Vid Pick - Cook and Uno feat. Evidence

Cook and Uno's C+U Music Factory is one of my favorite albums of the year so far and once you check out the video for "When You Rock & Roll" I think you'll understand why - these guys are really dope! "When You Rock & Roll" has some real depth to it regarding how the industry can change an artist and the video perfectly illustrates what they're talking about with a simplicity that makes it slightly disturbing how easily an image can be altered with just a few "stylists." You definitely want to hit play on this one.

For more on Cook & Uno check out:

RapReviews.com - Cook & Uno Interview (1/2010)

Artist Of The Week - CookBook (6/2009)

Review: Nick Jonas - Who I Am

For those of you who know Nick Jonas as one of the three Jonas Brothers, the triad that sends teenyboppers into a frenzy and Disney straight to the bank, calm your fears, Who I Am has nothing to do with any of that.

Read the full review at SoulTrain.com.

2 for 1 - Till & Ricky J

One is a singer who has already seen success as a model and actor, the other is a singer/emcee who's doing a career reboot after having a top ten hit in the early 2000's. Both sat down with me for Diamond in the Rough features for 101Distribution.com.

To find out about the singer who's shared stages with Bobby Valentino and Joe, and the time a fan went a little too far to get his attention - click here.

For more on the Canadian artist who spent time at the top of his country's Billboard charts, and why he wants his music to cross the border - click here.

Pop Shots - Turnin The Heat Up

Welcome to your weekly dose of pop world musings. Covering all things pop culture, this week Pop Shots is hitting you with thoughts on everything from Dancing With The Stars finding some hot celebrities willing to test their skills, to a hot new voice for Smurfette, to a famous family getting themselves in some really hot water, and since it’s Pop Shots you know everything is seasoned with a little bit of attitude.

Check it out at 101Distribution.com.

All I Want Is A CD

A couple of weeks ago I was asked to review Sade’s Soldier of Love for a publication not titled the Fairfield County Weekly. Rather than being sent the album, I was sent a stream, which, sadly, has become commonplace. I loved what I heard, wrote my review and decided I wanted to pick up the CD. Sounds like an easy enough task, right? Well, not exactly.

Read the full story at FairfieldWeekly.com.

Stat Quo - The Wait Is Finally Over

Stat Quo is a name most people in hip-hop are familiar with, but how many would recognize the man if they saw him walking down the street? According to Stat Quo, “a lot of people don’t have no idea what I look like.” This is something he’s actually learned to embrace, although things were a little different a handful of years ago.

Back in 2003 Stat Quo signed to Interscope Records and was heavily buzzed about around the same time The Game was was starting his ascent to superstardom. His album, Statlanta, kept getting pushed back, though, and in 2008 he had finally had enough and left the label to do his thing independently.

Now signed to Sha Money’s Big Dream Ventures, Stat Quo has a new outlook on the music industry, and this spring Statlanta is going to finally see the light of day. I caught up with Stat Quo while he was on the set of a commercial with Dr. Dre and found out more about his new outlook, as well as a little bit about Statlanta, a little bit about Detox, and why he’s perfectly fine not being recognized everywhere he goes.

Read the full interview at RapReviews.com.

Artist Of The Week - Game Rebellion

Some people call it nu metal, some call it rap-rock, still others call it rap-metal. Bassist Ahmed (pictured far right) has a slightly different title for the music he and the rest of Game Rebellion make, “I call it Riot Music.” Guitarist/vocalist Yohimbe (pictured far left) seconds this, adding “we are artists, and collectively, like all artists, we have some concepts, energy, love and experiences to share. It’s because of who we are that our sound comes out sounding like a rumbling avalanche of mammoth skulls.” And that rumbling avalanche of mammoth skulls happens to embody everything that’s great about the nu metal genre as Game Rebellion covers a full range of emotions and topics with their music. From politics, to ideas of self, to the occasional party jam, their upcoming EP, Sounds Like a Riot, shows Game Rebellion are intelligent headbangers with lyrics that are on point.

The rest of Game Rebellion consists of (from L to R in-between Yohimbe and Ahmed) keyboardist/vocalist Emi, vocalist Netic, and drummer Aaron. All of the members cut their teeth working as session musicians, producers, songwriters, and members of house bands from coast to coast. This week I caught up with Ahmed and Yohimbe to find out more about the group, why they’re rebelling against the game, and what their thoughts are on combating some of the negative stereotypes of nu metal. They also surprised me with a couple of crazy stories, relating the time they took over a stage from a signed artist, and an incident when a fan caused a near death experience for one of the members of the group.

Adam Bernard: Start me off with the Game Rebellion story. From what I hear it’s a wild one.
Yohimbe: In the beginning, It was me on guitar, Ahmed on MPC/vocals and Netic on vocals. We were hired to back up a group at Irving Plaza. We set up our gear and were about to play with the group when the label for the headlining act brought a group signed to them to the stage and said that they were gonna perform and that our set was cut. Me and Netic were like, "F*** that." I started playing and Netic started getting the crowd hype. The place was packed. This musician that was hired to play with the same group as us jumped on the keys and started jamming. It was a take over! That piano man was Emi. That's how we met him. They cut the sound, but my amp was plugged into the stage, so they couldn't turn off my amp. I kept playing and Netic went to the front of the stage and was just screaming at the crowd. The other band that was supposed to play was standing there with all their gear. The terrified security told the label and the band that if they want us off they’d have to do it. That really put the battery in our backs and that has been our overall theme since; do for-self, support your brother, and kick ass.

Adam Bernard: That’s awesome. So tell me, why are you rebelling against the game? What did the game do to you?
Yohimbe: The Game is the life we live while seeking to compete and participate in the US of A. If you play well, you live. If you make the wrong moves, you don't live, or don't live too well. The rules for the game differ based on what piece you are and what pieces you have. Some are born with chance cards, or get out of jail free cards. Like in any Game, people have to strategize their lives based upon their circumstances. We are Rebelling against the game because it’s winning and the house is getting all the profits. People are losing everything in a Game they don't know they're playing and don't know the rules to. It's time for us all to reevaluate the accepted truths about who we are, where we are, why we are here, how we got here, where we came from, and what we can do. Things are not OK in the local, or the global, not even "home-al" communities. Things are the way they are because of things done, or being done, by us, by others, by them. The Game has forced me to focus on survival as opposed to living. The Game has made us barter and spend our best efforts for mere access.

Adam Bernard: I know some of those ideas are your on you upcoming EP, Sounds Like a Riot, so let’s talk a little bit about the album. When someone listens to Sounds Like a Riot is it going to inspire them to, well, riot?
Yohimbe: It will inspire listeners to think, move, rejoice, be appalled, feel alienated, throw something, vomit, feel a sense of homecoming, get angry... that all sounds like a riot to me.
Ahmed:  I love to hear when someone says that our EP brings them inspiration. As an artist, I cherish inspiration, so that's a great compliment. This EP may inspire you to work out, dance, cook more, think critically, question status quos... As far as a riot... I wonder...

Adam Bernard: To go with the riot music you do have a party song, “Dance Girl,” on the album, and “Blood” could be considered a party song. Is this just evidence that you can’t be serious all the time?
Ahmed:  I think it is. There always should be an effort to achieve balance. Being serious all the time can’t be good for you. Your body will suffer. Life is not going to be one thing. Chances are you are not good at just one thing, but good at several things. Even the greatest warrior can enjoy a good party and it’s important that he or she is able to. We as humans possess infinite possibilities, so it would be a terrible crime to neglect even one aspect of yourself, or of life itself. I think this approach can come in very handy as a musician/artist. It builds great versatility and unpredictability. You definitely want those tools as an artist.

Adam Bernard: There are some negative stereotypes that have developed regarding nu metal, the two biggest being that the lead vocalists aren’t as lyrically adept as traditional emcees, and that the lyrical content isn’t that good. How does knowing that these assumptions are out there affect how you write and create your music?
Ahmed:  I am familiar with the said assumptions and there may be some truth there. I'm sure the answers of the rest of the fellas may differ, but for me it really has little to no affect to my/our creative process. In this band we put so much pressure on ourselves as musicians to create something extraordinary, natural, and not corny. It’s a huge emphasis. It's important when you are writing music that you start with a clean slate and see what the moment gives you as your emotions inspire you. You also want a song to sound natural, and not forced, or contrived, especially when you’re dealing with fusing two or more genres. We are very careful not to sacrifice the rock side of the music or the hip-hop side of the music, or any other genre we may dabble with for that matter. The bottom line is, guitars got to be rockin, bass got to be thumping, drums got to be pounding, vocalist has to be wailing, keyboards have to be thick, and songs have to be memorable. This is more or less the approach we as a band take when we write our music.

Adam Bernard: Finally, other than taking over the stage from a signed artist, what’s the wildest, or weirdest, thing to happen at a Game Rebellion show, or in the Game Rebellion tour bus/van?
Yohimbe: The craziest thing happened in London after we played at Outkast's party. One of our members and one of our crew left with these two ladies. The girl driving, I guess, was drunk, and she wrapped around a pole three blocks away. One of our brothers lost his spleen, his heart came out the heart bag and a lung was pushed to the other side. An instrument was flattened. Our band member got a concussion and stitches on his head. His head was swollen like a helmet, and he still found another woman the next night. The dad of the girl who was driving found out his daughter was a wild girl and "loves the boys in the band."

Related Links

MySpace: myspace.com/gamerebellion
Twitter:  twitter.com/game_rebellion
Facebook: facebook.com/pages/GAME-REBELLION

Vid Pick: Bisco Smith - Vibrations

Whether you go all the way back to when he went by Bisc1, or you just got into his music after he started going by Bisco Smith, if you've heard the man's music you know he's dope. The video for Bisco's latest single, "Vibrations," is a masterpiece, and I don't use that word very often. It's so visually stunning, while still being in black and white, that it easily qualifies as one of the best videos I've seen in a very long time. The combination of live action and artwork, and the not so subtle nod to Bisco's past love, make for a video that's truly a can't miss.

For more on Bisco Smith check out:

Fairfield Weekly - Bisc Continued (2/2010)

Artist Of The Week - Bisc1 (5/2006)

Lighten Up & Have Some Fun

There is a pandemic sweeping our concerts and nightclubs. It doesn’t matter where you live, or what event you go to, you’ll see it. In fact, you may have been affected by it already. The problem - people thinking they’re too cool to have fun.

A couple of weeks ago I was at Mercury Lounge in the city to see Blockhead, DJ Signify, and Machinedrum (the latter is pictured above). You’d figure with a group of artists like that performing it would be a sweaty dance floor filled with people moving to the beat, or even not to the beat if they're rhythmically challenged, like myself. Confusingly, the vast majority of the paid audience, and it was a totally packed house, was rooted to the floor. Only a dozen or so people were dancing, or bouncing, or even moving the top halves of their bodies. Instead, most everyone was watching what was going on on stage. The only problem with that was, nothing was really happening there.

Don’t get me wrong, the artists were fantastic, but if you’re in the audience for a show where the only instruments are turntables, a drum machine and a laptop, there isn’t much visual stimulation going on. These are situations where it’s really all about the music and I don’t know how people can claim to appreciate the kind of music that was being played, and being made, on that evening, without showing it in their body language.

This certainly isn’t the first time I’ve seen a crowd not move despite the music being awesome. A couple of years ago I went to see Paul Oakenfold spin and only a handful of people in the packed house were moving. We’re talking about a legendary DJ performing to the best of his abilities and the best the crowd could muster was a visual interest.

People, please realize, when a DJ is spinning records he, or she, isn't doing it so you can watch them, they're doing it so you can MOVE.

I know, moving can be a scary thing. What if you’re not on beat? What if someone thinks you look crazy? Those are fears people have ingrained in them. Heck, I'm not immune to them. But here’s a better question; what if you didn’t care about any of those things and just moved however you were inspired to? If you’re resisting the urge to dance, sway, jump, or bounce, not only are you not having the best possible time you can, but just think of the poor DJ on stage who’s working his butt off only to see a crowd of glazed over faces looking back at him or her.

Recently I watched an interview with a former rocker turned children’s artist named Dan Zanes (which you can see here) where he was asked who was a better audience, adults or children, and he didn’t even have to think before he said children. His reason - they’re uninhibited, and as we get older we gather those aforementioned inhibitions that prevent us from jumping around when we hear music we like.

If you really think about it, that whole “I’m so confident” air many people like to try to create when they’re at a show, or a nightclub, that whole “too cool for school” attitude that keeps them holding an expensive drink rather than dancing to the music, is really a total lack of confidence. If they were truly confident they wouldn’t care what anyone thinks and they’d be shaking their asses.

So the next time you’re at a show, or a club, and the DJ is killin it, show some appreciation by having some fun. That’s what he, or she, wants to see, and once you realize nobody else in the place matters except for you and your friends, you’ll have a far better time than the people who are trying to act cool.