Anderson .Paak is probably the nicest musician I’ve met. I got the chance back in 2015 at Hieroglyphics’ annual Hiero Day. I’m pretty awkward with most people, let alone ones I look up to, but he took it in stride. Others haven’t been so kind and that’s why I support him as much as I do. Well, more so because he’s one of the best musicians active right now, and my favorite performer to see live. I think I have eight times now.
He’s been playing ‘Bubblin’ live at his shows, and it sure as hell prepped me for the release. When it dropped it felt like it was another one of his classic bangers. Maybe it will be.
.Paak also released a music video, which always distorts my view of the song, but thankfully in a positive way with ‘Bubblin.’ The man can do no wrong right now.
Make sure to check the rest of his catalogue (before Malibu), especially his song ‘Get Along’ with EOM & Blu.
I talked about 2017’s Hiero Day with my manager at work, who use to be on Hieroglyphics’s label. We talked festival logistics, from pricing to setting up stages, and what makes a festival last. The one thing Hiero Day has above any other festival is its community.
Not many rap groups get a day commemorated to them by their city, and in turn make it a day of giving local musicians & artists a platform to show off their work. It’s a festival that’s grown from the area rather than copied and planted into the scene like many other festivals.
Hieroglyphics is a hip hop group out of Northern California. Each year they celebrate new hip hop talent with their own festival in Oakland on Labor Day. I got the chance to cover their show this year and even though there were over a dozen quality performers to see on each stage, I was there for one.
It took me over three hours to get to Hiero Day, public transit wasn’t doing so well. When I got there the temp had to be hitting on 90 and everyone was looking for shade to sit in. But I had to find Anderson .Paak. The main reason I was there.
I caught him right before his performance on the Third Eye stage. I ran up to him like a giddy fool and blathered about my love for his music. When I realized how foolish I was sounding, his manager assured me that they all felt the same way too. We talked a bit longer about other LA emcees, I actually told him the only other one that could compete with him was Doja Cat. He got a kick out of it.
His performance on stage had just as much character as his music, along with the short time I talked to him. The day was a highlight I’ll be holding on to at least until next Labor Day.
I originally wanted to make a mix of music inspired by California about six months back when I moved to The Bay Area from Minnesota, but shit got hectic & I got lazy. I moved out to Cali because I wanted to get into the music/tech scene and Minnesota just wasn’t cutting it. Well, I’ve been in & out of some pretty cool companies since, but still haven’t landed a permanent job. Especially at the one company that actually drove me out here (quite literally), SoundCloud.
My attempts to get SoundCloud’s attention have been pretty much failures, most notably my SoundKlout project, but in the least it’s given you all a lot of good content on here. However, I still haven’t given up hope! (and never will) So for their recently posted “Communications internship,” I decided to do a few special projects to hopefully get their attention once and for all. Here I present Part I in hopes to tell a little about my story and get you all sympathizing for me so you actually help me out! Plus, we get to throw some quality Cali music at ya.
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In the music that got me blogging about music series, we’ve gone from the Midwest all the way to Japan and all along the West Coast. Now, we focus on one of the most influential hip-hop areas around, The Bay Area.
As small as The Bay Area is compared to any other area I’ve covered, it’s definitely rich with the best hip-hop around. I could’ve made a top 25 bay area groups, but that would’ve been a little much. This top 5 (or so), however, is some of my favorite hip-hop groups of all time. There’s no doubt that the Bay Area is the heart of my hip-hop listening.
[audio:Lady-Dont-Tek-No.mp3,If-I-May.mp3|titles=Lady Don’t Tek No,If I May]
I’m gonna keep this short ’cause I’m feelin’ lazy (least I’m still posting). If you don’t know about Hiero, they created some of the best hip-hop in the late 90’s, early 00’s, and were among the best in the underground scene at the time.
I chose “Classic” because I already featured a song (“You Never Know“) from their first album, 3rd Eye Vision, and I’d say it’s one of their most notable songs. It’s got a classic beat, literally, which I’m guessing is why they named it “Classic” (I connect the dots just for you). As always, check it & give back some love (comment).
[audio:Classic.mp3|titles=Classic](Download Link in Full Article)
Hieroglyphics are among the best hip-hop groups of all time. The group has quite a few solo talents including Del, Opio, Pep Love & some of the other members. I had a lot of finely crafted songs to chose from Hiero, but I decided You Never Know should be the first.
I love me some chilled out music, and You Never Known is as laid-back as it gets. As always, I’m a man of few words (or should be)… let the music speak for itself.
[audio:YouNeverKnow.mp3|titles=You Never Know](Download Link in Post)
Going back to 2000, we find a futuristic narrative set in the year 3030. Del tha Funkee Homosapien, or “Deltron Zero” in the story, is a superhero sworn to fight against the evils of the universe (viruses, an oppressive government, the Corporate Bank of Time… just to name a few) with his trusty side-kicks, The Automator or “The Cantankerous Captain Aptos” and scratch mastermind Kid Koala or “Skiznod the Boy Wonder”. Yea, this may sound a little corny for a hip-hop album, but with Del on the mic, Automator and Kid Koalo with backup, it’s a hell of a hip-hop classic.
[audio:3030.mp3,Virus.mp3,Mastermind.mp3,Turbulence(Remix).mp3,Upgrade.mp3,Madness.mp3,MemoryLoss.mp3|titles=3030,Virus,Mastermind,Turbulence (Remix),Upgrade (A Brymar College Course),Madness,Memory Loss]