MR. J. MEDEIROS

:::THROWBACK::: The fam, Luke Atencio, did a remake of this winter impromptu A Cappella we shot- added some cool juice to it.

“…and it goes on because we frozen from gold charms, behold arms grown so cold- to hold to our global positioning is hopelessly wishing that our social conditioning aint blown our listening ears…if I got to stand alone I’m here, though as a man I am known for fear I’m also known for faith, the awful truth is that we’ve thrown the race if in our youth we aint shown a strength and a place we can grow in safety…”

New Music from French friend “Elodie Rama”! If you dig be sure to follow @elodierama

:::The making of “Hip Hop” with Hocus Pocus::::

Produced by 20syl for Hocus Pocus

Almost 3 million views later we have the first collaboration between my old group The Procussions and French Hip Hop group Hocus Pocus.

I met Hocus Pocus in ‘04 on tour in Europe. Our tour manager, Francois, had been telling us about an independent Hip Hop group he knew from Nantes, France that had a similar vibe, goal, and hustle as us and that he wanted to introduce us.

By that time we had already toured quite a bit of Europe receiving CD’s from fans, had some after and pre-show freestyle sessions, and a lot of European radio. It was a bit of a culture shock. It wasn’t till we met with Hocus Pocus that we felt “at home”.

We met with 20Syl at his home studio. One of the first things I saw was a “Gold” record he had earned from producing for another French artist- which seemed to sit casually amongst his records, live instruments, egg crate sound proofing, and various other art projects he was working on.

SIDE NOTE: I think Hocus Pocus’s “Place 54” went “Gold” too, which means…I think I’m on a “Gold” record…awesome.

20Syl is a lot better at speaking English now, ha- but back then there were times we needed hand signals and a little help from Francois. Which is to say, we “The Procussions”, were obviously horrible at speaking French- and we still are!

20Syl played some instrumentals for us and we were all pretty blown away. We started rapping and producing as a group in 1998, we already met a lot of people by ‘04, and I can tell you it is very rare when you run into someone who takes their craft as serious as you do in the same ways that you do. It reminds you that caring about the art in your craft matters.

He got to the “Hip Hop” beat, explained the songs premise, and asked us if we wanted to write to it, of course we said yes. At the time, I don’t think any of The Procussions had any “same day” writing under our belts, which means: getting a beat, writing and recording to it the same day- so this was a first for all of us. It helped that it was a beautiful day in Nantes, in a beautiful home, and with a quick trip to the “boulangerie” we were ready to go.

“Your remarkably designed your equal is hard to find, if your unsatisfied take it up with the Divine”

The video shoot happened on one of our other tours to Europe, I think almost a year later. Guess who directed this one? Arthur King…the same guy who did “Holding On”, can you see his talent?

SIDE NOTE: Maybe It’s a “grass is greener” situation, but I’ve always felt like in France, the way their social system is set up, and with their views on art/culture- you have a greater chance of running into someone who takes their work seriously, and does so because they love what it “means”, outside of it’s “monetization”. <— which is a word yes?

Two independent groups, two different languages, and one culture= over 2 million views.

I’m grateful!

You can pick up Hocus Pocus’s music on iTunes, this song might be a little hard to find in the US version though, have a look. http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/16-pieces/id479111834


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:::The making of “Holding On” off “Friends Enemies Apples Apples:::

Produced by Stro

If you follow my blog then you’ve already heard the first draft of this song, which was originally recorded to feature Imogen Heap. Yeah, haha…before she blew up we were in touch with her management and had a meeting set up in London (while on tour) to go over the collaboration. However, “Hide and Seek” dropped in the US and everything got crazy for her- as it rightfully should have.

In my opinion there was no musical loss using Tara Ellis. I have always loved her voice, choice in harmonies, and her personality. I asked her to take over the chorus and “do her thing” and I am very grateful for her gift. 

I think this is the only chorus I haven’t written the lyrics to. I wanted to go with something that “breathed” a little, both in content and structure. At the time I hadn’t really written any non-underground Hip Hop hooks so I needed help. Sure, I think the chorus has more of a “pop” feel. (I never said I hated pop, I just hate pointless pop ha.) “Pop” wasn’t something I really knew how to do, so I was happy to collaborate.

I hadn’t heard a rap cadence like the one I wrote to this song and was hoping it would take it out of the “pointless pop” zone. It was my first step towards compromise, a little for the audience a little for myself. 

SIDE NOTE: I feel strongly about cadence, it plays a crucial part in defining your artistry and distinguishing your “instrument”. For a rapper, outside of your lyrical content and voice there is your cadence and it’s as important as the song itself.

Lyrically I wanted to develop some type of poetic swing- but balanced, not so poetic or “swingy” that it fell into the realm of slam, or PM Dawn-ish ha. However, I am not ashamed to say I love PM Dawn’s “Set A Drift”…in fact…if you listen to “Holding On” you can hear the slight influence.

Back to cadence, you can read the rhythm I was working on:

“If just for now you could focus on the roses at your feet and all the poses that we keep hold them frozen in a mental picture

So when you sleep the only messages that creep from that part of you that speaks are the words, I am a gentle creature”

I kept this signature for the whole first verse. It’s something I haven’t really done again, but I’d like too if I could find the right music. I think it encompasses everything I like about rapping and poetry.

“Holding On” was written in the van on tour with Tribe Called Quest. Actually, Ali Shaheed asked if we had new music to share and this was the first song we played him. He said this seems like the logical next step for you- you don’t forget stuff like that.

By the way, best advice I got from Ali about “making it” in the music industry… “keep making and putting out music, that’s it- you got it, just keep doing it.”

I think he was talking about The Procussions.

 Looks like we didn’t take that advice. 

HEEHAW. 

 Stro really came through on the production tip, another song without samples. I don’t know what it is, but I just don’t get the same sense of accomplishment using samples…there is something about playing instruments, well, that- and not always watching your back for a law suit 

HEEHAW. again.

I flew in French Director Arthur King to do the music video. It took countless hours (from him) to cut out every single word, two days of filming, thousands of pictures, two months to edit, and no money to put it out. There are no effects.

Arthur King is currently working for a big production house in France…I am very happy to have worked with him before his budget went through the roof. ha.

SIDE NOTE ON WHY “FRIENDS ENEMIES…” WAS SO POORLY RELEASED:

Rawkus was still together and expressed interest in pushing “Friends Enemies…” but before it was finished they had quit so I signed with Quannum Projects (DJ Shadow, Blackalicious,Pigeon John). Of course, this album sat on Quannum for over a year and a half with no hope of a release, so I legally pulled myself off the label. Without any knowledge of putting out a record, I put out this record 

Hee

Haw