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I’m convinced that the Summer Spirit Festival is the grown and sexy Woodstock.

Over 20,000 people made the pilgrimage to the Merriweather Post Pavilion to see Eyrkah Badu headline an amazing lineup of modern soul and hip-hop talent, including Common, Janelle Monae, The Roots, B.O.B. and the one and only Chuck Brown. All jokes about Woodstock and pilgrimages aside, sitting at the pavilion you can tell that this was something special, and not just another concert night.

Unfortunately thanks to traffic I missed the set by Janelle Monae as she started on time to a gathering crowd. I did get a chance to witness B.O.B. make one of the most classic rock and roll mistakes that any rookie could make.

“Hello Boston!”

As the boos gathered he realized the mistake he made, and apologized, again thanking the fans in….Baltimore.

Goofs aside, B.O.B. put on another solid set, and his relentless touring has allowed his act to mature and get even stronger. Of course crowd-pleasers “Nothing on You,” and “Airplanes” got the pavilion moving and any ill will had in the beginning was long forgotten. You can tell that Bobby Ray has a promising career ahead of him.

However, he still needs to take notes from Common.

The internet might rag on Common (and my family has beef with him), but you can’t deny the dude’s stage presence and the palpable love he received from the crowd. Who said so-called “conscious” rappers can’t move the crowd? Hitting on tracks like “The Light,” “Go!,” and “The Corner,” in addition to a medley of hip-hop hits the audience was out of their chairs, throughout his whole performance.

Of course having one of the best DJs on the East Coast (DJ Dummy, trust me) and serenading girls on stage helps.

But if Common could get the crowd moving, what did you think Chuck Brown did?

Even though the audio mix during his set was kind of weak, there is no denying that Chuck Brown owns the DC area. The go-go revival was most certainly the highlight of the festival not only showcasing Chuck’s hits like “Bustin’ Loose,” and the newest “Chuck Baby,” but covering other go-go favorites like Rare Essence’s “Overnight Scenario” and the hit cover “Pieces of Me.”

The Roots unfortunately had a tough act to follow and they did their best to entertain the crowd. As a die hard fan, I have to remember that even though Questlove and crew are the hardest working crew in show-business, they still have a ways to go to make inroads into the mainstream community. After the raucous acts before them, the crowd was a tad subdued for the boys from Philly. It was only until their hit “You Got Me” (and Capt’n Kirk’s subsequent guitar antics) that the crowd came alive.

After 4 hours of performances it was time for the woman of the hour. Ms Badu, entering the stage with a blonde mohawk and a flowing African gown easily won the prize for best costume (let me stop). Unlike some of her previous shows, her act was more subdued, which might not have been the best look for some tired and weary fans. Having that said, her set was always entertaining and she pulls no punches to deliver a great performance.

Mark de Clive-Lowe is one of the most respected and prolific figures in the world of electronic music, and is credited with ushering in the broken-beat scene along with London cohorts 4hero and Bugz In The Attic.  With a revolving door of top-notch vocalists, and improv being the hallmark of his live shows, it’s impossible for him to put on the same show twice.  In anticipation of Mark’s upcoming show at Liv in DC this Friday, I got a chance to talk to him in-depth about switching up coasts, bringing the best out of true soul divas, going back to the future via jazz, and being a worldwide music ambassador.  And in all seriousness, Mark definitely brings the LOLs.

Mark de Clive-Lowe will be performing at Liv w/ special guest Sy Smith on Friday, July 30, 2010.

Unkle Funkle:  What prompted you to move from the U.K. to L.A.?

Mark de Clive-Lowe:  I was in London for 10 years, and I felt like it was time to start a new chapter.  I’ve actually always been interested in living in America but the opportunity didn’t really present itself.  Things were good in London, it was a great creative synergy there with my community.  To be crystal clear, I’ve always aspired for America.  My last full album Tide’s Arising was released on ABB Soul out of Oakland, so there’s various connections there and I kept going back to collaborate with folks there.  So it just seemed like the right time to make a move.  New York was always one place I was gunning for, but being originally from New Zealand and being so used to the beach and the sun and that kind of thing, it just felt like California was just the right place to come.

UF:  Are there any parallels that you can draw between the music scene in L.A. versus the music scene in the U.K., or are there any differences?

MdCL:  Oh, they’re completely different.  I think every city’s got its own vibe and its own kinda community, energy, and spirit to them.  I was just in Atlanta for a few days doing shows and recording there, and that place has its own vibe.  I just think wherever you go it seems to have differences.  One thing with the U.K. is there’s really a great Caribbean culture there, a lot of West Indian culture, and you’ve got a lot of people who are from different countries in Africa and they’ll be first generation or second generation, so there’s a lot of cultural references in the music there.  Whereas in L.A., it seems to be so much more [music] industry here, and I think a lot of people are above the underground very much doing certain kinds of music.  And then there’s the whole Flying Lotus and the Brainfeeder scene that’s really unique to here, and that does actually remind me of a little bit of the vibe of London.

UF:  You are a pretty busy man these days, and there’s a lot of exciting things going on.  You’ve recently  collaborated with Sandra St. Victor, Nia Andrews, and Sy Smith.  Tell me how you ended up working with Sandra.  She’s such a legend in the industry .  The music that you did for her is amazing.

MdCL:  Great man, I’m glad you dig it.

UF:  Yeah, I’ve never heard her sound this good actually.

MdCL:  (laughs)

UF:  She’s always had one of the best voices in Soul and R&B period, but you’ve kind of put her on that “next” level.

MdCL:  I mean, for me, there’s so many great voices out there who aren’t always collaborating with a producer who’s as good as they are a singer, or they might have great voices but they’re not great writers and they’re not working with great writers.  When you get all those elements in place I think something really special can happen.  The music I’m really inspired by, it all works by that method.  You have Charles Stepney producing records and Quincy Jones producing records and those records are head and shoulders above everything else.  Those kind of creatives who can really pull focus and also bring a skill set to the table that’s unique, I think that’s when you start getting something really special happening.  So with Sandra, I was….I mean, I know what I like to hear people do.  It was just nice since the first time I met her.  She just caught it all and it was great.  When I first heard her, she was doing a Chaka Khan gig, Sandra and Karen Bernod.  And Chaka was…Chaka was okay.

UF:  (laughs)

MdCL:  (laughs)  Chaka was cool.

UF:  That’s so funny.  I’ve never heard anybody say that Chaka Khan was just okay.

MdCL:  Chaka was cool.  At the end of the show, the background singers got 8 bars each.  And Karen Bernod stepped up and was just incredible, and I was thinking Wow, what is there left for this other girl to do?  And then Sandra steps up and just re-wrote the book completely, so I mean both of them just blew my mind.  The highlight of the Chaka Khan show was two background singers doing 8 bars each kinda thing.

UF:  Wow, that’s crazy.

MdCL:  So Sandra and I…and this was back in the day when MySpace was still hot…so we kept in touch through MySpace.  Nothing came of it immediately.  Then last summer I was doing a show in Brooklyn, and it was one of those funny situations where I couldn’t bring a featured vocalist with me and so I wasn’t sure what to do.  I heard Sandra was in town so I was like, why don’t you come down and jam a bit?  I don’t have a vocalist, I need a vocalist.  So she came down and she did the whole show with me, did an hour and a half of straight improv and she had no idea how I liked to do my live thing, so we just dove in the deep end together and that captured me immediately.  Her ability…like, she was going from soul to funk to jazz to opera and bringing it all together and it was an amazing bit of ability and the creativity was there.  She had no shortage of ideas.  So we were like, let’s do some music, so we recorded 3 tracks for her new EP, so that’s out now.  And then she was like, well Mark, we should have done a whole album together.  And I’m saying, yeah I know we should have done a whole album together, how about this?  So I sent her 14 tracks, basically a whole album written to go.  So now we’re doing that.  There’s a whole album in the process.

UF:  That’s incredible.  When can we expect to get that?

MdCL:  Aw, come on now, you just got the EP! (laughs)

UF:  (laughs)

MdCL:  We’re in the demo stages.  All the music’s basically done.  I just had Freddie Washington laying bass on it.  He played bass on Forget Me Nots and all the Patrice [Rushen] stuff.

UF:  Oh wow!

MdCL:  Yeah, we’re pulling in a couple of people and then we’re starting to work on the vocals on that, so I imagine we’ll have that ready next year.  And then more than just being an edgy club album, it’s more of a soul/hip-hop record.  It’s definitely twisted in the way that I like to twist things.

UF:  Hopefully, there will be an American release of it?

MdCL:  I imagine there will be.  We’ve got our eyes on two labels so I guess we’ll invite them to a couple of parties (laughs).

UF:  Let’s talk about Nia Andrews.  I saw the YouTube video that you’ve got up on your blog.  It was her, you on acoustic piano, a bass player, and a drummer; just a classic jazz combo.  It was pretty incredible.  It kinda brought you back full circle because your debut album was mostly straight-ahead jazz, right?

MdCl:  Yeah, totally.  I grew up as a piano player.  I’ve played piano since I was 4.  Before I turned to the Roland MPC, I was aspiring to be in New York as an acoustic jazz piano player.  And it’s funny because there’s a lot of people who know of my work now that already know that, so we have people at the shows just freaking out because I was always with a grand piano (laughs), so it’s like, well you know, that’s my act.  But it’s really nice to be working with someone who wants to do that kind of work as well.  She kinda kicked me back onto the instrument, so that was cool.

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UF:  Are you guys gonna do a full length album with her on the vocals and you on acoustic piano?

MdCL:  Well, not necessarily.  The joint that’s on YouTube, “Now or Never,” there’s a studio version of that which is being mixed next week.  And then she’s working on her own project which I’m getting involved in a little bit, but it’s more on the singer/songwriter tip.  It’s definitely got me thinking more about playing acoustic music again as well.  You know, it’s just a natural part of who I am.  It’s been a shame not to express that in some way.  With Sy Smith as well, once her album is done, then we’re looking  at re-recording an unplugged version of it.  That kind of format is definitely a step in the picture, yeah.

UF:  Do you think you would ever merge your acoustic sensibilities with your electronic beats?

MdCL:  I do that very often.  There’s an album called Journey to the Light which I put out, it’s a Japan-only record, and I play a lot of piano on that.  There’s actually a great YouTube video of the album launch for that in Japan.  I did the first half of the tour on piano.  I really do dig bringing those elements together.  I think that as passionate as I’ve gotten into electronic music and production, in a way sometimes I use that as a way to not have to be all musician all the time.  I can use different brushes, so to speak, with the palette.  Now I’m feeling like it’s time to pull back the curtain a little bit and begin again (laughs).

UF:  I’ve read a few interviews that you’ve done where you were speaking pretty passionately about how young people who are making music today don’t really know their music history and so they don’t have a point of reference.  Do you think that you would ever teach music history to young kids?

MdCL:  I do workshops and master classes whenever someone asks.  I really enjoy that.  It gives me a chance to really break down what I do and how I do it.  Formal teaching, I’m not so attracted to because I’ve got a huge anti-authoritarian streak that wouldn’t  do me too well in a school environment (laughs), but  I’m big on mentoring and passing the torch and sharing the knowledge.  And that’s a big part of being in touch with your history.  When I was growing up in New Zealand even, there were older players, older jazz musicians who were always coming through with the younger, next generation and they would support us, invite us to play, throw a bit of work our way.  That’s a really important part of any tradition and keeping the tradition alive.  It’s funny because when you say, to paraphrase you, “the young people today,” it makes me sound like the old dude (laughs).  But, I just think it’s so important to know the history.  It’s like, a producer today who listens to Hot 97 or some other mainstream radio.  If that’s their point of reference, then there’s not much hope for the culture to proliferate and blossom further.

UF:  Yeah, it’s like with Michael Jackson for example.  As a kid, his points of reference were James Brown and West Side Story, so he had great inspiration.  If you look at his career, it’s a no-brainer.  You see exactly how he got to be as great as he was.

MdCL:  Totally.  He’s a classic artist, and classic cats always come out knowing the classics, you know? (laughs).

UF:  Let’s go back to one of my favorite albums, The Politik, which is a collaboration between you and Bembe Segue.  I think of her as your vocal “rock.” She always just puts it in the pocket for you.

MdCL:  (laughs)

UF:  I think the two of you together is like magic.  The chemistry and spark between you is always there.  Why did you guys decide to do it as The Politik, as opposed to a Bembe Segue album or another Mark de Clive-Lowe album?

MdCL:  Well, at that time, Bembe had been featuring with me a lot.  I had the Freesoul Sessions project, which is the fully improvised club project, and Bembe’s got her own band.  We felt like we wanted to try to do something collaborative where it’s not about being me, it’s not about being her.  It’s about meeting in the middle and seeing what comes out.  And it wasn’t even intended to be what ended up being a mostly mid to downtempo soul kind of album, but that’s just how it came out.  We were on tour in Canada and recorded about half the album in Vancouver on some days off.  It just fell into place like that.  I guess it could have been a Bembe album or my album, but at that time we felt like if we don’t put our own name on it, then the pressure’s off and we can just have fun with it.  I guess that was kind of the premise, and it turned out lovely.

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UF:  You’ve got a pretty hectic tour schedule.  What do you do for fun on your downtime when you’re not producing or doing shows?

MdCL:  I’m chillin’ (laughs)!  When I’m here at home in L.A., I’m hanging out with my son.  We’ll go swimming, enjoy the sunshine, go bike riding.  I think I’ve kind of suffered from a workaholic-ism…a workaholic-ness in my 20s.  Now I’ve found how to balance it all.  That’s really important to me now.  As I mentioned before, I’ve been in Atlanta for three days and yesterday I had the studio for five hours, and 8 new tunes came out of that.  They’re all good too (laughs).  I feel like I know how to really focus my work when I work and come up with a quantity of quality, and that allows me when I’m not working just to chill which is a really nice combination.  Incidentally, when I’m touring Europe, pretty much everyday that I would have off, I’ve popped into the studio in different places.  When I’m away from L.A., I’m just doing work.

UF:  You’ve been around the world so much.  How does it feel to get love from every corner of the earth?

MdCL:  I really appreciate every opportunity I get to travel and, especially to take the music to somewhere new, somewhere I’ve never been before.  That’s always an extra treat.  Some places like Japan and the more main cities in America and western Europe, I kind of expect people to already be hip to the music.  Maybe not my music, but that vibe of music.  But then I’ll go to somewhere like Estonia or Georgia just south of Russia, or really small places.  I played in Winnipeg one time in Canada, places I wouldn’t think of going.  And when they work, that’s really encouraging to take the music to places where people have no point of reference whatsoever.  That’s fantastic.  With me growing up in New Zealand, my mom’s Japanese, I did a bit of college in Boston, and spent 10 years in London, and I’ve always felt very kind of global in personality anyway so, it suits me nicely to be able to work globally.

UF:  Do you have a guilty pleasure as far as an artist that you listen to that’s on the pop side?  I know you listen to and have been influenced by many great artists, but is there somebody that’s on the radio that you go and sneak to listen to?

MdCL:  (laughs)  That “Boom Boom Pow” song was big you know? (laughs)

UF:  The Black Eyed Peas are pretty awesome.

MdCL:  I’m not even super-hip to all of the stuff they’re doing right now.  I know that Will is a great musician.  I know he’s got a great business and marketing concept and he’s pulled it all together and I kindly applaud that.  That’s fantastic. When I was younger, maybe 14 or 15, I wanted to be Teddy Riley.  That was it for me.  And not that it was pop at the time, this was way before Dangerous.  That was really inspiring to me.  If I hear a great song on the radio, then it’s a great song.  I’m a huge fan of quality craftsmanship, whether it’s a piece of furniture, a pop song, or a 12” record.  At the same time, I’m also working on some pop collaborations with some people here, and that’s a whole ‘nother side of what I like to do.  It’s pretty under wraps at the moment.

UF:  Under wraps?  Damn! (laughs)

MdCL:  And you know, what’s pop to me might not be pop to someone else (laughs).

UF:  So it’s all top secret?  You can’t reveal any names right now?

MdCL:  No, I can’t reveal any names right now actually.  There’s some I’d love to, but until everything’s signed, sealed, and delivered, it doesn’t really exist (laughs).

UF:  You’ve worked with a huge, wonderful roster of artists that range from the underground end of the spectrum all the way up to legendary status.  Is there someone that you have on your wish list to work with?  If there was one artist that you could work with, who would it be?

MdCL:  There’s two:  on the musician side, Herbie Hancock, and on the artist side, D’Angelo.

UF:  That would be so cool.  D’Angelo is one of those cats that can do no wrong.  That would be cool for you to put your spin on his voice.

MdCL:  Yeah, I’d love to (laughs).  It’s funny.  Ten years ago, if someone said to me, you’ll be making music with Pino Palladino and Sheila E. and Jody Watley, I would’ve been like no, that’s not gonna happen.  So, it’s kind of taught me that anything can happen and usually it does.  I look forward to the times when I can sit down with those cats and knock out some music.

UF:  One last question.  What does Mashi mean? (pronounced mash-ee)

MdCL:  Mashi is a nickname that was given to me by a great friend of mine, Kaidi Tatham [of Bugz In The Attic].  He’s a great musician and producer, I love him.  It just came about on tour.  In our mid to late 20s going on tour and getting extremely over-indulgent (laughs), I ended up being called Mashi and it just stuck (laughs).

UF:  I love Kaidi Tatham too.  He’s a great keyboardist.

MdCL:  Oh he’s fantastic.  Because we both play keys, it took us a while to look at how to collaborate.  I took him on tour playing drums and he’d never toured on drums before, so I was like naw mate, come on play drums.  By the end of the tour he had drums, congas to the right, a Moog bass to the left and just playing them all at once.  He’s fantastic.

UF:  Well Mark, it was a pleasure talking to you.  Thank you so much for your time.  I look forward to seeing you on Friday at Liv.

MdCL:  Alright, I’ll see you then.  Peace.

Mark de Clive-Lowe will be performing at Liv w/ special guest Sy Smith on Friday, July 30, 2010.

For all the latest news, tour dates, music, and videos, check out Mark de Clive-Lowe online:

http://www.markdeclivelowe.net

http://www.mashibeats.blogspot.com

http://www.myspace.com/markdeclivelowe

http://www.twitter.com/mashibeats

PHOTO CREDIT: Neal Maclean / Brooklyn Bodega / The Couch Sessions

What do you think of when you think DC Hip-Hop?

In some circles it’s not Wale, or Tabi that gets mentioned, but the DMV’s own Diamond District. From LA to SXSW to Toronto, to NYC, it seems like the trio have been on the lips of everyone in the hip-hop underground after their debut album In The Ruff dropped last year.

And can we be surprised? The album is a throwback to 90s boom bap with some DC flavor, filling a void in the underground hip-hop scene. And on the strength of it, they have toured across the country and across the world. all while keeping their hometown closely in mind.

Add to that the strength of DJ Quartermane and you have one of the best forces in hip-hop right now.

We caught up with Diamond District at the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival after they rocked their set under the Brooklyn Bridge a few weeks ago. They will be headlining the Tru Skool Soundstage along with DTMD and The Cornell West Theory SATURDAY at the Black Cat.

So we all know you guys have been stalwarts in the DC Hip-Hop Scene, but you guys only came together only recently. How did you guys form Diamond District?

Oddisee: We all met at different points in time throughout the U Street Corridor. I met these two gentlemen [Yu and XO] at Capital City Records. I was actually judging a beat contest that [yu] was in as a producer and [XO] was in as a featured MC.

Yu: Oddisse was putting together a solo album [at the time]. We put a song called Gully which was getting a good response out in Europe, but in order to bring us out there [to tour] we would have to do an album. So when Oddisee came back that was the approach. It took about 2 months back and forth via email to put together the album but it was good. The process was real smooth.

I know you’ve been touring. You hit Europe and the West Coast recently. It seems like DC hip-hop has only recently branched out to the rest of the country. How has the response been on tour?

Quartermane:  THEY LOVE US! There’s nothing more to say than that!

But also it’s not a lot of braggadocios rap, it’s content too. Our sound forces people to really listen on the lyric side, and musically it’s hard. You can’t just stand there and not feel it. So it’s a good combination of elements that make it pop off.

Is that the element to your success?

Oddisee: FIrst and foremost it’s good music, and a good campaign, and the support from our fans. We suported each other and our fans supported us, and it’s popping off.

DC has always been in an interesting situation. We’re not Northern, yet not Southern either so we pull from both sides. I hear that in your sound. What are you guys influences musically?

Oddisee – I would have to say our influences are our lives. We all grew up with different perspectives from the same upbringing, from the same area. From the inner cities to the suburbs, to the person who had to move in and out from the city to the suburbs. Our own individual perspectives influence all of our work.

Yu: We have a common respect among all of us and it shows.

It most certainly does. So what’s next for Diamond District?

Oddiseee: March on Washington, is the next album from Diamond District dropping 2011!

You heard it here first.

Diamond District will be headlining the Tru Skool Soundstage along with DTMD and The Cornell West Theory SATURDAY at the Black Cat.

Far far across many a wall, great and small … well far away from where I sit counting … runs the great wall of Shenzhen in China. It isn’t your usual weather beaten, human watching and saddened sort of wall, it is of the slender bodied, winding cemented kind, dancing to the rhythm of its own rays, sprays and strokes of colours. Whence? Whereth and who-eth you ask? Welcome to graffiti in Asia.

Let’s go back in time a bit: Asia – and by this large-compassed geographical designation I mean China, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia (Japan will come later seperately if you fancy it) – has a deep rooted tradition of draughtmanship and the exploration of script via calligraphy. Based on this alone perhaps it is not surprising that graffiti is drawing to and from its fertile bossom a partircularly inspired crowd of writers who range their craft from tags to astoundingly intricate compositions in roman alphabet, Kanji, Thai, Baybayin, and in full-on pictorial dimensions.

Asia is of course an area of oceanic-mamouth proportions and it would be suicidal for the mind to attempt a cataloguing of graffiti at such an early stage in the developing of this art there. But one can take a dip. Graffiti in Asia generally is relatively young, having appeared around the 90s – even later in certain areas – and now-happening-now is graffiti in the making, Asian style.

So it came about that on the Shenzhen wall – not the first occurrence of graffiti in Asia nor the last but part of the whole graffiti scene – and in Shenzhen city itself, as well as all over Asia, graffiti artists are leaving their imprints in what for me was a jaw dropping revelation – picture it: the Shenzhen wall is possibly the largest graffiti wall of China. This is awesomely surpr-affitiying, so starting from there, dizzy and with insatiable visual hunger here are just a few names I am coming to know:

YYY, NAN and SINIC are graffiti writers from Shenzhen who work in bold shades of candy pink or flamboyant greens for example, but more than its bright hues it is the elongated forms of their letters which make their graffitis look as if they are travelling on the walls rather than resting there.

From Ghangzhou, I just discovered POPIL, a major illustrator in China… and a girl, hurray! She is one inspired pen-gunning artist.

My favourite so far is DAL, a graffiti writer in Wuhan, his graffitis are edgy and their dimension very sophisticated, with interlacing saber shaped letters.

Mr Lan is a solid name in Shanghai, in fact perhaps one of the most reknown graffiti artists in China. He recently opened a tatoo parlour moving his touch to skin art.

REDY is a graffiti artist based in Hong Kong and who, like Xeme, uses the kanji script. I particularly like his style because he works shades around his letters that make the whole graff pop out of the wall, bouncing off away from its viewer.

Initially, I had not quite grasped the numbers of crews and their prominence wherever graffiti happened to be, and I was mostly honing in on individuals’ art work but through looking into Asia, I am now gauging the might of creation in groups and the bustling spirit of graffiti crews. Those that grabbed my attention (and this is by no means representative of all the talent out there) are the well known Oops Crew in Shanghai (with a notable girl member named Tin.g), the JNJ Crew created by Yoo In-Joon and Im-Dong-Ju in Seoul, and BAI*PMT in Bangkok.

REACH in Taipei is possibly my favourite so far in the picture style of graffiti. You know when you look at a graffiti, you see rocking the scene and the craddle the artist’s creativity. The shapes of the graffiti artist’s name and the colours chosen are like a wake up slap to a dimension of seeing with someone else’s mind rather than one’s own eyes. Writers like REACH, are a door further, not a entry door, built in bold and transformed cheeky letters. It is encryption at its best.

Although I could not find an image to post here, I’d like to mention POYD from Chiang Mai, Thailand, who is so versatile. I do not know if the different photos of his work I have seen are from several years in sequence or if they represent the same time frame, so I cannot tell if his versatility emanates from a change in his work over the years or if he is, as I suspect, a really talented graffiti script-explorer. All the same, when he bombs the walls tremble!

Taking place now is the Wall of Lords Asia 2010, a massive showcasing of writers and crews opening space for paint bombing through a competition. It is opened for China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. Some amazing work is going to spring from there, not a shadow of a doubt on spray can for sure.

This little black and white, lettered portal I am scripting here is only a mention of those artists I prefer, do drop names and links of those you know, please.

Our dip into Asian graffiti is far from over though, what do you say we go to Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and sit for a newly released documentary?

Photos by Neil Maclean/ Couch Sessions / Brooklyn Bodega

Hip-Hop is still alive.

For the 6th year Brooklyn Bodega has put together The Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival. Having the event directly under the Brooklyn Bridge was fitting. The iconic symbol has long been aligned with the legacy of hip-hop.

Those coming to see a blow out summer festival might have been disappointed. This was a community affair, complete with neighborhood food vendors and a family area. As I walked around the event, running into old friends and making new friends along the way, it almost seemed like a neighborhood block party. And this my friends, is a good thing, in light of “hip-hop” these days which seems too connected with superficial club culture and material things.

One of the first artists to take the stage as we arrived in New York was the DC trio Diamond District. The group has been on their grind, getting recognition on the underground circuit for a while, with their throwback sound attracting crowds from Europe to the West Coast. They were able to fit in a good amount of material in their short set from their critically acclaimed album “In The Ruff,” including the venerable “Streets Won’t Let Me Chill.”

Next up were the Money Making Jam Boys, who consisted of Dice Raw (briefcase and all), P.O.R.N., Slim and … The group, who impressed at The Roots Picnic earlier this summer, got the crowd hype and their collaboration will most surely be a force in hip-hop. When is the mixtape dropping?

The best part of the festival was hearing The J Dilla Ensemble between sets. The group consisted of Berklee School of Music students, put together by faculty adviser and hip-hop scholar Raydar Ellis. Most notably in the front row were our friends from Sonnymoon.

After a skillful (yet not well received) interlude by Rakka DJ Babu of Dilated Peoples (West Coast still gets no love??)  Black Milk took the stage, proving once again that his live set is one to watch. As always drummer Daru Jones is a beast and makes the set more than enjoyable set. The dude beats on the drums so hard that you can almost hear him from a mile away.

Even with Daru on drums, the most energetic set had to go to Duck Down. After missing their buzzed about showcase at SXSW I was sure to be in the front row for at the festival. And did they deliver. First out the gate was Smif and Wessun, who reminded us that they need to be mentioned in the annuals of hip-hop, dropping bangers from their famed album Dah Shinin’.

Next up, Boot Cam Clik members 5 ft and Buckshot came on stage, to only add to the hypeness of the event. Their energy level couldn’t be matched.

After that point we had to rest. We chilled during Fashawn’s set already tired from the 2 and a half hours of hip-hop before us.

Then it rained….

The clouds were threatning all day with a light dizzle here and there, but durring New Orleans rapper Curren$y’s set the rain poured down. But like a seasoned vet, the band played on, and as umbrellas and ponchos were whipped out, it seemed that the MC nor his band missed a step.

As we ran from the rain, we missed most of J Period’s set (as well as Masta Ace), but we were back in the pit for Pete Rock and CL Smooth who rocked it in a show of solidarity with the late great Guru. In addition, they were joined by Nice and Smooth for a rendition of “Dwyck” and “Sometimes I Rhyme Slow…”

After 6 hours of great hip-hop it was time for the main event. The sky miraculously cleared, and as Michael Rappaport and Adrien Brody made there way backstage, De La Soul jumped on stage. The trio of Plug Won, Trugoy the Dove, and Maceo proved that they were still a force in the game, making even the sound guys take a break from working the boards to pay respect.

Even if their show wasn’t as energetic as some of the earlier times I saw them (most notably their 2 hour plus shows at the 9:30 Club and the Montreal Jazz Festival), the group made the most of their headlining set. All of the mainstays were covered: “Me Myself and I,” and “Saturday,” as well as the always crowd-pleasing “Saturday.”

Even though people often think of 3 Feet High and Rising as their signature album, I actually prefer their later work, most notably Stakes Is High and The Grind Date. Unfortunately it took the death of late producer J-Dilla for the former to catch on. Both title tracks got rave responses from the fans.

And with that, the Brooklyn Hip-Hop festival came to a close. Hip-Hop is still alive.
Much props to Brooklyn Bodega for putting together this event, and we look forward to next year.

The Roots Picnic is almost like a pilgrimage that is stoked in legacy. Each year hundreds of Roots devotees descend on Philadelphia to hear the headlining act as well as some performers which Questlove and company has hand picked for the event.

Having an open mind for music is key, as this years lineup included everyone from Vampire Weekend and the Tune Yards to John Legend and the legendary Wu-Tang Clan.

Amanda Diva

Bajah and Dry Eye Crew

Yahzarah

Tune Yards

Vampire Weekend

The Very Best

Mayer Hawthorne

Phonte – The Foreign Exchange

The Money Making Jam Boys – Dice Raw, P.O.R.N., Slim

Jay Electronica

John Legend

Wu Massacre – Method Man, Raekwon

The Roots

As a response to an oppressive political regime and suffocating economical situation, Graffiti lead its inspired children by the paint and brush in the streets of São Paulo. It is from this city that an impressive number of visionary graffiti writers have been surging to the fore of the arts’ bastions since the 80s. Creative-mamoths Vitché, Zezao, Nunca and Os Gémeos are some of the city’s foremost emanations, now touring the world – amongst them the notable Titi Freak – and their work is now snatched by paint-thirsty galleries and collectors, sought and appreciated by a growing worldwide fan base.

Os Gémeos (the twins) are perhaps the most intriguing of them all. Brothers Otavio and Gustavo Pandolfo, started graffitiying in 1987 and have since gone on to tag together as a duo. Their mark is a distinctive yellow hue which is present in all their depictions. Their work varies from simple tags to complex and detailed murals, covering whole building heights. They say their representations stem from two realms: scenes from the conscious world which stirred their imagination, and scenes from their dreams – dreams that as twins they share. Their drawn and spray-painted characters always bear an introspective look, a hinted smile or held-in tear, painted-thinkers in the midst of the surreal environments Os Gémeos create for them.

One common trait to every single one of these Brazilian graffistas is: the Pixaçao.

Pixaçao is a fascinating graffiti style, a social movement even, born in the streets of São Paulo and exclusive to Brazil, with the VÍCIO crew its first manifestation in São Paulo. The well known, critically poor redistribution of wealth and non existent social opportunities, have doomed several innocent generations of youths and elderly combined, enclosing them in what we know as favelas. Favela ‘residents’ are not only surviving under duress and in the most dire of living conditions, but what is more important : they are not recognised, helped nor acknowledged one iota by their fellow wealthier neighbours. A negation of existence from a government entity is to be expected, historical almost, but when it is from the people next door: it angers.

This is where Pixaçao started. With nothing to lose and a hunger for life exacerbated by fight-or-die conditions, groups of graffistas started pouring silently into the city’s wealthy quarters every night to tag on a grand scale. So that their work would be in full view once day broke they devised to write their names with make-shift brushes on DIY poles on the entire length of buildings, climbing up balconies in the middle of the night, and jumping from roof top, to poles, to roof top … needless to say with no net. Many have fallen to their death, those that are caught by the police are beaten and humiliated. But for a pixador who has finally found a way to speak to those who ignore, these risks are no deterrent. The fever of the pixaçao has taken over and given them release. In paint they exist. In brush they reclaimed: identity, individuality and creativity.

The pixaçao is a tagged name, its style is typical in its straight batton-like letters. A large number of these men and girls have had no access to education and many of them are illiterate in the academic sense. Through pixaçao they have invented a new alphabet so that while many pixadores cannot read nor write, they can read and write pixaçaos. It has become their own language, communication and graphs. The debate surrounding pixaçaos and its right to ‘be’ is at an all time high in Brazil with the establishment entagonising two sides of the same whole. It defines on one side graffity as art, for fame proclaimed the worthy. On the other side are made to stand the pixadores, who are said to be vandals and who ‘pollute’ Sao Paulo and Rio.

That is why I like Os Gémeos so much, their name alone is a metaphor for what is occurring in Brazil now. The twins: graffiti legalised v. the ‘illegal’ street art. Two entities born of the same womb, attached yet independent. Like Os Gémeos, when these two sides work together as one they metamorphose into an unmatchable epic talent. Perhaps one day, when the pixadores’ social plight has been addressed in real terms then their deeply creative sensitivity can concentrate and work together with the classical (and commercial) art world.

A young emerging representative of the graffiti movement of São Paulo is Mundano (Mundo + Humano, i.e. the world + human). A painter and graffiti artist, Mundano’s revolution fights in deep colours. The face that Mundano depicts in most of his work, his mark I should say, is a totem like visage on which the beads of knowing eyes, an ancient mask-like face, speaks its thoughts in bubbles. One of Mundano’s project sets him as a mediator between the people and the people: those who work the hardest and meanest jobs in the streets of São Paulo, and those who revel in its richer basin. This project is the ‘Carroceiros’. The carroceiros are men who pull wooden carts to street-clean. Theirs is a gruelling job for their massive carts is not powered by engines but by their bodies alone. They recycle paper and are typically despised by a certain thoughtless class lingering in the latest motors. In answer to this Mundano paints the carts with his recognisable colours and mask, with messages such as ‘If I could I would recycle politicians’, ‘Peace is not enough’, ‘I recycle what about you?’, etc. His message goes both ways: a two way street to an open dialogue, honest and intelligent. Mundano was in New York tagging in Brooklyn recently. The graffiti touring world would be enriched if galleries and collectors would bring him and his work to the Northern hemisphere.

So, the breath of Graffiti follows the oceans’ currents. Opposite the American continent it emerged in the Mediterranean, in Toulouse, spray-writing on the map its women graffistas names.

Bluebrains’ Track Sends Visitors Underwater at the Sant
by sim1ontharun

Bluebrain – Deeper Than Light by BLUEBRAIN

Last Saturday, I walked into the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, a spacious hall with high ceilings, buzzing with the chaos of out-of-towners toting fanny packs, that unshakable tourist accessory that somehow neva goes outta style (sigh). As I entered, the metal detectors and gift shop unintentionally gave the museum a shopping mall feel (read: corny n’ kitschy). A little boy near me cried out, “Look, Mom! It’s Dum Dum!” referring to the prized Easter Island statue whose name ironically means ‘stolen of hidden friend,’ best known for its cameo in the Ben Stiller flick, Night at the Museum. My suspicions were immediately confirmed that most of these dum dums just want to relive the cinematic adventure. I mean, the info plaques even mark the artifacts featured in the film! So much for integrity, I guess?

But, as I make my way up to the first floor to check out the Sant Ocean Hall, I plug in my earphones for the sonic journey Bluebrain is about to take me on. The reason I’ve come: less than two weeks ago, the DC-based music and photography collective Bluebrain launched a free MP3 download of the ‘audio companion’ they created for the Museum of Natural History’s newly restored, 23,000 square foot hall. And as a former surfer chick, music composed with the ocean in mind def sparks my curiosity. The Sant is the largest exhibition hall in the entire museum and was renovated in fall 2008 to its century-old grandiosity after a century of mixed use. If you have yet to visit the Hall since its reopening, Bluebrain’s ‘Deeper Than Light,’ a 17-minute track of pure oceanic, ambient sound, is enough reason to reconsider a visit.

The Bluebrain folks advised the track’s length might exceed your visit, but I found the opposite to be true. Because the music achieved such perfect synergy with the Ocean Hall, I lingered among Indian families of 15 and Midwesterners crowded around the aquarium longer than I could have bared without the sanctuary of my headphones. In fact, after about four minutes of playing my sidekick, I caught my mum slouched on a bench looking downright exhausted and fed-up. Meanwhile, I tranquilly explored the hall for the duration of the track and then some. When the blue sounds faded out, I let mum have a listen. “Ah yes! I see why it was different for you!” she said. “It’s like being underwater. In the ocean!” Co-sign, mama.

If you go, be prepared to LOOK. UP. In addition to a 50-foot reproduction of a North Atlantic right whale spanning the middle of the exhibit, and a 40-foot squid embalmed for our viewing, you’ll be engulfed by 360-degree panoramic underwater views in looped rotations above. Bluebrains’ music cloud will only further enhance your experience. With its seamless transitions and intuitive, non-rhythmic noises, you might easily find yourself in a dream-like state, submerged in water. Before you know it, you’ll be staring aimlessly at the 3-D globe that explains why our planet needs water (Bomani’s lyrics, “yo body needs water! So drink that sh*t!” briefly comes to mind).

Two more reasons to swing by the museum: it’s a respite from DC’s oppressive heat during this summers’ Smithsonian Folklife Festival, which features my fellow yellows–Asian Pacific Americans: Local Lives, Global Ties is the 2010 theme–and both are free dollas! Go ‘head and say it… Only FREE dollas?! ‘Deeper Than Light’ is available for download on Bluebrain’s website (click here) all summer. The verdict: don’t sleep on this one, dum dum.

Nadia Ghanem is a Parisian-born writer and photojournalist who is currently living in London. She is contributing profiles of graffiti writers in three countries–USA, Brazil, and France–and will share her stories withint the coming months on The Couch Sessions. Follow her on Twitter at @ayatghanem.

The world is being rewritten in coloured bombs, its waves the shape of spray cans. Its name is Graffiti. Massively unleashed by the gods of Art in the 60s in Philadelphia and very quickly thereafter in NYC, tinted bursts and lacquered explosions hit subways and streets, and from then on: a new iconography was born. You must have SEEN it.

New Yorker Richard Mirando known as SEEN is a graffiti artist and prolific spray-paint-writer. You will know for sure his ‘Hand of Doom’, probably the most famous subway car to date, a whole top to bottom graffitied car wagon with a rushing shining saber and cartoony eyed and grey hued executioner, celebrating its 30 birthday this year.

Famous or infamous depending on how you feel about graffitis, SEEN is one of the earliest and major graffistas of the movement that begun in New York’s subways. Graffitying with Pjay, Duster, Sin and his brother Mad, theirs was the crew United Artists. Since 1973 SEEN has been a full blown coloured graffiti-force to be reckoned with, bubbling letters in round softies, stars, dots and crowns.

The adventurous SEEN has always been fully engaged in his art. Hollywood remembers him twice: once with friend ‘Blade 1′ in 1984 on a special visit there to leave their hellos in the form of tags everywhere from Venice Beach to Sunset Strip, and all over the Hollywood Star Tour buses. The second time: alone tagging the two Ls of the Hollywood sign with a massive SEEN throw up.

His graffitis from 1980 to 1990 developped from a dynamic bubble never quite fixed but always about to leap out – perhaps because it took on the moving soul of the support that bore it: wagons, cars, trailers – to an image that is itself in movement, already departing. Compare ‘The boys are back’ of 1980 or ‘Madseen’ of 1984 to ‘Seen piece’ of 1996 and you can sense that if you hopped on one of its letters you would travel to a graffiti world at full speed.

SEEN graffitied all supports: vehicules, walls, subway maps, street signs, and from the 80s on canvases but not exclusively, covering partial or full surfaces, notably cars such as his 1985 VW Beetle, the ‘Seen Love Bug’ or his tractor trailer ‘Millenium’ of 1999, a massive image of what looks like a clay sun-clock disintergrating.

From the streets to galleries and private collections, SEEN has born his art and the spirit of Graffiti to all corners of the world, exhibiting from early on with Lee Quinones, Dondi, Jean Michel Basquiat (one of my favourite guys, going by the initials SAMO ‘same old shit), Keith Haring and many others. He brought his proficiency to the world of tattoes also and opened in the Bronx one of the most reknown (and later a second) tattoo parlour in New York, still running full blast today.

A prolific figure of graffiti art, SEEN brought the tagged-word to all continents. On the 29th May an exhibition of his latest work has just opened at the Magda Danysz gallery in Paris, for a series where he has inserted steel and the logo of the MTA into the body of his work, a reminder and a cheeky wink to his early birth as a graffista in subways and to the early adventures that shaped his world and the world of graffiti at large.
Graffiti is one of the oldest expression of human kind. It dates far into human history and has often been the only remnant by which we can record the existence of ancient civilisations. Yet, the debate is still going heated as to whether graffiti is an act of art or an act of vandalism, an act of love or an act of heartless planned consumerism, whether it is a political expression, or an expression beyond boundaries, an affirming and reclaiming of one’s identity. What is it for you?

For me, there is a clear correlation between the mutted voice, the open eyes and the pen: when the human spirit is oppressed and silence is forced upon it, it will find a way to speak and witness. The spray-painted word speaks and so, while the freeing articulations of Graffiti and its messengers stormed the US in the 70s, its fecund zephyr was reaching the shores of Brazil. Sao Paulo was about to be pixo-ed.

Words by Cherisse Rivera. Photos by Jefry Andres

Audio Trip”, a music, cuisine, and lifestyle event, took place Tuesday, May 18th, at Lux Lounge in Washington, DC’s Mount Vernon Square neighborhood. Originally, I didn’t know what direction the evening would take, but I knew that it would definitely not be your average DC event, especially given the fact that attendees were able to RSVP and get free admission for what appeared to be a very packed lineup of performers, including well-known veteran DJ Rich Medina, DJs Jahsonic & Stylus of the Soul Controllers, Daz-I-Kue, 2-Tone Jones, Waajeed, Roddy Rod and DJ Spinna. Arranged by Lil SoSo Productions and sponsored by Smirnoff, thegenres varied on each floor: old school and new school hip/hop on the first floor, a lively Afrobeat set on the 2nd and House on the 3rd floor. I walked into the venue, and was handed what appeared to be an airline ticket, in keeping with the evenings concept, a trip or journey, and which listed the evening’s schedule.

audiotrip-be there (2010) from ralston smith on Vimeo.

The first floor was arranged in what appeared to be “zones”: there were multiple bars distributing free Smirnoff cocktails, a catering table with colorful, creatively arranged hors d’ oeuvres and hot sauces, a comfortable elevated seating area, and another area for djs and guests. The crowd was a rather motley crew which included everything from men and women of various races in t-shirts with hip-hop related slogans, to those in suits and ties, and African, Asian traditional garb. The night’s performances began with an acoustic guitar set hosted by Nikki Strong accompanied by vocalist Maimouna who sang a soulful ballad reminiscent of a Lauryn Hill. Then suddenly she changed it up and rhymed, showing her ability to master a rapid-fire delivery. This was something one definitely doesn’t see everyday at a plush, technology-laden, mainstream hip-hop venue in DC like Lux.

The evening later exploded into a frenzied dance party when the second and third floor was opened up and DJs unveiled a rhythmic Afrobeat set. Along with the music, artist Aniekan Udofia created a live painting that seemed to capture the intended and actual spirit of the evening, an ethnically ambiguous woman who appeared to be moving her body to a rhythmic beat. It was clear that by the end of the evening, “Audiotrip” sparked a new spirit of anticipation for what DC nightlife may hold for those who have been waiting for “something else”. After all, as the evening’s emcee put it “…everything that’s dope ain’t on the radio…”

Photo by Brent & Sarah Yaggi. Yaggi Photography

Download: Rich Medina x Tru Thoughts

Rich Medina IS probably your favorite Djs; favorite DJ!  Aside from being one of the most down to earth, realer than real person you’ll ever encounter, Medina, a six foot, six-inch former Cornell University basketball player turned Dj, Producer, and Poet  has a knack for straight up going in, and killing it.  He’ll take you on a musical journey  that your soul will love you for. His ability as a turntablist garnered him a cult following of dedicated fans who will circulate the states to hear him spin.

His legendary Jump N Funk afro-beat parties, as well as his long running Lil Ricky’s Rib Shack party at the now defunct  APT nightclub in NYC, is where Rich serves up musically delicious goodness.  Rich Medina recently lent his skills to compose a funk mix for the record label, Tru Thoughts (Don’t worry Couch Sessions has you covered, the mix is just below) its 40 minutes of straight goodness.

When we asked Medina about how the collaboration between him and the label came to fruition, he replied, he met Jasmine of Tru Thoughts this year at SXSW, both parties expressed their longtime admiration for each others work. So when the opportunity presented itself  to create the mix, he was honored that Tru Thoughts selected him.

For those who might not be familiar with the label, here’s why  Tru Thoughts is one of the best indie labels around.  The  label was founded in 1999, by Robert Luis and Paul Jonas.  They cite Originality, Soul, and Creativity as the foundation for the artists they sign.  You can’t argue with a label that takes pride in releasing quality material.

With that said they have a roster of amazingly talented artists such as; Quantic (and his many guises), Belleruche, Natural Self, Kinny, Lizzy Parks and my favorite Domu (Please make music again, the world needs your music!). Tru Thoughts was also the home to UK darling Alice Russell and her partner TM JUKE.

Celebrating 10 years of Funk, Tru Thoughts/Unfold just released Tru Thoughts Funk, a compilation of some of the most heavyhitting classic funk from the Bamboos, Saravah Soul and Quantic as well as some killer exclusives from Nostalgia 77 and Beta Hector.  This release is a must have for any music connoisseur.  Tru Thoughts Funk now available at iTunes.

After checking out the Tru Thoughts Funk mix, head over to Rich Medina’s site to see if he’s coming to your city, and if he is, it would behoove you to go!! ‘Cause you don’t want to hear about it the next day.  Trust me!!!  Rich currently holds residencies in Chicago, NYC, Philly and Washington DC.  You can check Rich out at PROPS, his weekly Wednesday night party at Le Poisson Rouge in NYC with DJ Akalepse, and in June at Kung Fu Necktie in Philly for Robotique.

www.richmedina.com

www.twitter.com/richmedina

www.tru-thoughts.co.uk

Purchase: Tru Thoughts Funk

If ever there was a case study about the speed of how the Internet makes stars, Chiddy Bang would be on the first page. The Philly-based duo parlayed their Swelly Express mixtape into a label deal with the venerable Parlophone records and a top 10 track in the UK. In less time then it takes for some artists to record a full album, these guys have already become bonifide radio and TV sensations.

Its obvious that Chiddy Bang got next in this new generation of hip-hop stars. Forget the 90s boom bap, the new hop get their inspirations from the sounds of MGMT, Passion Pit, and Miike Snow. This new generation of the genre–fronted by Kanye, Kid Cudi and Theophilous London–is changing the way that hip-hop is interpreted in our socitey.

Fuled by their success across the pond, Chiddy is coming back to the States soon for more touring an a full length album dropping this summer.

We set down with Chidera “Chiddy” Anamege to talk about their origins, recent success, and plans for the future.

Where did the name Chiddy Bang Come From?

My real name is Chidera and I’ve been called Chiddy since I was a yougin’. It was initially the name of some of our projects and our company. Me and my boy started a crew and when I met Noah [Beresin] we started out as Chiddy Chiddy Bang Bang, and then we just shortened it to Chiddy Bang.

How did you guys meet?

I had a next door neighbor [at Drexel] who was in the music industry program and he was like “yo I got a friend that makes beats. You’re a dope rapper…”

It seems like you guys draw from a lot of different artists: MGMT, Passion Pit, Gorllaz. Who are your inspirations?

I know my inspirations are Jay-Z, Kanye West–very hip-hop based. I think that’s what’s dope about our whole dynamic. I’m coming in with a very straight up hip-hop perspective, and Noah represents the indie culture. He’s influenced from all types of music from jazz to Joe Strummer from The Clash.

I think what’s great about our music is that it’s genre-less. It blends all types of genres together and it works well. I just bring my hip-hop element into that.

One day I saw you guys had the mixtape, the next, I hear you guys on the BBC. How did you guys pop off in the UK?

The UK thing happened kind of crazy. The label put the single [Opposite of Adults] out and it got over 100,000 downloads on iTunes. It even beat out Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind.”

Damn…

Yeah, that was kind of crazy for us and kind of surreal as well. Over there we went straight to the radio, but here we have to do a lot basement shows, and mainstream shows and college shows. We’re building it up from the ground up.

How are the crowds different in the UK vs the US?

The UK is dope because going to shows is like a part of their consciousness. There always checking out shows and dope acts. There also open to more different kinds of music, and that kind of explains why we did so well in the UK because they’re open to different genres crossing.

The UK is ahead of us by years. They have always been a tastemaker. They’re on to things years before we are. So it’s definitely dope to perform in front of a UK crowd.

Going from college student to UK sensation in less than a year has to be stressful for anybody. How are you dealing with the success?

We’ve been working so we haven’t even sat down and thought about it. I think one day we can look back at all that we’ve accomplished.

Have you actually met the artists that you sampled in person? MGMT etc? Future collabs?

We met Tinie Tempah and he’s cool as hell. He’s from Nigeria and so am I so we got to marinate on that level. Ellie Goulding likes our music, she digs it. We hope to go back out to the UK and meet some of these people. We’re going to be out there for a month, playing Scotland and I think Germany as well.

Let’s talk about your videos. You have the one that you did for the Pass Out freestyle that I was in, but you also have a dope one for the Opposite of Adults. Your videos seem to be ultra creative and not something that is not really hip-hop per se.

We’re just trying to bring something new and exciting to the game. And really we credit the directors that we use like Duncan Skiles because they understand us. The Opposite of Adults video was a light-hearted tone of us as a child, and the second one for Truth we used a Passion Pit sample we just wanted to take it to the next level. We wanted to make something that was different but keeps that hip-hop level there.

Speaking of hip-hop, what do you think about this new brand of dudes taking over the genre?

It’s definitely a turning point for hip-hop and we’re excited for this new era of music. I think these new artists are daring to be different and make new and exciting music. The music has been stale for a very long time. Just yesterday we wound out that we were going to be on BET which is crazy.

Is there an album on the way?

The album is coming out August 24th. It’s coming out over here. We’re about 90% done with it. I think is going to answer a lot of the questions about what’s going on in our life. How we’re coping with the success that we’ve attained and what are the … to getting where we’ve gotten in such a fast time. You know, was it everything we thought it was [going to be]? And always being on the road.

There are going to be some great things bout it–the partying and such–but there will be some more introspective tracks about not being home and staying true to yourself amongst all this.

Follow @realchiddy on Twitter and download their Air Swell Mixtape here.