Thoughts From The Rap Nest

Vol022-043

Dec 30, 2022

This will be the last TFTRN for the year 2022. It has been a great first year. I have really enjoyed writing the each week and getting into the rhythm of it. It is Nice to be able to share and profile music and other prects I really enjoy on this ptaform and even better that a lot of you enjoy it as well. 2022 has been such a great return to writing about rap related things for me with this platform as well as the print Ugsmag editions that dropped this year. I have begun writing my TFRTN for issue 3 and I am excited for the next issue. I am going to continue to write more in 2023 and I am in the preliminary process with the help of Noyz aka 319Heads in working on a project that I think many will enjoy. I may send some updates about that in the future or I may just keep it a surprise. I am really excited for 2023 on a personal level as I think it will be my best all things rap related and I can’t ask for anything more than that.

If you ware looking for some end of year deals the homies at Pen Thief Records are running a sale with 20% off will code 2022, the homies at UGSMAG are continuing their sale of 10% until the end of the year with code 10FOR2022, the homies at URBNET are running their annual Boxing Sale war 25% off until January 6th wring code BOX2022. Some great savings, so take advantage while you can!

D-sisive is back after a long hiatus with a new EP which will be part of a larger project of one EP a month forth next 12 Months. This one is produced my Muneshine which is nice to see. I hope there is more than just digital to this project. Quarterly tapes would be great.

“I'm back!
It's been a long time...I shouldn't have left you! 8 long, fu*king years! But here we are! I'm beyond grateful to still be alive to tell my story. And even more grateful to have you all to tell it to.

This EP is the first instalment of a 12-month project - one EP a month. Very ambitious, but I have a lot of lost time to make up for. I sincerely believe Knoblich Gardens will grow into something beautiful.

I hope you love this.
I hope you support.
Thank you so much for hanging around, and still being on this train with me.

Love,
Derek”

Missed Third Verse last night? 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 availible NOW!

Record One

The Faith Of Graffiti - words by Norman Mailer. photographs by Jon Naar.

I saw Sixtoo post this book a couple months ago and I was really intrigued. I had never heard of it before and I was really intrigued as it was a book on early 19070’s Graffiti in New York City. It was originally published in 1974 and I was able to pick up a copy of the 2009 second edition. The photography was taken by John Nair over a 2 month period in December 1972 and January 1973 across New York city. He shot over 3600 Kodachrome images for this book which os mindblowing to me. The graffiti pictures that fill the book are prefaced with a essay by Norman Mailer that on the origins and importance of graffiti in modern urban culture. This book is incredible and musty thane for any hip hop historian type. There are copies at reasonable prices available so you are in luck if you are trying to track this one down. Some of my favourite pictures from the book below.

Record Two

Reefer Madness …A Documentary DVD

Well, this week we are going two for two in the Graffiti world and 2 for 2 in not actually being music releases world. This was oroginally released in 2007. I had seen it previously thanks to the homie Rove having a copy and showing to to me. I saw Fatso who i had the pleasure of meeting and kicking it with in 2019 in London Ontario, post on his instagagram that he had unearthed a few copies of the dvd and was selling them. There were super reasonably priced so I jumped on it immediately and copped one. I am so happy to add this seminal graff documentary to the Rap Nest archives.

Classic Material

Elemental Society

I am not sure what year this would have been but I am guesing either 1998 or 1999 but upon further investigation it would have been the fall of 1997. That would have been my fist year of studies at the University of Saskatchewan. This seems insane to me as an undertaking as a first year University Student. I however applied to the Students Union to have a ratified campus club at the University that wold be all things Hip Hop and it was called the Elemental Society. Like most hip hop fanatics I had huge plans to connect with other hip hop fanatics on campus and eventually get club space where we could hold meetings and listen to rap music and discuss rap music, promote shows and get free records, tapes, CD.s stickers posters and other promotional items from record labels. There was no Campus Radio station or this would have been a great tie in.

Innate, soso, and Knowskills had already been students at the University for a few years so they all showed me the ropes pretty quickly. They were supportive of all my crazy youthful ideas and really helped out a lot initially. After forming the club we needed a logo and I reached out to soso who ended up making a super sick logo for the club. I still have the original 8X10 piece of paper that he drew the logo on.

I had 500 business cards printed up with the logo that we used as membership cards. It looks like we reached out and struck up a partnership with the Vinyl Diner as the cards stated on them “This card entitles you ti a 10% discount at the Vinyl Diner”. I think I still have 480 of these in the original printing box. Now that we had a ratified club, name, logo and membership cards we needed to get members. We decided to throw a hip hop DJ event and we called it “the inaugural”. As a ratified University club we were able to book the Upper Memorial Union Building above the campus bar for free. At that time it was just and empty hall that the ballroom dance club, which was one of the biggest clubs on campus, held their practices and events at and was used for other random events. It is now a coffee shop I believe. So we through a DJ event on Saturday November 8, 1997. Featuring “Seven Dee Jays” but there were only 5 listed on the flyer which is weird. The flyer listed the following DJ’s; buddha, chaps, dj-tee, innate, knowskills… I guess the “…” meant there were two more DJ’s. I wonder why soso was not listed and I also wonder who the other two DJ’s where. I am assuming one was soso, the other I have no idea.

original poster from the event drawn and designed by soso

soso made the flyer for the show, drew a logo for the event and did an illustration. It is a super hip hopy flyer, but that would make sense as it was for a hip hop club. I remember we had to rent sound equipment for the event. I think we hired Darcy who I mentioned last week to do the sound for us. To promo the event we set up a table in the “Tunnel” at the University and set up turntables and a mixer and played records and talked to people as they walked by. I think we sold a handful of memberships. The night of the event came, it was licensed 19+ event and I think we had a keg that was provided by the the campus bar and we had to hire students crew members to work security. It ended top kind of being a bust. I don’t think we broke even or if we did just barley enough to cover sound.

The event itself was really fun but I think we felt discouraged and this was the one and only event that the club ever did. I think it was one of those things that was just too ahead of its time. I think we just decided to focus on working on our own things instead of trying to focus on building a club. I think it was the right decision but I also think the club could have been something really fun and positive had we stuck with it.

Closing Ramblings

I have two shirts up at Stylesmakefights.ca One for my radio Show You Know The Rulesdesigned by the homie Aiden Searle and the other for my dj crew The Stone Cold Party Rockers with the homie Rove designed by the homie Awol One. Also the homies at Audio Recon have some dope shirts too

I host two weekly radio shows Third Verse on CFCR 90.5 fm in Saskatoon Saskatchewan every Wednesday 9 -10:30pm CST and You Know The Rules on UMFM 101.5 in Winnipeg Manitoba every Sunday Night 10-11pm They are pretty great and you should check em out.

Also i got some cool shirts, poster and hats in the Ugsmag Shop if you want that fly shit.

**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

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