The Very Good Agency

Pete Philly and Perquisite – Just another day in the life

Just another day in the life of two of hip hop’s hardest working talents, or month rather since our last update with these guys who have yet again been trapesing around the world performing, collaborating, and just generally testing the limits of the music industry. The Fourth Single from ‘Mystery Repeats’, “Q&A” has just been released in Europe, a testament to the strength of this record, and a banging party trackto break away from the more smooth chilled out melodic tracks released so far (Time Flies, Mystery Repeats, and Empire). Pete Philly and Perquisite have joined forces with one of Europe’s other experimental hip hop group Looptroop at two shows in Malmo, Sweden and Arhus, Denmark with Looptroop to support them in The Netherlands in Enschede, Groningen and Amsterdam… anyone within earshot you definitely go and check that out for what is sure to be a really interesting, energy packed evening.

Collaborations seem to be keeping Pete Philly and Perquisite busy throughout their travels this month playing two concerts with the legendary Guru’s Jazzmatazz in France last week also. In a twist of fate these collab’s may even be feeding each other with two members of New Zealand group Fat Freddy’s Drop in the crowd at one of these events making the link with Pete and Perq. What an awesome collaboration that could present if the two groups could make the time to put in some work together, both with incredible synergies in that they have vocalists who stand aside from the myriads of acts around these days with powerful and yet soft voices, both with innovative producers in Mu and Perquisite who continually surprise with new crossover styles and sneaky sound switches, and both with talented jazz musicians bringing a certain depth to their live shows.  In a Kiwi theme, Pete and Perq were also fortunate enough to hook up with The Black Seeds while in France after narrowly missing each other at various festivals around Europe, another collaboration that would trip me out if we were ever lucky enough to see it come together.

They’ve been nominated for three state awards, sold out several of their recent shows, been invited to the Carribean islands to perform, and all the while working on a new album as they go.

Pete Philly and Perquisite – Time Flies

Just another day in the life huh!

You can check out more of Pete Philly and Perquisite at:

www.myspace.com/petephillyandperquisite

www.petephillyandperquisite.com

…bs

Tags: Collaborations, gigs, hip hop, Jazz

Bobby McFerrin – Don’t Worry, Be Awesome!

You might remember Bobby McFerrin from his smash hit in 1988 ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’, or maybe from one of the TEN Grammy awards that he has received over his career, but like me you may not have given him much thought lately. From a musical family with his father Robert Sr Mcferrin being the first African American to be a regular in the New York Symphony Orchestra, it is no surprise that Bobby embarked on a musical pathway, the result of his exploration however cannot be understood by any influence or guidance he may have had, creating new realms of possibilty for artists to follow. On Saturday evening I was introduced to a video of a 2005 performance ‘Live in Montreal’ he held showing off his amazing talent for creating vocal pieces of art that defy logic and possibilty. His ability to fluctuate between four vocal ranges, combine accapella sounds with the beat he creates tapping on his chest, and the use of polyphonic sounds in which he creates 2 and 3 part harmonies from one vocal box are just extroadinary, and as for the musical pieces that he creates with these talents – they are just breathtaking…

Check it out:

Bobby McFerrin – Drive

As if his vocal talents aren’t enough, in 1994 Bobby Mcferrin was appointed creative chair of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and has made regular tours as the conductor for symphony orchestra including those from San Fransisco, New York, Philladelphia, Cleveland, Chicago and London.

Not much needs to be said when you have seen his performances, so I will leave those of you who are as inspired as I am can check out more of Bobby at:

www.bobbymcferrin.com

…bs

Tags: Blues, hip hop, Old School, Poetry, Soul

Rhymesay-what?! Atmosphere, Brother Ali & Murs at the Corner Hotel in Jan!

Well, it’s shaping up to be a stellar summer for hip hop lovers, with Snoop & Co. having just graced us with their presence, a fella called Kanye hitting it soon with his pal NAS, and festivals left right and centre that feature notable members of the hip hop alumni being announced every week now. For me, however, one gig stands apart as something special to look forward to…. Over the Christmas and New Year’s period, underground legends Atmosphere are appearing at a number of festivals with their Rhymesayers cohort and resident albino, Brother Ali. Also touring around this time is another close friend and label mate of theirs in Murs. Now, they must’ve got together and said to each other, “Surely we can’t tour Australia and not cross paths at some point….. how’s about a party?” And so, on the 8th of January, there’s gonna be a Rhymesayers party that you don’t want to miss. Joining forces on stage at the Corner Hotel in Richmond, Melbourne; these three acts are sure to provide an underground hip hop education that will convert even the staunchest opponents. Known for putting a lot of passion and energy into their performances individually, as a collective they will blow the roof off!

Real leaders in the underground scene for many years now, Atmosphere are a group that have never followed trends or made music for the wrong reasons; and it is this stance that has earned them such a strong following. Their following isn’t all based on their music, however, with many a female hip hop fan swooning over Slug, the main man on the mic. Whether this is his charming good looks, or his often intensely personal and introspective rhyme style, I don’t know. What I do know is that he is an incredibly talented emcee with an uncanny ability to grab the listener’s attention with his storyteller-rhymes, nearly always rapping about  his own experiences such as alcohol problems, tour life and depression, and his difficult and destructive relationships with women. Their latest album, ‘When life give you lemons you paint that shit gold’, is a bit of a departure from their normal approach with a lot of live instrumentation used by Ant, but this is a good thing Very Good review, and  in all likelihood they’ll be touring with a band too.

Having just released his first album on a major label (Murs for President out on Warner Bros. Records), Murs will be bringing a whole bounty of new tracks, as well as the classics from his huge catalogue of  pre-major label albums. Never one to take things too seriously, politics included, the new album refers to his desire to become Hip Hop President, and rescue Hip Hop from its current state; what better way to do that than on a major label, right? Don’t get it twisted, in no way has Murs sold out on this album, he’s still up to his usual mischief, and utilises the production of 9th Wonder (formerly of Little Brother) once again. Having collaborated on two albums with Slug (Felt Vol1: A Tribute to Christina Ricci, and Felt Vol2: A tribute to Lisa Bonet) the boys will no doubt be spending a lot of time together on stage.

Murs – Can It Be [Half A Million Dollars And 18 Months Later]

Not to be left out, Brother Ali will be hitting the stage hard performing songs from his 2007 release, The Undisputed Truth (entirely produced by Ant of Atmosphere) as well as from the underground classic that shot him into the limelight, ‘Shadows on the Sun’. Being a devout Muslim and legally blind albino, Brother Ali is certainly one of the more unusual figures to succeed in the hip hop world; but don’t let his appearance fool you now, he can tear it up on the mic just as hard as anyone.

Tickets are selling fast so get onto this quick; at only $48 you won’t find a better bargain this summer. Hell, I’d pay that just to see Atmosphere! Get online at www.cornerhotel.com for tickets now!

In the meantime, check out more about the artists below:
www.myspace.com/murs
www.myspace.com/brotherali
www.myspace.com/atmosphere

…Cracked

Tags: Collaborations, gigs, hip hop

Obama knows his hip hop

I didn’t want to name this article in such a way that I am making an unreasonable assumption, or simply exaggerating a point to make sensational news, so I went with what is self evident from his presidential  campaign… Barack Obama knows his hip hop. There is no need to sensationalise my opinion in this instance, because the way in which I perceive that Barack Obama has utilised hip hop in his election is not only simple and obvious, but transparent as you can see from the way he openly discusses his thoughts in the below video. To this day, I have not heard anyone other then a few of my favourite artists articulate how I feel about hip hops place in the world better then the way that Obama has done in this video.

An extremely important point of debate in the build up to many of America’s recent election campaigns, and especially in this most recent time has been the youth vote. Without turning this piece into an essay, in short, young people traditionally do not vote in large numbers and so it follows that many candidates and parties have tried (with varying degrees of failure) to capture the youth vote that has been going unused.

So if you want to engage an audience of youth, it seems that you would need to have a communication channel that they respect and identify with, and what in America do you think that the emerging dominant voice in this age group might be? hmmmmmmmmm… which is what i’m simply saying… Obama knows his hop hop, and more importantly he understands the power that it has to influence and even mentor an amazing community of youth and adults alike throughout the USA and the world.

Put into context in my situation, having no television over the duration of his campaign, I heard only occasional pieces of information in support of his growing popularity and increasing chances (according to poles on news shows and papers that I would read from time to time).  It was only through Hip Hop that I was exposed to Obama intentionally for more then a brief moment, and not once, but several times in pieces that I was came accross in my every day life as an everyday member of the hip hop community.

This article is admittedly based on my personal opinion, however researching this online I found out there were so many people who share in this opinion, even Dizzee Rascal is feeling it.

For a long time now I have held the opinion that if someone really had a message that they felt should be heard, or a desire to influence their community, the two options were to be a politician or a musician. I am hopeful that this new president will remind the world of the amazing  impact that politics and music can create when in harmony, with the use of hip hop. I’m also hopeful that he establishes subsidies for international artists with a positive message who wish to tour the states, ’cause that’d be awesome please bro.

You an check out more of Obama on:

Television, news, papers, radio, internet, talking to your mates, at the white house.

…bs

Tags: hip hop, Political

Q-Tip – The Renaissance

Can he kick it again?

Yes he can… after 9 long years, Q-Tip a.k.a. the brother Abstract, has hit back with another solo album entitled ‘The Renaissance’. Q-Tip continues to reinvent himself as well as the benchmark for lyricists throughout the world and has taken his place on the world stage as one of the fathers of modern Hip Hop. Giving so much to the Hip Hop scene through various solo projects, groups including A Tribe Called Quest and more recently The Standard with friend and collaborator Common, & a string of hit features from the late eighties, the mere mention of Q-Tip’s name is enough to interest this fan in this new release, but if that’s not enough, he’s brought along some awesome collaborations on the album including D’Angelo, Norah Jones, & Raphael Saddiq to name a few. Speaking to www.okayplayer.com this week Q-Tip explained the 9 year pause between solo albums… “I think I can speak for myself, Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu and D’Angelo when I say that we make music when the spirit is with us. We are a lot who are very observant as well as introspective. We paint intense, colorful pictures, so it takes time.” If it was anyone else comparing  themselves to these amazing, iconic, soulful artists I would just laugh at their arrogance, but it’s not anyone else, it’s Q-Tip, and no-one belongs on your lips in this context more then he does.

Q-Tip Gettin Up

Having re-united A Tribe Called Quest this year for the incredible ‘Rock The Bells’ tour, Q-Tip has dispelled the rumours that they are set to reform permanently on this album with his track ‘A Tribe Called Quest is no more’. Heart breaking although it may be, at least we can continue to bump fresh music as he continues to create his own style of jazz infused, introspective, old school hip hop. This pioneer has paved the way for hip hop to be enjoyed by all walks of life, meshing with so many artists of as many genres in his partnerships over the years, and ‘The Renaissance’ seems to offer the same diversity and creativity as always, opening up the doors even further for hip hop as it fast becomes a dominant force in the music industry.

Q-Tip – Let’s Ride (from his debut solo album Amplifier)

You can check out more of Q-Tip at:

www.q-tip.com

www.myspace.com/qtip

…bs

Tags: hip hop, Jazz, Old School