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Marco Polo
Proudly proclaiming himself Canadian, Marco Polo continues to build a rep as a highly sought after producer in the East Coast hip hop underground. A busy man just off tour, Marco Polo succinctly sums up his thoughts in a few words for this interview with Urbnet, invaluable advice for upcoming producers revealed amongst the little gems about himself.
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Shad
London, Ontario rapper Shad K is on a fast-rising trajectory to stardom. Perhaps not as fast as Canada’s current hopeful, Drake, but a combination of hardwork, skill and luck has propelled this small town rapper into the spotlight on a number of occasions. The self-deprecating lyrics, his sense of humour, and the message-based music earned the album some critical acclaim. Shad’s sophomore album received a lot more attention, earning him a Juno nomination for Best Rap Recording and a slot on the short list for the prestigious Polaris Prize. Perhaps 2010 will be his year with the release of the mysteriously titled TSOL, his best album yet. Find out where Shad is coming from and where he’s at now as he gets candid with Urbnet outside Sonic Boom on Bloor Street, Toronto prior to his well-attended in-store set.
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MC Homeless
MC Homeless may not be a familiar name now, but with hard work and dedication he’s getting his music out to a wider and wider world audience. Here, he offers his tour advice, reveals some of his favourite places for food (especially burritos and pizza), criticizes Anarchists and shit talks the city he loves. Still, he might just be the one to put Youngstown on the rap map.
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Riddlore?
A calm, laidback individual who can rap his ass off, L.A. rapper-producer Riddlore? is a poster child for what hip hop can inspire. Trading gang-banging for rapping, he became an integral force behind both The Good Life Cafe and Project Blowed, hip hop institutions responsible for popularizing off-the-dome freestyling. It has earned him a cult-like status which, even two decades later, allows him the opportunity to release new music and tour even if his crew, Chillin Villain Empire, have yet to achieve the same level of success as their Project Blowed peers like Freestyle Fellowship, Abstract Rude and Jurassic 5. During the only Canadian stop on his Lucid Dreams Vernal Tour with MC Homeless and richardbenjamin Riddlore? took some time out to talk to Urbnet about his introduction to hip hop, his role in The Good Life Cafe and Project Blowed, freestyling, his upcoming projects and his new business venture in Austin, TX. He’s got some dope shit to say, so sit back and absorb. And if you ever get the chance to see Riddlore? live, cease it, seriously!
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Ghettosocks
Darren Pyper worked hard to position himself as Halifax’s next hip hop hopeful, and Treat of the Day – his brand new, 90s-influenced, food-inspired concept album – is poised to prove why he deserves it. And considering the projects ’Socks has on the horizon, this is merely the beginning. In this Urbnet interview, Ghettosocks discusses these exciting collaborative projects, as well as his introduction to the Halifax hip hop scene, some of his best known interests (books, shoplifting), and exactly what’s going on with Alpha Flight. Here’s your treat for the day... You’re welcome.
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Hilltop Hoods
In Canada we barely get to hear about our own hip hop artists, never mind finding out about rap music made outside of North America. It usually takes doing big things to be heard here, and Hilltop Hoods, a trio composed of emcees Suffa and Pressure along with DJ Debris, are the Australian equivalent of exactly that.
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Swollen Members (Prevail)
Swollen Members sure have travelled a long and weird road in the decade since they debuted their novel combination of underground hip hop aesthetics with dark Dungeons & Dragons imagery and comic book references as demon-strated on their early 12-inches of the mid-90s. After a couple of albums where they represented the four elements of hip hop with members that included b-boys and graffiti artists, the core duo of Prevail and Mad Child officially expanded in 2002 to include frequent production collaborator Rob the Viking and rapper-singer Moka Only. The Swollen Members blew up and won a bunch of Junos; however, they’ve also hit some bumps along the way. Despite it all, Swollen Members have returned reinvigorated...
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Beans (Anti-Pop Consortium)
Meeting at a poetry slam night, Beans, High Priest, M. Sayyid and Earl Blaize started working together, releasing singles and mixtapes on Anti-Pop Records. They finally formed as Anti-Pop Consortium in 1997, with the mission statement to create forward-thinking hip hop. As a group, the quartet released 4 albums, an EP and a whole bunch of singles before breaking up in 2002 over creative differences, although Beans will willingly claims credit for that. What followed was five years of solo releases and various collaborative projects, with Beans and High Priest producing the most output solo. High Priest also joined M. Sayyid for a collaboration as Airborn Audio. There was much rejoicing when they reformed in 2007 and began work on a new APC album, Fluorescent Black, which was released this year on Big Dada. They’ve also worked with Dan the Automator’s 75 Ark, Spectre’s Wordsound, and U.K. labels Sound-Ink, Warp and Ninja Tune, some of the best, most forward-thinking labels in the underground. As one of the most exciting, creative forces in hip hop, hopefully this reconvening of the collective continues...
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Pursuit Grooves
When speaking of electronic or hip hop producers who have made innovative contributions to their genre, females are rarely mentioned. Whether hard to find or never exposed, Pursuit Grooves is making it her business to deliver an important message to the world…"WE DO EXIST!"
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Art of Fresh
The Art of Fresh duo of Duane “Defy the Odds” Gibson and Bryam “Slakah the Beatchild” Joseph came together in Sarnia where they found common ground from their roots in differing eras of hip hop, seeing it as just a bigger pool to pull from for variety and crossover appeal. As Art of Fresh, they create fun, dancey soul records that truly do appeal to a wider audience than what they get from their solo careers. While on tour to support these new albums, D.O. and Slakah took time out to answers a few questions for Urbnet.
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Bike For Three
Bike For Three! is the well-lucked and mysterious cross-continental duo of Canadian indie-rap legend Richard Terfry (Buck 65) and budding Belgian electronicist Joëlle Phuong Minh Lê (Greetings From Tuskan). Shrouded in strange magic, anchored by the heavy stuff of life, and lifted by a mutual magnetism still uncharted, their music is a bright/stunning combination of downtempo textures, smart pop, and exposed lyrical bones.
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Dragon Fli Empire
It was a natural birth for Calgary rap duo Dragon Fli Empire. Rapper Teekay and DJ/producer Cosm were working in the same circles when the two artists came together to collaborate on a song. The chemistry required an album, then another, then an EP, and now yet another album. So you get the picture. Dragon Fli Empire are here to stay. And they’re not going anywhere. After all, their jazzy, 90s-influenced beats and Teekay’s smoothly delivered positive message recalls the timeless hip hop classics. Plus, tastemaker website Okay Player has co-signed DFE, so they’re official. Having recently released their third full length, Redefine, Cosm and Teekay reveal to Urbnet a little bit about their roots, their Makebelieve label, making music videos, and rocking a crazy show with Josh Martinez. Oh, and did I mention the solo albums? Read on...
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Jay J
Since this Grammy® nominee burst onto the Dance Music scene, Jay-J’s been creating critically acclaimed songs for the industry’s top labels and Producers. Credited as the “Godfather of the SF sound”, Jay-J’s been shaping House Music with over 150 releases. Jay-J spent the last two years crafting his debut artist album, ’Love Alive’; a smooth collection of meaningful and positive songs about love and sensuality. More than just ‘dancefloor music’, Jay-J delivers the goods and raises the bar with this strong, lyrically driven, warm and uplifting album. Not bound by any particular genre, ’Love Alive’ touches upon a wide range of music ranging from soulful house to downtempo chill to R&B and Electro
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Krummstoff
The music of Krummstoff is a pure reflection of the whole spectrum of his musical experience and skills, which at this point are mostly concentrated at tech house, deep house and deep-tech production.
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Pete Dafeet
Pete Dafeet is a 25 year old deep house producer and co-owner of Lost My Dog Records, who started DJing in the late 90s after messing around with his cousin’s decks. Learning the basics of a computer sequencer, Pete started producing deep, rhythmic house and quickly caught the eye of northern house heavyweights Shaboom who put him to work on remixing duties. In the 5 years and 30 odd releases since, Pete has sold over 20,000 - starting a label was a natural progression, and in 2004 Pete set up Lost My Dog - which has established itself as one of the UK’s leading deep house .
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BradElectro
While he never stole his older sister’s records, young BradElectro did sneak into her room to find out what the big kid’s Top 40 radio station was. This was a difficult task— what with all the yelling, kicking and punching. Undeterred, Brad limped back to his own room and accidentally tuned in Magic 108 FM— the legendary Black frequency of St. Louis. Playing perfectly on cue, Kool and the Gang’s new hit record, “Get Down On It” bumped out of the box and time stood still. The mothership had landed and a young hyperactive boy was forever funkified for life
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Dave Basek
With origins that stem from classical piano and ‘cello, Basek has been a fixture on the Australian scene for well over a decade, and is one of our internationally recognised figures from within the Australian tech house scene. Basek has proven himself as a truly diverse composer and producer with his musical projects while hid infectious love for live performanceextends to his band work, DJing and solo live sound.
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Moussa Clarke
Moussa Clarke is an inspirational DJ/producer with a worldwide reputation for igniting dancefloors from London to Moscow to Tokyo and back again. Never far from the madding crowd - apart from when he’s cooking up monster basslines and electrochemical beats in the studio - he’s also founder of the thriving London-based label and DJ agency Oven Ready. Born in Switzerland, half English, half Senegalese, he found his feet in France and Italy, and then travelled the globe before moving to the UK aged 12. His father an immigrant from Dakar, his mother a roving bohemian opera singer, his unique personal history created the perfect storm. Cue Moussa Clarke: a multilingual, musically gifted and stylistically diverse DJ.
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Tony Loreto
Tony Loreto’s fate was sealed from his first encounter with the house and club scene via a mixtape of a famous “Ragazzi Terribili” party, to his innate ability to seek local talent to his perseverance in the studio to his cooperative sense with fellow DJs. Tony Loreto’ was born for this task, and he’s pleased prove his skill on the dancefloor, or his radio show.
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K-Bana
K-Bana arrived at the scene in 2005. Inspired by House Music he quickly evolved to blend the sounds of Deep, Soulful and Electronic music together. His goal was to push his sound out to different corners of the globe,and his aim for 2009 and beyond is for more of the same success with an added touch of DJing to help spread and cement his unique sound.
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Eleonora Cutaia
Born in Italy but currently living in London, Eleonora is an eclectic producer and selector who has been being involved in many different aspects of the music/media business.
From DJing in the most exclusive clubs to setting up her own label, Stilnovo Music, and promotions company, AheadPR, Eleonora balances her activities for optimum output whilst travelling around the world to spread the musical word.
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Face
Face and versatility are comfortably mixed. As an accomplished producer, song writer and mix artist, he considers his greatest gift to be his skill as a multi-instrumentalist - making sweet elegance as a vocalist as well as guitarist, keyboardist, and trumpet player. With one foot in Funk and the other in jazz, Face has become a DJ producer in the underground world rendering genre jumping, cross-over sounds reminiscent of our greatest Funk legends.
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Marcel
Marcel grew up near Frankfurt, Germany where he was introduced to music by his parents at an early age to the sounds of the 70s, but when one of his friends in 1978 played him the single of The Robots by Kraftwerk he was really captured by the sound. and his interest in electronic music grew stronger especially when New Order released their single “Blue Monday” in 1983. One year later he started DJing at the age of 15 at parties In 1989 he was voted to be one of the TOP 10 most progressive DJs in the US by Details magazine.
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Photo-Poetic
Photo-Poetic is a mix of electronic, acoustic, live-looped, and unlooped instrumentation that floats between ambient and driving, melodic and chaotic, heaven and hell. Its creators, Dr Jonez and Mr Misc Ill have dedicated their lives to music in different ways: Dr Jonez grew up on the rhythm of the beat through circuitry - an electronic producer in his own right. Mr Misc Ill has a purist attitude when it comes to music - A master of stringed instruments and natural sounds. Together they blend the natural with the unnatural. The result is this unique sound called Photo-Poetic.
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