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.
Outside Lands is held inside Golden Gate Park in San Fran and just hit its sixth year running. This was my second go around and both years have held a similar mystique.
The days consist of haze filled skies with a backdrop of what appears to be a misty rainforest, when in fact we’re right smack dab in SF. Each taste of San Francisco subculture is scattered about with accompanying styles of food (love the food). Nights seem to hit sometime around the last act and a certain strange mood fills the air – which in part is brought on by the sunny hazed days mixed with alcohol and the aroma of drugs around you.
I may not experience a festival like this in its pure happiness form that many try for, but I do get a lot out of it. Best described, it’s an unfiltered experience of today’s San Francisco lifestyles all bottled up in one big city park.
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Going over this five part series, it’s pretty obvious that hip-hop was the kickstart into my fasciation with music. I had a lot of love and appreciation for classic rock back in the day, but never enough to do anything about it. Discovering music in the underground scene made me realize that not all good music gets promoted, and since my monetary support lacked, I thought I could help in another way.
I hope you enjoy each and every artist on here and make sure to support the ones you appreciate in any way possible. We are their future.
[audio:Visions-Of-U.mp3|titles=Visions of U]
Damn does this glitch hop hit. The intro is a good buildup for the glitch glory to come. J5’s original may have been one of a few dozen J5 classics, but the remix gives this shit edge.
I’m still not quite sure who cut this up, but I’m well on my way to finding out. Until then enjoy this anonymous party poppin’ piece.
“We verbally vibrate your track.”
[audio:Taco-Influence.mp3|titles=Taco Influence (Mashup)]
I’m a sucker for anything J5, so when I heard they were mashed in Funk Ferret’s mix of UB40’s “Red Red Wine” & Snow’s “Informer”, I had to see how well J5’s rhymes would do over this reggae beat.
Funk Ferret describes “Red Wine Rebelution” as a dancefloor filler with a heavy breakbeat and a powerful bassline – couldn’t have said it better myself. I’m not a huge fan of mashups with anything over three or so artists, but Funk Ferret seamlessly layers them all together, giving off a cohesive vibe rather than a jumbled, overly sampled mashup – which I find a lot.
If all the best artists collaborated in one song… well, this would as close as it gets. Comprising of all the MC’s from the Quannum collective, including Lyrics Born, Gift of Gab, Lateef the Truth Speaker, etc plus they managed to get Jurassic 5 to feature, as well! It may be a little dated, just over 10 years old, but the damn thing still could be considered ahead of most hip-hop today. With a simple, yet funkalicious beat produced by DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist & whoever else, it’s another keeper for the collection. I’d point out my favorite parts of the track, but there are so damn many!… okay, i’ll point out one – go to 3:12 (love the voice, love the rhym). Give a shout out to your favorite part and as always tell me what ya think…
[audio:Concentration.mp3|titles=Concentration](Download Link in Full Article)
If you haven’t heard of Jurassic 5 (J5) then you’re in for a treat; although, if you’re at all into underground hip-hop you probably have. J5 is among the greatest hip-hop groups of this era. I might say this about a lot of groups, but along with Hieroglyphics, J5 truly is the best. The group features some great solo acts (again, like Hiero); Chali 2na, probably their most notable MC, has one of the most recognizable voices in the biz. In fact, when I was in London a few months back, the few hip-hop enthusiasts I came across all knew of 2na’s voice, or at least J5’s sound. Unfortunately, 2na isn’t featured on this track, but I did feature one of his solo projects a while back (found here).
The song I decided to feature, High Fidelity, includes Mark 7even & Zaakir with DJ Nu-Mark on the turntables. There were a grip of songs I could have chosen from Power in Numbers (J5’s second LP), but this is by far the most memorable to me. I usually get into why it’s so memorable (and blah blah blah), but it probably bores most of you, so I won’t. There’s not much I can say to give this song justice (I never seem to), but the rhymes are fluid with a finesse that J5 does best. Give it a listen, and if you haven’t heard of ’em before, tell me what you think… If you have, I already know ;).
[audio:HighFidelity.mp3|titles=High Fidelity](Download Link in Full Article)
Chali 2na is most notable for his role in the hip-hop group Jurassic 5 (J5). J5 got its start back in the late 90’s with its self-titled album, which became an instant hit in the underground music scene. I’ve been listening to J5 for some time now, and credit them for introducing me to (good) hip-hop. The group has a rhyme & flow that many try to emulate, but few pull off as well as J5.
J5 consists of a handful of talented MCs, but Chali 2na’s voice stands out above them all. 2na has one of the most widely known voices throughout the hip-hop community. It can best be described as a smooth, mellowed-out voice, yet he can flow faster than most MCs.
[audio:Linguistics.mp3|titles=Linguistics (DJ Dez Remix)](Download Link in Post)