip-Hop – MCing, Djing, Breaking and Graffiti. I was offered a spot in the MC battles but I explained that no one would understand me and I wouldn’t understand anything being said to me anyway. I explained that I was an MC from England and I showed them my Community Spirit and I managed to blag myself a 20 minute set later in the afternoon. I was also pretty pleased that I had done all this in Spanish!

When I got back there later on the place was packed with writers, breakers, skaters, MCs, & DJs with every available surface getting graf’d up and the tunes spinning.

Hip-Hop culture is still kinda young here in San Luis but the graf scene especially is really strong. My man Scratch asked if I was ready right away and I gave my disc to the DJ and hit the stage. It’s a strange thing rapping for people who don’t understand a word, no matter how dope the lyrics might be nobody is moved by them whatsoever so you have to make sure that the flow and the energy is right up there. It went off pretty well, I did win over the crowd as I showed and proved, it felt good to throw out some CDs and the people showed their appreciation.

La Gente de la Calle

Some heads came up to me as I left the stage and asked about my album and then I went walking around and shopping it to the people in the crowd. I got a lot of good feedback and met a few good connects from local crews. We exchanged CDs and kicked some rhymes before watching the battles.  Man, these kids went loco for the battles, I didn’t get any pics or footage myself but I dug this up from youtube:

I’ve got my own photography project in the works called Street Paint of San Luis but for now here is a little taster of the scene here:

Later on I went back to my building and watched from my roof with a blunt and a brew feeling pretty contented. This was one of my performing adventures this year and I’ll be back with more before the year is out.

PEACE

OB4CL2

Yo, the wait is finally over and RAEKWON’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…II has hit the streets… I love the album already but it is actually growing on me, I can’t get these new classics out of my head. To celebrate I have done some digging in the archives so travel with me as we go back 4 years to a classic night…

Date: 13^th October 2005. Venue: Coco, London. In Attendance: Me, Tes.

Occasion: Harry Love’s Birthday Bash/Only Built for Cuban Linx… II Tour.

Can I get a “Suuuuuuu”!?!

A sweet day off proved that I have the best Dad/Boss in the world and it was with leisurely pace that I made my way to Mordor.

“Everything Tes rocks is Topman / doesn’t do washing, goes shopping when Tom lands”

Tes “every other day my whole dress code change” Odigie was low on clean clothes so we went to buy some new ones in a shop full of meterosexual fashion victims, then we went to buy mixtapes. After eating a lot of Chinese food in a short time we headed to Camden to experience the Saga continue…Wu-Tang, Wu-Tang.

We were kept waiting outside the spot for a long ol’ time and the only entertainment was a police raid on a nearby bar but none of us could work out what was going on. Needless to say if they had crossed the road they could have seized enough funk to give them munchies till Christmas.

When we eventually got inside we got a John Smith’s and checked the place out, it was pretty impressive. In addition to the usual standing area there were 3 or 4 steep tiers of balconies and the place was lavishly decorated.

Quality control was high as the DJs spun a catalogue that Premo would have been proud of (including lots of Preme tracks), Shimmy Shimmy Ya gets an early run out and goes on to be dropped at least 4 times. On the 1s and 2s are DJ Mk, Harry Love and Sarah Love.

After Harry’s first set host Mystro introduces Chester P and Ramson Badbones, neither of them look like much – Chester is slightly chubby and dresses like Tes whilst Badbones is a skinny little guy. However there is a reason why Chester P is basically a God in the eyes of Rufff (he is simply one of the nicest on these mic devices) and so when he announces that Ramson is the best MC in the country you listen up. He’s not wrong either, with Harry Love spinning his own beats Ramson Badbones starts out ok before hitting full stride with confident battle lyrics and an easy swagger you can’t teach. The highlight is an a cappella run that name drops every cartoon character you ever heard of, if you are imagining a bite of Ghostface’s ‘The Forest’ you’d be right, and wrong, this is no rip off. Every other line has the crowd open, there were too many to remember but he ended with something about smoking weed with the white Rastas on Rosie and Jim. Bluh-Bluh!

Chester was backing Ramson on the tracks and was actually reading the lyrics off of some note paper which was quite a funny sight, then when Badbones was done Chester spat an incredibly boisterous freestyle in which he even named dropped his mans he’d spotted in the front row.

The Taskforce lads were not to be the only surprise guests on the evening – after they were done Mystro spotted Jeru the Damaja on the sidelines so he called him up to say hi. Jeru was in town for a concert the next night but telling Harry to keep playing the beat (one of Harry’s) he did a couple of verses, an a cappella and a quick freestyle. Harry was to be seen mouthing that that was his birthday present right there.

DJ MK took over the decks for a while, interrupted only by a DJ Cash Money cameo, before Terra Firma took to the stage.

This was exactly the sort of crowd that Terra Firma deserves – loud, excited and rowdy – and it is quite a sight to see them on stage. With all the main sayers present (Klashnekoff, Kyza Smirnoff and Scriblah) and a gang of cru backing them I knew it was gonna be special. This was confirmed when Klash started things off having “been on the Southern Comfort”.  The new joints from the mixtape were done well (still can’t find that damn tape!) and for once Klash kept the long talk short, didn’t turn the beat down and didn’t forget the lyrics – but his man possessed performance was intact. I haven’t seen Kyza and Scriblah for a while but there was mic time for all tonight, Kyza is an absolute monster when doing ‘Lights Out’ and ‘Real’ and Scriblah hasn’t lost a step as the trio perform ‘B4 U Die’. This and other songs ‘Daggo Mentality’ and (of course) ‘It’s Murda’ get bigger with every performance, also the Marley dub ‘They Call It…’ has to be added to that list, out in the streets they call it Fiiirmaaa!…

It’s a dangerous game having the Firma Fam as a “warm up” act, everyone has been giving it all they got and Sarah Love was not about to stop anyone dancing with her set. As it turns out, I had a little in reserve…

Clan in the front, let your feet stomp… my excitement reached crescendo as familiar notes started up… “I grew up on the crime side/the New York Times side”…

As I lost my head like I had failed to Protect My Neck Raekwon, decked in the fly Wu-Wear garments, tells us about the times when he was stuck with that same damn ‘lo sweater. Rae was a one man Clan as he flowed through the chambers, bringing us jewelz from the far flung corners of Shaolin Land. Taking us from staircase to stage, from Enter the Wu-Tang to the Gravel Pit via verses channelled from GZA, Deck and Method Man that were joined by a strong chorus, the Chef cooked it up somethin’ marvellous.

“This is what I love to do; this shit is like drinking water to me”

The most heartfelt Shimmy Shimmy Ya of the night came for fallen Clansman Ol’ Dirty Bastard. Tonight however was to be all about the …Cuban Linx era, as Lex Diamonds played out the famous scenes. He explained how the situation with him and Ghost was all love and support, to demonstrate he held an imaginary phone conversation with his partner in crime that was realer than reality.

Long talked of and speculated about, the Only Built for Cuban Linx…II album has finally reached fruition, the man tells how he gave us his whole life in his rhymes but for this one he was going back to the cracks in the staircase. Hopefully this new epic will answer Rae’s question to us, as fans: “What is up with Rap music at the moment?”

His concern was real but on this night, Wu-Tang…that’s what’s up.

Before it came time for us to be cast out we were treated to a precious gem from Outkast that kept it jumpin’ like Kangaroos.

Yes this shit is raw comin’ at ya door/start to scream out loud “Wu-Tang back for more”!

We barely had enough energy left to give him a send off but having somehow managed that we made moves into the night that contained a little chicken and a little kickin’ tales over herbs on the Double Decker.

PEACE

- Wise

The Damage

Time to dig into the archives again, here is an oldie that may see the light of day on ‘World Wide Wise.COMmunity’, the upcoming travel ep. This is ‘The Damage’, a wild wrap up of t.wise & t.cat in Amsterdam. Enjoy the song here along with a photographic version.

Listen to ‘The Damage’

White Widow On Arrival

Cheers Bey!

Buffin' Bolsas

"thoughts I spray course away on a waterway"

PEACE

Hip-Hop Is Read

This spot is suberp, well worth digging through the archives, it is a veritable treasure trove.

I am currently rockin' out to this

PEACE

The Wize & La Base – LIVE!

This past Thursday I had the honour of performing live with La Base, an awesomely talented Band of Brothers from San Luis Potosi. The brothers run the local music school where I study and record and otherwise pass much of my time building with good people with awesome talent.

La Base & The Wise

I went to record on Thursday lunchtime (after I leave school in the morning I pass a few hours recording before heading to a Radio Station to give classes, then back to school) but the things weren’t there as they had been used to record a band competition this week. I spent the afternoon there anyway conversing about the meaning of life and playing the beautiful new guitar of my friend.

Jamming

That afternoon I dropped in at the other branch of the school which is next to my school, we were chatting about playing live and Cesar invited me to play with the group that evening in LOVE, a new bar run by the maestro de cantar en la escuela.  I was super honoured and got a fantastic energy, when I got home from work I headed up to the bar, we had a chat about what to play as we set up.

They opened the set and then I joined them on stage where we jammed for a few songs, me just following David on the drums and Eddie, Tato y Cesar jamming the guitar, keyboard and bass. We took a little break and we came back and  Got It Started with Community Initiative x Black Eyed Peas…the energy was awesome and it was so much fun to rap with that, Pitufo joined me on the mic to sing the hook and it went down a storm.

Eddie, Wise, David, Cesar, Tato

I am currently in the process of getting together a band and we will soon be playing live around the city, our first gig is waiting in the wings at showin’ us LOVE and this was a wonderful taster of the potential here. Muchisimos Gracias a La Base and I hope we get another chance to do this sometime, and here’s to many more fun times with this music.

Performing Everyday And Creating Evermore

The Inconvenient Truths Session

I realise that I have previously posted this song here on the blog but I have recently got hold of a whole bunch of old photographs including some from the making of this song and I thought it would be cool to catch a snapshot of the creative process. So, rewind selecta……..

Inconvenient Truths

Cat's Lair

Cat’s Lair, where Susie’s artwork hangs above the wheels of steel

Ingredients

One of the 4 “Collector’s Corners” (of this room! haha) 

Finishing Touches

Putting the finishing touches to the verses as the beat bangs.

TC In Position

Thundercat at the controls, Tao of Physics in hand…we’re coming into land!

The Booth

The Wise in his padded room.

Bey's Eye View

Strummin'

TC relaxing with the guitar, taking a break from the hard work (word to Justin! hahaha)

So there you have it, I’ll have some more of these on the way as I go through the old pics. In the meantime Thundercat and I are busy working on new projects, more info on those is also forthcoming…

Practice Every Aspect Creatively Excel

Mr. Shaodow

I want to take some time out from the direct goings on of the Community League to give some love to a member of our extended fam – Mr. Shaodow.

Shaodow and I met when we were both supporting Klashnekoff at The Coven in Oxford back in 2007, we were both pretty hyped to be on the bill and I took an immediate liking to him. We were at opposite ends of the bill - I had the first warm up as the doors opened and he was doing the graveyard shift after Klashnekoff – but Thundercat and I were glad we stuck around for some solid songs and some awesome kung-fu (we also not so secretely hoped to see Shaodow spazz out on the guy who kept trying to grab the mic!).

After that we hooked up together for a few shows as he was getting started out and everytime he gained a little and it was great to see. I was always thrilled by his kung-fu skills and he fielded many questions on the topic – what would happen if I sucker punched you right now? Have you ever gotten into a fight? What’s the deadliest move you have? – and I was always eager to egg on the displays interspersed through the set. We’ve passed a few beats and rhymes back and forth over the this time and I am hopeful that we will get a collaboration together someday but in the meantime I am enjoying the show.

Since those days his star has kept rising through hard work and determination and these are exciting times. I am not the only one celebrating a new video relase , in fact Mr. Shaodow has 2 new videos for us to enjoy, the first is, in a word, JOKZ…it’s the new single R U Stoopid!?!:

The next is a very special video because it features our very good friends SMILEX with whom we have shared the stage in the past (and they also gave us our start at The Wheatsheaf many years ago!). This is the remix for Look Out, There’s A Black Man Coming and when you purchase it from itunes all of the proceeds go to Love Music, Hate Racism:

Finally Shaodow leaves The Shire and treads the hallowed ground of Tim Westwood’s studio:

That’s all for the now but do go and check out Mr. Shaodow’s music and always keep it Community.

PEACE

Debut Music Video! WAR & PIECE: WISE’S GAMBIT

Over the last few years I have been lucky enough to work with the wonderful organisation Words, Beats, & Life on their original Hip-Hop Chess Tournament Bum Rush the Boards. WBL is an organization in Washington DC that runs various programmes for young people – from MCing to Photography – and they established Bum Rush the Boards to highlight the connection between the strategies of Chess and Life. I came onboard for the 2nd annual competition when I was asked to write a song about chess.  

I once jotted down two lines for a song without any idea what to do with them. The lines were: “It was quite the strangest sight ever seen / one Knight, he tried to mate with the Queen!”. Many moons later I was sitting at my computer and my man Nick (Community League President, amongst other things) popped up on Gchat:

“Can you write me a song about chess?”
“Sure, what for? When do you need it?”
“asap”
“er…ok”

It was time to water the seed that had been planeted and grow the two lines into a song.

I retreated to a secluded courtyard where I battled my sister. I reflected on the many bouts with my sparring partner Susie, getting whipped by my cousin, being defeated in the League by Special Opps and scores of trans-Atlantic games with Cheddar Ted

I returned to The Shire with an epic story of Kings, Queens and Castles. I put the finishing touches to the song in Cat’s Lair whilst Thundercat spent the afternoon creating the perfect beat. We came to a sticking point and had the inspiration to fuse the two beats we’d been working on together, and the beat was completed as I penned my last word.

The rhymes had split and divided into 64 lines, one for each square, and by sundown “War & Piece: Wise’s Gambit” was born.

The guys at the journal loved the song and rather than just having it on the mixtape they decided to make it the official song of the event. Not only that but they set about making a video…the youngsters in the Academy came up with this masterpiece and I absolutely LOVE it!

From a spark of inspiration manifested in rhyme, through a golden opportunity taken, the song has travelled all around the world and, in turn, it has sparked creativity in other minds.

Words, Beats and Life’s fourth annual chess tournament was bigger than ever this year, with more than 165 competing and around 120 taking part in the various workshops.  The event was free for all and there was even a cookout with veggie and non-beef options.

You can read about the event at Across the Fader , you will need to sign up to join the site but it is well worth it. I am not the only musician involved now that the project has grown – this year there is a full Bum Rush the Boards Soundtrack to accompany the event and it has been getting regular spin in my house. Across the Fader  is currently hosting the live stream and download along so visit the site to check out the single “Clock’s Ticking” featuring Raheem Devaughn, Yu, Laelo Hood, Oddisee, Tabi Bonney, Grizz and Drauss.  Bumrush the Boards Official Event Mixtape, (Produced / Compiled / Arramged & Mixed by: DJ R.B.I.) is a compilation of DC’s Hottest MC’s and vocalists. Special guests include: DJ Heat (WPGC-FM 95.5), MC Lyte, & Raheem Devaughn.

If you are unable to sign up to Across the Fader you can download the Soundtrack here!

Please leave comments and let us know how you feel about the video, enjoy the mixtape and spread the word – each one teach one! Most importantly – play chess everyday!

- Wise

Participate Educate And Create Everyday

The Auto-Biography of Special Opps

We have recently done a bit of press for the Community League and have therefore been doing a little self-examination as we have answered various questions about our music and ourselves. Here is what Special Opps had to say about…well, read it and find out!

“I was wondering of you could give me a bit of an account over email about your music. I e what inspires you, how you got started, what your lyrics are about, how you raised the money to fund the EP and also maybe who your musical influences are etc.”
 
My music was always my best medicine. In my teenage years, struggling with severe depression and anger, I learned that expressing all the bottled-up feelings in my head released so much of the confusion, anxiety and hurt I was feeling. I started penning poems with no intention of rapping them, then one day realized I could verbalize my thoughts and it might be somewhat interesting. So that’s what I did, and my friends and family encouraged me to continue because they saw some promise and enjoyed hearing me kick rhymes. At first, it was just spitting around the neighborhood, then at parties, then just wherever I felt like it — on the block, in my room, at open mics. I didn’t actually pick up a mic for a good 5 years. And to this day, I still think I’m a better performer than I am a studio recording artist. Most rappers, in my opinion, are the opposite. You love their album, bump it in your car and in your room, then I’m disappointed when I see them in concert. I still throw up my hands and sing along, but it’s not the same effect. I feed off a crowd, I feel more at ease because I’m not trying too hard to hit every last note exactly right in the booth. But eventually, I wanted to spread my sound far and wide, and to do that, I had to take recording seriously.

 

 
The inspiration question always throws me for a loop. I can’t point to any one artist that inspires me. It may sound like a cop-out, but it’s the truth. In fact, I don’t even consider myself a rap connoiseur. There are tens of thousands of fans who know rap music far better than I do. I just love what I do. That doesn’t mean I don’t have favorites, but I don’t try to emulate them in any particular way. It’s cliche and all, but I just try and do me. As for my favorites right now, I love listening to Murs, Brother Ali, J-Live. I can always use some Gangstarr, Big L, and Tash in my life. As for British rap, I’d be lying if I said I listened to a lot of it, but I’m a huge Roots Manuva fan. Good rap to me can be funny, serious, violent, thoughtful — but more than anything, I like straight-forward lyrics that you can tell took a lot of work. It’s easy to write something you consider deep that no one else understands, and anyone can put together words that rhyme, but it takes work to get your message across clearly in a clever way. I love great wordplay, but not to the point it doesn’t make any sense, and that’s why I’m such a big fan of Murs and J-Live. You can tell there are few throw-away lines in their rhymes. That kind of craftsmanship, no matter the sub-genre of rap music in which it’s found, inspires me.
 
As for funding the EP, it’s a wonderful thing that today anyone can make some music on the cheap in their bedrooms. The consequence of that is that everyone and his mother is a rap artist nowadays, but so what? The making of the EP didn’t cost a dollar/pound to record, but the equipment did cost a few dollars. The funny thing is that my best recording, in my opinion, on the song Secret Garden, was done on my $30 hand-held mic, not the $300 one I bought soon after. I think that’s because I feel much more comfortable with a mic in my hand than I do in a studio recording booth. But as for paying for the EP, I have to take the credit on that one, along with the genius behind the Community League, our President Augustus Ruff. Not because the Oxfordshire boys didn’t want it as much as we did, but we had the means to do it, and so we went ahead and got it done. Tom and Tim and Joe deserve equal credit in all endeavors, but anything they make selling CDs better make its way across the Atlantic so we can recoup some expenses. And I’d be remiss in not giving tons of credit to David Whitepond, the designer who did our cover and CD art for free. This dude had never met us before, he was just a friend of a friend, and he put in countless hours for a project he had no real stake in from the beginning. Albums aren’t made by just the artists, and in this case Mr. Ruff and David Whitepond deserve all types of accolades that often are missing when music is put out there for the masses.
 
Lastly, part of what makes this project so special is that when we first started, I’d never met the Oxfordshire boys. To create an album on two continents, with only email correspondence and a dream to work with, is no easy task. Had we been living in the same place, this EP gets done in a year or two instead of 4. So when it finally became a reality, there was a real pride that we’d brought this British-American connection together. Different lives, different upbringings, similar yet different worldviews. Community Spirit is exactly what it says it is: community has no physical boundaries anymore, and with enough spirit to accomplish our goals, success like this can be had. We don’t claim to be the best rappers out there. We don’t claim to have the best sounding recording or even the best sounds period. We just have a love of hip-hop that merged at the right time and evolved into this EP. All I hope is that it provides some small bit of listening pleasure to anyone — no matter age, gender, race, whatever — who chooses to give it a listen.
 
Special Opps
 
“Obviously your music differs from the conception that Hip hop is all about gun gangs and money etc.”
 
That conception definitely exists to audiences not so famililar with hip-hop, but having grown up in the 90s and listening to both violent and non-violent lyrics in rap, it felt natural to use the art form as a means of expression, whatever the content. That isn’t to say many rappers today don’t see the avenue to riches as one where they’ll promote guns, gangs and money — because many of them do — but there is a healthy dose of rap music that doesn’t contain that all. If that means people want to call me “conscious,” that’s fine, but more importantly, I feel comfortable expressing myself in a way that’s true to who I am. In the end, fans respect that. And the days when hard-core, gangsta-type songs are the norm — those days are slowly dying. Too many talented rap artists have other stories to tell, other ideas to put forth, and I don’t think we deserve any special recognition for doing that. Rap will continue to have those other lyrics of which you speak, but I don’t mind that at all. In fact, I respect well-written songs and catchy wordplay and a tight flow, no matter the content. That said, I do take pride in earning respect as a rapper whose songs may seem less flashy, yet still excite the listener.

Opp had his first solo show the other night so congratulations and here’s to many more! You can leave your congrats in the comments – because that’s what they’re for!

PEACE