The C&U Music Factory…..Is Dope!

Cookbook and Uno Mas have been the game a long time and were part of the now disbanded L.A Symphony Crew (almost cries). Cook and Uno bring in 2010 with a bang with a release on Audiosketchbook Records called C&U Music Factory. The duo has quite a few records under their belt including While They Slept,  Stereotypes and actually Cookbook just came off of his solo release “I Love The 80s” (which is a free download BTW). So the duo has a lot of momentum going into this release, the question is can they really set the bar for the new year.

Now I must be honest I was a little skeptical when “Music Factory” was sent to me, only because I based my opinion solely on their debut duo album “Stereotypes” which was a terrible idea. The duo explodes out of the gate with “Set It Off” now if I’m correct I believe Cookbook produced most if not all of the album, this track sets the tone for the whole album. Explosive sound with a duo that brings cheeky lyrics and continues to show the example of what a great hip hop duo does.

One of the things that’s starting to get real cool in the Christian Hip Hop world is emcees collaborating with cats from the underground. Maybe it’s happened a lot in the past I just never noticed it, but Cook and Uno collab with Evidence on a track called “Rock and Roll” which is one of favorites on this album. It covers the ideas of being a starving artists and dealing with record companies, rocking mikes truthfully etc.

A.M Radio is another favorite track of mine, talking about how radio isn’t all bad, how it can calm your day, and just being able to chill to some good music. The beat is very unique and kind of made me think of Toni Shift’s “Modern Marvels” beat and of a lot of the old school video games I used to play. Plus you get guest rhymes from L.A Symphony’s own Sareem (I prefer Sharlok) Poems.

The underground emcee appearances continue with “The Petty” featuring Living Legends member Scarub (who also appeared on Sharlok’s “Black and Read All Over).  I really like the beat on this along with the cuts that King Charizmatic did, it’s just a legit hip hop cipher you could ask for nothing more.

The best track on the album in my opinion is the title track at the end of the album. It has my favorite beat on the album and Cook and Uno just bring the raw rhymes to the table.

This is a great album to start off the new year and AudioSketchbook Records has set them self up for success this year and I can’t wait to see what else they come out with this year. Cook and Uno continue to bring the heat with “Music Factory”. Now let’s see if we can get Uno Mas release a solo record already!

Good

The beats are good Cookbook is a pretty underrated producer

Cook and Uno continue to show chemistry on the mike

Guest Appearances from Pigeon John, Sareem Poems, Scarub, Evidence and more

Bad

I don’t know what but the album is missing something to take it to SUPERMAN STATUS!

Rating: 4/5 (Good Music, GO GET IT!!!)

If You Can’t Buy The Album Download These Songs!!!

1. Set It Off

2. Rock and Roll feat. Evidence

3. The Petty feat. Scarub of Living Legends

4. Song of Our Lives

5. C&U Music Factory

February Album Writing Month!!!

I know personally will be doing this and you should to. You have till the end of February to write 14 songs move it people!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Burr Settles

Email: press@fawm.org

Phone: 608-332-3456

THE FAWM.ORG CHALLENGE: 14 SONGS IN 28 DAYS

International Songwriting Event Gears up for 7th Annual Event

PITTSBURGH, PA (AND WORLDWIDE) – Russian composer Igor Stravinsky once said, “work brings inspiration.” Writer Jack London put it, “You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” For songwriters, February Album Writing Month (FAWM) is such a club. Thousands of musicians worldwide are preparing to brandish guitars, pianos, and notepads to participate in FAWM: the annual challenge to compose 14 new songs in the 28 days of February. This year, organizers are upping the ante with a collective songwriting goal of 14,000 new works in all.

To help achieve this goal, the FAWM organizers will use Twitter to broadcast short daily songwriting exercises and inspirational ideas throughout February. Also, long-time FAWM participant Charlie Cheney (maker of Indie Band Manager software) will host a live Internet radio call-in show, “The Daily FAWMcast,” which will feature new music from the day and give callers the opportunity to discuss blitzkrieg songwriting strategies.

At the FAWM.ORG website, which serves as the hub for the project, so-called “fawmers” can post lyrics and audio or video recordings of freshly-penned songs, and give one another feedback. Participants can track the progress of songwriters they know and admire via the website’s “watchlist” feature. A real-time jukebox also allows visitors to listen to new streaming music as it is added to the site, organized chronologically or by musical genre. In 2009, over a thousand musicians signed up for the challenge (339 were “winners”), penning 7,375 new songs, instrumentals, and works of sound art in the shortest month of the year. By mid-January of this year, over 3,000 have registered from all fifty U.S. States and dozens of foreign countries including Norway, Australia, South Korea, France, and the United Kingdom. Some are musical hobbyists, while others are touring musicians and recording industry professionals who use FAWM as a much-needed creative exercise. FAWM is the largest songwriting community of its kind.

Collaboration is also commonplace in the FAWM community. Songwriting novices often receive help by teaming up with more seasoned songwriters whom they meet through the site. Other collaborations spring from a desire to try something new. In 2009, for example, Seattle jazz pianist Becca Palm casually mentioned wanting to write a heavy metal song in the site’s online forums. Within 24 hours she had composed and recorded a song (entirely by passing files over the Internet) with a speed-metal guitarist from the Netherlands called Sapient Network. The track, titled “All I Am,” can be heard on 14 Songs In 28 Days (Vol. 5), the latest and a series of annual “fawmpilation” CDs released by the project to raise operating funds. Last year, over 500 of the songs born out of the challenge were collaborations.

FAWM began when Burr Settles, a singer/songwriter (and then-graduate-student at the University of Wisconsin) completed a short novel as part of the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) challenge in November 2003. Realizing that there was no songwriting equivalent, he and three friends challenged each other to write a song every other day in February 2004, using an informal weblog where they posted demo recordings and constructive comments throughout the process. Subsequent public interest in that blog spurred Settles to open the challenge up to over 100 participants in 2005, which has steadily grown into the international phenomenon it is today.

For more information:

http://fawm.org

http://twitter.com/fawm

http://blogtalkradio.com/fawm

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LMNO to Release 10 Albums 2010

In an update from Up Above Records they said that LMNO has been a work horse in the studio and has over 100 tracks recorded and will be in the same format as LMNO’s previous release “Devilish Dandruff and Holy Shampoo” the whole one emcee one producer duo with of course a couple of guest appearances. Instead of summarizing what they said about LMNO let’s just show you what they said. Oh one more thing LMNO will have another release February 16th with a new album “Push That Work” produced entirely by LD of Technicali.

Release Info
It’s been widely known that LMNO, of the LA hip-hop staple Visionaries, is a studio addict, rumored to have recorded hundreds of songs over the past few years working with some of the most well-respected and accomplished producers in hip-hop. 2010 proves to be the year where those rumors come to rest as LMNO plans to release 10 albums in 2010.

Boasting one of the most distinct flows and voices in hip-hop today, LMNO brings forth Push That Work, the first album on his epic, groundbreaking, 2010 run.

Push That Work reunites LMNO with long time collaborator, LD of Technicali. Since LD’s debut on LMNO’s 2004 album P’s & Q’s, the DJ/Producer/Engineer wunderkind has gone on to work with some of hip-hop’s finest including GZA and U-God of Wu-Tang, RBX of the Dogg Pound, Murs, Kev Brown, DJ Babu & Rakaa Iriscience of Dilated Peoples, and many, many more.

Synopsis
The 14-track Push That Work features guest appearances by The Prime (Luckyiam & Sapiant) as well as JFK of Grayskul. Staying true to his roots and his eye on the prize, 2010 promises to be LMNO’s most accomplished year in his career.

New Free Hip Hop That You’ve Probably Been Sleepin’ On (I Know I Have)!

So with the economy where it is buying music is difficult, however some of the artists realize this and have been releasing free music and it’s all legit. Note: A lot of these releases are from the Underground Hip Hop world not the Christian Hip Hop world. However it doesn’t mean it’s not good music so check it out!

Don Will of Tanya Morgan- I had never heard of Don Will until I listen to his guest appearance on Theory Hazit’s “UnCanny” track. And since then I’ve bought the most recent Tanya Morgan album and learned that Don Will has a solo album coming out soon. However if you check Don Will’s BandCamp page you learn that he did a solo project with Suhburb on the beats. Check it out and download it for free here!

http://donwill.bandcamp.com/album/suburban-sprawl-video-for-night-time

Oddisee- Oddisee has been on a tear for a while with the critically acclaimed Diamond District joint (which is fire BTW) and if you check his bandcamp.com page. You can get all his season EPs for free (Odd Summer, Odd Autumn and his newest one Odd Winter).

http://oddisee.bandcamp.com/

DeepSpace5- This is a little late but a couple of months ago DeepSpace5 released a mixtape using beats from Alex Goose and the mixtape is amazing, the only DS5 members on the mixtape are ManChild, Sivion, Freddie Bruno and Playdough. Go get and download the beats while you’re at it

http://www.deepspace5.com/

AudioSketchbook Records Update!

Crazy update from AudioSketchbook Records, Future Shock, Capture and Sundance, Sojourn sophomore effort and instrumental albu, a bunch of music videos and more check it out!

“Theory Hazit and Toni Shift are Modern Marvels” (No seriously they are)!

9.5/10. That is Theory’s overall score on this blog and the only reason for the .5 mark off was because of the use of the n-word (which I officially no longer mark off for). So basically Theory has a perfect score here at the Christian Hip Hop Blog. Now with Modern Marvels Theory has the daunting task of topping last year’s classic Lord Fire. This time producer Toni Shift from France handles the beats on this project, but can Toni Shift top what Vintage did last year?

The album starts off strong with “The Hurricane” just to let the listener know your ears are about to melt after listening to this album. “Day by Day” is right after that and the track covers the daily grind that we have to go through not just in life, but through our walk with Christ. After that it’s cypher time with Theory Hazit, Lightheaded, Wildchild and DJ Idull on the title track of the album “Modern Marvels”.

One of the things that increased on this album was Theory’s storytelling skills and he showcases it in the track “Careless Mister”. While Theory’s storytelling is great, I honestly believe Aletta steals the track at the end with here singing the ending of the track while Toni Shift kind of transitions the beat. “Careless Mister” transitions into “Hands in Hi-Fi” one of the tracks we heard a snippet of on the Sphere of Hip Hop Podcast. I love this song it’s banger, Aletta sings a verse and we get to hear Theory’s Scribbling Idiot partner in crime Wonder Brown. Toni Shift kills the beat with this one adding a little bit of a guitar sound  (or something around that). Aletta and Toni Shift mesh well together and if you’re looking for more of them together they’re a duo called Kozmik Booty (check out their myspace). Theory and Wonder also mesh well and they’re a duo called Klickah Clackah (check their myspace too).

Skipping a couple tracks brings us to an interesting track called “Concealed Sorrow” and it once again showcases Theory’s storytelling skills. “Concealed Sorrow” tells the story of a kid named Nicolas who is gay and is constantly ridiculed because of it. Theory paints the picture to perfection with this track, it reminds me of Praverb’s song “Tatianna”. Toni Shift changes the tone of the album with this one and the beat is darker than the rest of the album and it’s a nice touch to the album.

“Late Summer Sun” is a track some got to hear if you downloaded any of Toni Shift’s mixtapes and he raps about the people in his life that have passed away how they’ve helped him become the man that he is today. Toni Shift uses a beat that makes the listener want to reminiscence on past times (or maybe that’s just what I did I don’t know). The album closes out with another cypher featuring Lady Luck, Ill Poetic, Don Will, Cas Metah, Motion Plus and Zach Hendrix handled the cuts.

Now I honestly believe that Theory ups the ante even more with Modern Marvels which is really scary because who knows what kind of explosive project Theory’s going to come out with next. Toni Shift is clearly an underrated producer here in the America’s he brings a totally different sound to hip hop than we’re used to hearing and it works extremely well. Like I said you can hear more of Toni Shift when he and Aletta release an album together sometime next year. Go pick up Modern Marvels and get ready for Theory’s next release with Othello of Lightheaded coming sometime next year! If it’s any proof of how awesome this album is I’ve listened to it at least 30 times I listen to it every night while I’m in bed, the album is FIRE and every MUSIC fan (not just hip hop fan) should hear this!

The Good

Toni Shift comes with a unique sound for hip hop and works with Theory’s lyricism to perfection!

Theory comes at us with more storytelling that makes the listener think

More DJ cuts than on previous releases: DJ Idull, DJ Aslan, Zach Hendrix and more!

If you buy the limited edition you get the beats with the album!!!

Two Posse Cuts: Modern Marvels and Uncanny

The Bad

Ummmm…..I can’t think of any

Rating: 5/5 (We Call This A Classic, If You Love Music You’ll Love This Album)

If You Can’t Buy The Album Download These Songs!!!

1. Hands in Hi-Fi

2. It’s So Sweet feat. LMNO

3. Concealed Sorrow

4. Late Summer Sun

5. One For Jerome

Theory Hazit Interview

I was given the chance to interview Theory Hazit, his new album Modern Marvels is out now on Illect Recordings and you can pick it up at sphereofhiphopstore.com!!!

BigSto: Theory Hazit you’re the 4th Scribbling Idiot to come through and it’s truly an honor to be interviewing you.

Theory Hazit: Thank You.  ’Honored to be interviewed.

BS: So from what I’ve heard Theory Hazit isn’t a rap group so for those who’ve been sleeping let’em know who Theory is?

TH: Theory Hazit is another one of God’s hype men.  I’m a family man first.  I’m a lot of things, good and bad (I guess) but I’m one simple person.  I need a t-shirt that says “I rap, I dj, and I make beats.”

BS: Now I remember hearing you first on Surreal and DJ Balance’s Future Classic record. But you’ve been working hardcore since about 2003 and possibly before that? How’d you get started?

TH: Yea… I started out with 3 other emcees in 2002.  We were called the KingzMen.  We went our separate ways in the summer of 2003.  With help from Wonder Brown, I released an EP, The World According to Theory,  later that year.  Then went on to drop mixtapes as a dj, LPs, and working with Holy Culture Radio (2004-06).

BS: You’re a do it all musician, you rap and you produce how do you do it without throwing computers out the windows and whatnot?

TH: I try to stay focused.  Recently, I learned to take breaks in between work.  Sessions get backed up, then I delete them from the hard drive.  Lets GO!!

BS: You eventually got signed to the “Hip Hop Is Music” Label run by Braille how did all that go down?

TH: I contacted Braille to do a feature on my production album.  Then later opened up for him at a show.  He had no idea that I did some rapping of my own.  Brizzy kept hittin’ me up to do an LP.  Eventually the LP turned into an EP.  The EP was sounding too good the be just an EP.  So the EP became the full length Extra Credit LP that you know.

BS: Listening to Extra Credit “I Just Wanna Go Home” hit me hard personally, because before Christ saved me, I was walking very far from his path. What compelled you to right this song and put everything out there?

TH: It’s a true story.  My Testimony.  The beat was too dope for plain raps or a song about how hip hop is not the way that it used to be.  I was just real.

BS: Moving to your next release, Vintage had done some work with SI and did a couple tracks on Extra Credit. How did the two of you end up doing an entire project together?

TH: Vintage sent beats through a.i.m. just for me to listen to.  One thing led to another….  BAM!  LORD FIRE.  His beats made the writing real easy.

BS: So this year you produced for Cas and Poems on their respective projects the question is: Is your heartbeat really lined up with kick, snare and high and is it also true that you don’t sample or hijack? And where does your motivation for the beats you make come from?

TH: I am a drum machine… a record player… naw.. j/k.  My inspiration comes from… *bangs gavel* it’s a SECRET… NEVER TEACH THE WU TANG!!!

BS: You’ve had the opportunity to work with so many people in your career from Masta Ace, to Pigeon John, from Surreal to Raphi and everyone in between. But who haven’t you worked with that you’d like to?

TH: No one!  No one except Scribbling Idiots.

BS: Modern Marvels is your newest release and all the production is handled by Toni Shift and it’s a completely new sound. What attracted you to his sound and how’d the two of you get together for this?

TH: Toni texted me through myspace explaining how much he liked a song that did entitled, “My Favorite Hip Hop Joint” (Necrology 102) and said that he’d like to put a song or two together.  Hip Hop Is Music needed a bonus track for the Extra Credit LP and I selected one of Toni’s track.  Wowed the labels.   After that, we knew that something had to be done.  Finally met Toni Shift in person when me and Lightheaded went to Amsterdam.  Been tight ever since.

BS: Lord Fire 2 was a project kind of kept under wraps (until about a couple days ago when Plastic released the tracklist) who is Beus Bengal?

TH: Beus Bengal is a super dope producer from Paris, France.  DO NOT SLEEP!!!  That fool is crazy.  I was in a remix contest with him.  He won, of course.  So I had to get at ‘em.  He’s ill.

BS: What I love about your lyrics is the fact that you never hold back in your lyrics and you’ll rap about just about anything? Why?

TH: I didn’t hold back before because I wanted be the ice breaker at cocktail parties.  Now I hold back due to the sensitive ears that can’t stomach the reality of life.  j/k  I only say what the Lord approves.  I’m in the word, surrounded by his community, so I gotta bring it in a way where the world doesn’t look so attractive yet attracts the world.  Ya dig!?!

BS: The state of hip hop is in an interesting place, where I feel that secular hip hop is so popular but the underground scene has more lyrically and comes with hot beats. How come the underground isn’t more popular and is there anything we can do to change it?

TH: *Shrugs shoulders*  I dunno.  People like being lied to, I guess.  Or maybe they are scared of the truth.  Our time will surely come.  Some of us need to stop copying the world (ie, sounding like Lil’ Wayne).  SMH Hip hop keeps changing.  It’s still here, so many will have a say.  One of us will break through the mainstream.  Surely, I say unto you…. j/k

BS: What did you listen to growing up and what do you listen to now?

TH: Afrika Bambata, Clear, Egyptian Lover and Michael Jackson all day, back in the day.  Now I just listen to beats, jazz, or rock.   But mainly local stuff.

BS: I know there’s an artist on your Ipod that your kind of embarrassed that you have.

TH: I don’t own an iPod but I have all kinds of stuff.  From Muslim instrumentalists to pagan orchestras.  Nothing to be embarrassed about. God keeps me praying for them.

BS: Now I don’t know if you realize this but all three Lps you’ve released over the past three years (“Extra Credit” “Lord Fire” and “Modern Marvels”) have been classics. How do you do it?

TH: I just rap.  I never intended to make a classic.  The goal is to make something solid.  ”Unapologetically” (c) Wonder Brown

BS: You’ve been on the grind for a while and I wouldn’t be surprised if you took a year off but what’s coming up next for Theory and the SI crew?

TH: A slew of new and old joints from the vault.  You can subscribe to exclusive SI projects at scribblingidiots.com.  Something new from the crew comes out every month.  DONT SLEEP!!!  We stay grinding.  It’s all heat too….. no throw aways, none of that bunk.  Othello (Lightheaded) and I have a EP together that is soon to release as a free download.  It features production from me, Othello, 14KT (Invincible), Mayer Hawthorne (StonesThrow) and Cream Of Beats (Extra Credit LP)

BS: Well thank you Theory Hazit for stopping it’s good to have emcees like you making talented music and I look forward to whatever you release in the future.

TH: Thank you, sir.  ’Was an honor, man.

http://www.myspace.com/theoryhazit

#39 Podcast Man of the Hour “Hazit Beats”

Theory Hazit is a do it all musican, he raps, deejays and produces music. This man of the hour episode features nothing but Hazit beats, but stay tuned for episode #40 which is all Hazit Rhymes!

Click to Download

Song (Artist)- Album

The Inevitable (K-Drama)- Boombaptism

2nd Second feat. EDM and Deuce Complex (Cas Metah)- Guest Room

Herman Munster (Phonetic Composition)- ???

Lower the Boom feat. Pigeon John and Akil of J5 (Sharlok Poems)- Black and Read All Over

American Dream (HazitMix) feat. Corey Red and Precise (Urban D)- Hip Hop For Dummies 2007

Wonder Brown (Scribbling Idiots)- Idiomatic II

That’s Life (instrumental) (Scribbling Idiots)- The Have Nots Instrumentals

Cobs Webs (Falling Tsar)- Falling Tsar

Evil Control Freaks (Ajax Starglider)- Middle Class Artisian

More (HazitMix) feat. Ahmad of 4th Avenue Jones (Mars ILL)- Hip Hop For Dummies 2007

Spiral (MotionPlus)- Heart On My Sleeve EP

Civil War (Sojourn)- Sojournalism: The Summer Articles

Moonlighting (instrumental) (Scribbling Idiots)- The Have Nots Instrumental

Hard Labor feat. LMNO and Scarub (Sharlok Poems)- Black and Read All Over

Mikel Anthony’s The Schematic Review (side note: It’s Bangin’)

Mikel Anthony who I believe is a Breax affiliate has released his debut album The Schematic. While listening to the album I decided to look up the definition of “schematic” (which is kind of sad being that I’m a college freshman that tested out of his English 151 class) it means “showing the basic form or layout of something”. In other words the title of this album fits perfectly, Mikel Anthony gives us the basics of his life and his work for Christ.

Before I listened through the album I checked to see the production credits and before I even started listening I knew I was in for a banger of an album. While I wasn’t entirely sure of who DJ Rek and DJ Harmz were, I did know who Jruckers, Name Brand and Nathan Soultrain were. The latter handled production on albums with TheBreax, Nathan Soultrain did “For What” on TheBreax Restocked album and Jruckers at least in my mind is remembered for the work he did with the “DOA (remix) he did with Ruslan. So naturally I was already excited to hear the beats on this album.

The first track “What If” showcases production from Nathan Soultrain and Jruckers. “What If” does an excellent job of setting the tone for the rest of the album, that can be a good thing and a bad thing. This leads me to the only gripe I had with this album, the good news is we get banging beats on every track, however I didn’t really feel the artist-listener connect until the last couple of tracks on the record. His lyricism is good but I didn’t feel he let us into his life with this record and that holds this album back from being a classic.

Like I said this album is full of West Coast bangers and the track “100%” is one of them. I have no idea who handles the first verse on the track, but I do know that Nomis handles the last verse on the track. Pretty much it’s cypher time and it’s time to talk about what these guys and many other heads care about most: Christ and hip hop. These guys handle mikes with the best of them, test them and I guarantee you that they’ll send you  back to where you came from crying (not kidding). Production is done by DJ Harmz and he gives you a beat that will get your head bopping up and down and playing this track on 21 on your stereo.

DJ Harmz comes back later on the album with a track called “It’s A Beautiful Day” and it’s my favorite track on the album. In my mind this is a West Coast version of “Cincinnati Summer” by the Kings of Tragedy. The beat has that vacation feel to it, better yet a chillin’ on the beach flavor to it.

Now towards the end of the problem I feel the lyrical content of the music goes to a new level. I feel the we get to see how Mikel Anthony feels about the world around him and this is the level I would’ve liked to see his lyricism through the entire album. “Heart Break” is another favorite song of mine and is a message of perseverance a song that we all need to hear. Anthony comments on how he never really matched up in terms of other people’s expectations. There’s a guest on the album, I can’t pinpoint his voice so I don’t know who it is, but I like his verse because it reminds me of Black Star’s “Thieves In The Night” talking about the problems our generation has.

“Tell Me” is the perfect track to bring this album to a close, because it seems that with Anthony’s last and only verse on this song, he puts everything out there. Anthony talks about the pain he’s suffered from three of his friends passing away. He talks about how he needed a change of scene, in essence the guy’s been through a lot and it’s only through God that he hasn’t gone insane. This track is the most relatable on the album in so many ways and we all need to listen to it.

Mikel Anthony’s debut album from a production standpoint is FIRE! Lyrically we were only given a sample of Anthony’s lyrical excellence and that sample is in the last four or five songs on the album. I’m not saying the first half of the album is bad, I definitely pulls the listener in and then at the end he hits with his personal stuff. Get this album because it has sound we haven’t heard in Christian Hip Hop and this is a guy you want to keep your eye on for the future.

Good

PRODUCTION IS FIRE!!!

The album escalates in terms of subject matter and lyricism

It’s A Beautiful Day

Bad

Lyricism is a little lacking in the beginning

Rating: 4/5 (Go Get It, You’ll Enjoy It)

If You Can’t Buy The Album Download These Songs

What If

It’s A Beautiful Day

Heart Break

Answer The Call

Tell Me

Christian Hip Hop Podcast #38 “The Most Important Episode Part II”

I bet you weren’t expecting a Part II of the Most Important Podcast. This episode is longer and has even more new music than part II. New Music from Elias, Shai Linne, Mr. J, Illete the 7th Grader, Lifesavas and MORE! So ENJOY!!!

Click to Download