The Company Man Hosts Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival After Party

Yeah...Lots of fun lately.

J.Period Talk's Best Of Mixtape Origins, Working With Q-Tip, Possibly Busta Rhymes

J.Period is always thinking two steps ahead; always thinking about the “next evolution.” It’s partly why his Best Of...series has completely remixed the impact of the mixtape. Each release is much more than just a collection of dope songs. They’re more like sonic time capsules, blending awesome music with exclusive interviews adding unprecedented depth into the artist behind the mic. They’re entertaining and edutaining all at once. What started with his 2004, Best Of Nas mixtape has evolved into last month’s impeccable Q-Tip feature, The [Abstract] Best, J.Period’s Live Mixtape with Black Thought and, as he states in this interview, possibly film.

BrooklynBodega.com caught up J.Period following the 7th Annual Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival and discussed the origins of his unique mixtape series, his experience working with Q-Tip and the “next evolution” as he sees it.

Brooklyn Bodega: I think the work that you’ve done has redefined the mixtape. Your mixtapes are a lot more than just a dope collection of songs. They’re a dope collection of songs with all the right elements to make them edutaining at the same time. The Michael Jackson mixtape really gave insight into his creative process. This Q-Tip tape, The [Abstract] Best, showed all types of new perspectives.

J.Period: Honestly, the mixtapes themselves are as much educational for me as they are for the listener because I’m always learning while I’m doing them. I do so much research into these people’s lives and their influences and inspirations that I learn a tremendous amount about them that I didn’t know as well. So, that’s the dope part for me as the creator of them.

Brooklyn Bodega: Take us through the process. How does this actually work? Are you spending lots of time interviewing people? Are you spending hours looking online?

J.Period: With someone like Michael Jackson, I’m finding things. In the early days when I did the Nas mixtape which was the first one, that came out of me being at a listening session. That was literally the one that sparked the whole idea. I was sitting there and all these college radio DJs were interviewing him and I was thinking how ill it would be to tell his story through his own words and his music. That Best of Nas mixtape became the blueprint to what I’ve now sort of expanded on and kind of twisted and turned and done more with to the point where now I actually get to sit down with the artists. They’ve already heard what I do so they already know. That’s given me unprecedented access to a lot of these people. When I did the Lauryn Hill mixtape, only a small portion of that was actually me getting her to actually sit down and co-sign it and the rest was me digging things up. I’m at the point now where I did the John Legend and The Roots mixtape, and not only did I interview John and members of The Roots, but they actually gave me the session files from the album. That’s actually a tremendous honor, to actually to be able to create on the level that they’re creating on with the elements that they’re using.

Honestly, the whole idea is to pay homage to the people that inspire me and going deeper than your average mixtape. For most people, a mixtape is just a bunch of songs put together. For me, it was always something that allowed me to take bits and pieces from everywhere. Sampling issues don’t allow you to do that on records. But a mixtape is open season. You can do whatever. Really, I do it all from a fans perspective because I’m a fan of Hip-Hop first.



Brooklyn Bodega: They really run like documentaries. Have you thought about visualizing these?

J.Period: Yeah, you know, I’ve talked to a number of people. Garth Trinidad, who is a radio DJ out in [Los Angeles], and I have been talking about bringing it to the stage. He calls them audio documentaries. That’s his thing. I’ve even spoke to Michael Rappaport when he was working on the [A Tribe Called Quest] documentary about bringing some of the elements from the Q-Tip mixtape to the screen. That didn’t happen for clearance reasons, but I think that’s the next evolution. Really for me, it’s that and then it’s tackling the legal hurdles of convincing a company that what I do with their catalog has an audience. That’s hard because they see 500 thousand downloads and think people take it because it’s free but they’re not going to pay for it. I really believe that this sort of level of music and the kind of people that want it are real fans. I think those real fans will pay money for it.

Brooklyn Bodega: Fans still pay money for concert tickets and T-shirts.

J.Period: I also think they like something that they can hold, like this The [Abstract] Best flash drive. It’s a flash drive, which is something digital, but it’s also tangible. I still think that, like all the collectors items I have from when I was a kid and still have all over my studio as inspiration, like physical CDs, people still like that.

Brooklyn Bodega: How was it working with Tip on The [Abstract] Best?


READ FULL INTERVIEW @BROOKLYNBODEGA.COM

BHF11: Rappin' With Chairman Mao Part 1

It was an all an accident for Jefferson “Chairman” Mao. The Source cover pieces, the Vibe Magazine features, the XXL “Chairman’s Choice” column, the nine year DJ residency at APT in Manhattan’s posh Meatpacking District -- an entire two decade legacy forever etched in the talisman of Hip-Hop culture was little more than a product of circumstance. Then, he was just an NYU film student with a jones for crate digging and a chance meeting with a couple other future journalistic luminaries, Sacha Jenkins and Elliot Wilson.

Word is, Jenkins invited Mao to contribute to his current endeavor, Beat-Down Newspaper, where Elliot Wilson was already a contributor. When the publication folded after a falling out between Jenkins and his partner (Haji Akhigbade), he and Wilson founded the seminal, Ego Trip Magazine in 1992 and brought Mao along from day one. Ego Trip’s subversive tone and geeked-out attention to detail spawned 13 issues, two books (Book Of Rap Lists and The Big Book Of Racism) and two television shows (The White Rapper Show and Miss Rap Supreme) of unforgettable Hip-Hop reverence.

“I was interested in music and I used to read a lot of music magazines when I was a kid,” Mao told BrooklynBodega.com during this feature interview for his upcoming set at Salute The DJ as part of the 2011 Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival. “I got into it just to get the free records.”

CM: The thing about [music journalism] is, even when we were doing it -- and I guess you could argue this from the beginning -- it’s never really been respected by the industry as a necessary sort of thing. It’s always just been seen as something used for promotion.

When you look at how The Source started, it was really like kind of a ‘zine and then it was a champion for Hip-Hop because Hip-Hop was an underdog. That was really necessary at the time, but then at a certain point, I remember when we were doing Beat-Down, people started to feel like they needed other sources of information. People would complain about the record reviews in The Source or something like that. Even though The Source was like The Bible as far as the magazine documenting the music and the culture, we started to move past the point where Hip-Hop needed a cheerleader on it’s side. It needed some critical distance as well and that’s when you had sort of this gene explosion with Beat-Down, Ego Trip and a ton of other homemade sort of ‘zines sort of done through a lot of blood sweat and tears. And then Vibe really stepped up the professionalism and managing editors and writers and a lot of journalistic integrity and became very slick but there was always an element of that.

Now everything’s changed. The way media is dictated. I guess you could look at it like it was subversive in that respect as far as Ego Trip because we were contributing to these publications. They were putting food on our table and paying our bills and we sort of had an outlet to do our own thing and be an independent voice so it’s kind of an interesting dichotomy, I guess. But it was a unique situation, especially when some of the guys had pretty important positions at Vibe and The Source but that was how Ego Trip was able to survive: because it was something we were just doing because we wanted the outlet. Really in the entire time of it’s existence, it only really existed because we wanted that creative outlet, that outlet to express ideas which you couldn’t do at these other magazines. The same for the TV shows we did and the books we did.



Brooklyn Bodega: You alluded to it now, but you’ve spoken quite a bit in previous interviews about Hip-Hop needing tough love at the same time Hip-Hop not really being able to take tough love. You’ll have different artists complaining, “How you gonna diss my record?” That to me seems extremely prevalent now with the internet and so many different online publications. It seems like there’s even less tough love now despite that you have so many different voices.

CM: I’d say yes and no. In some respects you have more “tough love” than ever because everybody has their own platform. Everybody has an opinion and a platform to express it now, so whether it’s their own blog or Tumblr or Twitter account or expressing their opinion in a comments section or a message board. It’s the sort of thing that spurs debate because people have a lot of passion and enthusiasm for it and there’s a competitive aspect to it -- it always has been -- so it’s almost like sports talk radio as far as how people offer their opinions.

Yeah, I guess you could say that because of the internet there’s less of an established bar for journalistic integrity. That’s sadly vanished. Journalistic standards, that’s definitely vanished with the internet and everyone having a platform, but I would say that, as far as people being able to be critical, to me, anybody can write a comment as dismissive or informed or ignorant or whatever so you have more critical thinking. You have more critiques than ever because everyone is a critic and everyone can be a self-styled expert without necessarily having labored or come up through the ranks and written for different publications and what not. Opinions are like assholes, everybody has one and a lot of stuff that people put out on the internet is not well thought out. But that’s the appeal and that’s the conundrum. It’s like, the gift and the curse. It’s access and people being able to have the freedom but it’s totally unregulated so you have to take the good and the bad aspect of all that together. It’s great that it’s unregulated because you can find all kinds of stuff and you can learn about all kinds of stuff. But it’s not regulated so it’s no context for anything.

Coming from a time where you’re old enough to remember before the internet -- I talk about this all with people who are into music all the time -- if you’re a music fan, you have access to so much stuff. If you wanted to hear old tapes, you had to get tapes from people you knew or get them dubbed for you. But now you can hear almost anything, so you have access to all this information. The rarest records that exist, you can download them off of where ever. You can get anything if you just Google Mediafire or Megaupload search and you can get a thousand dollar album or something someone uploaded to their blog. You can hear all sorts of stuff on YouTube. You can see things, things that shaped your mind as a child. Some TV clip from the early 70s is on Youtube now. But I think it’s overwhelming for people, too. You think like, “Oh, you have access to all this stuff. People are super educated.” But now you have the opposite problem. It was a problem for us to try to seek out information and learn about things because you were hungry for just more. You had to know somebody to know somebody. You had to know somebody to know what the sample was on that interlude on A Tribe Called Quest’s first album. Now you can just Google it. You had to know somebody who knew somebody who knew but it was all word of mouth. It was just stuff that you learned. It wasn’t like, “Oh, OK, I’ll just access all this information.” But I think now, people have too much information. There’s so much information that they’re inundated and overwhelmed and it’s easy to get discouraged. So even if you have access to it, you can’t necessarily educate yourself in the way that you would think. I don’t know. That was kind of a long and rambling answer. I don’t know if I even answered you’re question. [Laughs]



Brooklyn Bodega: [Laughs] Well, I think you touched on all the major themes. There’s two sides to the coin. There’s always been two sides to that conversation. There’s always been the critics and there’s always been people responding to the critics. The difference is now, the people responding to the critics and the people reading the critiques have a place where they can go say exactly what they think about that. You can just go to the comments section after the article you read or the album review and express your opinion publicly on whatever you just read. Before you just had that same conversation amongst a much smaller circle of people and most likely you knew them.


READ FULL INTERVIEW @BROOKLYNBODEGA.COM

[Watch] Stalley Talks #BHF11 Maybach Music Group, Success of 'Lincoln Way Nights'

BHF '11 - Stalley at #BodegaRadio from BrooklynBodegaTV on Vimeo.

Ohio native & BHF '11 Performer Stalley stopped by the BHF Media Mixer edition of #BodegaRadio & talked shop with The Company Man. The newest addition to Maybach Music Group discussed the success of "Lincoln Way Nights," his next project, why he felt comfortable joining Rick Ross & what fans can expect from him at the BHF.

Make sure you check out Stalley at the Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival on July 16th at the Brooklyn Bridge Plaza & Tobacco Warehouse. Other performers include Q-Tip & friends, Kendrick Lamar, Random Axe, M.O.P & more!

Special Thanks to PNC Studios.

Shot & Cut by Jav Martinez for Tha Reelness/Brooklyn Bodega

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PUBLISHED @BROOKLYNBODEGA.COM

The Company Man Interviews Twilite Tone

If you haven't noticed Quotable Nation, The Company Man is expanding. Been experimenting with video interviews. Here's the latest.

BHF '11 - A Conversation With Twilite Tone from BrooklynBodegaTV on Vimeo.

Shouts to Jav Martinez and ThaReelness.tumblr.com

Carry on...

Samsonite Man - Fashawn Interview

Fashawn reps Cali hard body.

You see it across the front of his Fresno baseball jersey or in the dozens of photos world wide web wide of him pointing to his “CAL” tat on the back of his left hand. You hear it when you hear him kick lines like “gotta adapt to the slang that’s spoke / a West Coast thang / out of town n***** get took out the frame” on “Our Way” or “To live and die in CA / from the home of PA (Planet Asia) / guaranteed to make it pop like a f*cking briefcase” on “Sunny CA” or on just about every other track on his critically acclaimed debut album, Boy Meets World. All California love. All the time.

And it makes sense.

Representing where you’re from is nothing new to Hip-Hop and is not at all what separates him from other highly anticipated “Freshmen” Emcees. For Fashawn, his environment growing up provides the lyrical fuel to his microphone melting delivery and visceral introspection. It’s the reason “Ecology” hits like a Barry Bonds swing and the imagery of “When She Calls” is immediately ingrained after first listen. It’s the reason he released arguably the ballsiest mixtape of the last ten years, Ode to Illmatic, where he courageously unleashes his personal trials and certified mic skills over the instrumentals to one of the most revered albums in Hip-Hop history: Illmatic.

Brooklynbodega.com spoke to Fashawn about the thought behind Ode To Illmatic, his sophomore endeavor, Ecology, West Coast Hip-Hop and a potential full length collaboration with BHF08 alums and fellow Cali “evolutionaries”, Blu and Exile.

BB: The first time I saw you was at a Roots Jam in 2009. I didn’t know a lot about you then. I thought you kicked it that night…

Fashawn: I tried man. It’s hard to come after Black Thought. When Black Thought passes you the mic, you just know that you’ve got to bring it.

BB: It’s an honor to have him pass you the mic, because he doesn’t just pass mics to anyone.

Fashawn: Right, he doesn’t pass the mic to “Joe Blow” from around the corner so, it was an honor to [rock with him].

BB: When I was researching you for a lead up article about you for BrooklynBodega.com so that our readers are more informed — because I think a lot of people are not aware of who you are even if they hear your name or hear about [Boy Meets World] — [the first thing I realized] is that you’re real humble.

Fashawn: Why not, man? I come from nothing. What the f*ck I’m going to be flamboyant and boastful for? I come from nothing. I’m just really happy to be here. If I wasn’t here, I’d literally be in jail or f*cking dead or some shit. I’m happy to be here and that my fans keep giving me the opportunity to come back to New York. This is my fifth…sixth time in New York in a year! It gets better every time. The crowds get bigger every time. It’s just a progression and I think I’m paying my dues. A lot of n***** are just paying cash. I’m paying my dues and getting the respect first. That’s how it should be done.

READ FULL INTERVIEW AT WWW.BROOKLYBODEGA.COM

De La Soul Interview

Pete Rock and CL Smooth were there. So were Greg Nice and Smooth B and Dres and DJ Premier. Masta Ace and Craig G were milling about just after performing, right next to Marley Marl and Large Professor. Even Edwin Birdsong and Michael Rapaport were there breaking bread with Hip-Hop’s living history; the cultivators of The Culture.

It literally felt like a family reunion in the BHF10 Artists section. Like one big Golden Era family reunion (minus the matching T-shirts). Daps and hugs went around like cyphers. Cats couldn’t wait to catch up — to reminisce for a spell — with fellow flag bearers.

And at the center of it all stood that day’s head lining act, De La Soul, just as elated as every other legend.

Pos, Mase and Dave have seamlessly crafted a twenty-one year career laced with a laser aimed focus on artistic reinvention and genre pushing creativity. They’ve bucked industry pressure to conform to commercial trends, and in the process, consistently redefined the look and sound of Hip-Hop. Most impressively, they’ve never disbanded.

As Mase and Dave tell it, the reason that De La’s remained united since 1989 is simply because, before everything else, they’re friends. Before the classic albums and world tours and international accolades, Plugs 1, 2 and 3 were just high school homies who loved making Hip-Hop music; who loved the atmosphere and natural high that came with working together towards a common goal. While most of their contemporaries broke up over misunderstandings, individual aspirations and industry bullshit — Pos, Mase and Dave continued to build on the bond formed back in Amityville, Long Island by maintaining the foundation of their legacy: friendship.

BrooklynBodega.com spoke with each member of De La Soul — in between the daps and hugs going around the Golden Era Family Reunion — about stylistic influences, why Tupac dissed them on Makaveli, the reasons why the Native Tongues reunion never happened and how they’ve managed to remain unified since the first Bush administration.

READ THE FULL INTERVIEW AT BROOKLYNBODEGA.COM

20 YRS OF DE LA VIDEOS: TICKETS TO THE 2010 BHF ON SALE NOW

Twenty-one years. Eight albums. Countless live shows. Immeasurable influence.

De La Soul’s constantly evolving combination of beats, rhymes and cultural relevance etched its way into Hip Hop history forever ago.

The legacy is intact.

FACT.

Along with the classic jams crafted by Posdnous, Trugoy (Dave), and Maseo over the past two decades, De La’s video discography is equally as impressive. From the paradoxical depiction of a rap class teaching aspiring Emcees how to generically pose as Hip Hop artists on “Me Myself and I”, to the roller skating themed “Saturday”, to the bodaciously bootylicious “Baby Phat” — every video crafted is equally as cinematic as the songs themselves.

So to celebrate the opening of ticket sales to see the 2010 Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival headlining act, De La Soul, we bring to you Twenty Years of De La Videos.

TICKETS TO THE 2010 BROOKLYN HIP HOP FESTIVAL FEATURING HEADLINER DE LA SOUL ARE ON SALE NOW! CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE.

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE:

BHF HISTORY: POLLITRIKKING WITH M-1

“I reminisce for a spell, shall I say think back, June 2009 just to keep it on track.”

The 2009 Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival was set to be the largest ever. Styles P and dead prez leading into the headliner, Pharoahe Monch. Two stage format for the first time, highlighting Underground talent and mainstream acts simultaneously. The sky was the limit.

And then the clouds came, and we were limited by the sky.

Not that the festival suffered, in fact it shined like all others. But since it rained all day, we didn’t get to experience the two stage format organically. Instead, both underground and main stage acts shared one stage, leading to a number of acts cutting sets short because of the time bottleneck.

And even with that, even with headliners truncating performances because of the rain day schedule change, the 2009 Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival was still the largest ever.

FACT.

CONTINUE READING @ BROOKLYNBODEGA.COM

Homeboy Sandman - Its All Happening

Everything seems to work out for Homeboy Sandman.

A couple weeks off a cleverly arranged West Coast tour, the six-foot-five-inch Queens lyricist swags across the Fifth Avenue veranda of the New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building exactly on time for this interview. Its a blazing ninety-one degrees outside. Midtown banker’s and lawyer’s and other corporate citizen’s decked in business suit pants and rolled up button-downs or those fancy T-shirts women get away with wearing to the workplace; sit sporadically around the two of us, escaping the office for a too brief bite to eat.

Trademarked Fu-Manchu reaching from his chin, unshaven head revealing a young man’s George Jefferson-style bald spot, walking like a ball player. Visually, Homeboy Sandman is the picture of earnest confidence. He smiles when he talks to people. He speaks with a calm yet shifting cadence, complete with detailed sidebars and supportive tangents, always managing to bring the conversation full circle.

After a quick exchange of ‘what ups’, we migrate down 40th Street towards the library’s backyard - Bryant Park - this conversation’s location.

Armed with a perpetual positive attitude, hater-proof humility, and an inherent charisma designed for the bright lights; one would expect the artist born Angel Del Villar (Jr) to be successful in any field of human endeavor. His boarding school education at New Hampshire’s Holderness School (part of New York City’s Prep For Prep 9 program) taught him the value and breadth of perspective. His Ivy League experience at the University of Pennsylvania reinforced the fact that, in life, “things are the way you see them.” His father, prize fighter-turned-lawyer, Angel Del Villar Sr., instilled the virtues of relentless determination. With that type of pedigree, supplanting a legal career for a life rocking the mic wasn’t a risk for Homeboy Sandman. It was a necessity.

“I withdrew from law school to be an Emcee. And I can’t even fathom...I say to people do you think it would’ve been more crazy to stay in law school and become a lawyer when I wanna become an Emcee? I mean, I WANNA BE AN EMCEE! How can I stay in law school? But people are very nervous and stuff.”

Such a loaded decision came rather matter-of-factly for Boy Sand. His combination of seemingly limitless confidence, self actualization, and an envious work ethic has yielded an impressive amount of success in a rather short time frame. In the two and a half years since The Pterodactyl first took flight he’s already graced The Source’s Unsigned Hype section, the Chairman’s Choice column in XXL, Loud.com’s $100,000 Rapper Challenge finalist, and received critical praise for his two full length LPs (Nourishment Second Helpings and Actual Factual Pterodactyl). “I love [my career trajectory], man. Everything’s going according to plan. Everything that I’ve expected to happen is happening. All I’ve expected from the beginning is to make Hip Hop music that I would love to listen to. I know that people who love Hip Hop are going to love this.”

Stylistically, Homeboy waits for the beat to dictate the delivery. Where a rugged, tongue twister flow, on the rumbling “Comrade Punski” for example, screams of Big Pun, a melodic, beat embedded delivery such as the one mastered on the jollily genius “I-tunes Song” or “Kain News” embodies Eminem. Even his slow flow has Internet commentators kicking JadaKiss comparisons. The irony is that none of those legends truly rhyme like each other. So when Sandy states that he’s “a poet with no flow in particular. / Lines of parables parallel, / perpendicular,” that's exactly what he means.

But whats most refreshing is the conscious blend of style and substance. Neither is sacrificed for the other. Every panache laced lyric is loaded with contextual relevance. Hilarious tales of impromptu Mambo dance offs; or “Extreme Measures’” detailed depiction of a radio station hijacking; or “City Darker’s” vivid image of the New York City under belly; or scathing, braggadocio cypher rhymes like “Us and Them” or “Lightning Bolt. Lightning Rod” all connect directly with the listener. All flow like a cascading fountain full of words. This marriage between rhymes and style is intentional. Homeboy describes it as “lyrics so dope you don’t need the flow; flows so dope you don’t need the lyrics.” And as he sees it, as long as his records remain fresh, then nothing else matters.

“The only way you can lose what I’m building up is by putting out wack records. I don’t have to worry about anything else. I don’t have to worry about how I dress. I love wearing comfortable clothes everywhere. I don’t have to worry about what I say...The first song of mine that Peter Rosenberg ever spun was “Airwave Air Raid.” And he spun that on HOT97. The first line of that song is “First you got your HOT97 arsenic.” I don’t even have to change that! The first time I did the S.O.Bs. “Whose Next” I did that song. I don’t have to change anything. I could go straight up to people and say ‘Yo, I’d love to do your showcase but I’ma diss your thing’ cause my music is what I fall back on. People want to be strategic. I’m not for all that. [Fear of] ruffling feathers is for the birds.”

Now stepping into the next career phase; shifting from necessarily seeking out opportunities to show case his talents to his talents bringing opportunities directly to his inbox; Homeboy Sandman has reached the point where his raps clock revenue. Word of mouth and a live live show has generated constant growth in online and in-venue CD sales. The name Homeboy Sandman is now large enough to ensure audience turnout, allowing him to include a performance price. And his rhymes calculate enough buzz and Internet hits that he now charges for verses. “Its not untrue that featuring me on a song is gonna get people excellent exposure because people that love real Hip Hop are gonna wanna listen to it to see what I did on it. That's a valuable thing. And I’ve always said that I won’t charge for verses, I’ll charge for time.” But the biggest contributor to his finances is the influx of private investors.

“This is where a lot of my income has come from, this is why I was able to go to SXSW, this is why I was able to get my trademarking done. And this works for stuff that costs money. This is why I was able to get a computer. When you believe in yourself and you’ve proven yourself to be an uncompromising person, that inspires people so much that people want to fund some of the stuff you’re doing, man. I’ve not had to worry about so much of the money that's involved in this because I have people that literally contact me from hearing me on Squeez [Radio]...being impressed enough to do more research, being impressed enough by the research they did to say, ‘this guy is different from everybody else, anybody else. If I can help this kid, I’m going to, man.’ I have a couple of people that help me on a regular basis.”

Two and a half years in, write ups in the two major Hip Hop magazines, two critically praised LPs, four rap related sources of income, one uncompromising positive outlook; it is all going according to Sandman’s plan. “He doesn’t feel avarice.” He’s certainly not average. Everything seems to work out for The Mayor. Even potentially devastating situations are intersected by the forces of favor and opportunity.

Unbeknownst to most in attendance at this year’s Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival, Homeboy Sandman was abnormally unprepared for his solo set. “I had to do these Shawn J. Period records...I got the beats a week before and...didn’t get to finish the verses up until 1AM the night before the Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival. I’m never nervous before a show, but before this show I was nervous because I was like ‘dag, I don’t know if I know this stuff.’” After spending the hour and a half between Second Stage hosting duties and Main Stage show time attempting to learn the lyrics to his songs, he persuaded himself to attempt an extremely risky strategy. “Maybe I’ll just read out the book, yo...I said to myself ‘would Black Thought do this?’ And I was able to visualize him doing it. I was able to visualize him doing it! When I told myself yes he would do it, I answered the question for myself, I was 100% gonna do it.”

As celestial intervention would have it, on his way back to the festival grounds while practicing how he planned to open the rhyme book without dropping the mic, Sandy improbably crossed paths with his mic idol, Black Thought himself talking to DJ J. Period. “When I saw him, I couldn’t believe it! I didn’t expect to see him. Fifteen-seconds ago I made a decision based on thinking, ‘what would Black Thought do?’ Here’s Black Thought standing right here on this corner!” He quickly interrupted the conversation and posed the question to The Roots’ legendary Emcee.

“He’s like ‘aight, whats the situation?’ and I broke it down to him. He said, ‘I don’t think I’d do it. And I don’t think I’d do it given the type of show it is and given the grand stage of it. I wouldn’t do it. Don’t let me tell you what to do.’ I said, ‘Yo, you ain’t telling me what to do. I just asked for you to be here and there you were. I’m not going to spit in the face of destiny.’ The only thing in the whole world that could’ve stopped me from doing that was Black Thought telling me not to do it.”

Then theres the time he was nearly evicted from his Queens apartment. “The first time I was supposed to be evicted...I owed over $4000 and I was about to give up in court.” Taking advice from the court clerk, he decided to fight a little bit more. “I got until the next month [to pay the back rent]. I got home that day, saw the email for the Tag Records competition in Harlem that I did and won a $5000 prize. That same day! I kind of knew...that I was going to win $5000 that day.” Not only did he pay off his debt, but once he returned from his west coast tour, a friend offered a great rent on a house in The Bronx. “I’m getting a crazy deal on two floors. I’m living larger than I was before! Granted I need to take the train to the bus and its a little ways, but that don’t bother me. I’m writing rhymes the whole time anyway. Everything always falls into place, man.”

Success seems to be in the cards for Homeboy Sandman. From his upbringing to his education to his innate confidence to his sonic originality to rocking as a cornerstone of one of the hottest online rap teams (the AOK Collective); luck intervening before disaster strikes is a product of preparation uniting with opportunity. His laser aimed focus on growth supersedes the burden of besting himself. “Doing new things is whats very important. I’m not trying to best what I did yesterday. I’m trying to grow.” He’s even rocking mics and interviews without hiding his bald spot these days, a visual testament to his maturation. Whether its his unique rhyme technique, or his crowd drawing live show, or his critically praised albums, The Mayor has “Mixed and Mastered and mastered all the disciplines”; bringing rhymes to life while making it seem routine. In the world of The Good Sun, there truly is no spoon.

As we bid our ‘Peace Outs’, simultaneously exiting this interview and Bryant Park, Homeboy noticed that his wallet (containing his cash, ID, and Metrocard) was missing from his mesh camouflaged shorts. The two of us urgently searched the park grounds, retracing our steps for seven minutes or so, all to no avail.

Scratch that. Most things work out for Homeboy Sandman.

Read The-Quotable's review of ACTUAL FACTUAL PTERODACTYL HERE

A Gangster And An Author - Styles P Interview

There’s no pigeon holing Styles P. Any attempt to box him in as simply another “Gangster” rapper is immediately thwarted by the sound of the empowering “I’m Black” or the uplifting “We Gonna Make It”. This founding member of The LOX has built his solo reputation on banging tracks, surprising successes and silencing naysayers. But the thought of Styles P transitioning from rapper to author is arguably his most jarring career turn yet. Following his loaded Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival performance, The-Quotable.com chopped it up with Styles P on that very topic. Microphone check, check, check, check....

TCM: The-Quotable.com here with Styles P. Live show. How do you feel about Brooklyn Bodega?

Styles P: I love it. Love it. Love it. I LOVE IT! I get fuckin crazy here.

TCM: Yo, you got great crowd response, man. Old shit. New shit. The one thing I really want to ask you about is Mr. Invincible, coming out on Nicki Turner Presents...

Styles P: Nicki Turner Presents/Random House. I mean, I just wanted to do something different, like, you know what I’m sayin? I been in Hip Hop a long time. I plan on being in it til I pass. You know what I’m sayin? And besides, um, music theres other things. Theres books. Other things you can do - TV. So I’m just tryin’ to expand my horizons and get into other shit that everybody ain’t into. You know what I’m sayin’? Um, I’m a creative person. I like making shit up. My minds always runnin’, like, you know what I’m sayin? So I figured I’d put it to use.

TCM: Can you get a little into the plot?

Styles P: Its like a jail mystery. Its basically about a dude who ends up, end up going to jail over something that happens and he has his trials and tribulations during the time, but he’s not really sure who he has a problem with, you know what I’m sayin? Its just a righteous dude trying to live righteous. It just shows like, basically, shit happens some times.

TCM: Something everybody can relate to...

Styles P: Yeah. Not everybody. But, you know, people who fuck with me can definitely relate to it. Or, pretty sure they know someone else who can relate to it.

TCM: There you go. So when is it hitting shelves?

Styles P: Um, I’m trying to finish it up like within these next 3 weeks, and then, I figure a couple months after that.

United Front - brokn.englsh Interview

On or off stage, brokn.englsh is a united front. The chemistry between Lyriq2Go, Cion Burris, and Myk Dyaleks is as natural as a vegan diet and immediately apparent upon first introduction. These three mic titans are more than just band members - they are friends. Legitimate homies. They genuinely enjoy kicking it with each other. And that crucial ingredient mixed with pulsating energy and earnest showmanship provides the formula for their eye-locking live show. FACT.

The-Quotable.com kicked it with the Brick City trio just before their Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival debut. Read on muttaskuttas, read on.

TCM: The-Quotable.com chillin with Brokn.Englsh on the eve of let them know how Brokn.Englsh get down. Cause we like to have a good time. And let people know ‘hey its Hip Hop, we can have fun.’ But we give you good quality music as well.

TCM: Now, during the last Show & Prove, you guys had crazy energy. You broke down the old skool dancing, jumping down in the crowd. Are we looking at a similar song set up? What tracks are you going to perform?

C. Burris: Um, I’d say its a similar song set up. Not the exact same show. But a very similar set up. We switched it up a little bit. But when they cut down the time, or cut the 2nd stage, we had to nip a couple things in the bud. But its still going to be an awesome show regardless. You know?

Lyriq2Go: Definitely. Always. Yeah.

TCM: Brooklyn Bodega is now going on its 5th year. This is now becoming an institution in New York - for festivals in general, but for Hip Hop specifically. Can you guys talk a little about the impact the Bodega’s had so far?

C. Burris: Well, honestly I remember from the first one when it was Little Brother, and its real good to see that its come so far. In such a short time, you know...like you said, its become an institution. We’re just happy to be a part of that....

Lyriq2Go: And its crazy because, just last year, we were in Myk’s basement, ‘you know what, next year we’re gonna be on that stage.’ And I ain’t gon’ front, I wast thinkin’ ‘like you crazy!’ But you know what? We here. [Laughs] You know? We here.

Myk Dyalekt: Its all about realizing your dreams, man, and supporting. We have to support the venues. We have things like Brooklyn Hip Hop. We’re from Jersey. We have a Jersey...a Newark Hip Hop Festival that we actually do the same thing with. Its about having people come out and represent for those artists that work all year - run around on hot trains and try to make this music happen for themselves, man.

TCM: B.E. Webisode. Whens the next one dropping?

Lyriq2Go: The next one should be dropping...if not next week...in 2 weeks. But I’m gonna try to make it out next week, cause a lot of people ask me for it. And we got a lot of material, so you gonna see that shortly. Trust me, you gonna enjoy it. Trust me.

Canada Coney Island Connection - Torae & Marco Polo Interview

There’s an LL Cool J-type quality to Coney Island Emcee, Torae. Mama Said Knock You Out-type LL. Lurking behind his pretty-boy mug and humble personality lies a lyrical ferocity impatiently waiting to devastate the mic. In person, Torae is gracious and appreciative of the opportunities before him. On stage, his brolic, B-Boy demeanor and aggressive rhyme style is enough to simultaneously send chills to the eardrum and a bitter-beer-face to the grill. Add that to Marco Polo’s chest thumping, boom-bap production - that somehow feels like 1994 and 2009 at the same time - and the combination is one that immediately captures iPods and captivates crowds.

Following this year’s Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival, we caught up with Torae & Marco Polo, digging into their debut collaborative LP, Double Barrel, rocking with legendary rap label, Duck Down Records, and the Canadian/Coney Island chemistry. Read on muttaskuttas!

TCM: The-Quotable.com here with Torae, Coney Island’s finest. How are you doing?

Torae: I’m great, man. Thanks for having me and all that.

TCM: Absolutely. How do you feel about your show?

Torae: The show was dope, man. It was a beautiful thing to rock out Brooklyn. Crowd was into to it, nahmean? The packed venue - thats always my favorite. Got busy.

TCM: Thats whats up. So, I’ve been following you online. Your Daily Conversation album was dope. Double Barrel is fire all the way through. Its the perfect combination between beats and rhymes and the way I think it looks in the new generation.

Torae: No doubt.

TCM: And in all of your interviews you come across as a real real humble dude despite your aggressive flow. Where does your inspiration come from?

Torae: I mean, I love it. I make music because I love it. I don’t make it to make a million dollars or, you know, ride around in fancy cars and all that. I mean, luxuries in life, they are a beautiful thing. But, I make music from the heart, you know what I’m sayin, whether theres money in it or not. I’m always going to continue to write and get in the booth and go in. You know what I’m sayin? You know, just my personality on the mic is definitely a little different from me as a person. When I’m on the mic I’m, you know, I’m no holds barred ferocious. You know what I’m sayin? In real life I’m just a cool dude.

TCM: On Daily Conversation’s “Switch”, the video footage, the photography, the angle was dope - with the old school Apple shit poppin’ out. You’re switching flows all the way through. Where did the inspiration come from for that?

Torae: Um, you know, I’m real active on the internet. So, I would hear people say ‘Yo, I like Tor. He can rhyme but I don’t like his delivery on this record’ or this and this and that. So I decided to do something to kind of hush the naysayers and show them I can show a little versatility as far as switching up my flow. But still show that its all relative. Like, you know, everybody’s got they own style, they own niche in what they do. And the more you listen to it the more you get accustomed to it, the more you become familiar with it, and its just second nature to you.

TCM: Lets get into Double Barrel. The album’s bangin’ all the way through...

Torae: No doubt. Lets get the homie Marco Polo. Yo, Marco!

TCM: How you doin’ man?

Marco Polo: Good, how you doin?

TCM: We’re getting into a little Double Barrel right now. Props to Port Authority as well. Its still rockin in my iPod.

Marco Polo: I appreciate that. Thank you, sir.

TCM: Can you talk a little about your chemistry as a producer/emcee duo?

Marco Polo: Definitely. I think me and Torae definitely, you know, have the same influences in the stuff we grew up listening to, and what we love about Hip Hop. You know what I’m sayin? Especially East Coast influenced boom-bap. You know, like EPMD, Onyx, Wu-Tang, you know? Real beat driven like Primo and Pete Rock. We wanted to make an album that represented our taste as Hip Hop fans and thats where we connect in the studio, you know what I’m sayin? It makes it easy to work together with like minded individuals. And thats really our approach to this record. Have fun. Make stuff we wanted to hear, that we felt was not being represented right now. So, thats pretty much how it went down.

TCM: So how’d the connection come about? Was it arranged by Duck Down? Did you guys get together yourselves?

Torae: Yeah, we actually put the album together ourselves and then we got with Duck Down. And we actually sat with a few other labels as well. But Duck Down was the perfect fit. Me and Marco actually met in the studio...You know? Thats probably another reason why our chemistry was so ill - cause we met working on the EMC album. We did a skit. You know, [Masta] Ace, who was a good friend of both of ours, called us in to do two individual parts of the skit. I met Marco. We chopped it up. He was working on Port Authority. I’m sorry. New Port Authority Mixtape that promoted Port Authority the album. Um, [He] asked me if I wanted to get down with it, and I was a big fan of his beats. We knocked out two joints for the mixtape. And then we just kind of formed a bond and kept recording. And then we went on the road like, he said and all that. So, you know, we did all that and the next thing you know, we were just recording and Double Barrel in stores.

TCM: So how does it feel to be at Duck Down with the legions?

Torae: Yo, just the fact that those guys even know me is a crazy...yah mean? Like, its a surreal experience. I got everything from the catalogue. You know what I’m sayin? You see that logo, you see quality. You know its Hip Hop. You know its something that...You ain’t even got to hear no songs. You see that logo, you know what it is. And, I live my life like that for so long. Now to be a part of the, you know, part of the history and the legacy is a beautiful thing.

TCM: Specifically, when it comes to the album - looking at the video footage for “Party Crashers”. Thats an aggressive aggressive track but you went the spoof angle with the video. Can you talk about the concept and how that came about?

Marco Polo: You know, a lot of people like to take themselves very seriously, you know what I’m sayin? You know, besides the music. We take our music very seriously but we want to kind of play on the whole, you know what I’m sayin? Have fun with it. Crash the Party. Double Barrel’s gonna come into your spot and, you know, cause a little bit of havoc. And thats what we did for two days when we shot the video.

TCM: Not a bad way to spend two days, right?

Torae: Nah, no doubt.

Marco Polo: It was a giant party. Literally.

TCM: For your next single. What are you looking to follow [Party Crashers] up with?

Torae: Um, I mean the record is out there now. Its 13 tracks, 14 with the intro. We let the people decide what they like. You know what I mean? People make their own singles. You got iPods. You know, you got playlists and things. You got blogs and podcasts. So people are going to make their own favorites. They gonna pick them. They gonna select them. We went with “Party Crashers” for the video just because it was one of those songs that you we can do a lot of things visually with. And thats what sometimes people lose is they have a dope song on the album but visually it doesn’t do as much. So “Party Crashers” is one of those records that lent itself to being a good video. You know, cause on the vinyl - we got “Double Barrel” and “Hold Up” on the vinyl. And “Combat Drills” is our vinyl single. So, you know, its up to the people to decide whatever they like and what they want and, you know, thats what it is.

TCM: Well look, from my point of view, I want to see “Coney Island”. I want to see yall finish that Training Day video. I want to see that track all the way through. Thats a great look.

Marco Polo: Word. Word. Word.

Torae: [Laughs] Ha. Thanks. Good looking out, homie.

Brown Bag Allstars - Ain't Hard To Find

These days, Brown Bag Allstars ain’t hard to find. Maybe you’ve seen their raucous live show at Southpaw, or Public Assembly, or Homegrown Project. Maybe you caught their towel-waving Mainstage performance at this year’s Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival. Or perhaps you ran into them on their day job - running the legendary Fat Beats record shop. Maybe you haven’t seen them at all - and this is your introduction. Either way, the name Brown Bag Allstars is gaining in notoriety like wine flavored Black-N-Milds and Bud Light Lime.

The-Quotable.com chopped it up with BBAS right before their amplified BHF09 performance. Read on as we addressed Brown Bag Season, Sprite Zero, and the pros and cons of a Fat Beats cosign.

TCM: The-Quotable.com, chillin here with 5 members of Brown Bag Allstars, man. How do you guys feel? J57?

J57: We are feeling good, man. Ready to go out there and destroy the stage.

TCM: Thats whats up. Now, I’ve heard a lot of new tracks off of Brown Bag Season. Soundin’ pretty good. What can we expect from that project?

Soul Khan: Thank you.

Audible Doctor: More of the same stuff.

Soul Khan: Theres going to be some curve balls. Pause. Theres gonna be some curve balls.

TCM: OK

Soul Khan: Theres gonna be some stuff that knocks people for a loop. I’m not gonna divulge anything but we’re definitely doing some different stuff coming up. And a lot of its coming from, like, one of our secret weapon - not so secret anymore - um, Marink who we’ve inducted as a crew producer. And he’s, if you follow the Brown Bag Season joints, he’s produced a number of them. And he’s got more dope ones coming up.

TCM: Whens the release date on that?

J57: On the...

TCM: On Brown Bag Season?

J57: Its gonna end in September. 2 tracks a week until September. Thats what we’ve been doing.

TCM: Are you going to release that as an actual album?

Koncept: Yeah, as a mixtape. We’ll probably put it out as a free download. Um, free CD.

Soul Khan: We’re actually giving some of the songs away today on CD. For the stuff thats already out, given that we have it on that one CD, we’ll probably put it on a Rare file or ZIP file and upload it for the people getting on Myspace. Put it up on blogs. Um, they should’ve got them all up anyway. But if they haven’t, its time to recap.

TCM: Thats whats up. I have a question for you Koncept and Soul Khan. I see you guys more often than I see everyone else. Is that just coincidence? Whats the reason why I see you more often?

J57: They have projects coming out.

Koncept: Yeah, we have projects coming out. [Soul Khan] has Wrath of Khan coming out, his solo mixtape. I’ve got my second solo mixtape as well as an EP coming out. So, uh, I guess thats really the main reason.

Soul Khan: I’m going to speak for Audible Doctor and J57 because I feel like doing that right now. Audible Doctor and J are both incredible producers so their working on a lot of production heavy projects right now. My homie J57 has 2 instrumental albums coming out in the future on Balance Records. And they’re very dope. AMD, has stuff I’m not going to mention because he may not actually live up to it and doing something else instead. Uh, but he has a surprise that I convinced him to do. So watch out, August or September he’s got a surprise. Classic surprise.

Koncept: And even though you see, like you said, ‘I see you and you the most’ its not like that because, regardless, J’s producing the track, or Audible Doctor’s producing the track. So, its not like you’re just seeing us. Like, they’re just as much in the spotlight as we are.

Soul Khan: Or I order the pizza over at J’s house. Or..

Koncept: And he has Sprite Zero or something...

Soul Khan: Exactly. I don’t wanna put him on blast for having Sprite Zero in his fridge. He lives with his fiance. Its a beautiful relationship...

[Laughs]

TCM: On the production side, how does it actually work? I know you guys have a stable of producers...How do you guys go through your creative process?

Audible Doctor: For making the beats or picking the beats?

TCM: Both. Picking beats, making beats.

J57: Uh, I guess...with making the beats - whatever inspires me at the time. You know? A lot of incredible producers I’m happy to be friends with - like Marco Polo - cats like that. You know, they‘ll play us their new shit that nobody’s heard yet. And I go home and I’m like ‘Gotdamn, I’m making new beats.‘ Straight up. Shouts to the homie Marco. He should be here any second. Thats how I do it. But as far as picking the beats, me and Audible Doctor or Rink we’ll play our new beats for the whole crew at Fat Beats where we all work. And, if only Koncept’s there or Soul Khan’s there, they’ll hear our beats. Or if I’m there, I’ll hear it - Audible Doctor playing his new beat - we’ll hear that and run over to him and be like ‘don’t do anything with that beat. Don’t send that to any of the million artists you’re working with. We’re using that for Brown Bag. For Brown Bag Season or the album depending on how crazy it is.

Audible Doctor: Thats pretty much how it works. Whenever either one of us makes something new we play it for them, or send it out or whatever. And its pretty...its usually pretty unanimous. Like, everybody’s like ‘yes we’re going to use it‘ or everybody’s like ‘no, we’re not going to use it’. Its usually a pretty even vote, you know what I mean?

TCM: Absolutely. And my last question - given that your group is so large and that you guys work for Fat Beats, which is an institution - what access has that afforded to you? Has that been a benefit to you? Or have you guys been pigeon holed because you work for Fat Beats and people think that you get things handed to you?

Soul Khan: Let [Audible Doctor] speak on it.

Audible Doctor: I think. I mean, it goes both ways. I think it really goes both ways. Pause. Um, its definitely a benefit. Just being there you meet a lot of people. Its a great place. Like, we all met each other there. You know? Thats where we formed Brown Bag was Fat Beats. But I think it also hinders you because...its...some people tend to over look you because...they’re trying to get something out of it and they’re not necessarily looking at the artistry of it. You know? So it really goes both ways. Like, today for example, we had to literally close Fat Beats cause Brown Bag is here performing, you know? Like, Fats Beats the store is close right now because we’re here. This is the first time I think ever that they’ve closed because the staff is performing at an event.

TCM: Congratulations. You guys already made history today.

Audible Doctor: Thank you. [Laughs]

TCM: Anything you guys want to say to your fans? To Quotable Nation?

J57: Mighty Healthy. Shouts to Mighty Healthy Clothing Company for lacing us with all this nice gear for the show - sponsoring Brown Bag Allstars. Thank you guys.

Soul Khan: Shirts upon shirts upon shirts upon shirts!

J57: And also shouts to Brooklyn Bodega cause you guys put us on!

Soul Khan: Wes!

J57: Wes Jack!

TCM: I know you guys have your set coming up. What can we expect from you set?

J57: Energy! Energy! Energy! Oh my god, I’m gonna lose my mind on stage!

TCM: Ok! Energy and cart wheels.

Audible Doctor: I’m doing back flips!

J57: I don’t mean to cut you off. I‘m going crazy right now cause I know we’re up next. I’m gonna, like, do a headspin and like propeller kick. Kick these heads off their bodies. On some real ish, I’m not cause today I’m love and peaceful. Cause I’m on some Woodstock but for Hip Hop ish. But I’m sayin - Energy! Oh my god, we’re goin in! You have no idea. We’re going to show some people some ish.

TCM: Well, thats what you guys are known for. We appreciate it.