Rickety Rod in full effect! First song from Roddy Bailey’s new album, Edge Of Town. Shot using stills at night, 4-8 second exposure, painstaking lip sync. Directed and edited by Rod Bailey. More info at peanutsandcorn.com. (read more)

Darp Malone & E-dot are Hero: Illustration by Pearl Rachinsky

For an entertainer living in one of the world’s most iconic cultural Meccas – New York City – E-dot is surprisingly forthcoming about his roots as a rapper from Edmonton, Alberta (just look at his myspace page). Growing up in Edmonton’s west side (the 182 st. district to be precise), E-dot could be found kickin’ it at West Edmonton Mall, eating Mr. Sub or working at Champs sports. But even before the mall was completed, E-dot was christening the site with his BMX and following in the footsteps of the first generation of ‘182’ heads Roger Amour and “the Godfather” Mark Giles.

Edmonton – like almost any other metropolis in Canada right now – is a microcosm of the nation’s rap scene in general. In retrospect, E-dot described a “Crabs in a bucket type scenario” where there was no camaraderie and where everybody competed against one another. Yet, the unfortunate “scenario” taught E-dot a great deal about working with groups (such as one of his first collaborations “World Famous” with Chris Groove). It was with moving away from home that made E-dot witness the mechanics of running a successful underground label and releasing the first records on Uncle Howie.

Still, E-dot’s music career has grown in leaps and bounds after leaving the fair City of Champions, in spite of his contention: “nobody has to move…it’s a global market.” Certainly that rings true with his contemporaries Cadence Weapon or Kreesha Turner, but moving to the birthplace of hip hop culture can’t hurt, especially since Canada’s music infrastructure is nowhere near the caliber of what exists in the U.S. today. Despite Canada’s dubious marketing outlets, E-dot states: “it’s not easier here. The whole industry team is elitist; it’s all about connections.” So if you can boil down the music industry into having connections, how did E-dot get his and where can I get mine?

E-dot’s connections began with a group he was with called The Chapter and Mr. Complex who took him on a European tour with a group “that happened to be” Non Phixion. While E-dot admits that he was unfamiliar with the group at first; that soon changed as he got to know Ill Bill as they did dates across Germany and Switzerland. This relationship grew into a musical collaboration with the song “Things Are Different Now,” which was never released on Ill Bill’s imprint Uncle Howie, but led to a number of E-dot’s subsequent 12”s.

Fast-forward to his current project Hero with fellow Edmontonian, Brooklynite and former high school rival Darp Malone. Originally meeting each other at a Jamaican association picnic as children, they grew up, put their differences behind them and realized that they made good music together. E-dot describes the Hero project as “grown folks’ music. 100% truthful, no fronting, not pretentious.” E-dot’s sound might be “more boom-bap oriented,” but Hero focuses their music “to people who came up in the golden era and want something to relate to.” While E-dot admits that popularity in the music business is largely steeped on chance, he unabashedly proclaims, “underground, boom-bap is not what Canada is looking for.”

Even though that sounds like typical rap bravado, E-dot might be on to something. Hero has garnered positive reviews from all sorts of credible music publications, including an almost perfect score by Urb Magazine. Thirsty Music – E-dot and Darp Malone’s label and media company – has already produced 6 videos from the project. Only 3 of them have been released officially and their single “Mogadishu” is in regular rotation on Much Vibe. With this kind of momentum, Hero is destined to be making some major moves in the times to come. Keep your ears and eyes open for Hero in the near and distant future.

Shouts? Last words?

Watch out for Thirsty Music, watch out for the new Hero album, the videos, support that shit. Touch – keep on keep on keeping on; Marlon, Chris Lee, A-Ok – peace out. Mark Giles – if you happened to see this you’re remembered; Daedelis – I know you’re seeing this; Stray – quit being grumpy; Dooplex – hit a verse on a song and put it out already; Billy – what up; Warparty – what up. Peeeeeeeeees – Courtney the mayor of the west end 182 represent! K.ris [E-dot’s nephew]… I’m forgetting a bunch of people… I’m gonna get cussed out… I’m out!

Hero - “Be Aware”

Hero - “Mogadishu”

For more info on E-dot and Hero check out:

• myspace.com/heromusic
• myspace.com/edot
• thirstymusic.com

Korg’s new nanoSERIES are slim USB controllers that are designed so you’ll be able to take a studio with you anywhere. nanoKEY is a 25-note keyboard, nanoPAD has Akai-style sampler/drum pads, and nanoKONTROL is a portable mixing board with 18 switches and 9 knobs + faders. A release date is not available yet, but initial reports are that each device will priced between $100-120.

More info available here.

For those looking for a more sophisticated turntable setup, these DJ Desks from Metrofarm may be the answer. Each is custom made from a variety of different materials and finishes to fit the technical equipment of your choice.

Veneered Wood

Wood Painted Black

Concrete and Linoleum

Folded Stainless Steel

Illustration by Pearl Rachinsky

Introduce yourself, crews affiliations etc?

Jeff Spec, I’m a rapper/producer from East Vancouver, from the City Planners crew

It seems you reemerged with a seemingly more mature sound on Rhythm and Blues and have really found your voice. How would describe the style and sound of your new album, …a little night music?

I would have to call it soul music… obviously it’s hip hop, but I’ve always been big into soul, and the influence just found its way in more and more over the years. I really went ahead with getting more personal in my music too, and people have been telling me they can really relate, so I guess that’s mission accomplished.

Will the City Planners ever release a crew album? What is the legacy of the City Planners?

I don’t want to say never for the crew album, because we still talk about it from time to time, and it’s still all love in the crew. We definitely have gone in different directions as far as our music over the years, but whenever one of us brings up the crew album we all get a little bit excited. I think that our legacy is a whole different take on the DIY mentality… We never waited for people to tell us what was hot, or that we were ready to put our shit out. We would just all vibe out (for every one of our solo albums from the 2000-era we were all in the studio most of the time) and make joints that we thought were knockin, and put it out the way we wanted to, from the songs to the cover to the actual release. It’s not the most practical way to do things these days, but it got our names out, and we still get a lot of love for being the ones to really do that back then.

You have emerged from behind the mic to establish yourself behind the boards as a producer. What inspired you to start producing?

Basically just needing beats. Even before I was really into the production side, I would dig for records and just bring them back to Sichuan, and get him to mess with the samples I found. I still do that because I think Sichuan is the illest, but I found a ‘voice’ in production I guess, too. It’s just one more way to express myself and to reach out to more artists to collab too.

What do you use to make your beats?

The MPC 2000XL mostly, that’s a classic machine and I love it. I’ve used the SP 1200, the Akai S950, the EPS, the ASR 10, random drum machines, the Triton, any keyboard I can get my hands on, Reason… I love it all, but the majority of my beats are straight off the MPC.

Are you a hardware purist when it comes to making beats? What do you think about producers who use software?

I think that change is great, it’s a part of life. EPMD got flack back in the day for sampling at all, so when I put my inspirations into that light, I can’t hate on the next man for using FL studio, Reason, Logic, or whatever… as long as the beat is hot, I’m with it.

What do you enjoy more making beats or rocking the mic?

The mic, definitely. That’s me, I’ve always done it since I was like 8 years old.

How did you get started at such a young age?

I never thought about how young I was when I started… I just heard hip hop and it really spoke to me, I could relate to a lot of what people were talkin about. I heard Special Ed’s ”I Got It Made” and I had to do something, it just called out to me.

When I think back to the earlier days of Western Canadian hip hop you were a central figure with cassette releases when most had not even started rhyming. Then there was a sort of lull in your career and now you are back fresher than ever. What would you do differently if you had a chance to do it over? What would you do the same?

Sometimes I ask myself that same question… I think I would go back and tell myself to chill on releasing so much material, and to focus on more quality, and spending more time pushing one project at a time. Also, I would have just taken a more natural, open approach to writing like I do now. After I decided that, that’s when I took a hiatus from putting out material, I just wanted to get real with myself and only get back to business when I got to making material that I thought needed to be made. Every time I release an album now, I feel like I’m really contributing something to music, and putting my best foot forward. One thing I wouldn’t change is everything that happened along the way, it made me more seasoned and helped me understand what I’m in this for.

What is a typical day in the life of Jeff Spec like?


I try to keep it as un-typical as possible. I spend a lot of time working with other artists, in their studios, I feel like it tightens things up when we all work together and learn from each other. I try to write at least something every day, make a beat or two, record a few songs a week, send out a lot of emails, and just work on any next ideas to keep myself hustlin. A lot of times I make myself a list at night of everything I need to accomplish the next day, just to keep me on my game.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

I think the realest place I can get my inspiration from is just everyday life… I try to find new ways to tackle subjects that everyone can relate to, and when people tell me it worked, that’s a whole new inspiration. Musically, though, I really get into the old 60’s and 70’s (and earlier) soul, like Willie Hutch, Donny Hathaway, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, The Temptations, The New Birth, Aretha Franklin… I love hip hop from all eras, I couldn’t really pick a favourite.

What was the first rap album you got?

I used to buy a lot of the compilations like Hot Rap, Def Rap, and the Rapmasters series when I was a kid… They had tons of good artists on them. The first album I actually had must have been Ice T’s Iceberg.

What is next?


The new album, …a little night music is my main focus right now, I plan to tour all year to promote it, hit the colleges in the fall, get into the States some more, you know. Me and my man Lokeynote just did an EP that we’re dropping for free on the internet too, called the Free Press EP, right now we’re aiming for the end of June. The EP is just some extra promo for people who don’t really know about me, just to hear what I’m all about so they can come and check the show and get the album knowing what they’re going into.

Epic has a line on his track “Old Guys Are Ready to Rock the Mic” where he shouts you out ‘when Jeff Spec was known as Intellect and Farm Fresh was in his tape deck’. Was Farm Fresh ever in your tape deck and why the name change?

I never listened to Farm Fresh… I didn’t know too much about them back then. I switched my name up because I thought it put me in this box, like a word with a dictionary definition was just a little over the top for me, you know?

Do you have any shout outs, stories or any parting words?

I just want to give it up to everyone who is doing their thing for hip hop music in Canada right now, from the artists to the supporters and all that. It’s never been easy to do it big here, and it’s taken some time for our ‘urban’ music to establish its own voice, but I see a lot of great things happening right now, and I think we’re on the verge of really building it to where it needs to be. Also, I just have to let everyone know that they can check me on facebook (under Jeff Spec, I even have a music page), or see me on myspace for music or soundclick for beats.

Photos by Jon B

So how did you get started with rap?

Mostly just chilling with Noah23, I mean I started getting into hip hop fairly young. My father used to take me to a lot of concerts and I guess one of the most memorable ones was Ice T with the Body Count when I was 12. I think the first major hip hop album I bought was [Method Man’s] Tical and I was blown away.

I was always into rock and roll; my dad got me on to Led Zepplin when I was 10. I guess I started chilling with Noah [at] 13 years old or something, back in Guelph. Summer time in Guelph is just grimy; you just sit downtown all day drinking 40s on the bench, yelling at crazy people. [Noah] and I used to walk downtown together everyday, down one stretch of train tracks. He was in an indie rock band back then, but he just started getting into rhyming. We’d get into freestyling on the train tracks, 5 hours a day. By this point I was stuck on hip hop; one day [Noah] said that I should write some raps; ‘cause he was already starting to write some crazy abstract rap shit. Next thing I knew I started making Tetragammath with Orphan.

At this point of my life it wasn’t anything really serious. I wasn’t set on recording albums right away. When I started off hip hop rhyming that was when I was getting into Jungle DJing, that was like my main focus for a good 6 years; Jungle DJing every weekend with Noah and I got him into Jungle and that’s how he started getting into double time rhyming.

Do you DJ much anymore?

Naw, I don’t play out live anymore. I don’t really focus much on it anymore. It’s kind of faded now anyway, you don’t see a lot of good drum and bass jams. I’d like to get back into it.

Why do you rap about abstract stuff?

It’s not even a decision; it’s just an art form. Hip hop is a culture – first and foremost, but at the same time the universal culture is just language, it’s just speaking over music. However it comes out, that’s just how it came out for me at the start.

Are you inspired by the West coast underground?

Uhhhh, a little bit…to be honest I don’t even listen to a lot of weirdo hip hop. I listen to a lot of mainstream stuff; I listen to a lot of everything – not necessarily even rap. I like a lot of jazz, big band music and lots of old soul. You don’t hear that kind of music these days; I get a lot of inspiration from older shit; it doesn’t even have to be vocals or content – just the flow of things.

What’s it like doing shows overseas?

I did one big show in Barcelona.

How did you link that up?

Noah used to have a booking agent in Germany and I guess he just brought it up in passing while Noah was in Germany. A few months later he’s like ‘tell Baracuda Bourgeois Cyborgs are playing in Barcelona.’

What was it like, how big was it?

We probably played for about 5000 people in a downtown square. There were like dudes walking around with backpacks that dispense beers; hot Spanish girls everywhere, it was stupid man; people over there love music. There were probably like 5 people in the crowd that understood what we were saying, but everybody was on the same vibe. Shows in Barcelona are nuts; we’d walk around through the alleys and find these little clubs that only held like thirty people. There’s like open mics going on inside and just kids freaking out, all kinds of styles.

Why doesn’t that happen here?

Toronto’s a hating city. That’s the downfall of music, hip hop especially in Toronto – the way I see it anyway. There’s lots of great artists in Toronto, there’s lots of great energy; I just feel that people don’t get together and support each other enough to make things happen. So many other areas – even in North America – people are binding together and coming together as a unit. That’s the only way to make things happen.

When are you going on tour?

This summer’s going to be a big time for Plague Language we’ve got a lot of releases coming out. Me and Noah are basically setting up a west coast tour; we’re just gonna set up all the dates, get a one way plane ticket and hobo around the country for a few weeks.

We did a show [in Portland] last year, it was crazy, they treated us like the Rolling Stones. That’s the weird thing, if you asked anyone in Toronto if they’ve ever heard of Baracuda I bet you nobody [would know]. I go out somewhere like Portland, kids got so much love out there and they even know old shit, they have my first album.

It seems the way a lot of Canadian artists succeed is by getting famous everywhere else and then they get support here.

Yeah, it’s weird man. The hip hop industry is gone, I don’t even think about it. I just make tunes for myself and my friends or anybody else who can enjoy my tunes – that’s worth it at the end of the day. I don’t even think about trying to get a record deal or push my music on to anybody, especially not in Canada. People aren’t into conscious, abstract shit. It’s sad because everybody is clouded these days.

So what are you working on right now?

Just released Knucklebone that’s a whole album with MadAdam. I got Galac and Astral Black, I got Modulok on it, Noah, I got Friendlyness – a Toronto reggae artist. Aside from that I got the Bourgeois Cyborgs album, look for that. I’m just starting a project with a good friend of mine from Guelph, Leon Murphy. I’m just building a library of tunes, wherever they go, they’ll end up.

Do you want to survive off of music?

I want nice things like the next man [laughs]! Of course I’d love to live off music; with time and effort provided. I’m definitely moving towards that direction in my life, where you know if I can find the time and space to get the music done…I feel like this upcoming tour’s going to be a big step towards that. I’m pretty low in terms of networking online and stuff, I could be doing a lot more work, but I feel like yeah man… ‘Build the Plague Language mansion!’

Do you think there’s a problem with rap in general?

Sure man! There are so many different kinds of hip hop these days; it depends on what you’re talking about. From where rap came from and what it’s turned into now, fuck…you may as well call it ‘Queen Street West.’ I mean there’s great music out there, there will always be good music out there. In terms of what you hear on the radio or like what most of the generations are listening to right now it’s just…corporate sex on television; kids talking about having guns.

Has that changed since say 1992 or 1993?

Well…I grew up on Wu Tang and Mobb Deep; it’s fucking violent music; that’s not to say I’m into promoting violence or shooting people. Back then, that’s pioneer shit; those guys grew up in hard places, they came up and music and made something of themselves. Maybe that aspect of it is positive – which is something I can respect. These days, gangster rap is so played out and commercial, but some of it is still good. I listen to lots of Lil Wayne and he’s like everything; he raps about killing people, but he’s also one of the weirdest abstract rappers I’ve ever heard.

Hip hop is doing what I expected it to do a few years ago where the weird shit comes out into the mainstream. Look at the Hyphy movement, those guys are crazy! That shit’s nuts, it’s super super hype and it’s all over the place.

Why’d you move to Toronto?

I actually moved here to do an album with Vincent Price.

When did you move here?

6 years ago.

I just needed a change. Guelph’s the spot, Guelph’s my home; but I just wanted to open up some new avenues. Just started networking with some different people. I never even ended up even doing the album with Vincent Price.

He seems to have burned some bridges with some people.

[Laughs] He’s a professional bridge burner – not to even speak that he’s burned any with me. I click with people when I’m working with people making music and we just don’t click like that. He’s doing his thing, I’m doing mine.

Shouts?

Plague Language, ugsmag.com, everyone else who supports conscious, positive crazy music, keep your chin up. Everyone else, thanks for nothing!

http://myspace.com/baracudafish
http://myspace.com/officialplaguelanguage
 http://myspace.com/bourgeoiscyborgs

 
Meet Junkyard takes you into the world of a regular guy who happens to have twelve children, three ex-wives, more scars than Christ, a lengthy criminal record, and been involved in two Vietnam tours. Junkyard has never had a bank account and he doesn’t have a phone, so sometimes he stops by his best pal Nato’s house to chat with friends.

This episode, Junkyard talks with Calgary Alberta rap duo, Lexington and Whatevski. Look for their bonus free-download album Customer Appreciation Day dropping in July on Neferiu Records followed by Preggers Can’t Be Choosers, the actual album, shortly after.

More info on Lexington + Whatevski available here.

New music video for “She Wants Me” by Living legends, from their album The Gathering. (read more)

Factor of Sideroad Records combines with Winnipeg hip hop vets Deepcave (Royal-T, Big Bear, Lev, P-Nut of Dead Indians and 40oz) to drop their self titled Deepcave and Factor CD, in stores now! Featuring guest spots from Awol One, John Smith, Nolto, Kay the Aquanaut, and Stacey James. (read more)

New video from Hangar 18’s latest album, Sweep The Leg. (read more)