Sorry for the short hiatus (such a dramatic word huh? Hiatus?). Anyway, I got some good stuff for you today. First order of business...
3 Days til' A.v. takes off to New York!
That's right. The most dreaded member of State Cap. is off the East to perform with the spoken word collective, Ill-literacy and the 4th demensional 4 piece band, The Hi-lifes. For any of those who might be in the New York area, dates are posted on the Ill-literacy website, where you can also hear the rehearsals of the shows to be performed in New York. Thanks to the rest of the Cap. and the fans for the support!
Next...
I went to see the Living Legends this past Saturday and it pretty much blew my mind. The show was much more packed than the Nas show that occurred at the same venue about a year ago. They put on one of the best shows I have seen in quite some time. I didn't even mind being kicked in the head by Sunspot Jonz ( who must have jumped in the crowd a total of 8 times). But the greatest part of my night was sneaking (more like casually walking) backstage, right before the legends went on stage, to meet one of my all-time favorite MC's, Murs. I'll leave my fanboy ranting out of this entry, but I just have to post this small interview with Murs (along with the article on the Living Legends and the aformentioned show.) It's a very short interview, but each answer is a gem of great knowledge. Especially the last question.
Thanks to Alex Benson at the SN&R for this interview.
As both a member of the Living Legends and a solo artist, Murs has (whether he likes it or not) become something of a spokesman for underground hip-hop. It’s a good year for the emcee; his new album Murs for President will be released on Warner Bros. records soon enough, and as it turns out, intern Alex Benson has a serious man-crush on the poor fellow. Tee-hee.
Where’s your favorite place to play a show?
In the world?
Yeah, just anywhere you have played.
That’s kind of a loaded question; I guess I have to say Sacramento. I like Australia. Honestly, the best show on my last tour was Sacramento, hands down. I didn’t know I had so much love there. It was real dope.
The new album is being released on Warner Bros. Why the switch from Definitive Jux to a major label?
It was just time. I had done all I could do when it comes to Def Jux … I made music to be heard by everyone … I wasn’t getting that chance on Def Jux … Everyone in our independent scene complains about mainstream hip-hop and a lot of our fans trash it, but no one is doing anything to change it.
This is a hypothetical question: If you were elected president of the hip-hop nation, who would be your vice president? Who would be your cabinet mates?
Um, wow. I would go with Shock-G … and Humpty Hump as my vice presidents. In my cabinet, my secretary of defense would have to be Dub C or Spider Loc. I definitely have to have KRS-One, Sage Francis, Chuck D, Queen Latifah. and Will Smith to round it out.
Would you add any bills or any laws to the hip-hop nation to stir in some change?
First law I would have to pass would be [is] never post anything on the Internet that you aren’t willing to say to a person’s face … [and] I think that gangsta rap should be aptly-titled “fantasy rap.”
Is hip-hop dead?
I definitely take offense to that … I think Nas’ latest album Hip Hop is Dead was one of his greatest albums. People have been saying that forever. It’s like people saying that we are living in the last days of time. It’s ignorant, I guess. It’s a hyperbolic statement really. Of course it’s not dead. You’re speaking figuratively. I am still doing original hip-hop. Dead is such a finite term. Hip-hop is alive. There is some kid doing it right now. I meet kids at shows all the time. Everybody is rapping. I don’t understand how hip-hop could be dead.
Yes. Thank you Murs.
And while we're on the subject of great MC's: Consequence. Yes, it's the Cons fool! I have been bumpin the Terry Urban, Mick Boogie, Kanye West, 9th Wonder mixtape called The Graduate. I like it more than the actual Graduation album to be honest. Here is one of the reasons:
I love Cons' ability to take a concept and run with it through the whole song. Another awesome example of this can be heard on "The Good, The Bad, The Ugly" with Kanye. I can definitely see why some people would think that Consequence was behind some of Kanye's lyrics.
Hope I made up for neglecting you darlings.
PLR.
3 Days til' A.v. takes off to New York!
That's right. The most dreaded member of State Cap. is off the East to perform with the spoken word collective, Ill-literacy and the 4th demensional 4 piece band, The Hi-lifes. For any of those who might be in the New York area, dates are posted on the Ill-literacy website, where you can also hear the rehearsals of the shows to be performed in New York. Thanks to the rest of the Cap. and the fans for the support!
Next...
I went to see the Living Legends this past Saturday and it pretty much blew my mind. The show was much more packed than the Nas show that occurred at the same venue about a year ago. They put on one of the best shows I have seen in quite some time. I didn't even mind being kicked in the head by Sunspot Jonz ( who must have jumped in the crowd a total of 8 times). But the greatest part of my night was sneaking (more like casually walking) backstage, right before the legends went on stage, to meet one of my all-time favorite MC's, Murs. I'll leave my fanboy ranting out of this entry, but I just have to post this small interview with Murs (along with the article on the Living Legends and the aformentioned show.) It's a very short interview, but each answer is a gem of great knowledge. Especially the last question.
Thanks to Alex Benson at the SN&R for this interview.
As both a member of the Living Legends and a solo artist, Murs has (whether he likes it or not) become something of a spokesman for underground hip-hop. It’s a good year for the emcee; his new album Murs for President will be released on Warner Bros. records soon enough, and as it turns out, intern Alex Benson has a serious man-crush on the poor fellow. Tee-hee.
Where’s your favorite place to play a show?
In the world?
Yeah, just anywhere you have played.
That’s kind of a loaded question; I guess I have to say Sacramento. I like Australia. Honestly, the best show on my last tour was Sacramento, hands down. I didn’t know I had so much love there. It was real dope.
The new album is being released on Warner Bros. Why the switch from Definitive Jux to a major label?
It was just time. I had done all I could do when it comes to Def Jux … I made music to be heard by everyone … I wasn’t getting that chance on Def Jux … Everyone in our independent scene complains about mainstream hip-hop and a lot of our fans trash it, but no one is doing anything to change it.
This is a hypothetical question: If you were elected president of the hip-hop nation, who would be your vice president? Who would be your cabinet mates?
Um, wow. I would go with Shock-G … and Humpty Hump as my vice presidents. In my cabinet, my secretary of defense would have to be Dub C or Spider Loc. I definitely have to have KRS-One, Sage Francis, Chuck D, Queen Latifah. and Will Smith to round it out.
Would you add any bills or any laws to the hip-hop nation to stir in some change?
First law I would have to pass would be [is] never post anything on the Internet that you aren’t willing to say to a person’s face … [and] I think that gangsta rap should be aptly-titled “fantasy rap.”
Is hip-hop dead?
I definitely take offense to that … I think Nas’ latest album Hip Hop is Dead was one of his greatest albums. People have been saying that forever. It’s like people saying that we are living in the last days of time. It’s ignorant, I guess. It’s a hyperbolic statement really. Of course it’s not dead. You’re speaking figuratively. I am still doing original hip-hop. Dead is such a finite term. Hip-hop is alive. There is some kid doing it right now. I meet kids at shows all the time. Everybody is rapping. I don’t understand how hip-hop could be dead.
Yes. Thank you Murs.
And while we're on the subject of great MC's: Consequence. Yes, it's the Cons fool! I have been bumpin the Terry Urban, Mick Boogie, Kanye West, 9th Wonder mixtape called The Graduate. I like it more than the actual Graduation album to be honest. Here is one of the reasons:
I love Cons' ability to take a concept and run with it through the whole song. Another awesome example of this can be heard on "The Good, The Bad, The Ugly" with Kanye. I can definitely see why some people would think that Consequence was behind some of Kanye's lyrics.
Hope I made up for neglecting you darlings.
PLR.
1 comment:
thank you for this. i love love murs.
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