The One Man Gong Show

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.

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.

Sammy Bananas (Fools Gold NYC)
Simahlak (Bully Records Montreal)
Tasc (Space Ballers Toronto

and yours truly 4th P in the building. Come on through!!!

Shoutouts to Kid Killy for the dope flyer. Good looking out homey!!!

OFFICIAL LAUNCH PARTY OF NEW FRANK 151 EDITION (The Silver Book)
Tickets: $5 (Door only)
WRONGBAR 1279 queen st. W

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.

If you’re anywhere near Toronto on July 17th you won’t want to miss this!

Thursday, July 17th,

TORONTO TEMPERS present: 151PROOF

featuring COSMO BAKER (the rub, NYC)
hosted by and live performance by 4TH PYRAMID

and DJ’s:
MAYSR (KOPS Crew, Montreal)
CAFF (Toronto)

Inaugural T.O. launch party for FRANK151 Book (The Jet Set Edition)

Free giveaways all night including t-shirts courtesy of SHMACK clothing, CDs and the newest issue of FRANK151 all FREE

Jude’s official B-Day Extravaganza

Tickets: $10 (Door only)
WRONGBAR 1279 queen st. w

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.

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Check it out brand new 4th Pyramid produced by the legendary 45 King (Producer of “Stan” & “Hard Knock Life”)! Brought to you by the fine folks at Scion. Hot house remix by Fool’s Gold recording artist Sammy Bananas (Certified Bananas). Release also features tracks by Wale & Pase Rock and a ton of dope remixes.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Track Listing

1. 45 King vs. Wale – Roof 90 bpm
2. 45 King vs. Wale – Roof (DJ Ayres Remix) 111 bpm
3. 45 King vs. Wale – Strings 100 bpm
4. 45 King vs. Wale – Strings (In Flagranti Remix)-126 bpm
5. 45 King vs. Pase Rock –The 900 Number (2k8) 107-bpm
6. 45 King vs. Pase Rock – The 900 Number (2k8) (Eli Escobar Remix)-123 bpm
7. 45 King vs. 4th Pyramid – P-Y-R-A-M-I-D 115 bpm
8. 45 King vs. 4th Pyramid – P-Y-R-A-M-I-D (Sammy Bananas Remix) 123 bpm

Crafty veteran meets brash newcomer. It’s a timeless cinematic formula, but SCION AV has done it a little differently this time. 45 King, producer of “Hard Knock Life,” “Stan” and dozen other hip hop classics, plays the role of the old-school champ, dropping four jewels from his bottomless stash of beats. The youngsters are represented by man-of-the-moment Wale, crowd controller Pase Rock and 4th Pyramid, with In Flagranti, Eli Escobar, DJ Ayres and Sammy Bananas doing remix duty. Peep the plot:

DC native Wale, fresh off sessions with Ronson and Kanye, is a natural to bless a downtempo 45 King special. “Roof” lays a bossa guitar on a menacing bass and 90 BPM drums as Wale manages to fit both Manute Bol and Luc Longley into his sinuous street-level rap. The Rub’s DJ Ayres takes his 111 BPM remix of “Roof” straight to the party, disco style, with live bass, synth snares and plenty of cowbell.

“Strings” is really the only appropriate name for this cello-strewn 100 BPM beat, but don’t expect Beethoven. The trademark 45 King kick and snare are in effect, and Wale’s lovesick lyrics skate the rails and ledges effortlessly. The boys of In Flagranti aren’t having any of this love business, though. They like it dirty. At a blistering 126 BPM, their “Strings” remix spits metal guitar and hi-hat shreds over a sawtooth bass line.

Def Jux survivor and T-Dot repper 4th Pyramid takes a track that Grand Puba would’ve loved and turns it out on “P-Y-R-A-M-I-D.” 45 King’s horn-filled bouncy 115 BPM groove is a throwback, but it seems like Sammy Bananas didn’t get the memo. His “P-Y-R-A-M-I-D” remix slams the tempo to 123 BPM and burps rude bass and bits of pitched vocals for a thoroughly 2008 vibe.

You can put down the dictionary, the definition of “anthem” is 45 King’s “900 Number.” The ageless roof-raiser that cleared DJ Kool’s throat gets twin 2k8 reworks, with Pase Rock showing the party people how it’s done on the mic over the original 107 BPM beat (try to follow his head-spinning song references) and NYC veterano Eli Escobar coming with a jacking 123 BPM remix that slices the signature sax line over a crunchy electro bass.

Insightful cover story for NOW Magazine I was interviewed and quoted in about T.Dot’s bludgeoning yet struggling local hip-hop scene. The article was written by Addi Stewart aka Mindbender, a local artist and hip-hop activist in the community.

In its unedited form, I think this article would have better crossed-over to more non industry hip-hop heads and general folks but you know how it is. I can’t lie and say I agree with everything said in this article but it does scratch the surface and definitely open up grounds for interesting discussion and building. You be the judge. Check it out!

CLICK HERE TO READ ARTICLE

Ladies & Gentlemen Worldwide,

Welcome to my One Man Gong Show. My name’s 4th Pyramid. I’m a producer & MC from Toronto. I’ve decided to jump into the digital blog abyss with hopes to entertain, enthrall & empower. Stay posted on the blog. You’ll see frequent updates and a whole lot of EXCLUSIVE shit you won’t catch anywhere else in cyberland and even giveaways when I’m feeling generous. There you have it. It’s official.

Let the show begin!