MR. J. MEDEIROS

:::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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