Toronto’s NOW Magazine (think along the lines of Village Voice of T.O.) recently spotlighted me in their weekly newspaper and had some good words to say about my broken hip performance from Aug. 7th. Check it out below….
“Celebrating its second instalment at Wrongbar, 151 Proof delivered a slammin’ party. Though the audience wasn’t as thick as last month, the addition of Montreal’s DJ Simahlak was a bonus, as was the three-to-one female/male ratio. When the ladies are as uninhibited as the modern Toronto hipster party girl, a bit of space on the dance floor is actually preferable.
The modern Serato era gives any disc jockey a passport to a dozen different musical universes, and those who can make the smoothest transitions between genres own time and space itself. Simahlak excellently navigated from Jay Dee to Esther Williams to D’Angelo to Sheila E., blending musical styles until differences disintegrated. Still healing from his broken hip, 4th Pyramid took the stage and sat in the huge leather seat, and people enthusiastically followed along. “It’s the P-Y-R-A-M-I-D!” was one of the catchy refrains the underrated artist spit from the throne, before being joined by Screwface mayor Theology 3, who ripped a vicious verse. DJ Tasc knows how to kill a show with hardcore hip-hop classics while still keeping the groove moving. When a wicked Slick Rick hit was seamlessly stitched into Tears for Fears’ Shout, the most perplexingly blissful mix of distant dimensions was manifested” - Addi Stewart Aug. 7th (Pg. 62) NOW Magazine Toronto.
One of my earlier blog posts had Part 1 of this dope interview I conducted with the one & only Pharoahe Monch. Here’s the 2nd part of the interview I conducted with the legendary lyricist in Detroit….enjoy….
So sometime in the winter of 2007 I got a phone call to host what seemed to me to be a very strange competition. I was told I was to be a”Ryan Seacrest” (AKA Brian SeeDread) of sorts for a competition my SCION family had put together in search of America’s next best hypeman. For those that don’t really know what a hypeman is or does think Flava Flav/Fatman Scoop/Spliffstar. It’s basically a crowd rocker party starter keep it moving host that can keep the energy in the place all the way UP. Check out the description of the contest below….
Pic (From L to R): Ricky Powell, 4th Pyramid, Clark Kent outside of Scion Hypeman studios Chicago
“Many are called, few are chosen. This age-old adage was in full effect at Scion’s first ever Hypeman competition, as 30 of the country’s most eclectic hypemen battled it out for a cash prize and a once in a lifetime opportunity to go on tour with some of hip-hop’s most prestigious elite. Before the glory, however, they must prove their skills on front of our esteemed judges and rap veterans Skillz, DJ Clark Kent & Ant Marshall. Moderated by Ricky Powell & hosted by 4th Pyramid, the episodes that follow are a thrilling and hilarious journey in SCION’s hopes of finding America’s hypest hypeman!”
And trust me when I say hilarious I mean HILARIOUS. From pimp suits to reggae tone to jelly donuts the talent ranged from pretty fucking dope to straight getting booted off stage for being so atrocious. So off I went to LA, Chicago & Atlanta not really knowing what the hell to expect but ending up having a motherfucking blast!
Today I bring you Episode 1 (in 3 parts) of the Scion Hypeman Contest live from Los Angeles (actually Culver City)!
I don’t post too many links to other websites much but this one site I ran across was def pretty cool. The site basically rates the educational level needed to understand and decipher rap lyrics. The in-depth study uses word count, syllables per word, polysyllabic words and more to base the education level needed by the listener.
Take for example Rakim Allah’s classic song “Microphone Fiend”. Not suprisingly the eductational level needed to fully comprehend this joint is a university degree…
Compare that to 50 Cent’s more recent hit song “I Get Money”, which only needs a Junior High degree to fully understand.
Scientifical proof of the staggering intellectual decline of lyricism in hip-hop. Sad but true. For more check out The Hip-Hop Word Count website.
Yezzir. Back at it again. Wheelchair style (I’m hoping this will be my last gig in 1 of these - breath control sitting down ain’t that easy ya dig?). It’s the return of 151 PROOF. A monthly party that I created alongside the homey Rude Jude. Our first 1 was sold out in July and was pretty fucking crazy. Check it out. This month we got another lineup of hot fiyah.
Hello world. Sorry for the lack of updates here. Things got kinda crazy these past 2 weeks as I broke my fucking hip!!!! This shit sucks monkey balls in a major way but hey it’s life and I guess it happened for a reason, even though I’m still trying to figure that out. It’s a long story that involves a bicycle, a raccoon and a pothole. When I first broke the hip it killed like a motherfucker. I was rushed into surgery and had 3 screws to re-attach my femur to my hip. There’s still pain especially when I move it, but boredom has slowly crept in as the doc doesn’t want me putting any weight on the affected hip for 8 whole weeks!!! Now that I’m kinda settled into the reality of my immobility I’m back to my blogging world.
On July 17th, just 5 days after busting the hip, I performed in a wheelchair to a sold out crowd here in my hometown of Toronto! I was heavily doped up on percocets and still recovering from all the morphine and oxcycotton they filled me up with from the hospital but I still somehow managed to pull it off. This was also the first time my mother attended one of my gigs so it was a momentous occasion to me for more reasons than one. She dug the fact the crowd liked me but admitted to not really understanding a word I said and being more worried about me worsening my injury than actually paying attention to the show. My boy Cosmo Baker held me down on the 1’s and 2’s and we proceeded to pretty much rip the party to pieces. Check out the pics below courtesy of my mellow Adhimu Stewart.
Word. Few statements have ever been so true. In May, I got the chance to rollout on the road with the big homie Too Short and all I can say is DAMN!!! Homey is so true to his recorded character in real life it was inspirational. For those that haven’t had the opportunity to witness the funked out debauchery that is a Too Short live show all I can say is YOU GOTTA SEE IT AT LEAST ONCE. Check out the exclusive pics below and see the type of madness that was going on. Shout out to Black, P.O. & V. Johnson.
Yes yes y’all. Check it out a really candid EXCLUSIVE (I told ya there’d be alot of that here) 3 part interview I had the honor of conducting in late 2007 with the legend himself Slick Rick. Rick opened up on so much ill shit in this interview from his fashion influences, to being a U.K. nerd all the way to his real estate ventures as Slick Rick the BX landlord!! We were in Minneapolis’ banging ass Graves 601 Hotel which was on some super pimp shit, it was only right…
