Thoughts From The Rap Nest

vol023-083

Thoughts

Thank you everyone that has pledged/donated money to Third Verse and CFCR’s FM-Phasis fundraising campaign. I know a handful of you reading this donated to the station and donate each and every year. Your donations mean the world to me. I always find it super weird asking people for donations as I know things are pretty tough for working class people everywhere these days. It is during tough times like this that community becomes even more important. Your support goes a long way in ensuring a whole bunch of voices that otherwise wouldn’t be heard are heard. So if you have a few bucks to spare and have not already made a pledge please consider dominating TODAY.

Great new single from the homie Kitz Willman called brain. Check out what he has to say about it while you give it a listen.

first single for an album i'll release in 2024.

i made this song after a pair of shows in Saskatchewan in November 2022. the second of those two shows was my first as a solo artist in Regina. Brandon from Think Tank had invited me to perform at T+A Vintage, a cute vintage shop just north of downtown.

there was a handful of other great performers, but in order to tell the story of this song i need to give special mention to mileshigh. their set really inspired me. rather than try to put it into words, you can get a glimpse of it here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=cigRgP7l_hg&t=

when i returned to winnipeg, i was champing at the bit to make a new song. with that set in mind, i started creating "brain." its a simple song, really. based on a sample foundation, the drums and vocal dynamics drive the song.

its not necessarily emblematic of the rest of the album, but some of my fans were eager to hear this one recorded.

brain

Missed Third Verse last night? No cohosts, buts still a great show this week and as always Ugsmag has you covered once again to stream or download NOW! Catch Third Verse on CFCR 90.5 fm in Saskatoon, SK every Wednesday 9-10:30pm CST. Stream online via CFCR.ca or Radio Garden.

As always the last 10 episodes of my other weekly radio show You Know Know the Rules on UMFM in Winnipeg airing every Sunday night 10:00pm -11pm CST. Episodes available NOW!

Record One

Zilla Rocca and andrew - Don’t Wait For Me To Leave

I feel like I am bit late on the Andrew train but I am doing my best to catch up. My fist real exposure to him in a meaningful way was through his Ugsmag print interview. I am glad I am finally a passenger on the train. I recently scooped this album after grabbing his newest album, The Trumpet’s Obviously Been Drinking. I didn’t realize that Andrew was the primary producer on this album and is only on a couple tracks. That actually works really well as the beats he crafts for Zilla Rocca are perfect. They have a great chemistry together and I would love a followup album. This is definitely a sleeper record and I am really glad I grabbed it as I love it! You Need Friends is my jam! Classic Black Vinyl, so it get props over here!

Record Two

Busdriver - Made in Love

Busdriver has always been a long time favourite of mine. I love that he is still making and releasing records. This album is my favourite of his last few releases. I also really like how he does everything on this record. The album is titled perfectly, as it really comes across in the music, raps and presentation that this was truly crafted through love. It has all the wildness and experimentation that you expect in a Busdriver release. The rapping is incredible as always, as well. Busdriver wrote and rapped the raps, produced and composed the beats, engineered and mixed the record and did the album art design and layout. The only outside contributor was rage mastering. I also really like how he states the city where each song was recorded. I don’t know why I like that so much much but I do. All if it was recorded in these cities in California, Santa Cruz, Carmel, Arcata, Yosemite and Los Angelas. I like to think that it gives some context as to why the songs came out the way they did. I often think that the environment that things are recorded in has a lot to do with how the album sounds. I also really appreciate that he lists the implements he used in the recording of the album. He used VHS player in one of the tracks and I like to imagine how he used it on the track. I am not entirely sure but it is fun to contemplate while listening to the record. My jams are tied between Applied_Maddness and WERX, both are so dope. If you slept in this album for some reason I would suggest giving it another listen. Two for two on Classic Black Vinyl this week! It was a good week!

Classic Material

As the summer ends and the leaves start to change, it is a time for me to think and reflect on days past. I have been thinking a lot about the signed records that I have. I love getting autographs. I have been getting autographs since I can remember as a little kid. It started with sports and migrated to rap. I still like to get sports autographs as well but this is is a Rap related newsletter so I will stick to the topic at hand. I have profiled some in the the past. I have 12 album covers framed and up on one of the wall of the rap nest. There are many more I wish I had room to display. I want to share some of my favourites with you.

I got this KRS ONE autograph when he came here to rock a show. However, generally I would have got it signed at the show but he was doing a book reading/lecture at the Broadway Theatre the late afternoon before the show. I brought two items in the hopes of getting them signed. I brought my Criminal Minded LP and my The Gospel of Hip Hop Book with me and of course a sharpie. I always make sure I have a sharpie with me. I never leave it to chance. He gave a really interesting talk, that was reaffirming, inspiring and head scratching all at the same time. I remember distinctly having a phone conversation with Matre about it after. It is what I would have expected from the Blastmaster. It was perfect. As soon as it was clear he was done speaking I make my way to the front of the stage. It was evident that he was wanting to leave and I, being a veteran autograph seeker knew I had to act fast if I was going to get anything signed. I pulled out both items from my bag and had the sharpie ready. He was trying to leave but he made eye contact with me and I asked if he could sign my record. It was clear to me that I was only going to get one of the two items signed so I made the quick and correct call to get him to sign Criminal Minded. I handed him the record and sharpie and he signed it super quick. It is not a great signature in my opinion, but it means a lot to me as his music has bene so important throughout my life.

I am glad I got the signature at the lecture as he didn’t sign anything after his lacklustre performance and dipped to the back stage area of the venue right after his show. The show was lacklustre because he did my least favourite thing and ripped on the sound tech continually and demanded the everything continually be turned up. the sound tech eventually just gave in and the show was loud and super distorted and made for a less than enjoyable experience as a fan.

I got Aceyalone to sign the Mic Check 12” at a show we, the CFcrew were one of the opening acts for at the now defunct Union Centre venue that used to be on Fairlight Drive. It was a pretty great venue in my opinion. I think there were only a couple of shows there that I can remember this one and an Ishkan and Moka Only show. I was pretty nervous in asking Aceyalone to sign the record. I feel like the more I like an artist the more nervous I get in asking for their autographs. One of my favourite things is when the artist comments on the record, shares a tidbit about it or says “damn where did you get this” or “Damn, I don’t even have a copy off this”. This was on of those instances and Aceyalone shared a story about recording the 12” and how proud he was of it as it was his first solo record. He captured that by writing “first solo rec” on the cover when he signed it. I have a handful of Aceyalone signed records but this will always be my favourite.

I wouldn’t say I am the biggest Jurassic 5 fan out there. I loved the early 12” like we all did but as their sound became more polished and they garnered more mainstream rap fan appreciation and were that “I don’t like rap but I love J5” type group and my interest wained. I was fortunate enough to catch them at Louis when they rolled through Saskatoon. It was a really fun show. They definitely rocked it. I Got my EP signed by the crew. It is my second favourite signed record because of the way they signed it. I will let the image back me up on this one and you can judge for yourself.

LA Symphony has always been a long time favourite group of mine. Big rap groups with lots of MC’s is always my favourite. They were in town (minus Pigeon John) for a show and I think it was the night after the show if I remember correctly that the homie Rational gave me a shout. He let me know he was hosting a BBQ with the guys from LA Symphony and invited me to roll through. I was super excited. I went to the BBQ and it was really fun to relax and break bread and talk rap with those guys. They were all so nice. I got them to sign my ‘I can’t have her” 12” single as I always really liked the cover and I think it was the only record of theirs I had that was not a black center circle cut generic 12” sleeve. I got it signed by Sharlock Poems, Joey The Jerk, Cookbook, Unomas and Flynn. I really enjoy looking at this cover because it instantly takes me back to that BBQ.

Now, I like pretty much everyone in the world lost their damn mind the first time the saw the Wrong Side Of There Tracks video on tv. It was hip hop in its purest form and the song is one of the best ever created. Tame One rolled through Saskatoon as a part of Slow Suicide Stimulus and opend for Cage. I was an opening Dj for the show and that was extra dope because I got to talk to Tame One during sound check and got my Wrong Side Of The Tracks 12” signed. He wrote Chaps and the something underneath it that I can’t remember or make out what it says today. Maybe you can? He signed it beside that dedication. It is a super fresh tag. I love when mc’s have the ill hand styles. He was super cool to chat with. May he rest in peace.

My favourite part of these autographs the 100’s of others that I have, is they instantaneously take me back to that moment in time. It is another opportunity to relive that moment and enjoy it again. Also they are generally a great ice breaker and a way to gain instant credibility with an artist especially if you have the old early records. They also allow you to connect with the artist and have a short interaction where you can share you fandom and thank them for their music.

Closing Ramblings

As always, thank you for reading and for the feedback!

**legal disclaimer all records and songs were run through the RAP NEST 5000 SUPER ANALYTIC COMPTROLLER MACHINE that is certified by the I.A.A.R.R.A (International Association of Analytical Rap Recordings Analysis) in layman’s terms, it means the machine is never wrong.

Catch you next week with more thoughts from the rap nest.

Peace

-chaps