JEM's delectable documentaries: Part 2

It's that time again for us at JEM to recommend some YouTube goodness. This time, we decided to help educate and elucidate on a couple of hip hop's main elements; namely Emceeing and Bboying. 

First up is Kevin Fitzgerald's film about rhyming: Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme:

Fitzgerald's insightful documentary explores the art's inception, development and high-fives and name-drops a ton of very credible MC's.

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Next is the Korean segment from the new Bboy film/documentary called Planet Bboy.

This is a compelling and comprehensive study of one of the lesser commercialised hiphop elements.

Korean bboys really are a force to be reckoned with. Of the recent battles I've seen, their skill, style and inventiveness really captures the imagination, with bags of jaw-drop, wow factor. This scene is an amusing mock-up of the North/South Korean divide headquarters, and what would happen if the two armies battled it out Bboy style:

Janet Jackson: Up Close and Personal
 Interview published in Blacksheepmag, 31/05/2011.

Janet Jackson has been beguiling audiences the world over for over 25 years. Starting her career by performing backing vocals on Michael's Off the Wall album, she's since held her own and proved to everyone that she's much more than just Michael Jackson's little sister. Her albums have been described as being sonically innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative. Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis penned and produced much of her music. These guys, let's not forget, honed their talents under the genius guidance of one Jamie Starr (or Prince to call him by his better known Christian name) from their Starr produced band The Time. With such credentials and Jackson's raw talent, it's no surprise she's had a successful career for a quarter of a century.



About to embark on the biggest tour of her professional life, Number Ones: Up Close and Personal, Janet took out a few minutes to chat about her music, her acting, her piercings and her brother, Michael; proving that she's still someone very much in control.

to read the interivew, check the link below:
http://www.blacksheepmag.com/features/interviews/item/2582-still-in-control

CLASH OF THE HIP HOP TITANS: JUST BLAZE & THE ALCHEMIST INTERVIEW - FINAL ROUND

BY THUTO 'THE REAL DEAL' MALI

To kick off the final round, as we left round two with The Alchemist, if is straight over to Just Blaze. I took a peek at your Myspace page – interesting. There was something that really got me intrigued, you wrote: “I’m still trying to figure this all out myself, you may think I have made it... I haven't. Whatever it is you think I've made... or wherever you think I have made it to. Let me know what or where it is…” So where do you see yourself and your amazing journey thus far?

Just Blaze: “I am still on the path, I am still trying to figure it out, and like all of us if you had told me 15 years ago that I would be where I am at now, I wouldn't have believed you.

“Who knows where I will be 15 years from now? I didn’t really have a plan, some of us set out with the goal that I need to be a super star, or a super MC or a super DJ – whatever. Me, I am just going wherever I end up. Wherever I end up, is where I am supposed to be. I have had certain achievements but I don’t feel like I have “made it” as much as I have done, there are so many things which I haven’t done, and there is so much more that I am capable of, so I am still trying to get there”

The Real Deal: 2010 was a very year for you with a whole list of project already under your belt, talk to me about what’s next for Just Blaze?

“I am working with an artist and good friend of mine by the name of Jay Electronica, and we had a great record earlier this year called Exhit C. I knew it was going to be something special but I didn’t know it was going to do what it did. I don’t want to say that it broke down a lot of doors but, it set a foundation for some real hip hop to come back to the forefront and set off a chain reaction of all this interest in hip hop on a higher level.

“I just made some music for the new A Team movie”

The Real Deal: Did you meet Mr T?

[laughs] “No, but we were trying to get him to come down, we were having a release at a club that I DJ at and I was like, if you guys really want to get this right, come down, bring the van and Mr T and set up outside.

“One of the newest video games that is out right now, Street fighter 4, which always sell loads of copies, this is probably like the twentieth version of it. I just did the ad campaign for that. It is not like at this point we don’t know that hip hop sells, but it’s cool to see real hip hop art, in terms of music, graffiti, with in such a mainstream product - I think is cool.

“I don’t look at it as selling out, I look at it as using your god given talents to further yourself and further the culture. It introduces us to a whole new audience that didn't exist before, so that’s cool.

“I am working with T.I on his new album and a movie that he has coming out soon. Probably the biggest thing, but we are not taking about it, is probably Eminem’s new album, I did a couple of records on there – that’s all I really want to say about that, as we keep that stuff under wraps.

The Real Deal: Is diversifying the way to keep hip hop alive?

“It dependent on what you want out of it? For me I was happy when I first started out, well…OK I was just in a house making beats and that was it.

“Now you have staff, people that work for you, people that I depend on, so to keep that operation up, I have to diversify. Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining, I love it, but sometimes it is nice when you can just do thing at your leisure.

“I do well financially, but I don’t do that well where I could say, ‘I am not working for two months and still pay everybody, so you got to diversify and do different things.

“Doing something that you’re good at and that you love, I never want to do something purely for a cheque, because money comes and money goes at the end of the day. I think that I have been able to maintain that and still branch out, so you definitely got to diversify.

The Real Deal: Back to you Alchemist, in your opinion, what is the way forward for hip hop?

The Alchemist: “I think that rap is so big; that there are so many divisions, that I don’t even know what is anymore. There are some groups that are considered rap, I am rap, we’re all rap but I wouldn’t even put them [in the same category]. For a while I dabbled with the thought that we need a new name for what we do? This stuff that is considered rap now days, it’s not that I don’t like it, it is just not the same thing we do.

The Real Deal : What would the new name be?

“I don’t know, but I don’t think it should be any names really, it should just be like, what is music? What is art? Is this an album; is this an art project, what is this?

“Blur the fucking lines between art and music, and in order to do that, you have to blur the lines between some of these corporate business concepts applied to music – fuck all that and blur the lines. That is the type of shit that I am on right now, that is the type of shit that I relate to, so that is where we I am at”

The Real Deal: In 2009, you brought us ‘Chemical Warfare’ so what’s new for 2010 and beyond?

The Alchemist: “I have a group, with an artist by the name of Oh No, he is actually the brother of Mad Lib, one of the greatest of all times and he is one of my favourite legends. But I and No collaborated from out of no where, and got a group together called ‘Gangrene’, we have just finished that album and I am really excited about it.

“I went under, I am on another path right now, just trying to do some dirt and throwing shit against the wall. This is where art gets nasty, I just don’t care, because the way that the business is right now, the majors are lost. They’re so focused on this one little circle and it is so much bigger”.

As I pressed stop on my beloved, and well travelled mini disk recorder, I was filled with excitement and hope. There you have it, directly from the heavy weights in this game, it is about keeping hip hop as it was originally intended, as a means of true expression, innovation and forward movement. Peace!

LONDON:

Dates: Saturday 28th May 2011

Times: 10.00pm – 4am

Venue: Plan B, 148 Brixton Road, London SW9

Support: Spin Doctor, The Last Skeptik, Mr Thing, Classic Material & Main Squeeze.

Tickets: £12 in advance / £15 on the door (if available)

Saturday- http://tinyurl.com/6zye43

BRIGHTON: in association with Coalition

Dates: Bank Holiday Sunday 29th May 2011

Times: 10pm – 3am

Venue: Coalition, 171-181 Kings Road Arches, Brighton BN1 1NB

Support: Spin Doctor & Rusty Ryan

Tickets: £10 in advance / More on the door if available

http://tinyurl.com/6f5yhfh

'GODFATHER OF RAP' - GIL SCOTT-HERON DIES

CLASH OF THE HIP HOP TITANS: JUST BLAZE & THE ALCHEMIST INTERVIEW - ROUND 2

BY THUTO 'THE REAL DEAL' MALI

Following on from round one, it is time to get proper down and dirty and talk about those standout moments and career higlights. The Alchemist might just have taken the last round, but it is now for round two gentleman. You’ve both worked with the whose who of hip hop, and certainly some of my all time favourite artists such as Talib Kweli, Jay – Z, Snoop, Nas - the lists endless. What has been you’re favourite project / production so far and why?

Just Blaze: “Like we were saying before you started rolling this, its art, it’s an expression, and it is something that you give birth to from nothing, kind of like children. You can’t ask a parent which is your favourite child. If you've got five kids and this one is my favourite and the other four are looking at you like, what the hell? – it is kind of the same with music.

“I have a personal attachment or a feeling towards just about everything that I have worked on. There are something’s that you like more than others, but you love them all the same regardless because they came from you. One of the best feelings that I have had regarding my music is probably doing Madison Square Gardens with Jay. ‘The Black Album’ had come out like three weeks before and he turned all the lights down and started doing “public service announcement” and my voice came on and the intro and all the lights in the Garden went red, the crowd was going nuts and knew every word line for line. It was such a good feeling, just that wild energy – it was probably one of my favourite moments related to anything that I have done.

“Other than that, it was probably the T.I and Rhianna record I did. I was djing at a Halloween party in Philli, a real big party and someone tapped me on the shoulder and said hey, you forget you have the number on record in the country right now? Oh yeah, check this out ladies and gentleman we have an announcement to make, we have the number on record in the country – bitches. The crowd went nuts and was singing along to every word, the chorus, and the hook of the record, which I had written and that was a good feeling. It is a great thing to make a beat and I love it all the same, but when you have written the record as well, and to see people sing along to it, it is a doubly good feeling because it was a song that just came into my head out of nowhere – it’s crazy”.

The Alchemist: “The people that I make the best music with are my friends. So like Dilated Peoples, Cypress Hill and Mobb Deep – I consider them family beyond music. Once you cross over that line, you create music that is more true to the people, versus just being in the studio with someone who is really dope and you respect each other but you guys don’t really know how to meet in the middle. Music is like a relationship and it is also a lot of psychology from a producer’s standpoint. So with friends you are able to eliminate all that (the psychology) and work freely”.

The Real Deal: The Alchemist, you’re quoted as saying that “My career has been more of a steady climb rather than a quick rise, but I think it's good to rise gradually because that's where the longevity comes in”, what advice would you give to aspiring producers and artists?

The Alchemist: “It so generic to say but, do it because you love the music first. Somewhere along the line if you’re good at it, you might start making money from it, and it might become your profession – like a lot of us. But you always have to remember that when something you love becomes your livelihood, it goes up and down this music [game], it is not like a steady career where you get a salary - you get out of it what you put into it I guess.

“Sometimes you go so far in this business that you forget why you did it, you always have to go back and remember the spark. What you have to do is remind yourself of what made you want to rap or make a beat, and don’t lose sight of that along”.

The Real Deal: How do you manage to remain raw and maintain that underground raw feel and still manage to be successful?

The Alchemist: “I am still trying to figure that out my damn self, if there is anybody out there that can help me, my e-mail is… I think it is because, those are the kind of people that I looked up to and in life I like to make things last. I am an addict in personality, so if it’s music I do it to death, I really get into what I am doing and it’s like the weedgy board, the whole thing of asking it a question and it goes towards an answer and sometimes you like it and sometime you don’t.

“My opinion is that, you are pushing it so subconsciously that is the direction that you want it to go and in life that’s how I look at it, where I am at is where I wield myself to be. What I noticed about people who got big real quick is that they would also go away fast. I am just on my own shit.

It's now looking like it is neck and neck to the finishing line, it's too close to call in this round. It's all to play for as we go in for the final round.

LONDON:

Dates: Friday 27th & Saturday 28th May 2011

Times: 10.00pm – 4am

Venue: Plan B, 148 Brixton Road, London SW9

Support: Spin Doctor, The Last Skeptik, Mr Thing, Classic Material & Main Squeeze.

Tickets: £12 in advance / £15 on the door (if available)

Friday - http://tinyurl.com/5wm36bt / Saturday- http://tinyurl.com/6zye43

BRIGHTON: in association with Coalition

Dates: Bank Holiday Sunday 29th May 2011

Times: 10pm – 3am

Venue: Coalition, 171-181 Kings Road Arches, Brighton BN1 1NB

Support: Spin Doctor & Rusty Ryan

Tickets: £10 in advance / More on the door if available

http://tinyurl.com/6f5yhfh

CLASH OF THE HIP HOP TITANS: JUST BLAZE v THE ALCHEMIST INTERVIEW ROUND 1

BY THUTO 'THE REAL DEAL' MALI

When I heard that hip hop production heavy weights Just Blaze and The Alchemist were not only coming to the UK, but were actually preparing to go head to head, it took me back one of my all time favourite films Juice (1992). It conjured up images of that iconic scene in which a disused warehouse becomes an arena style battle ground, with Queen Latifah as master of ceremonies and Omar Epps emerging as the victor of the wheels of steel.

Ahead of any great bout there is of course the press conference, where each contender flexes their verbal muscles before stepping into the ring. Let’s just say that I was afforded more of the dressing room experience, as I went along to the ultra chic bar of the Hoxton Hotel on the eve of round one of the ultimate battle in the basement, in the form of the Just Blaze vs. The Alchemist tour. Each opposing challenger sat side by side at one end of the glass table, Spin Doctor of The Doctor’s Orders and I at the other - it was show time. The only way to appropriately ring the bell on the first three rounds was to find out what they had in store for London Town, what could we expect?

The Alchemist: “They should wear waterproof clothing, fire proof attire, make sure then care of. Expect a lot of explosives, mixed with soul, mixed with electricity”.

Just Blaze: “The way I like to approach things like this is to keep it real organic. All I would say is if you like music and you like hip hop – expect a good time and come ready to rock!”

The Real Deal: I see that DJ Premier is also joining the tour in Paris. With the recent passing of hip hop legend Guru, what is you’re earliest memory of encountering Guru and Gang Starr?

The Alchemist: "I remember before I even knew them I met him in a club in LA when I was like 14 at some hip hop event and I remember hawking him like Yo man (as a fan). Then years later when I moved to New York I became really good friends with premier, he was like my idol, if you’re an actor, it is like hanging out with Robert De Niro - that is how I looked at it. Gang Starr’s first album I remember distinctly is one of the album’s that I bought the cassette, lost it and bought it again.

“The Manifest video I remember seeing Guru and he looked like Malcolm X in one of the parts and he had this certain monotone flow, and was really influential on me and all my friends growing up – it had an impact on us. I used to go to D&D and just hang out with him [premier], and I was lucky enough to be around during the ‘moment of truth’ album, I got to be around when they were making "You Know My Steez" – all the classic songs on that album.

“Once I got to meet him [Guru] and hang in the studio with Premier, it was so dope and just blew me away seeing how they worked together. Guru would be like, ‘Old man still got it Outskie’, he would come out the booth and be like, and I still got it for an old man. I would be like, what are you talking about, he was a legend to me - it is definitely whack that he is gone”.

Just Blaze: “My earliest memory for sure was the Manifest video on Video Music Box. The first time I saw Guru and Gang Starr was the manifest video, the thing that tripped me out was the way he cuts, he has two turntables next to each other, and then the mixer, opposed to having the mixer in between, so I thought that was the way that we were meant to do it. Actually, I should start doing that right now as I cut much better with my left hand than with my right”.

It is difficult to call in the first round, but The Alchemist may have just taken it on this occasion. Can and will Just Blaze pull it back? More will be revealed in the next round...

ACCESS ALL AREAS MUSIC SEMINAR

Corporate: Small Green Shoots - Access All Areas 2011 from Mark J. Blackman on Vimeo.