The (Tobacco) Road to Progress

Regularly taking advantage of a vocabulary that boasts words like “synesthete,” “neophytes,” “attrition,” and “conflagration,” it’s no wonder that Common Market’s RA Scion has a reputation for self-assurance. Using his elevated lexicon as ammunition, MC Scion is leading the movement against the unsophistication and banality endemic in much of hip-hop music today. Most importantly, his lyrics remind us that the MC is poet and wordsmith before all else.

Intricate, versatile rhyme schemes and mellifluous alliteration collaborate to give Scion a unique, if mesmerizing, flow. What’s more impressive, his lyrics offer, at once, the best of both worlds for the hip-hop listener. On the one hand, he challenges the astute to keep up with his unyielding sentence structure, while on the other hand he invites the less ambitious to go with the flow and get lost in the verse. But no matter your disposition, you’ll immediately feel the vibe. Although DJ Sabzi deserves a lot of credit here, bringing to the table sonorous, jazz-infused, easy-listening beats that come well-equipped with heavenly synths, flutes and keyboards to make certain your finger stays on repeat.

On the track Swell, from Common Market’s latest album, Tobacco Road, this duality is apparent in the run-on style of Scion’s writing and delivery: “beat entreat a seeker, teachin’ leadership/ group ‘em through the groove, spike the meter, weaker needles skip/ like defeatist-types, see the sign, retreat, this hype is evil/ might it be what I perceive is aiight’s.” If you’re not careful, it’s easy to get consumed by the internal rhyme and lengthy syntax (this is where many listeners get dismayed; in the first line alone every word rhymes at least one syllable). This makes delivery more difficult, and therefore more laudable, but it can also have the effect of hindering an MC’s ability to successfully communicate his message.

Indeed, critics have voiced that Scion focuses too obsessively on the sound of his sentences, rather than the message, which, they say, is watered down or confused by the constant echoing of syllables and the tendency to string together discordant sentence fragments simply for the sake of maintaining the most aurally pleasing flow. Where this criticism is appropriate for an artist like Aesop Rock, who’s lyrics often come across as unassimilable and largely nonsensical (although impressive sonically) Scion manages to keep his writing substantive.

Let’s face it, every MC is occasionally guilty of sacrificing the clarity of their sentences for the sound of their words. It comes with the territory. The voice is, after all, an instrument. But for the most advanced MCs (and Scion’s one of them) it’s also a tool. And it's a tool fully utilized on Tobacco Road. Almost every track possesses a wealth of wisdom waiting to be uncovered. On the track 40 Acres, Scion's tone is at once cautionary and accusatory: "Hustle grand, seen a demand for organic/ In toxicity limits – infinitely more panic/ they're resorting to importing plants from other planets/ It cancels out the importance of the advantage."

Many of his other lyrics share a similar indignation. One of the best, if most incendiary, tracks on the album, 40 Thieves, acknowledges, and perhaps admonishes, the denigration of society by way of deception and exploitation: "From the makers of placebo, a trio pushed/ To ameliorate the feverish, deceivinest looks/ for thieves and crooks booked up in the state's prison system/ It's marketed disregarding of the rate of recidivism."

And here I can't help but point out one of the more ingenious lines penned on the album: "Thoroughly bred equine, bet he try and cover the spread/ Vignette, butter and bread truck – must've been something I said/ Cinnamon sugar on my raison d'etre." The multiple double meanings and bi-lingual wordplay here are excellent examples of why Scion should be placed in an echelon all his own. I can only hope he succeeds in ushering a new generation of like-minded talent.

In the meantime, I'm hugely digging the ground swell of socially conscious, linguistically complex hip-hop coming out of the Pacific Northwest, especially from MassLine. And I think it’s safe to say you can expect a lot more down the Road from Common Market.

And for those interested, all of Scion’s lyrics are posted on the group’s website (http://www.commonmarketmusic.com/lyrics.html). Check out the track below for a taste.

Common Market - Swell

Artist Feature #1 - Evil B

I have always admired the art of Jungle/Drum & Bass emceeing for the unique dissension from its hip-hop rapping and ragga toasting roots. Drum & Bass emcees use the idea of the voice as an instrument of sound to the extreme, with heavy and rapid, quick-rhyme word play in perfect chaos with the up to 160+ BPM tempo the music can demand.

The flow is generally seen as a compliment to the music rather than a primary role, as we see in Hip-Hop and Grime. It's a beautiful art form which disengages the ability of the emcee to use his verses as a poetic message, even if the verse has plenty of subject matter. Now I'm not saying the artist is incapable of reaching the audience with words. But, in my experience, it's usually about the artist using his energy to elevate the reception of the music; especially at those breaks preceding a wicked drop that wrecks the dance floor. In this respect, the emcee becomes under appreciated as an artist, reduced to a 'hype man' for the selectah.

It seems a new breed of emcee has exploded onto the D&B scene with a force of changing that. Evil B has returned to the roots of his career after a decade away. During that time span he was hard at work conquering the UK Garage/Grime industry operating as B Live (Evil B-->B livE). Collaborating with reggae star Elephant Man and Craig David, B Live gained widespread success. In 2007, he decided to return to Drum & Bass as Evil B. With an inventive approach to the undying scene, involving Garage overtones, Evil B has breathed new energy into raves.

On my last day in Britain for 2008 I was given a Drum 'N' Bass Arena podcast matching up veteran DJ Kane and MC Evil B. It seems Evil has come to change the perceptions of the D&B artist. By using a cutting-edge style, he's garnering quite a reputation. His slowed down, grimey flow allows him to employ metaphors into his on-the-surface party raps. Evil uses Kane's tracks to explore a variety of topics; his explosion on the scene, to gangsterism infecting the industry, to sex, death and the under appreciation of his art form.

The beginning of Kane's intro track, the Original Sin remix of ShyFX's "Raa," Evil emphasizes his unique stage presence. "Yo I crept up behind them/ Dum, Dum, D-Dum Dum/ The crowd knew it was my lot from the first rap/ A new style you ain't heard about/ Out in the streets they call it murder!" Evil B's flow immediately demands attention. His delivery makes no effort to hide his UKG influence, enabling him to generate a completely new style I had never heard before. As opposed to most D&B emcees, I felt I could maintain a constant connection to what he's saying, instead of a connection to the typical, fast-paced word flow in harmonium with the music.

Evil is critical of the current state of negativity affecting British youths. He addresses this on the second track, a Kane mash-up of Die & Break "Gettin' There" & Reprazent's "Trust Me," utilizing metaphor in his flow. *A young mum from Hackney/ Told me she got problems with her son/ He's a fan, can I talk to him? Done/ So I told him the story of my life and he took it/ And that's putting innovation in your son/ Look-- Oi, Oi! Am I still employed?/ It's a metaphor for joy I gave to the boy.* After the metaphor Evil openly reveals that it was so. He's challenging the listener to go beyond the sound of his voice and take his words for value with critical thought and poetic interpretation. With his innovative, down-tempo execution, Evil's delivery seems to be a D&B equivalent to GZA with the versatility of Method Man.

Evil continues to addresses negative aspects of society, such as gangster themes affecting the culture. Before Kane commences a new track, Little Punk's "Die," Evil puts the issue in the spotlight. "There's a whole new generation of actors going on-- now I don't feel that shit." Kane lays the tune as B commences his wit to dispel the notion of gangsterism within the Drum & Bass environment. "Ultra gangster, ultra gangster/ Every emcee has become ultra gangster/ The real gangsters, they think your all wankers."

Even as Evil takes the lyrical ability of the D&B emcee to a different level, he still maintains the important rave vibe throughout the entire set. Over Angel's "Gun," Evil entices the his audience to have a good time. "Never experienced things like this/ You can experience things like this/ A little bit of belief, you chief/ Come on, pick your face up/ No body's tying your lace up/ the world owes you shit/ you got to take what you want, like its a stick up." Even with his fresh, slowed-down style, Evil proves his ability to spit traditional D&B "militant tones," often displaying them in switch-offs with his other raps. In Chase & Status' "Music Club," Evil B rides the entire track with trigger quick lyrical bullets riddling into a dope James Bond melody.

Evil gets sentimental at one point of the podcast, which is extremely uncharacteristic for a hardcore dance music. Before the tune starts, he demonstrates his reservations about doing this track. "I didn't really want to take it to here, and I've been in two minds for doing exactly what I'm about to do. But I'ma send this one out... to all the Drum and Bass family," including close friends Billy S. and Ryan Walsh as well as Daddy Dread, who was lost tragically last year. Over High Contrasts' floaty "If We Ever," Evil is still able to maintain a rave vibe while unleashing the most uplifting lyrics I've ever heard in any dedication track:

"I know that your gone Dread, but this ain't goodbye/ I know you've elevated to the big rave in the sky/ We met a few times and for that I feel glad/ But here's a little secret why I don't feel sad/ Cause I'm sad for your fam and sad for your little man/ But, sometimes we follow the path of God's plans/ When I say Dread, I walk past and just smile/ Cause Dread's bought a ticket to the best rave in a while."

Beautiful. He connects the song and audience with a mantra any British bass-head will rock out to: "From the rave to the grave, I'll die a Junglist!" His ability to hold subject matter such as this in his tracks, while still appealing to the raver crowd, demonstrates Evil's ability to create something new in the instrumental dominant Drum & Bass formula. Following his "R.I.P. Fallen Soldiers" song he goes into another track with crafty shout-outs to other artists, showing his intimacy with the D&B scene.

Evil B's re-entry has ignited the scene with his new style. Perhaps this will allow the D&B artist to become a more dominant figure in the DJ/MC relationship. It further allows listeners like myself, who aren't overly engaged in the D&B scene, a chance to experience the art of emceeing in a different light. A light in which Hip-Hop or Grime cannot. With a fast rising fan base over the past year, Evil B is accelerating to the top, many of which are calling him the new #1. Whatever his reception within the scene, Evil should definitely be given credit for venturing into uncharted waters to reveal a new, ground breaking style. Within or outside D&B, Evil has elevated the meaning of what an emcee is capable of creating. He also breaks down the genre labeling which are attached to an emcee. Continued exposure to stylistic approaches like Evils may provide more cross-over collaborations of different rap genres. Such versatile applications to different types of urban music will unify the culture which is often segregated by style-specific principles within each genre. Check out the full set and track list from DNBA below. P.E.A.C.E.

* - denotes the transcription corrections offered by Evil B in response (see comments below).


Picture: MC Evil B.

01. Raa – Shy FX/Original Sin Remix – Digital Soundboy
02. Gettin There – Die & Break – Clear Skyz
>>> Trust Me – Reprazent – Talking Loud
03. Gun – Angel – 2 Dope
04. Music Club – Chase & Status – Ram
>> Hush Hush Tease
05. Special – Drumsound & Bassline Smith – Technique
06. Equinox – Taxman & Heist – Ganja
07. Frost Bite – Pleasure – Co-Lab
08. D For Danger – Original Sin – Playa’z
09. Little Punk – Die – Clear Skys
10. Watch The Skies – Bone Shaker/Heist Remix – Sudden Def
11. Will We Ever – High Contrast – Hospital
12. Line Dance – Vital Elements – V2E
13. Unbeatable Ninja – Zero G – XS Records
14. Flash Point – Die – Clear Skyz
15. Ohm – ? – ?
16. Killa’z Don’t Die – Hazard – Playa’z
17. Nitrous – Bad Company/Dillinja Remix – BC
18. Decibel – Original Sin – Playa’z
19. Swamp Thing – Sub Focus – Ram
20. Gold Dust – Fresh – Breakbeat Kaos

Partying in Pakistan

"A look at the underground youth scenes of Karachi, Pakistan."



Found this interesting. A VC2 producer gets a glimpse into the widespread effect of underground youth cultures popping up around the world. I especially liked the absolutely beautiful DJ Mad and her comments about the scene from her view. "It's only for kids who have been to raves, been to clubs, and have experienced the music and like it. It's not for the masses."

International attention is currently focused on the current state of Pakistan with unease. With negative media associations involving terrorism and conflict within the Muslim world, different perspectives on life and culture should be portrayed more often. Doing so will enable us make better informed decisions before acting upon attitudes and policy which can affect an entire nation of people. We may just realize we aren't so different from one another. P.E.A.C.E.


Picture: Rave in Egypt, 2008.

Dawn of a Union

Big ups Verbal, for finally making this happen. I would like to add a few things on top of your opening statement. First, I'm inclined to state that we're designing this forum to intentionally set itself apart from other hip-hop blogs, forums and other networks. Our aim is to focus on the universal qualities that make hip-hop so influential in people’s lives, the world over.

Although most recognize hip-hop culture as a vastly expanding, powerful phenomenon, most also regard it as a product of the popular music which grew out of 1970s NYC. Hip-hop was foremost, an incubating cultural movement before the music was even labeled so. Hip-hop culture came into being from the fusion of new artistic forms of expression taking place in the same moment of time and spatial interaction. These arts were expressed by a particular urban, underprivileged, minority-based youth who really didn't have another outlet. The graffiti artist -- the culture's visual expression, the b-boy -- the physical expression, the emcee -- the literary (poetics) and linguistic representation, and the DJ -- the musical representation are the core elements of hip-hop culture.

The fusion of these artistic mediums into a powerful sub-cultural movement would eventually have massive, global implications. The consequential social, economic and transnational cultural trends it would spark, has in my opinion, not occurred to this level since the artistic revolutionaries of the Italian Renaissance from the 14th-17th century. Forget Billie Holiday, this was the real Harlem Renaissance. By "renaissance" I'm not talking about something such as the revival of black arts as associated with the New-Negro Harlem movement, but far more encompassing; a shift in the understanding of our world through human expression. These art forms have evolved on their own right, driven by the hip-hop movement, to transcend racial, ethnic, religious, gender, political, socio and economic barriers and break them down to realize our true potential as creative individuals and communities alike.

Now, I'm not trying to make this a history lesson, as most of you taking part in this initiative will undoubtedly already know the origins. Our goal is to approach hip-hop at an academic level. I'm not talking about the study of the music and culture during your American Black Studies 101B class or whatever. Hip-hop has become universally appealing and accepted on a global level. Although there are perpetrators who would like to say hip-hop is only for “black culture” or should be “exclusive” to American society. Unfortunately, these people-- who often have great talent and contribution to the culture-- do not fully understand it. It's like saying the principles of the 18th century Enlightenment are to be understood and adopted only through the eyes of “white Europeans".

You must not blame these individuals for their perspective of what hip-hop is, their simply traditionalists who belong to a progressive culture. After all, if you’re an underprivileged black youth growing up in NYC during the 90s, then of course you’re going to believe hip-hop was made just for you. I'm not suggesting these perpetrators don't understand themselves or the communities who fostered them from within the culture. However, what I am saying is this: I'm a white, middle-class Californian. And hip-hop was made for me. And in the words of Jay-Z, "If you can't respect that, your whole perspective is wack."

That said, our emphasis for this new, innovative hip-hop environment is to promote the true ideals of the magic which brought hip-hop into our lives. Many will argue (even myself on occasion), that hip-hop has become so commercially diluted that it holds no identity of the founding principles of free expression. Furthermore, it's true those artistic ends have continued to progress so as to be removed from their original form. For example, breakdancing moves incorporated into contemporary art performances in modern dance are often seen as breaking from the culture.

These natural effects of a world-wide, mass cultural movement are expected and shouldn't suggest the culture is disintegrating. These branch-outs into other aspects of society should also be respected. I for one would be delighted to attend a ballet recital (with a pistol to my head), and see a manipulated form of pops and locks mixed in with spinning, pink tutus. The degradation of the music into a materialistic and commercial form has allowed formerly underprivileged, minority youths to capitalize on their situations and make something for themselves. Respect.

Now, obviously I'm not advocating this approach. I certainly do feel that the mainstream commercialization of hip-hop is in some way killing the culture I love, or at least hindering its potential as a mainstream music. This is based on the negative perceptions people outside the realm of hip-hop observe, so they naturally assume the entire culture is based on these corporate, profiting ideals (or the violent/misogynist propagations of the 1990s commercial rap scene).

The beautiful thing about the polarization of a unique and independent culture into the mainstream of society is its ever-blossoming underground movement. For every weak emcee broadcast on MTV preaching "bitches n' bling" with a little mic clipped on his collar, there's 10 more in basements around the world staying true to the culture by simply doing what they love. Those people are hip-hop. Those are the people we're trying to provide for, with a world-wide network for free expression, creativity and knowledge. So, for all those revolutionaries out there pursing your passion for hip-hop, in contrast to whatever social restrictions or perceptions people may label upon you, remember you’re a rebel in an elite culture. And your thoughts and input are always welcome here. Rebel Elite United. P.E.A.C.E.

Please see comment below for clarity on possibly misinterpreted remarks.

You know how we do. I mean, you probably don't know how we do, but you bout to find out..

Welcome to the club. Today marks the beginning of a unique, if bold endeavor.

The goal: bringing together like-minds from across the globe into a cyber-sphere of free thought and even freer expression. The subject? Hip-Hop. This site's intended for the education of anyone who lives and loves the music and the culture, from the dj to the b-boy, from the graffiti artist to fashion designer.

Over the coming months we expect this blog to evolve into a living document, a hip-hop encyclopedia devoted to defining and cataloging the ever changing world surrounding the music, the lifestyle, and the industry, documenting what hip-hop means to the people most invested. We want to find out how that meaning has evolved and still evolves as hip-hop leapfrogs from one continent to another, taking on new, fresh styles and spawning regional distinctions.

In the end, we hope to give advocates a destination where networking is not only possible, but viable. Let the project get underway!