PATRICK SISSON

Chicago Hip-Hop History… A Tour: Here are some facts that shed light on the lesser-known aspects of Chicago’s hip-hop community.

Feature
Chicago Tribune
July 16, 2006

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It seems as though there has never been more attention, airplay or talent agents focused on Chicago hip-hop music than there is now. Once maligned for being the biggest urban center in the country with the fewest marquee rappers — none for much of the ’80s and ’90s — the Windy City now claims Common and Kanye West as homegrown talent, with buzzed-about local rappers such as Lupe Fiasco expected to soon follow in their footsteps.

But the city’s current crop of MCs didn’t emerge suddenly in a cultural vacuum. A diverse array of graffiti artists, breakdancers, activists, writers, rappers and producers has existed in Chicago for decades, coming together to form a hip-hop scene that rivals anything on the coasts.

Here are some facts that shed light on the lesser-known aspects of Chicago’s hip-hop community.

NATIVE SONS AND DAUGHTERS: Kanye West isn’t the only Chicago native who found hip-hop fame elsewhere. Chali 2na (Charles Stewart), the bass-heavy vocalist of L.A.-based rap group Jurassic 5, was born here in 1971. And he hasn’t lost sight of his roots, having collaborated with Chicago-area talent such as Ang13 on the track “Chicagorillas” from his “Fish Market” solo mix tape. And Shawna, an R&B vocalist and frequent Ludacris collaborator, was part of a local group called Infamous Syndicate. Also Chicago-born is Boots Riley, the politically charged rapper who fronts the Oakland group the Coup.

West’s early education: According to many local DJs, he earned his first big production credit on an album called “Down to Earth,” the 1996 Correct Records debut from local rapper Grav. Eight of the tracks are credited to simply “Kanye,” and some, such as “Sick Thoughts,” include turntable scratches from DJ Nu-Mark, then owner of the now-defunct label and current DJ for Jurassic 5.

According to legendary DJ JP Chill of WHPK-FM 88.5, the University of Chicago’s radio station, some of West’s first rhymes were recorded as part of a group called the Go-Getters, which released a modest local hit in the early ’90s called “Oh, Oh, Oh.” At one point, West even battled Common on his way up. A freestyle rap battle between the two friends, recorded at the WHPK studio in the early ’90s, has resurfaced on a variety of mix tapes.

THE FRIENDLY GHOST: According to most hip-hop heads, the first Chicago single pressed to vinyl belongs to Casper, who released the “Groovy Ghost Show” 12-inch in 1980. Produced by Dr. Groove, recorded at Sky Hero Productions in Chicago and released on now- defunct California disco label AVI Records, the dance floor- infected single is the city’s first recorded contribution to hip- hop.
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09/25/2009
Pat
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Serena-Maneesh: Power-Trippers

Interview
XLR8R
July 2006
Link

Emil Nikolaisen–the guitarist, lead singer, and songwriter of Norwegian rock band Serena Maneesh–talks about writing songs like the late Hunter S. Thompson talked about lost weekends in Vegas. This isn’t a pharmacological comparison by any means. It’s just that Nikolaisen channels pure passion when music is the subject at hand; he aggressively, almost breathlessly, gushes that he wants to make music that challenges preconceived notions of pop and rock.

“There are so many ways to let a tone or melody shine through,” he says. “Every song should have a personality and an upbringing. They’re like kids.”

The kids, certainly, are alright. Nikolaisen’s verbal excitement hints at the raucous, unhinged sound Serena-Maneesh creates on stage, with sets of songs that sound like gilded My Bloody Valentine-style sonic structures being demolished by the macho rage of The Stooges. At their March show at Chicago’s Empty Bottle, the group dropped into a trance and Nikolaisen followed suit, his thin frame contorting and channeling feedback like a Norse Jimi Hendrix. Surrounded by fog belched from a smoke machine, his left arm, wrapped in a swirling snake tattoo, shook the electric guitar’s fretboard while his right hand unleashed warm waves of fuzz. “Every night we play is a new story,” he says. “On stage, we’re a psychedelic band of gypsies.”
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09/25/2009
Pat
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Questlove: The Playboy.com Conversation

Interview
Playboy.com
May 2006

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As ESPN readied Monday Night Football before this summer’s cable premiere, the network brass decided to record a new version of the iconic theme song, a program staple since 1989. They assembled a musical dream team for the session, including Little Richard, Aerosmith ax-slinger Joe Perry and Bernie Worrell and Bootsy Collins from Parliament Funkadelic, all larger-than-life instrumental superstars. Ahmir Thompson, better known as Questlove of the Roots, filled the drummer’s chair.

“That was the zaniest experience I’ve ever had,” said Questlove. “It was cool to be chosen, plus the organizer was Little Steven. It took everything in me not to ask him about the last eight episodes of The Sopranos.”

Large, jovial and blessed with a towering Afro, Questlove comes off as humble and friendly, launching into epic stories at a moment’s notice. He could be called an average go-to guy if he didn’t play that role for many of the biggest names in music and entertainment. He’s produced albums by Common and D’Angelo. He’s worked with Erykah Badu and Christina Aguilera. Dave Chappelle tapped him to be music director for his groundbreaking comedy show and movie, and when rap mogul Jay-Z staged a live performance of his Reasonable Doubt album at Radio City Music Hall this summer, Questlove was there directing the show. But, as Questlove would be the first to point out, these are side projects. His main role is the drummer — or, as he sometimes says, traffic director — for the Roots.

The Roots began when Questlove met Tariq Trotter, better known as the rapper Black Thought, in 1987 at the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts. Their first appearance was a Valentine’s Day talent show where they lost to future members of Boyz II Men. Refining their unique take on live hip-hop by staging impromptu shows on Philadelphia street corners, the duo grew to a full-size band and was eventually scouted out and signed to Geffen, beginning a career filled with critical, if not exactly commercial, success. As tight as the major touring funk groups of the past, the Roots are repeatedly praised as the world’s best hip-hop band, often ending shows with free-flowing jams. Rolling Stone’s Touré went so far as to write that the group is “so important to the overall well-being of hip-hop, if they did not exist, we would have to invent them.”

Though often lumped with other underground hip-hop groups because they eschew lyrics about bling, bitches and drug dealing, the Roots resist such easy stereotyping. Constantly reinventing themselves for each album, the group took a creative leap with its new album Game Theory. The first on the new Def Jam Left imprint, it’s a dark, introspective and political opus that contains some of their best work. Speaking over the phone from a hotel room in St. Louis during a break in the Roots’ recent tour, Questlove talked to Playboy.com about the band’s experiences with Katrina, how a few seconds of music changed Chappelle’s Show forever and the joys of breakfast with Prince.

Playboy.com: Do you think hip-hop’s reaction to Hurricane Katrina was as big as people expected? Were enough people speaking out about it?
Questlove: To really get political, you need to set yourself apart from capitalism. That’s why people get leery when Bono comes around with his agenda. I find it disheartening that entertainers have more power than politicians or parents. But at the end of the day, most artists don’t want to fuck up a good thing by rocking the boat. I personally can’t afford to rock the boat. I don’t have a yacht yet. There’s no boat for me to rock.
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09/25/2009
Pat
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Hugh Masekela: Heating Up

Interview
XLR8R
April 2006
Link

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In 1968, Hugh Masekela experienced what some would consider a career apex. The South African trumpet and flugelhorn player came to the US in 1961 to study at the Manhattan School of Music. Seven years later, his single “Grazing in the Grass,” which eventually sold four million copies, hit number one in the charts. But he wasn’t completely thrilled.

“Being an anti-establishment person, that didn’t really intrigue me that much,” he says. “I thought [the label execs] were fucking squares and exploitative.”

Masekela was only moved by one thing: honest, soulful music. His passion took him around the world, propelling into business as one of the founders of the influential independent label, Chisa. Masekela lived like a rock star–he received a trumpet in the mail from Louis Armstrong when he was 17, Miles Davis gave him career advice when he was gigging in New York in the ’60s, and he got along “like a brother” with Afro-beat legend Fela Kuti–but none of it really got to his head. “Musicians are ordinary people,” says Masekela. “They eat, they play, they shit.”

What moved this firebrand was music, especially the under-appreciated rhythms of Africa, and they led him to start Chisa (Swahili for “hot” or “burning”) in 1966. As the powerful new compilation of never-before-heard gems, The Chisa Years 1965-1975 (Rare and Unreleased) (BBE), demonstrates, this artist-run label pushed passionate new music forward. Years before world music became a bland marketing term, Masekela and Chisa were fusing genres, capturing the raw sound of funk, Afro-beat, jazz, and South African rhythms. “I love all kinds of music,” he says. “I’ve loved it since I was a child, and children don’t categorize. I still don’t categorize.”
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09/25/2009
Pat
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Clubland’s Big Brother

Article
XLR8R
April 2006
Link

Anybody with a healthy nightlife has endured serious (and unnecessary) scrutiny while entering a club, whether it’s undergoing a popularity contest to pass through the velvet ropes or the rough security checks at crowded concerts. But a new security system being introduced this year adds a computerized–some would say creepy–edge to the typical screening process.

Enter BioBouncer, a state-of-the-art security system and “electronic face book,” according to Jeff Dussich, the founder of JAD Communications and Security, a New York-based company that’s developing and marketing the technology. A system of unobtrusive cameras that uses 2D and 3D facial-recognition technology to identify unwanted or troublesome customers, BioBouncer, which costs roughly $7500 (plus monthly licensing fees), is meant to be an electronic savior that helps high-traffic bars and clubs become safer and more secure.
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09/25/2009
Pat
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Dirty Dozen: TI

Interview
Playboy.com
March 2006
Link

Atlanta was a hip-hop hotbed well before OutKast dropped “Bombs over Baghdad.” But nobody from the Dirty South is making as much noise today as T.I., who’s back in the spotlight this fall with the release of his sixth album, Paper Trail. In the ’90s T.I. made a quick study of the rap game—but he was a quicker study in bed, as this Dirty Dozen interview reveals. Playboy rapped with the Rubber Band Man about starring in his first home movie and getting cock-blocked by the cash register.

1. A single off your 2006 album King is titled “Front Back.” When you’re checking out women, do you prefer one side or the other?
T.I.: (Laugh) That was a nice little reference. I can find things to like about the front and the back, believe it or not. But I’m an ass man more than a tit man, if I have to pick one. It would be a blessing to have both.

2. When did you lose your virginity?
T.I.: I got some head when I was about 9, 10 years old. My uncle was the neighborhood doughboy, you know what I’m saying? I was around that kind of behavior early on in life. We’d listen to 2 Live Crew, I’d watch him whistle at girls walking down the block. It got me on some adult shit early on in life. I officially lost my virginity at 12, the summertime going from the fifth to the sixth grade.
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09/25/2009
Pat
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Tortoise: Deep Covers

Interview
XLR8R
March 2006
Link

The premise behind The Brave and the Bold–putting post-rock innovators Tortoise in a studio with country-tinged singer Will Oldham (Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Palace Music)–sounds like an episode of an indie rock reality show. But after the assembled musicians finished the two-week-long recording sessions that produced the album, the combination turned out to be a genre-splicing success. “It was really natural,” said Tortoise guitarist Jeff Parker of the collaboration. “Will is something else. His stamina is crazy. That dude would sing all day.”

Parker and Tortoise drummer John Herndon recently told XLR8R about the process of selecting and reworking the record’s offbeat covers, which span legendary punk tracks, country ballads, and Brazilian grooves.

“Cravo é Canela” by Milton Nascimento
“All of us in Tortoise love Brazilian music and we’re big fans of Milton. He’s arguably the most famous Brazilian musician. He’s like Michael Jackson down there.” Jeff Parker

“I think Will just learned Portuguese phonetically for this track. I think he did a great job singing, though I don’t know Portuguese. Maybe people in Brazil and Portugal are going to hear it and get pissed and ban him from the country.” John Herndon

“Thunder Road” by Bruce Springsteen
“We made this one a slow jam by changing all the chords to minor chords and slowing down the tempo.” Jeff Parker

“It was chosen partly because the fellow that runs Overcoat Recordings, Howard Greynolds, loves The Boss. I think it’s great, and I don’t think that about a lot of stuff I’ve recorded. I still really love to listen to it.” John Herndon

“It’s Expected I’m Gone” by The Minutemen
“Doug McCombs (Tortoise’s bassist) should run the Minutemen fan club. He loves them like no one else I know. This cover is different than the original–a little slower and chunkier–but we were trying to stay in the rock spirit. Parker added this sort of Southern rock guitar lick at the end, which made all of us go nuts.” John Herndon

“That’s Pep!” by Devo
“This one was kind of difficult. I’m not sure we totally hit the mark. It’s really hard because they are one of my all-time favorite bands and that kind of makes it more difficult. I don’t think you can get much more perfect than Devo.” John Herndon

“Pancho” by Dan Williams
“Will wanted to do this one because he thought it was really, really hilarious. It’s got this kind of homoerotic undertone, just the whole thing with these two cowboys; it kind of shed a different light on the story of the Cisco Kid. As a tune, there’s not really much to it. It’s pretty straightforward and goofy.” Jeff Parker

09/25/2009
Pat
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A-Trak: A Tribe Called Request

Interview
XLR8R
March 2006
Link

In battle footage from his new DVD, Sunglasses is a Must (Audio Research, $17.98), 15-year-old turntable prodigy A-Trak ends a routine by lip-synching the cocky line “What do you have that could possibly beat me?” It was as legitimate a challenge then–when he was winning the 1997 DMC Championships–as it is now for the Kanye West-tour-supporting 23-year-old DJ. The DVD–a compilation of quirky home videos, dizzying turntable routines, and A-Trak’s wry narration from his personal “study”–shows the Montreal native coming of age. But, true to his Jewish heritage, A-Trak (Alain Macklovitch) really became a man at his bar mitzvah (in fact, he used the money he received that day to buy his first pair of turntables). XLR8R asked him to compile the right tunes for making Jewish kids crunk.

Chi-Ali “Age Ain’t Nothin’ But a #”
“I think he was really young when he made this, like 13 years old. It’s all about young guys hooking up with young girls, so you should definitely play this at a bar mitzvah.”

Kris Kross “Jump,” or something by Mobb Deep
“You have to keep playing the young artists. Also, Mobb Deep’s debut album was called Juvenile Hell.”

Non-Phixion “The C.I.A. is Trying to Kill Me”
“This group is full of hardcore, militant rappers that are Jewish. They would definitely offend an aunt or two since they make hardcore rap and don’t sing in Hebrew or anything. But maybe some activist uncle would like it.”

Puff Daddy “It’s All About the Benjamins (Original Bootleg Version)”
One of the original lines in this song, which is censored in the official version, is ‘stack chips like Hebrews.’ It talks about Jews, so you have to put it in there.”

Black Market Militia “Paintbrush”
“This group includes Tragedy Khadafi, a Queensbridge rapper and black Israelite. I’m not sure what that means, but he talks about Solomon and drops this Hebrew prayer in another song.”

Anything by the Beastie Boys
“This just goes without saying. You must have them on the list.”

09/25/2009
Pat
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Midaircondo: Folky Threads

Interview
XLR8R
December 2005
Link

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In 2002, Swedish musicians and longtime friends Malin Dahlström, Lisen Rylander and Lisa Nordström began formulating the idea for Midaircondo, a potent blend of electronic and acoustic improvisation. The scene could have been straight from a holiday greeting card.

“We met at my house in the middle of winter,” says Dahlström, “and it was quite funny because we were actually just planning to have some kind of knitting session and make big sweaters. We were in the kitchen and I was making some kind of cake, and we just started talking about all our different bands and what we wanted to do. It suddenly occurred to us that we should be doing music together.”

While there’s nothing sappy or sentimental about Midaircondo, it was still a fitting genesis for the band. Not because of antiquated gender associations between women and domestic duties, but because the intricate, delicate beauty of Shopping for Images, the trio’s Type Records debut, could have only come from a group so close to and comfortable with one another. “I think we listen a lot to each other,” offers Dahlström, “so if someone starts playing you have to immediately relate to that.”

Performing with an array of electronic equipment and live instruments-including woodwinds, saxophones and a piano-the three musicians appear to exert a gravitational pull on each other as they play, creating ebbing and flowing currents of noise. Songs slowly coalesce, including the pastoral piano piece “Serenade,” the exuberant “Perfect Spot” and the jumpy “Could You Please Stop,” which rides an acoustic bassline and tense synthesizers. Recorded by prolific Swedish glitch electronic producer Andreas Tilliander, Shopping For Images is a testament to the band’s stated goal of finding new and unexpected ways to create and present music.

It’s also not limited to the aural realm. When performing, the group manually manipulates projected visuals live-one of the highlights of their performance this year at Barcelona’s Sonar Festival. “You have five senses and you always use them,” explains Dahlström. “So if you come to a place or venue you’re always going to experience the room, whether you think about it or not. We want to utilize that.”

Photo By Pontus Johansson.

09/19/2009
Pat
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Label Oral Histories: Hefty

Interview
Stop Smiling
February 2006
Link

Hefty Records owner John Hughes III has always been a tinkerer. Even as a 10-year-old he sat creating primitive tape loops on a boombox. He’s been obsessed with the minutae of music ever since. This mindset has helped make Hefty, now celebrating its 10th anniversary, a small but successful indie label with a roster of influential electronic artists. Recent albums like Telefon Tel Avis’s critically acclaimed Maps of What is Effortless and the latest installment of Hughes’s solo project, Slicker, exemplify the Hefty sound: an immaculately constructed hybrid of the synthetic and the organic.

Hughes started Hefty in his dorm room in 1996 as an outlet for his own projects, which included the experimental group Bill Ding. Even after relocating to Chicago and expanding his roster, Hughes kept a start-up’s sense of improvisation and experimentation, cultivating the work of pioneering electronic musicians like Scott Herren (via his Savath & Savalas alias). Hughes also branched out into the risky business of reissues, championing two forgotten albums by the Detroit jazz collective Tribe and its frontman, Phil Ranelin, as well as joining Aestuarium Records to co-release On the Beach by Chicago’s own Philip Cohran and the Artistic Heritage Ensemble. Hughes also started the Immediate Action limited-edition singles series in 2000.

STOP SMILING recently spoke with Hughes at Hefty’s Chicago office, a loft-like space filled with shelves of records and scattered desks. An affable character with a shaggy haircut, Hughes settled down in the lounge to speak about the label’s first 10 years of Hefty. Later, Joshua Eustis, one of the members of Telefon Tel Aviv, added his comments via phone.

Stop Smiling: How old were you when you started making music?
John Hughes III: I must have been 10 or 11. I was just fooling around. There was a keyboard in our house, a Juno-60. By the time I was 12 or 13, I started working with a sampling drum machine. Then I really knew that’s what I wanted to do. Going through high school, I wanted to learn how to record bands. I’m an intuitive learner, so I can’t read a manual or learn by taking a class. I just wanted to get more hands-on experience, so I would invite over the kids who wanted to perform or do vocals.

SS: When you said to yourself, “I’m going to start a label,” what was the next step?
JH: It started out slow ? I was trying to figure out where to get the records pressed. At the time I didn’t think about putting out other people’s records. I knew it would take some time to get to that, to get that confidence. It’s a lot bigger deal if you screw up other people’s records.

SS: Why did you choose the name Hefty?
JH: It totally came out of nowhere. I liked it because it sounded optimistic. And it had a conquering tone to it.

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