R.I.P SOULJA BOY
Hot off the press -- Soulja Boy talking trash about Nas. More noteably saying and I quote, “Nas killed hip-hop”. You really getting that deep Soulja Boy?? I respect your hustle, but calling NAS out… NAS …NAS … NASTY NAS, ESCOBAR, ILLMATIC, STILLMATIC. Oh lord, Nas embraces people with Napalm, leave you chest, face gone, how can Nas be garbage? Semi-auto’s at your college, burner at the side of your dome.
Ok I will stop quoting ‘Ether’. Watch the video below.
Is Nas gonna come back at this? Soulja Boy and his two groupies are wastemen. Real talk. Please school them Nas.
Discuss…
Props: Yemi Bizzle
PS. Name a rapper that I ain’t influenced? (ok I will really stop quoting Ether now.)
BRUM FACTOR
I have been compelled to write about a nice batch of musical talent coming from the midlands for a while, and now I am finally putting pen to pad or finger to keys, and doing so.
Firstly, my boy… Mr. Dialysis, whom could be considered on first view as just another ’Emo Rapper’, but his heartfelt tracks hit as hard as his more grime based tracks, he is HUGE on myspace, and has supported the likes of Example and Professor Green. Stand-out tracks so far have to be ‘My Bizznezz’ and ‘Its Not The Same’. Really do have a butchers over here.
Secondly, you have Walex, now Brummies are gonna call me late blogging about him now. Please don’t, I’m barely ever late, he has alot of hype surrounding him right now, and he has some bars. Again label it what you want, Hip-Hop, Grime, Indie-Rap, Emo Rap, it doesn’t matter. It’s music. And it’s good. Check out his EP and I recommened his freestyle over ‘Sing For Me’ by Ghetts. All the links are on his myspace here.
Also … Have a look at Grinstar and Esseboy. They are doing their thing.
Thoughts?
KYOTO & HARAJUKU
Photographer John Colodio is a French-man based in Japan. He has some shit snaps, but some are very good. Take these in Kyoto & Harajuku, Tokyo for instance, lovely.
2008: People of the Year
2008 has been a year of the highest of highs and the lowest of lows; a year that has seen economic meltdown and political upheaval on such a large scale that it’s hard to look back at it all with any real perspective yet. But, despite all the madness, a few key figures stood out on the cultural landscape and dominated our conversations and debates throughout the year. Below is a selection of my people of 2008, a selection formed mainly on the first names that sprang to mind when I tried to recall the last twelve months (I figured that was as good a selection process as any) Have a read, and, as ever, feel free to ruthlessly slate my selection and/or comment with your own suggestions…
Runners Up…
Jourdan Dunn
Every fashion year has its ‘It’ model and this year that girl was Jourdan Dunn. Dunn’s feline beauty saw her bag campaigns for retail giants Topshop and Gap, and walk the runway for everyone from Alexander McQueen to Marc Jacobs to Dries Van Noten. Models aren’t usually high on my kudos list, but Dunn gets a special mention for sparking the debate about the lack of Black models on the runway and providing the inspiration for on ‘all-Black’ Vogue Italia. Clearly much more than just a pretty face (and maybe even the next Naomi…)
Hearts In Home: KWES
As 2009 is just around the corner, I’d like to re-introduce KWES, the future of British music. KWES is a young writer/producer/visionary who already possesses an impressive discography – this includes reworks for the likes of Beck, Hot Chip, Damon Albarn and Mr. Hudson & The Library. This kid is set to blow up in a BIG way! It’s hard to describe KWES’ sound… I just know that whenever I do listen to his music, it seems to transport me to some sort of alternate world.
This week I caught up with KWES for a chat about his next single ‘Hearts In Home’, how he deals with Synesthesia and whether he rated FIFA more than Pro Evolution Soccer this year. Has to be Pro Evolution Soccer surely?
Interview with KWES
Where does the name KWES come from? What does it mean?
It’s just a mildly shortened version of Kwesi. Ghanaian name meaning “born on Sunday”.
Originally, ‘Coyote Wolf’ was supposed to be your debut single. What made you choose ‘Hearts In Home’ instead?
Hearts in Home is just one of my later tracks really. Coyote Wolf was done quite a while ago, and I am going to re-record it. It may be on the next release or the 3rd release.
‘Hearts In Home’ and B-Side ‘Tissues’ are not your typical love songs. They are very abstract… what inspired you to make these songs? Are you writing from experience?
Yeah, these are definitely tracks from experience 
. Was thinking about loved ones, plus the weather was such a huge inspiration, I even recorded it into the song Hearts in Home. Tissues, I did when I had the flu.
What other projects are you working on? What artists have you worked with/are you working with at the moment? Who should we look out for in 2009?
At the moment:
Just finishing producing the EP of a very talented artist who goes by the name of Elan. Trust me, in the long term, she will be a force to be reckoned with. Also, been working on quite a few reworks. Just finished some for Damon Albarn’s Monkey Journey To The West, Marina & The Diamonds, your own track Shape/Shift. About to do a follow up to Micachu’s first mixtape with Micachu featuring loads of talented people, should be sweet. Apart from all that, I have production/writing work for yourself and Joe Hot Chip coming up, along with Ghostpoet, Rahel and a new artist called Bella Vaughn.
Definitely look out for:
Apart from the people I’ve mentioned earlier, lookout for The Invisible. Primary 1. Rox. Elviin. Post War Years. The Carps. Noisettes (hopefully Mercury will push their 2nd album harder). Thecocknbullkid. Tommy Sparks. Dimlite. Hudson Mohawke. There are loads of people.
I read somewhere a while back that you are a synesthete. Please explain to the lovely Tribe readers out there what this ‘condition’ is and how it affects your creative process?
Hello lovely Tribe readers/voyeurs. Synaesthesia is a condition where two or more of your senses work in conjunction with each other which in turn cause involuntary experiences. I have the music-colour form of it and it’s something I’ve had for as long as I can remember (in terms of earliest experiences with music). It involves musical notes corresponding with particular colours appearing in my peripheral field of vision, when being heard. The corresponding notes and colours have never ever changed.
For example: any form of a G-chord would have orange in it, and the other notes which are not G accompanying that G-chord would have an effect on the type of orange it is. Majors tend to be slightly brighter. Same applies for D which is always – yellow/green, E which is Yellow/gold, F which is violet/blue, C – Blue, A – light blue, B – yellow/gold/green.
I don’t think it really has an effect on my creative process thinking about it, I would say it’s more a by-product.
Interesting. I noticed that this is a theme you decided to carry through for the visual branding of your single release. I love the fact that your single cover is a representation of the colours that you see when you make music. Who did the artwork?
My lovely friend Sinem Erkas - www.sinem-erkas.co.uk
Stills from the forthcoming KWES website:
I know this is a question that artists hate being asked… but who are your musical heroes? Who has had an influence on your sound?
Off the top of my head other musical people/heroes and heroines who have had an influence on me are: Captain Beefheart, Robert Wyatt, Todd Rundgren, Alice Coltrane, Cat Power. Tom Vek, Harry Partch, Raymond Scott. Being a producer, I have my producer heroes too and some of these include Lee Scratch Perry, Dave Newfeld, Madlib, Martin Hannett, Phil Spector, Brian Eno. Joe Meek. Roger Troutman and more. People who just do things in their own way influence me to attempt to do things my own way.
How would you describe your sound? Can you?
Kwespop, freepop, unquantipop (as I never quantize whenever I program), just pop music I try to do in my own way.
Is there a KWES live show in the pipeline? I saw that you toured with Ebony Bones this year as her Keyboardist. How was this experience?
At the moment, I’m still thinking about it definitely possible. Yeah touring with Ebony was sweet, got to stay in some lovely places. Crowds/audiences were lovely. Lovely group of people I was touring with. Loveliness in general. Awesome Chinese Takeaway.
definitely possible. Yeah touring with Ebony was sweet, got to stay in some lovely places. Crowds/audiences were lovely. Lovely group of people I was touring with. Loveliness in general. Awesome Chinese Takeaway.Whats your plan for 2009? Any new years resolutions?
Just to carry on recording, get loads of album credits, sort publishing, sort new place, create a new facility from new place, get a greenhouse, cultivate some tea .
.Right, now I am going to put you in the hot seat. I want you to answer the following questions with the first thing that comes to mind. Ready?
Ok.
Tea or Coffee?
Tea UNDOUBTEDLY
Nike or Adidas?
Adidas
Tom Ford or Martin Margiela?
Tom Ford
Curvy girls or skinny malnutritioned model chicks?
Definitely Curvy girls
Kanye or Jay-Z?
Tough one, but would probably be Kanye West
Bum or Breasts?
Of the two, Bum, but the whole package is way more important.
SNES or Commodore 64?
Mega Drive
Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 or Fifa ‘09?
Fifa 09
Chelsea or Arsenal?
Arsenal
Listen to ‘Hearts In Home’:
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Listen to ‘Coyote Wolf’:
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Listen to ‘Tissues’:
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‘Hearts In Home’ w/ B-Side ‘Tissues’ is out on January 14th 2009 via Salvia/XL.
