Last night Hip Hop looked down on some of her children proudly, as Phonte and 9^th Wonder joined forces on stage at the Black Cat. They were joined by underground royalty Rapsody, The Away Team, Median and HaLo. The show was everything that I want a live hip hop performance to be. Each artist held their own without a whole bunch of fluff. The show flowed extremely well. Once they got started it really didn’t stop. When one artist finished their set, they intro’d the next and on they came. The artists collectively represent a variety of lyrical styles. Throughout the style differentials however, they all gave the audience real hip hop. Not hip-pop, and not bull$#!t.

HaLo

HaLo was the first artist to come out. As he welcomed the crowd to the “Phonte – 9^th Wonder Experience” he got the crowd involved in a tri-faceted call and response: First, he gets the crowd to do the two step. As they’re two-steppin, he gets them to engage in a good old fashioned vocal call and response, and then gets them to wave their hands, all at once. I’ve been to a lot of shows. I’ve never seen anyone else do that. And you know what, it was a genius move. Quite honestly I’ve never seen that great a concentration of the crowd so engaged at the very beginning of the show…ever. In addition to the fact that he’s got a commanding presence- I mean, like I said, I’ve never seen anyone else do that. Points in my book. Instantly.

Median

Median is up next. Of all of the artists, I think that lyrically median may’ve been the nicest. I first got hipped to Median hanging out on the Foreign Exchange’s website. To top that off, dude had on a Ron Burgundy, Anchorman, T-shirt (Ron Burgundy is my idol on the low).   Fellow Justus League-ers  The Away Team also showed up and showed out last night at Black Cat. Made up of Rapper/Producer Khrysis and Sean Boog, the Away Team solicited and acquired the response from the crowd that marked the start of that high-energy vibe that real hip hop is famous for. Rapsody (who quite honestly I’d never heard of) was up next. The petite lady is undoubtedly making a name for herself through spittin real lyrics that stay true to the fact that she is a woman, without exploiting sexuality. It was a refreshing change from the standard female imagery that Hip Pop is breeding now. Her set also marked the moment that 9^th Wonder came on stage to take over the wheels.

The first thing 9^th did, when he took command of the one and the two was take the audience on a little walk throughout some of hip hops finest audible moments. Giving the crowd just snippets of some of hip hop’s most well known track soundbites from the likes of Mobb Deep, A Tribe Called Quest, Snoop Dogg and Pete Rock & CL Smooth . 9^th Wonder interestingly, without any formal introduction or anything, got behind the turntables and without doing anything fancy or over the top made the audience focus on the DJ’s performance.

And then the moment everyone had been waiting for. Tigallo, comes out to the sound of the ‘Star Wars’ theme. “DC How the f**k y’all feel?”  he yells enthusiastically to the crowd.  Watching Phonte, I realized that one of his biggest strengths lies in his sheer ability to perform.  Lots of artists nowadays, a lot of hip hop acts in particular have no idea how to truly entertain a crowd.  No antics, no pyrotechnics, no shock factor type stunts, just pure entertainment. As he moved through cuts off his newly released LP ‘Charity Starts at Home’ like ‘Not Here Anymore’ and ‘Dance in the Reign’, Phontigallo’s stage show was sprinkled with everything from storytelling about why he doesn’t smoke weed after what happened years ago leaving the waffle house to impersonations of Martin Luther King Jr. and advice to all the young ‘dumb-muthaphukas’ (his words, not mine) in the audience.  Rocking with Median as hype man for a good part of his set, the two of them even traded freestyle rhymes over the others beat box rhythms. Such impromptu chemistry and high level comfort translates to the fans in the audience actually connecting with the artist, rather than simply enjoying the show. It makes you feel like you were truly a part of something. Not simply, in attendance.

Let’s also not ignore the historical value behind this collective touring effort of 9^th and Phonte. After the Little Brother fall out a couple of years ago, many Little Brother fans such as myself, mourned the loss of a force of purity that breathed fresh air into the stale deflated lungs of modern hip hop. Phonte says that this tour and the project (9^th did most of the production work on CSAH) happened as a step in his maturation process. “I had to grow up a little to do this project” Phonte tells the crowd during one of his narrative breaks.  For all the fans out there, you couldn’t have picked a better time to grow up, Phonte. Or a classier way to do it.

If there was one quintessential rap group to drop in the past decade, it would be Little Brother. The laid back beats and Southern swagger set the Durham, North Carolina trio apart when they first dropped, and even though they were never commercially successful, they had legions of fans, including yours truly.

Unfortunately, Little Brother existed as a group in name only for a while before they “officially” broke up. We have been writing about constant arguments between Pooh, Phonte, and 9th Wonder for a while now, arguments that extended to a Twitter argument that took place this past weekend.

Essentially, it boils down to Phonte and Pooh dropping a track on the their latest project Leftback that 9th Wonder did not want to clear, which seems to have brought up longstanding issues between the two factions. Hip-Hop DX has all of the specifics here. Phonte took to Vimeo to explain his side of the story below.

I’m friendly with both camps, so I can’t really wage an opinion on this. I do have to say that even though more and more artists are taking on social media, doing your business out in the digital street tends to hurt your brand in the long run. What do y’all think?

Beautiful Photos by Philippe N, aka Star P. Please support.

With so much happening in the States it’s easy to forget about us up North, but this weekend Toronto was host to the 3^rd annual Manifesto festival, celebrating the dopest talent in all areas of Hip-Hop culture. Last year the legendary DJ Premier and Pete Rock played for the first time ever together, and this year 9^th Wonder was chillin’ and spinning, Jeru the Damaja was on hand and Talib Kweli and DJ Hi-Tek chose to reunite for the first time in years as Reflection Eternal. Not too bad! The official Canada Pro Bboy competition and a youth festival in the heart of the Parkdale neighborhood were just two of the events in this 5-day festival as well.

“Hip-hop is the music of the youth,” said Music Director for the festival Jesse Ohtake, “before Manifesto there was Canadian Music Week, but nothing that catered hip-hop specifically.” The festival has been gaining momentum ever since it’s conception 3 years ago, and this year it saw some crazy enthusiasm and support from the city, even including an appearance and shout out from the mayor. Opening on Wednesday night with a mini film festival, audiences caught back-to-back screenings of celebrated Bboy doc The Freshest Kids and Internationally renowned director Jon Reiss’s graffiti doc Bomb It (both flicks with notable appearances from KRS-One, what’s a hip-hop history lesson without him?) .

Much hyped from the last 2 years of the festival, the 3 floor art Exhibition was apparently the party to be at and it definitely delivered. 3 floors of insanely innovative art from the likes of Nunca (Brazil), Roadsworth (Montreal), local Toronto graphic/toy designer We Kill You, Alexa Hatanaka, Omen, Case and Chris Dyer. Hip-hop beats were supplied by local Dj’s all night and free ice cream sandwiches made the event a pleasure for all senses.

On Sunday, the last day of the festival, the sun was shining all day and  thankfully  good vibes were aplenty in downtown Toronto’s Nathan Phillip’s Square. Earlier in the day local up and coming MC’s like KJ and Jahvon performed on the main stage, making way for veteran Toronto MC’s like Solitair and the Black Jays. Toronto duo Art of Fresh, consisting of D.O. and Slakah the Beatchild, have been making big moves all year and performed at Manifesto for the first time right off of an international tour. “This is a huge outlet for the amount of artists that we have in the city,” they said, “and in Toronto it’s not like we have one or two guys doing it, we have a whole community that’s doing it and in a lot of different areas. This is a beautiful thing.”

Gaining more and more momentum every year, Manifesto is an amazing festival that brings the Dot’s hip-hop community together for some much needed bonding. Everything from the execution to the stylistic choices was on point, and next year should be even better.

Back to the Feature

Download: Wale and 9th Wonder present Back to the Feature.

On the road to receiving a doctorate (PhD) in any field, one must go through a series of examinations to prove their excellence and knowledge in their respective field. In addition to courses, comps must be passed, oral examinations aced, and a dissertation topic presented, approved, and then written. On Jun 19, the DMV’s Wale drops his pre-cursor to a dissertation in the form of digital epithets. Topic? Wale’s Cerebral Impulses: A poet in motion with music. But some will call it Back to the Feature (BTF). A product cut and cooked by Wale, 9th Wonder and a host of well known verbal beasts, just raised the bar (16s and beyond) for all the average wordsmiths to such a great height that a Master’s thesis is needed in order to gain access to the amount of thought put into making such a tape. No doubt that those in the studio hung their heads low and had to go edit their lyrical game , tracking changes left and right. Not only does Wale and company deliver a lyrical bonfire to warm the coldest of hip hop lovers, but 9th wonder takes us on a tour of his thought process as well, w/ well places samples on your right and boom bap on your left, even sounds your cochleae never made love to before.

In the tape’s beginning track, Wale opens with, Class is in session/While them niggas pitch verbs, so they say/my weaponry is words/do-re-me/the war is in the form of poetry/so it’s straight see forth from the thoughts I bring/bang! Epiphany/them niggas is gimmicks to me/I can eradicate a village if you give me a beat.

With these words, he immediately sets the tone, calling pupils attention like a young professor. It’s evident Wale won’t stop until he reaches tenure. What’s brilliant about BTF is how the level of intensity is maintained lyrically and musically over the 22 track mixtape. He not only sees words as a vehicle for thought, but appreciates the sound of words, and these are two entirely different things. By bringing on other like minded artists, Wale was able to create a piece of work that was extremely cohesive.

In spite of featuring another artist on every track, this mixtape is heavy with Wale’s tone. Often times artists try this approach and the listener ends up asking “Who’s tape is this again?” Not in Back to the Feature.  Bars were spat by the likes of Talib Kweli, Memphis Bleek, Black Thought, J Cole, Young Chris, Jean Grae, K’Naan, another DMVite, Kingpin Slim, not so much in defense of Wale, but in support of his artistic hustle. You see, it wasn’t the usual co-signing that artists do. The way Back to the Feature approaches this concept manages to preserve their style and highlight Wale’s at the same time. This isn’t a tape that is solely about promoting the artist known as Wale, but more about promoting lyricism as a dying art that needs air from the breath of the old and the poets’ voices to continue beating in our ears.

The naysayers will bark that Wale’s abandoned Go-Go on this tape, but the forward thinking person knows that an artist should have many types of paint brushes upon which to paint a canvas. Bringing in 9th Wonder, formerly of Little Brother was just the right artist to help shape Back to the Feature. Tracks like “Wonder Why,” “The Sun,” and “Say it Again” are just a few examples 9th’s extensive music knowledge and technique. Ninth Wonder isn’t the only producer on Back to the Feature to note. BKS, Mikey Mike, and Mark Ronson, Cool & Dre, Ritz, and Warren G made their presence felt in tracks sprinkled through out the tape.

For the first time it’s hard to recommend a single track, b/c they all deserve several listens. If we have to mention a few, then “Wonder Why,” “GoodBye,” “The Sun,” “Warwick Avenue,” “Sharp,” “Rather Be -for Vagina lovers”(and misogynists too, might I add). Of course, this review could go on and on, but who really wants to read a dissertation that describes a dissertation? No one. Download Back to the Feature immediately, and if you feel your brain start to ache, just know that it’s your idea of hip hop expanding beyond what it was and currently is, in to something both reminiscent of the past, but also telling of the future. The Couch Sessions is no Cleo, but we undoubtedly know that hip hop’s future will feature, the DMV’s own lyrical time traveler, the ever witty, Wale.

k.scribe
“keeping the pen bleeding and the cursor blinking…”

(originally posted on The Glass House DC, by k.scribe)

My homegirl Marsha from Soul Culture UK got the chance to speak with 9th Wonder when he was in London earlier this month. In the video, 9th speaks about about the art of sampling and the disconnect between older producers and the younger generation of hip-hop heads.

Be on the lookout for a Couch Sessions x Soul Culture UK collaboration coming next month!

ALL PICTURES BY LADY GLOCK PHOTOGRAPHY. Please support.

9th Wonder sigining a Little Brother Getback T-Shirt = Priceless

9th Wonder + Your Favorite Blogger

On the 1+2s

I don’t have much information on this one yet, but I did get a quick email regarding 9th Wonder’s solo project, Dream Merchant 2. (Ian asks…was there a Dream Merchant 1??). Anyway, no audio as of yet, but the album itself drops on October 9th featuring collabos from Mos Def, Camp Lo, Little Brother (?) and others.

Tracklisting:

1 Mr. Dream Merchant Intro
2 Shots f/Big Dho & Sean Price
3 Merchant Of Dreams f/The EMBASSY, Skyzoo & Torae
4 Brooklyn In My Mind f/ Mos Def, Jean Grae & Memphis Bleek
5 Sunday f/Keisha Shontelle & Chaundon
6 Baking Soda f/Big Treal
7 Reminisce (Take Time) f/Big Remo & The Great Novej of the A.L.L.I.E.S.
8 No Time To Chill f/Little Brother
9 It Aint Over ft. Jozee Mo & Tyler Woods
10 The Last Time f/ Royce the 5’9, Naledge & Vandalyzm of the MIDWEST WRECKIN’ CREW- The D, The Chi & The Lou
11 Saved f/Saigon & Joe Scudda
12 Milky Lowa ft. Camp Lo
13 Backlash f/Sean Boog & Buckshot
14 Thank You f/ D.O.X & O-Dash
15 Let It Bang f/Ness & Skyzoo
16 What Makes A Man f/Rapper Big Pooh & Buddy Klein

Jazzy Jeff feat. Little Brother – Whatever You Want

Zo! feat Phonte – Africa (Toto rework)

So it’s official, Little Brother has severed its ties with Atlantic Records. Big Pooh told Hip-Hop Game that “at this time we are in the process of negotiating our release from the label due to a difference in philosophies.” I guess they took a preemptive strike since we all know that Atlantic wasn’t happy with the sales of The Minstrel Show.

If you followed LB like I have, you must have saw this coming from a mile away. Atlantic just was not a good fit for LB and this group will never get the airplay or put up the numbers that a commercial rap artist would. Why LB never was courted by or signed with a smaller outfit like Stone’s Throw, BBE, Ubiquity, or Def Jux is beyond me. And I’ve always agreed that 9th limited their sound. They needed to hand to torch over to a new set or producers.

Even though LB is putting out a Mixtape soon, I have a serious feeling that Phonte is going to break off and do a serious solo project, with production by….let’s say will.i.am and DJ Shadow. I’m liking the dude’s non-LB collaborations that have been floating around the Internets. This Little Brother/Jazzy Jeff Collaboration (yes THAT Jazzy Jeff) is sold.

The “Africa” rework featuring Phonte (singing) with artist Zo! is um….interesting. After about 5 listens I can’t get into it. The ending is nice, but I’m trying to figure out if this is a good look for Phonte or not. Dude might be entering blipster territory!

Again, I might need a late pass on this. I’m workin’ my ass off here.

So the rumors are somewhat true. Little Brother isn’t “breaking up,” per se, but their most influential member might be out of the group. From ProHipHop:

[Phonte] Coleman says the beats they’ve received from longtime Little Brother member and Justus League co-founder 9th Wonder haven’t worked on that level. So far, he has landed only one beat on the album’s first eight tracks.

“I don’t know if he has them or not, but it just didn’t grab us. We never had that feeling from the beats he gave us, and, for this album, we’re not going to settle, whether you’re 9th Wonder or Just Blaze. We have to be able to fit it into what we’re doing,” says Coleman.

9th Wonder offers a differing although still murky statement to the News & Observer saying that “I’ve always said the same thing, I’m 9th Wonder of Little Brother and Phonte is the leader of Little brother. This is the direction the MC’s have decided to take. I’ve only got one beat on the album for now and if I get more, I do and if I don’t, I don’t.”

9th Wonder is a good producer, but he’s not a great producer. 9th Wonder was holding Little Brother back because all of his beats pretty much sound the same. (I have said this on numerous occasions by the way.) LB’s next album is pretty much make or break for them, so they need to throw in as many resources as they can to make sure that they at least come out on top (relatively speaking). Much props to Phonte and Pooh for making the decision. 9th Wonder has his own thing going on, so I’m sure he’ll eat.