Fake For Real – page 21

HAND HELD ASPECTS - From Point A To H

Artistic success works like a lottery. Talent is one of its conditions, but it doesn’t weight much compared with random encounters which will allow such or such to be better exposed than others. And though patience and time help separating the wheat from the chaff, what can they do for grains scattered on the way? In other words, how many good records have never been celebrated by any? And when they have been celebrated, how many are forgotten because the media which praised them has disappeared itself? Thousands, without a doubt, and From Point A to H could be one of those.

J DILLA - Ruff Draft

When people mention Jay Dee, a.k.a. J Dilla, they often talk about injustice. Many regret that this beatmaker, one of the most revered among his peers, starting with The Neptunes' Pharrell Williams, never met the success, and that he died much too early, due to a serious health disease. This infatuation for him, however, was not fully deserved.

WHY? - Alopecia

Here was what the scene which appeared around Anticon and its clones, by the end of the 90's, finally delivered. They did not regenerate rap, as some had expected. No they didn't. But they integrated to rock what they […]

KNOWSELF & MOVES - Pseudo Freedom in the Age of Manipulation

Japan, among others, is the paradise of hip-hop as we like it. When the Japanese don't release exciting rap albums, they do the same with records from others. Concerning indie hip-hop, for example, we had already noticed the remarkable work done by Hue Records. And though the CD in itself was not extraordinarily packaged, we can also praise the label Nature Bliss for having rereleased Knowself's unofficial first album.

FREESTYLE FELLOWSHIP - To Whom it May Concern

To Whom It May Concern is a cult album. And like all cult albums, it had a difficult start. In 1991, in the heyday of Los Angeles' gangsta rap, Aceyalone, Mikah 9, P.E.A.C.E., Self Jupiter, J. Sumbi and M.D. Himself, all […]

SAUL WILLIAMS - The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust

More than a rapper, Saul Williams is a poet. The guy built his career at NY's Nuyorican Poets Cafe, published books and became exposed to a large audience when a movie where he featured, Slam, received an award at the Festival de Cannes. All of this is great, but slam and spoken word are significantly different from rap, and practitioners are not always successful when time comes to record their lyrics. Amethyst Rock Star, the first album Williams released by 2001, demonstrated this. Despite his fame and the support he received from Rick Rubin at this time, it had been a huge disappointment.

SCARUB - Heavenbound

Quite recently, while reviewing the sales list for 2010 on the Access website, one could notice that the Living Legends were still monopolizing the top positions, with their most recent solo or collective projects. Truth be told, they are a bit at home with this online shop specialized in the backpacker rap genre. But still, this relative popularity is somehow surprising, considering that they release much too many records, and that their creativity is not exactly at its top. How is it that the aging Living Legends, up to this day, still look like the quintessential indie rap band?

LEXICON - Interview

Four years after their excellent Rapstars EP, Lexicon’s brothers Nick and Gid Black, supported by the guitar and bass players Erich Schneider and Alex Pauley, finally released an album which fulfilled all of their promises. This made a great opportunity to meet them and know a bit more about the reason for the evolution of the group toward such a rock / rap recipe, and to share some insights about what happened to hip-hop over the last few years.

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