Something for Everyone - Idle Warship Recap

I went to a Talib Kweli concert and a fight broke out.

Standing at the front of a packed out club during a live performance is treacherous territory for the vertically challenged, over protective boyfriends defending their date, and anyone unprepared to hold ground. Videographers and photo journalists vying for position, avid fans running on the energy, drunken patrons oblivious of themselves mixes into a beautiful Molotov cocktail of art, love, and liquor. And on the rarest of occasions, ignorance. Those in constant need of a refill are better off standing near the middle, or better yet, the back. The easily offended need not apply.

To keep it one hundred, technically it wasn’t a Talib Kweli concert. It was an Idle Warship show -- Talib Kweli’s newish labor of love with long time collaborator and soul moving vocalist Res (pronounced Reece) and Toronto lyricist/songstress Graph Nobel. The trio has recorded and performed select spot dates together for roughly three years but stepped up their exposure in 2009 with a European tour and the release of their full length offering, Party Robot (a free mixtape download). Following their amplified Southpaw performance, Graph Nobel broke down the meaning of their name for The-Quotable:

“Idle Warship is a play on words, like you have this warship that is capable of doing so much but its just sitting in space and time and can’t use its abilities. It reflects on what record labels do to artists. A lot of powerful talent just sits there. For us, we took a break from our own careers, you know, maybe sometimes we kind of felt like that. Coming together made us feel powerful and excited us all on our own, as a group together and in our own careers separately. It rejuvenated something for us.”

For core fans of Talib Kweli, Idle Warship is a complete detour from whats expected from the Brooklyn lyricist. This is dance music. This is party music. Complete with electric keys, funky bass lines, and axe riffs emphatic enough to force you to pull out your air guitar. Kweli’s sublimely garrulous flow is still on full display, but this project also finds him toying with his own style of crooning. “We just put [in] all collective music influences and we don’t limit what we’re trying to do. We just let it flow” Talib stated following their set.

According to www.yearoftheblacksmith.com (the website for Kweli’s record label, BlackSmith), Idle Warship does not “believe in labels for music” because “labels may stop you from hearing something before you listen to it.” When asked about the irony of this statement considering the fact that he is the head of his own record label, Kweli stated “Its not on BlackSmith yet. Its free. We’re just having a good time. Just enjoying the music.”

It most definitely shows on stage. Idle Warship commanded Southpaw’s near capacity crowd for all forty-seven minutes -- coercing them into their web of dance music while still making room for each member to perform their own solo jams. They moved like they were having fun. As if they were thoroughly enjoying themselves. As if the pressure of performing was divided by three. Each member shined, although at times it felt like the Res and Kweli show.

The audience loved the set. Heads knocking all around. People were packed in like a Tokyo subway commute. Asking for anything more is straight Bernie Madoff (greedy). And thats when the curly brown haired girl in the plaid shirt drunkenly strutting with her boyfriend in front of me set it off.

After continually bogarting those of us up front (stage right) for position for the majority of the show, homegirl elbowed the wrong chick. While Donovan Ka5p, Niles and I and everyone else in the venue were engulfed in un-idle worship of Idle Warship, a manicured hand shot around my right shoulder, grabbing a chunk of curly brown hair, snapping back the neck of Ms. Too Toasted!

Chick Fight!

I backed up. Niles backed up. Ka5p backed up. Every guy in the section backed up. Both chicks were with their boyfriends and both of guys backed up! The two women brawled for a solid thirty-nine seconds -- grabbing hair, mashing faces, dropping all kinds of “bitches and hoes” -- before promoter Jah C and an unnamed bouncer stepped in and stopped the violence.

Dance music. Party music. Fight music. Yep, Idle Warship has something for everyone.

NILESDAVIS.NET - The Aristocratic

Niles has this line that everyone will hear When the Clock Strikes...:

“I be the cinematic, Illmatic addict, aristocratic /

leaving rappers bluer than picture-graphics of Democratics /

based on Election Night. / Protect ya neck. I might /

swing a Gza Liquid Sword and Etch-a-Sketch ya life.”

Clearly my prose does little to accurately convey the gravity of his cadence and top-tier delivery, but if you know anything about Niles, you know it sounds official. Regardless, these four bars allude to one of the dopest aspects of Chadwick Phillips the Emcee - his innate ability to show you exactly who he is without taking too much time to explain. He’s concise and conscious and quick to lyrically get in that ass. Even stylistically, Niles is a little to the left of the rest. You won’t catch him rocking kicks on stage, opting for jeans and brown dress boots instead. Last night, while performing at a packed out Southpaw he touched down in an ill charcoal and black, velvet-like blazer complete with black tie and overcoat draped over his shoulders, Slick Rick style - Kangol tilted brim-low. “Aristocratic” indeed.

And his live show hits like Obama’s Website.

With that being said, The-Quotable is amped about his, what seems like forever-in-the-making, mixtape When The Clock Strikes XII... Honestly, mixtape isn’t the correct category for this project. The theme behind it is much deeper and much more conceptual than the average “mixtape.” I’ll stop there for now. You’ll have to wait until its release next month. Thats right, just in time for the Holidays.

Until then, make sure you check out his new website, NILESDAVIS.NET. He’s got pics. He’s got videos. He’s got chat messages. He’s “doin‘ it big”.

Word to Robert Freeman.

WWW.NILESDAVIS.NET

Also, NILES is taking it to the stage with his broadway show "WHEN THE CLOCK STRIKES XII" in conjunction with his upcoming release. Details below:

Event: The JN Group Presents: Niles on Broadway "When The Clock Strikes XII"
Start Time: Thursday, December 17 at 11:00pm
End Time: Friday, December 18 at 1:00am
Where: Producer's Club

Check out The-Quotable's exclusive Niles interview HERE.

Check the vids from his Southpaw performance...

NILES PERFORMING LIVE AT EODUB!!!

Make sure you catch Niles performing live, this Sunday, June 14th at EODUB!!! 

The showcase kicks off at 9pm. $10 at the door. Crazy lyricism in store.

Niles Showcase at End of the Weak
Sunday, June 14th
at The Pyramid (Ave A between 6th and 7th)
$10 at the door

CLICK HERE FOR THE-QUOTABLE's EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH NILES

CLICK HERE FOR THE TOP 4 REASONS WHY END OF THE WEAK NEEDS TO BE IN YOUR WEEKLY ROTATION

Quotable InBox - Julian Marley, K'Naan, Niles, Prezzure, ZEPS the Adobo King

JR from NYC hit us with the latest on reggae artist, Julian Marley.

“Julian is looking forward to the release of his [latest] album Awake on May 26th and playing select dates on the Blazed & Confused tour with Snoop Dogg, Slightly
Stoopid and brother Stephen. Check out the new single “Boom Draw” here:

Boom Draw - Julian Marley

Ill rhyme slinger, Niles, dropped another teaser from his upcoming mixtape, When The Clock Strikes XXII… Consistency is the path to greatness. Homeboy comes with it each every time. No doubt.

Niles-Who the hell are you-.mp3 -




Niles has a lot going on right now:

“I am in the final chapters of recording my mixtape (I'd rather call it a project) "When the Clock Strikes XXII...". I am very excited about it for it is my 1st release of an opus. I put so much passion, conviction and soul light into it. I truely feel you'll embrace it like I embraced it while making it. I talk about it in this fresh new "Artist of the Week" interview I did with Adam B, check it out. In the meantime, I have a showcase with Uhuru's "African Liberation Day" event on May 19th at La Pragunta in Harlem. Plus, I have a big showcase on June 14th at the notorious EOW (I will update you on that later in the month on the rapathon and the EOW showcase), and I will be one of the veterans in the "26 Hour Harlem Rapathon" on May 30th at the Hip Hop Culture Center. Definitely make room on your calendar for these events. I will be performing new and exclusive material from my debut album "To Remain..." which is a quarter done as well. Also, me, Queen Kash, Purple Haze, and D-Nasty are on a song called "The One" that a video is being shot for later this month, the video will be directed by Ralph McDaniels and debuted on Video Music Box. Plus, I have to leave you with a track off of the mixtape (project, ha) called "Who the hell are You?". Even though it isn't mixed or mastered yet, it's a master of mixtures.”

Adam B interview link: http://adamsworldblog.com (leave a comment if you like)

Tuesday, May 19th show information:
Where: La Pregunta; 1528 Amsterdam (Harlem)
Cost: $5 with rbg, $7 without
When: 8pm (be there on time if you can)

DV from BK had this to say about Somalian Emcee, K’naan:

“And yeah - k'naan brings this perspective i so WANT to be thought about in hip hop - like in "whats hardcore" -"if i rhyme about home and get descriptive, i'll make 50 cent look like limp bizkit...its hard, harder than harlem and compton combined" - like lets have a reality check about the third world, here, people. im from effing somalia, refugees dying in boats, kids can't wait to meet god, and you're hardcore cuz you sling bags in the hood? i spent a month in africa in january, and it was some shit, dude.”

Word up.



Woodside lyricist, Prezzure released the second single, from his upcoming album Can You Feel It, dropping June 25th. Aptly entitled “Go In” this track features Niles as both emcees...well…go in!

Go In - PreZZure Feat. Niles

Emcee-slash-comedian, ZEPS aka The Adobo King kicked us a couple of solid tracks: the nostalgic, "I Love New York" and the hilarious "Don't Fuck With Crazy Chicks." Check ZEPS at http://www.myspace.com/zeps and www.Logrithmic.com.

Dont Fuck With Crazy Chicks.mp3 -

I Love New York - ZEPS



Carry on...

End of the Weak - As Dope As It Gets (FREE DOWNLOAD)

"This is the part where you all show love! / When we say E-O, Yall say DUB!!!"

Lurking in the midst of Manhattan's East Village lies The City's livest Hip Hop open mic night - End of the Weak. Rockin' every Sunday night at The Pyramid (Avenue A between 6th and 7th), End of the Weak, or EODUB, showcases top flight lyrical talent from across the 5ive Boroughs, Jersey, CT, etcetera.

This isn't some novice shit. These cats can spit. The name, End of the Weak, perfectly fits.

Since 2000, EODUB's held it down for endeavoring Emcees, providing a weekly platform to show skills. And with EODUB chapters in Brazil, France, Germany, Spain, The UK, Argentina - their movement has gone global.

Aight Quotable Nation. I can't front. The Company Man is inextricably embarrassed about this one. New York City's longest running Hip Hop open mic has jumped off weekly for the past NINE YEARS and I'm just now hearing about it!! Honestly, I was first introduced to EODUB while preparing for The-Quotable's Niles Interview (All Ready A Success Story). And had I not into my man Mars Jupiter last Tax Day, I probably wouldn't have attended when I did. How could I have missed this for so long?? I feel like punching myself in the face!

Cue the Leon Phelps voice

"Yeah that was the stupidest thing I ever said."

Nevertheless, in honor of this fundamental discovery, we here at The-Quotable have decided to deliver our first Top Whatever List of 2009. See, everybody wins at The-Quotable.com.

THE-QUOTABLE PRESENTS: THE TOP 4 REASONS WHY END OF THE WEAK NEEDS TO BE ON YOUR WEEKLY ROTATION

4. The Venue

Narrow, indistinct, corridor. Dim, red hue highlighting a thirty foot bar hoisting alcoholic favorites, littered with bar stools. Two dollar Rolling Rocks. Five Dollar Heineys. Blackened back room bumping DJ Vinly Richie's ill soundscape. The Pyramid feels alternative. It feels like the East Village. It feels like Hip Hop. All at the same time. Its one of those spots that you picture being smoked out in the late 90s. Or early 2000s. The good ol' days. Back when puffin' in the spot wouldn't get you kicked out. Sorry non-smokers. Live shows are better with haze in the air.

The back room is where the ill spills. Any lights present are turned off, except for those igniting the stage. Ceiling low like a basement party. Acoustics are off the chain. Although there are a few low seating tables along the right side of the cut, by 10pm, its standing room only. And really, thats what I want in an underground event. Someplace that captures the energy of hungry Emcees. The Pyramid aces this requirement.

3. The Format

On the typical Sunday, theres two parts to EODUB - the Open Mic and the Rhyme Off. Artists come early, sign the list, and rock whatevers ready in their arsenal. Thats the Open Mic. During the Rhyme Off, two heats of four Emcees kick their best 16, rhyme javelin' for that night's victory. On every fourth Sunday, the the previous Rhyme Off winners compete in the monthly MC Challenge. Now, this goes on in each EODUB chapter mentioned previously. The winners from around the world toss their lyrical fitted-hat into the ring and compete for the global crown. It doesn't get any doper than this.

MC Challenge

"Hip Hop you havin' a good time, say 'Hell Yeah!' (Hell Yeah!) So right now we're about to jump off with MC Challenge #41. This is the ninth season of the International MC Challenge. The World Championship is currently held by Jack Flash out of the UK. So, what up Jack Flash? And this season we tryin' to win the championship for America. Are you with that shit?! Make some fuckin' noise in here!!" - EODUB Host, Pro-Payne during the MC Challenge intro.

No doubt, EODUB's MC Challenge is the iPhone of rap competitions. Talent wise, think 8 Mile - off-the-domes so dope that they must be written. Except there are no personal disses. You can't just grab the mic and shit on the next man's kicks or rhyme about 'yo'mama'. Which is why hosts Pro-Payne, Vice Verses, and Big Zoo emphasize repeatedly that this is a challenge, not a battle.

You have to appreciate that.

But what makes this Challenge the iPhone of rap competitions is that it includes each element of Emceeing. I'll break it down like this:

Lets say you think that an Emcee should have an ill written verse ready to flex over a dope beat - original or otherwise. Theres an event for that.

Lets say you think that an Emcee should be ready to represent with an ill written acapella. Theres an event for that.

Lets say you think that an Emcee should be able to freestyle off the dome about random objects or words or whatever, while maintaining a dope flow - proving that its an actual freestyle. Theres and event for that.

Lets say you think that an Emcee should be able to seamlessly rhyme over ever changing production - juggling various beats, catching it every time. Theres an event for that.

Lets say you think that an Emcee should be able to rock in a cypher, trading bars with a fellow Emcee. Theres an event for that.

The MC Challenge separates the rappers from the Emcees. You can't be average and compete here. Weak heads won't survive. The wack will be exposed. Theres no place to hide. It doesn't get any doper than this.

The iPhone of rap competitions.

DOWNLOAD MC CHALLENGE #41 HERE

This night's Challenge pits ferocious Queens Emcee, Am Zilla, Lansing's finest Niles Davis aka Alias, Woodside Queen's own Prezzure, street lyricist AP the Great, and Jigsaw the Puzzler head-to-head in a lyrical battle royal.

The Highlights:

"HANDS UP! (OH!) / EVERYBODY!!! (OH!) / LOUDER!!! (OH!) - Contestant Number 1!"

- Jigsaw the Puzzler's Written Round verse from his track "Spazzz Out". Not only was this cut mean, but Puzzler was the only Emcee to spit over original music. He even came with a hook. Smart approach. The verse was effective and distinguished him from the rest. Dopest Quotable (5:33 into the download):




"You don't write rhymes / you write scripts. / The problem is / you're the star actor in the script / smokin' clips. / You talk real reckless / with a pen and pad in your hand. / Knowin' your whole life / you never held a gat in your hand. / Am I the only one / who ceased to be bamboozled? / Most of these killas is fake, / don't let them confuse you."

"HANDS UP! (OH!) / EVERYBODY!!! (OH!) / LOUDER!!! (OH!) - Contestant Number 5!"

- Prezzure's verse in the Acapella Round. The gruff voiced, heavy-set Emcee kicked ill lyrics while smoothly changing cadence throughout the rhyme. He's on his Sunday shit, yall - End of the Weak! Dopest Quotable (14:35 into the download):

"A lot of cats wanna see Prezzure on top. / I got the haters feelin' Prezzure if they like it or NOT! / I'ma claim my spot. / Then the lames gon' flop. / Got ladies lovin' me, screamin' 'please don't stop'. / Cause I give em' / orgasms through they ears. / Similar to the one when I'm hittin' their rear. / 'OOOOOOH YEEEEAH! / Macho / Savage. / I do / DAMAGE! / HIP HOP FOR THE FUCKIN' PLANET!! / And / I'm / straight outta Woodside. / Kill yourself if you can't ride."

"HANDS UP! (OH!) / EVERYBODY!!! (OH!) / LOUDER!!! (OH!) - Contestant Number 4!"

- AP the Great's Acapella Round verse. Straight up, AP the Great can spit. So much so, that The Company Man felt compelled to drop his entire verse direct for Quotable Nation. Dopest Quotable (16:46 into the download):



"Even if the time on your watch stop, haters still gonna be ticked off. / Niggas is so backwards, they got the game Kris Krossed. / I'm a New Edition. / You Lost Boyz need to get up on a new mission. / Bullets don't start friendships. / This shit's The Game, but see, I don't like to play around. / I'd rather 'rock a knocka chick boots ' off in H-Town. / For that loucini watch your Camp get Lo. / Even a Bone Thug can end up walkin' up and down them Crossroads. / I was smart in school, your boy got intelligence. / Police love to see me as an Arrested Development. But, / I'm just another young Nigga Wit an Attitude. / 'Makin you' say Ugghh' cause I rhyme like a Master (P) do. / I ain't a flashy dude. / Look at my chain. / You would start thinkin' that I feed my diamonds fast food. / Shit, even Wu-Tang taught us that Cash Rules / so why you bloggers gettin' mad cause we talk cash and jewels? / If you ain't got it, don't hate, just congratulate. / I'm 'bout Strictly Business like an EPMD tape. / I can't see straight. / Maybe its the haze up in me. / I Get Around like 'Pac, keep razor blades with me. / I ain't a Crip or Blood, but you can Color Me Bad. / Shooters don't give a fuck about the color of your rag, nigga. / My Shock G got a Sure Shot principle. / I love it how Underground was the first to go Digital. Bitch!"

"HANDS UP! (OH!) / EVERYBODY!!! (OH!) / LOUDER!!! (OH!) - Contestant Number 3!"

- Niles' verse in the Acapella Round. Niles continues to impress with his lyrical dexterity. Quotable Nation is already familiar with the Emcee-formerly-known-as Alias, but this the first time we've peeped him in a battle, er, Challenge setting. Once again Niles Davis represents - this time kicking an ill rapid fire flow during the Acapella Round. The beauty is that every syllable is completely distinguishable in a live setting. Extremely difficult to pull off clearly (Jigsaw had difficulty with this style during his acapella). Dopest Quotable (18:20 into the download):

"You followin' trends. / Yall are pretend. / You'll never will win. / You wanna be ballers and drivin Impala's but live with yo' mama. You gotta be kidding me. / The enemies lettin' me win, call it a victory. / You simp with the lyrics. You simp from the ink from my pen on the ceiling. The remedy. / Know it is I. Don't even try. Don't even focus on mine. I know that you're hoping I fry. My flow will put an 'O' in your zone like the hole in the sky."

"HANDS UP! (OH!) / EVERYBODY!!! (OH!) / LOUDER!!! (OH!) - Contestant Number 2!"

- AM Zilla in every single round! PERIOD. Straight up, Am Zilla is a monster! Lyrically aggressive. Lyrically clever. Lyrically complete. Am wrecked shop in every round, torching the mic each time, leaving only a pile of ashes in his wake. The entire night, it was as if he was on that Manny Ramirez (performance enhancers). The difference between his off-the-domes and his writtens is negligible. Everything Zilla kicked was masterfully dope, but his Grab Bag round performance was most impressive (32:37 into the download). Grab Bag objects in (parenthesis):



"Yo, I'm about to jook the bag up, take that stash. / See what I got up inside this Grab Bag. / First off, dog, I'm bustin like ratchets. / I'm lettin off the fire and I ain't use the (MATCHES). / Yeah nigga, that nigga AM-spire. / I'll save this shit for my freestyle camp fire. / Then I come through and go into the bag again / pull out the (BAT) again. / Dog, I call up you dogs and you catsman. / I'm the most powerful nigga in the line up / so I'm the 4th batsman. / Yo this freestyle is off the dome, son. / Yo throw me the pitch...thats a homerun. / Now, we go back to bag. / Nigga tell I'm comin' through. / Am's the shit! / Oh my god, nigga, yall niggas can't stomp me. / Niggas wanna look at my style. I rep New York, B. / And I do it. Yall niggas can't do this hardly. / This looks like a Queens detect (WALKIE TALKIE). / Niggas is listenin. Dog try to battle me. / Fuck get close, yall niggas can't bag me. / How many obects I got left? 2 more? / How the fuck is my flow? I think its too raw. / And yall niggas know / I got the righteous shit. / Oh, this is the (NAPKIN) I give your girl to wipe her lips. / Stand up. Zilla's nice. / I got one more object / Ill for your life. / And the last thing I pull out, oh I'ma catch wreck. / The bud I smoke is even more bright green the (SHREK)!"

ALL FREESTYLE! RIDICULOUS! Zilla is special. And not surprisingly, he won MC Challenge #41.

2. The Hosts

End of the Weak hosts Pro-Payne, Big Zoo, and Vice Verses alone are reason enough to check out EODUB. They manage the mic like Joe Torre, tag teaming like The Legion of Doom, guiding the audience through the event. Atomic energy. Crazy chemistry. Kicking freestyle rhymes between each performance, demanding crowd participation. Because of them, EODUB feels more like a concert than an open mic. No doubt, this trio rocks a party.



1. The Emcees

Top to bottom, mic to plug, most of this night's Emcees sport top tier talent. Whether its song writing ability, lyrical skill, creativity - these cats are Worthy. Like James. Its enough to give you hope for Hip Hop's future. The majority of the list consisted of radio-ready jams wrapped in lyrical ferocity. And if commercial radio wasn't saturated in Payola payments, you would actually hear the majority of this music. The standouts:

- Sick Brick City lyricist, Khalil Kash's ill track, "Pay Day." Kash's conversational-early-two-thousand-Jay-Z-esque flow commands the head knocking boom-bap soundscape.

- Ryze's anthemic "I Get Moolah". This was probably the most radio-ready track of the night. Ryze's raucous performance demands audience participation, and his tounge twister delivery over the synth heavy production is reminiscent of Mystical in his prime (but less nasaly) or something out of late nineties ATL (thats a good thing). "I Get Moolah" forces you to bounce. Why this song isn't knockin' in every club in everywhere America I don't understand.

- "Since I Was A Minor" by Class President's. Honestly, I'm not sure if thats the actual name of this track, but the hook goes "Since I was a minor, I've been doin major. / I be gettin' mine, tryna grind for this paper." This feels like something to smoke and ride to, or drop down into mack mode to. Infectious. Perfect for the Summer.

- Connecticut Emcee, The Rising Sun Quest. Homeboy wrecked shop in the Rhyme Off, advancing to the final round. And although he fell to Am Zilla (like everyone else on this night), he was dope enough to win an invite into an MC Challenge later this year. Dopest Quotable:

"Yo, its pretty obvious I'm not a novice and not a suprise. / Not a lot of people pick up what I'm puttin down / when I rhyme. / Vision fine, but they mentally blind. / I expose what your disguise was designed to hide. / You and I are like the sun and the moon / lighting the sky. / 'Til the lunar eclipse proves that only one shines. / Line after line, I boggle the mind. / All rise when the honorable Rising Sun preside. / With a dirty flow / comparable to a hill slide. / When a volatile incline produce a mud slide. / A dangerous threat unbenounced to the human eye / like a tumor that was diagnosed unbenign."

"This is not the beougie shit! We're not serving apple martinis!" - EODUB Host Big Zoo

Mic to plug, EODUB is official. The hosts are live, locale is tight. The format's dope. The artists are worthy. The talent level and overall energy make this event feels equally club and concert-esque. "Its the evolution of Hip Hop competition." And at $10 at the door - EODUB is a steal. Now thats whats poppin' during a financial crisis.

Check these vids and much more dopeness at http://www.youtube.com/user/justhunte.

Niles



Niles Cypher Round



AM ZILLA



AM ZILLA Beat Jugglin'



Prezzure



AP the Great

Niles - All Ready A Success Story

"Niles is the new Miles Davis, Coltrane" - "This Time"

Some would say that overcoming hardship, in any context, is the genesis of true success. A diamond from the ruff. That proverbial rose grown from concrete. Jazz. Blues. Be-bop. Hip Hop. Each birthed from plight. Each one defeated its odds.

No doubt, the artist born as Chadwick Phillips has experienced more than his fair share of trepidation. Growing up in Lansing, Michigan, was tough. "I came up in a family of 8 kids and we all had different dads. We were all going to be taken by the state and put into different orphan homes and foster care homes because of the unstable situation. That foundation...created a stigma that I had to grow out of." Bouncing between hotels and homeless shelters at an early age taught him that education was necessary to break the cycle. "One thing I knew was that no body could take my education away from me...Once I found that out, I attacked it full throttle. I hit the ground running. So, I was deep in the books, man."

Chadwick took his burgeoning lyrical reputation and commitment to education to Michigan State University in 2002. Always a keen listener of music, the artist-formerly-known as Alias continued to hone his craft and affection for jazz legends. "I really admire Miles Davis, man. Just who he was beyond the music was real ill, real fly to me." It was there that the name Alias began to demand respect throughout Michigan's historic hip hop landscape. It was there that he finally met his father - jazz legend Sam Gill. "My first time seeing him was in the jazz music section at Michigan State University in a book...He was a very important part of the Be-bop era. He was an understudy of Thelonius Monk...I knew nothing about all of this stuff! It was like opening up sacred...treasures, man. It was great."

After receiving his degree from Michigan State in 2006, Alias relocated to Brooklyn, New York, in order to turn his craft into a career. Showcasing an aggressive flow laced with dexterity and lyrical prowess, he has achieved an impressive level of success within NYC's legendary rap circles. Few Emcees can boast Harlem Rapathon winner, EOW Challenge winner, performed at HOT97 Summer Jam 2007, performed at HOT97 Summer Jam 2008, solo performance on BET commercial for Barack Obama You(th) Vote campaign, HOT97/Koch Records Talent Show winner on their resumes. He even squeezed in a moniker change. "Winning that talent search was like another graduation. It was like another shift...I was thinking...what other form was the updated Chadwick?" He eventually landed on Niles. "Theres a lot of similarities between me and the Nile River. The Nile flows upstream in an unorthodox way. In life, I'm flowing upstream in an unorthodox way. You know, the Nile River is a provider. Its been a provider since its creation. I'm a provider. And I've been a provider since my creation. Its of African decent. I'm of African decent."

Hello Brooklyn. Hello Niles.

Lyrically, Niles is that rare breed of Emcee that sounds equally as authentic on party anthems as he does on battle rhymes and conscious cuts. One part Slum Village. One part Lauryn Hill. Smooth delivery. Lyrically lethal. Contextually commanding. His recently released E1 (formerly Koch Records) single "This Time" showcases his innate ability to craft an infectious, inspirational party anthem laced with common man sensibilities. It feels like Summertime. It feels right-on-time. "That songs straight from the heart! Thats what I was going through...I wanted to tap into that person who you don't show to the world...I wanted to tap into 'that' person. And thats what that song is about...Overcoming struggle. At times we get impatient. But thats hard to listen to. Thats why its a back and forth theme." LISTEN HERE.

Or he can flip his brim and come like this:



Overcoming adversity is a constant theme in the life of Chadwick Phillips. From homeless shelters to college degree. To Brooklyn from Lansing. From contestant to Champion. To record deal. The book of Niles is a success story. But he won't tell you that.

"You know what brother, theres always a higher mountain to climb, man. You can imagine like 'yeah...when I get there its gonna be like this.' But when you get there, its a higher mountain that forms. You know, it rises up and you lookin up like 'Damn!' When you get to the top of that mountain, theres a higher one! So, I'm just in a cycle. I'm just in a zone. In a flow. And I can't really see it for what it really is. But I don't want to because then I'll get comfortable...I'm not really tryna get comfortable. So much more to do."

Niles Davis continues to build his catalog. His debut album To...Remain is still under construction. Higher mountains are still forming. And like Jazz, like Be-bop, like Hip Hop - no doubt, Niles will overcome. Its in his blood.

Hit Niles at http://www.blogger.com/www.myspace.com/1alias.