flying Dragon Punch

Monster's Lib

2011-10-14T12:59:00.000-07:00

me and religion still at it. I'm excited for this record to drop

download here

2011-10-14T12:53:00.000-07:00

khingz and religion snippet

2011-04-29T21:56:00.000-07:00

I been bizzy here is a snippet of one of the songs me and my guy religion up in vancouver have been working on. We secretly knocced out a whole album of music from a different angle then you"ve seen from me yet. aiit checc us out

tour fun in Salt Lake City

2011-04-13T22:32:00.000-07:00

love this clever little mod of the KHINGZneedsGLASSES shirt. shout out to Ashley in Salt Lake...for being adorable.

oooo...and while we are shouting out folks: many thanks to Chase aka Street Jesus of Uprok Records for presenting that stop on the tour. we heart Uprok.

Khingz & Inkubiz tour teaser

2011-04-12T10:04:00.000-07:00

we found this great young man on the tour...a young talent by the name of Derek Johnson. he's studying at Brooks. we just love young talent. here's a clip from him with Khingz & Inkubiz at Santa Barbara's Fuzion:

Adventures in a Helluvastate

2011-03-19T14:02:00.000-07:00

these the homies mess wit em. i mess wit em heavy.

right here get that its free

inspiration

2010-12-12T10:26:00.000-08:00

so my musical inspiration comes from a lotta places these days and i get asked on what gets me going quite often. i can never really answer so im going to post things that that spark me a lil (and hopefully do more blog post). This is called paths of hate! i ran across this on hypebeast. I'm a tremendous animation fan and love comics so this was right up my alley. It's by polish director Damian Nenow and i cant wait to see the whole thing. so much narrtive in these first images but no explanation (i love that). any way peep more inspiration coming up!

PATHS OF HATE long trailer from Platige Image on Vimeo.

2010-12-11T18:16:00.000-08:00

Good Sin and TH my doods dope cut DL that joint here !!!

Khingz presents Khake & Khool-Aid

2010-11-26T00:00:00.000-08:00

mwwwuaaah ha haaaa.

ohai. this is kitty wu and this my first ever post on Flying Dragon Punch. since this is my inaugural creation at FDP let me take a minute to let you know what you can expect from my lil additions on this fine blog:

1. good music - i like it.

2. lowercase letters - i like them. Khingz said i can do what i want here, so humor me.

3. bragging on Khingz - i like him. he makes good music and he always tells me the truth. i like that.

4. bragging on our people - our people are cool, they make good music and do good things. i like to brag about them.

that's about it. *ahem* now for my first brag on:

KHINGZ PRESENTS KHAKE & KHOOL-AID

Khingz is a prolific music maker. he's always working on something. 2010 the focus has been the upcoming full-length album with Vitamin D called FILTH, his new group Hi-Life Soundsystem, and the (Fre)EP you are about to have in your happy hands.

Khake & Khool-Aid is my favorite Khingz album since Spaceships. i hope you enjoy as much as i am...get it here for FREEEEEE:

http://khingz.bandcamp.com/

hi_life and lyrics born!!

2010-10-21T12:08:00.001-07:00

IJWB PHYSICS

2010-08-31T02:31:00.001-07:00

God Like

2010-08-15T14:29:00.001-07:00

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://khingz.bandcamp.com/track/god-like"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;God Like by Khingz&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

This is God Like. I wrote this during wanna my low points this year. I left this off the Pho 99 along with the other more Edgar Allen Poeish cuts because i wanted pho 99 to be a celebration of summer's last hottest month. But it is important to be well rounded so here we are godlike. Listen enjoy and download.

No regrets the video!

2010-08-15T14:27:00.000-07:00

can't believe i never posted this. sluffer!

no regrets live!

2010-08-15T03:07:00.000-07:00

A cut i did with my homies up in Van. We performed t radio park in calgary it was dope here checc it!

no regretssicky from dirty south on Vimeo.

supercalifragalisticextrahellaDOPE!!

2010-08-10T17:33:00.000-07:00

SOTA - "Extrahelladope" (Official Music Video) from Stephan Gray on Vimeo.

Pho 99 mxtape!!!

2010-08-01T20:24:00.000-07:00

This is prelude to my upcoming ep Khake and Khool-aid. Which will be my only solo releas for 2010 (tho keep your eyes out for hi-life this fall).

download here

damn i have day dreams like this

2010-07-22T21:35:00.000-07:00

to be able to cut out that level of noise interference would be magical aww technology.

Digable planets in seattle

2010-07-21T17:34:00.001-07:00

You have no idea how excited for this show i am!!

get your advanced ticcets now!!

lemme share some of my favorite digable moments!

I know I'll see you there!

this is why i ride bmx

2010-07-14T02:29:00.000-07:00

you should to for defence

Post-It Mario

2010-07-14T01:34:00.000-07:00

Studio Ghibli’s PS3 Game

2010-07-14T00:48:00.000-07:00

this looks pretty cool from the makers of Spirited Away, Ponyo, and Princess Mononoke!

yep that dailybento!

for Gabe and all my veggie lovers. your cruel

2010-07-14T00:38:00.001-07:00

would you sex with these?

2010-07-14T00:34:00.001-07:00

again with the dailybento

big brother

2010-07-14T00:33:00.000-07:00

off that dailybento

Storm troopers day off

2010-07-14T00:29:00.000-07:00

from dailybento

2010-06-11T15:54:00.000-07:00

YES i am excited come on out people!!!

astro boy and freestyle

2010-05-24T19:15:00.000-07:00

Where is this shirt at!! I been searchin for years! This mite be the last time I actually saw it. Well its at least documented I loved Astro-boy before the mivie dropped SON!

Khingz from Chris Wiggles on Vimeo.

From Allegro Open mic, cir.2007

soompi.com geo interview

2010-05-21T07:05:00.000-07:00

a show 2maro and nice words from Larry

2010-05-20T18:49:00.000-07:00

Specs Wizard, Hi-Life Sound System, Waves of the Mind, Yirim Seck & LaRue

(Chop Suey) I've been a fan of NW hiphop for a while now. I remember when Khingz was Khalil Crisis of the Maroon Colony crew, and even then he was one of my favorite spitters in the whole of the '6—a vicious MC adept with punch lines and superior cadence. Since then, the Crisis has ended (no DC Comics), and Abyssinian Creole, his group with Gabriel Teodros, has seemingly come and gone, but Khingz still rules. His newest endeavor, with MC B-Flat and producer Crispy of the Godspeed crew, is called Hi-Life Sound System. While I'm a fan of Khingz's dope solo work, I do love hearing him in a group setting, and Hi-Life more than demonstrates why. LARRY MIZELL JR.

available now

2010-05-18T14:52:00.000-07:00

This is the email my guy sent me! I'm on 2 of these songs the album goes pretty hard. It's nice to see this beginning for a new producer good start homie!

here is the link to the new album that dropped today...http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/dont-look-back/id365846939...if you guys post them on your blogs and such that would be a real good look!

Album is also available at Sonic Boom, Wall of Sound, Silver Platter, Urbanity, Easy Street Records, most local record stores etc.....and through me!
Thanks....and please forward to anyone else that might be interested.

All of the support is greatly appreciated!

www.jacktherippermusic.com dropping later today!

Sincerely,
Jack

more birds!!!

2010-05-14T12:26:00.000-07:00

Air to a birds (amos miller and gabriel teodros, they made love work) have they're next show comin up for free peep!!!

Me and gabe in CT

2010-05-04T22:00:00.000-07:00

Man i am slow with updates huh? Sorry. Kinda. Love ya'll, this is just a quicc somthin somethin i did. We didn't actually have to picc up thee sat in new haven which was tite Thanx Alex!!! Post more if i find what i did with it all.

khingz and gabriel teodros the life we live ep 1 from khalil equiano on Vimeo.

this is me and gabe in our CT hotel and my observations on Hartford. simple and swift.

spring Classic

2010-04-29T12:35:00.000-07:00

here we go again!!!!!!!!!!!! This is gonna be dooooooooooooope!

here's a lil promo video for ya'll too

aaaaand the article !

Big World Breaks' House Music
The collective's upcoming spring jam is already a classic.
Comments (0) By Nick Feldman Wednesday, Apr 28 2010

Tucked into the basement of a house on the edge of Leschi's Frink Park, a recording studio serves as home to One Family Inc. Productions and its understated "house band" Big World Breaks. Whereas most bands have some sort of frontman, this one has a drumming director: Aaron Walker-Loud.

Introduced in 2001 to Seattle break-dance crew Massive Monkees while working with bands Iguales and The Flood, he was later surprised by an invitation to back up a series of break-dance battles and workshops at Bumbershoot in 2004. Meshing extensive jazz training and hip-hop influences, Walker-Loud involved the newly formed Big World Breaks with dancers, then singers and eventually rappers, acting as studio musicians and live concert instrumentalists for local artists from Blue Scholars and Gabriel Teodros to Helladope and Dyme Def. In 2009 they released their debut album, 4 Those Lost, which featured nearly 30 guest artists.

"There are always going to be different types of featured vocalists or dancers or DJs that rotate in or out, but Big World Breaks enjoys being the home base for helping our town enjoy each others' art," he said, "and creating a place where all the different followers from different neighborhoods and cultures join each other on neutral ground through the music."

Now employing a "rotating but tight-knit family" of musicians, Big World Breaks has been involved with large-scale concert collaborations since 2007. In 2009, its Summer and Winter Classic shows featured some of Seattle's best and brightest hip-hop artists. This Saturday's Spring Classic at Nectar Lounge includes longtime partners like Hi-Life Soundsystem and Spaceman, who hosted the first Classic. Helladope and Tiffany Wilson are newer additions, which Walker-Loud called "a long time coming."

"I try to weave together a presentation where the artists are rotating and the product is more of a collection of themes and moods that everyone weaves in and out of," says Walker-Loud. "It's good to see heavyweights in the town being more interactive."

Though combining MCs and backing bands has become more frequent in recent years, Walker-Loud is confident of the continuing potential of instrumental involvement in a continually evolving scene.

"Hip-hop was born out of people reinterpreting and re-envisioning musical tapestries to support new types of movement and new types of vocal work," he said. "There's a lot of potential for great hip-hop to happen when you blend live instruments with digital. The sky's the limit—it just depends on the way the culture moves."

nfeldman@seattleweekly.com

2010-04-28T15:24:00.001-07:00

most make my life worse. this makes it better.

Nam on aznraps.com

2010-04-27T23:34:00.000-07:00

courtesy of aznraps.com

cool out

2010-04-27T11:59:00.001-07:00

Top Left – Coolout (work in progress) from Scott Macklin on Vimeo.

peep specs galactus piece i'm orderin the good wood joint rite now!!

V-O-L-V-O

2010-04-22T11:07:00.000-07:00

Please don't die in this car. Less it's 80 years from now. Your the homie

SOTA release

2010-04-20T13:30:00.000-07:00

And hi-life's in the buildon!! this is gonna be fun come thru to pravda and kicc it with us.

that mudede shit He's ON IT!!

2010-04-09T17:46:00.000-07:00

lets be clear. NO where on here does geo or sabz say they are taking shots at us. That is mudede's interpretation. Media out lets in Seattle have a strange tendency to attempt to place different movements in our city's hip hop scene against each other. They did it with massline and sport n life. than mass line and dime def. and now its massline and the whole next crop of cats. Also No one is under any obligation to like ho we decide to get down. None of us need or look for blue scholar approval of our music. and very few of you give them yours.instead of making this into a beef situation lets recognize it for what it is. A journalist opinion of a song that he wrote up probably with out even consulting the people who made it. Also look at it this way. NO one in they're right or wrong mind would ever diss space, dyme def, cloud nice collective, thee sat and me in one song (except hans millionaire whose name doesn't even sound like real life) that's suicide. Lets not let our scene kill its self over little innuendos.

SOTA lisssssteeeeen

2010-04-07T16:54:00.000-07:00

hari's health plan!

2010-04-06T22:41:00.000-07:00

yep. still gonna use this health plan

No Regrets

2010-04-05T20:42:00.000-07:00

Hooked up with some homies up north! Conscience. We did a lil cut that i think came out nice. Lemme know what you think.

Conscience - No Regrets ft. Khingz, Lyndsay Johnston & Too Phat from Brandon Christensen on Vimeo.

cant fuccing wait!!!!

2010-04-05T02:04:00.000-07:00

Trunk (the remixes)

2010-03-26T00:36:00.000-07:00

Hopie Spitshard - Trunk (The Remixes) from Aris Jerome on Vimeo.

artist: Hopie Spitshard
2010

love this girl!!

2010-03-25T16:32:00.000-07:00

aiit this is proper i love soccer but that world cup shit was week to me. (mainly cuz i really love this song so don't fucc wit it.)

Look Alice

2010-03-22T20:01:00.000-07:00

these are my guys we kicced SOOOOO hard at SxSW this last week. i can tell thats fam for life! Here's to showing that Sac is more than bro. lynch hung (who i love tho so don't trip).

Delorean - Look Alice from PostIt Productions on Vimeo.

This is the official music video for Delorean's "Look Alice" track. Visuals inspired by the Alice In Wonderland theme. Shot in various locations in Los Angeles. Produced and Directed by Chris dela Cruz, Produced by Cynthia Quiles, Graphics/Special Effects by Richard Cabatic Edited by Chris dela Cruz Wardrobe by Glenda Mac Sound design by Soundz Mp3 Entertainment, LLC
Soon to be featured on Youtube's HotForWords.com Stay tuned for further announcement.

Hi-Life is Bacc

2010-03-22T00:32:00.000-07:00

BLAM!!! HLSS!!!!!!!!!!

Cool out 19 years preview

2010-03-20T05:13:00.000-07:00

Top Left – CoolOut from Scott Macklin on Vimeo.

For nearly 20 years, The Coolout Network has visually been the pulse through the body of Northwest Hip Hop, capturing the areas coolest moments through the eyes of director Georgio Brown. The time is now for that pulse of Northwest Hip Hop to make its way through the body of the hip hop world.

Directed by Georgio Brown and Scott Macklin

sxsw 2nd day

2010-03-19T17:17:00.000-07:00

oh the shit i been into. shout out baby girl with the homemade waffles i'm sorry but i'm not sorry i can't love you like you want me too. anyway. i will do a full recap some other time as i have lil blog energy rite now (tho i proly wont do it) but safe to say its been crazy! Hi-Lite of my trip so far has been the excellent Detroit showcase headed by Slum Ville and Black Milk. Even tho it was really just T3 it was dope!! Realy the freshest part was how talented Detroit is after i get home and sift thru all the music i got or bought that nite i will post for each person that blew me away starting with Maeday. thanx motor city so inspiring.

I end this transmission with an interview i did of Mister F.A.B. my first day here. aiiiit enjoi!

(and my interviews are smarter holla!!)

sxsw 1st day

2010-03-17T19:27:00.000-07:00

damn well what to say. So far so good i have walked up and down sixth street and met interesting characters a plenty. the thing that trips me out the most is how many Seattle cats there are. I have run into maclemore, sabzi, kaream, jfk, geo, t'wan(911 arts) grieves, and gonna meet up with dj b-girl and theylive ina sec. then just from the northwest (and southwest Canada) kool nuts, animal farm, dehli 2 dublin (best friends with some of my best friends in the 604), serg severe, mic crenshaw, erik gable (focus noise) and then from other spots eternia, invincible, shawn crystopher the homie narsi from montreal and hella random canadians. its fun but i wish gabe was here. aiit now on to my first night!

New Porch Jams Feat. GT

2010-03-15T00:40:00.000-07:00

and i got a cameo. i'ma ask them to do me a video like this. enjoi

porch jams ep 3

by the way amos your a buster for not lettin me embed the video.

Creative Control

2010-03-12T13:32:00.000-08:00

Word up some of my favorite shit is on this site!! They do most my guys curren$y's video (sorry tho homie i voted for d.blac like 6 times) and a bunch of other wild stuff very inspireing. here's they're site and a video about the blac ra-scion Stalley.

SOTA boys

2010-03-12T12:05:00.001-08:00

these are some of the homies i mess with i the town. Quite ia kept we are all slowly organically forming a a cross coalition of hip hop geniuses (hi-life, hella dope and SOTA especially)! Here's a vid they shot down in long beach that makes me miss the mid 90's when LA was on top of the game. MAAn i miss Dove shacc.

dear sony part 1

2010-03-09T15:23:00.000-08:00

go head homie!!

illDocc

2010-03-06T01:24:00.000-08:00

hypnotical,folicals,umbelical,miracle,metaphysical,theoretical,medical,genitals!! jejejejejeje!!! thats funny but real talk on this one made me feel better about life.

Black Weido tour

2010-03-03T15:36:00.000-08:00

YEA!!! this is what Seattle needs to do! All of us!! yes you who doesn't rap or sing or whatever GO ON TOUR!! I'm excited about this not the least of which is cuz i will be assisting in some of the east coast shows!! Gyeah!!

BAAAAAM

2010-03-03T15:09:00.000-08:00

you these 2 are some of my favorite folks in th eworld! both have held me down thru tuff times mnore than once! Me and Gabe performed at the bookstore one time to so please support the effort to hold on to it (not sure how outta towners can but i will find out). It was funny there was this real hipster ass black dude that was kind smug until we spit and then he hella fanned out. haha enjoy

Bambu: Slow Down (with Prometheus Brown of Blue Scholars) from Beatrock Music on Vimeo.

Slow Down (with Prometheus Brown of Blue Scholars) produced by MTK

Beatrock Music presents the first official single off the ...paper cuts... EP, Slow Down, featuring Prometheus Brown of Duck Down Records' Seattle duo, Blue Scholars. The EP also features guest appearances from Chace Infinite of Self Scientific, Diz Gibran, Thurzday of U-N-I and Malcolm & Martin. Pick up the digital copy on iTunes or look for the hard copy sold exclusively at an independent / "Mom & Pop" store near you.

www.bambu.la
www.beatrockmusic.com

Directed by: Luis Ivan Garcia
Cinematography by: Anthony Ignacio
Edited by: Joel Buenavista

also go to bambu's blog and checc out his break down for each song pretty fresh i'ma do that for my next ep. Khake & Khool Aid!

address

2010-03-03T15:07:00.000-08:00

CURREN$Y + STALLEY: ADDRESS from Creative Control on Vimeo.

Ain't nuthin' changed but the address.

Directed and produced by: Creativecontrol.tv

I wanna go home

been a minute

2010-03-03T15:01:00.001-08:00

i been so bizzy this year so far so blogging is suffering. Got stuff comin up in the next couple lost of shows in the northwest and east coast. first up tho is Olympia with Zion I and blue scholars and GAAAAABE!!!!! plus more stuff i wil holler about in a minute first i wanna post VIDEOS!

happy massacree!!

2010-02-14T12:24:00.000-08:00

jk. yea everyone disses valentines day which I understand I used to as well. BUT!!!! It really is the only holiday about love. It's corny half hearted unrevolutionary love (which is more lust and not love at all) , but i still believe!!! Yep like the saxophone guy from the lost boys (movie not rap group). So in the spirit of that belief i do something special every V-day for the folk I love. This year i had so much planned with free downloads and exclusive songs but it just didn't work out. No excuses but the beginning of this year was rough indeed. So i still gotta lil treat tho.This was debuted on cool out a week a go but most folk missed it so here it is readily available for the first time BLAQ HAN SOLO!
shout to Wes Goodlife and KissKissGoodnight. Shout to Mel from the bay for pretending to be my girl friend and saving me from Barry and Ryan. shout to Barry and Ryan for jumping Mel and me. Last but not least Kitty Wu for helping all this to happen!!
BOOM enjoy

Khingz -Blaq Han Solo from Wes Goodlife on Vimeo.

Khingz
Blaq Han Solo
From Slaveships to Spaceships
Dir: Wes Goodlife

www.khingz.com
www.kisskissgoodnight.com

Support the homies

2010-02-11T20:43:00.000-08:00

i heart this pic

2010-02-10T15:02:00.000-08:00

almost all my worlds in one.

"slow down" BTS

2010-02-06T12:40:00.000-08:00

from my homegirl's Chera's baby's dad and Roccy Rivera's baby dad do some baby daddy's unite to beat up gentrifiers battle raps. This video is gonna be fuccin dope!

Bambu - "Slow Down" Video Behind The Scenes - by Tadashi Nakamura from Beatrock Music on Vimeo.

Video shoot for "Slow Down" by Bambu featuring Geologic of Blue Scholars. This track is off of Bambu's new EP titled "Paper Cuts" which will be released on Beatrock Music on February 23, 2010. Filmed at IMIX Bookstore in Eagle Rock, CA. For more info visit www.bambu.la or www.beatrockmusic.com

Shot & cut by Tadashi Nakamura
www.tadashinakamura.com
www.massmovementtv.com

Bad Brains

2010-02-06T03:30:00.000-08:00

one of my influences

Thank You So Much

2010-02-05T03:06:00.000-08:00

YOOO tonite was sooo bugged out i wanna thank everyone that came out and helped us sell out Neumos we raised lotsa money and had a great time. personally i can't even begin to say what this means to ma. Haiti is so important to me and i have felt so broken. It was wonderful to see so many support. Thanx and much love to Sol my brotha for putting in so much work sleep in homie you deserve it. I'ma leave you wit Migiity Mos Def at another benefit speaking on why this is important beyond just relief effort. He sums up my feelings well. goodnite pax populi.

Mos Def Speaks On Haiti Live @ The Independent - 2/3/2010 from AlwaysHustle.com on Vimeo.

Mos Def takes a second to speak on a very real problem that was going on before the quake in Haiti. The show raised money for a Haiti relief fund and once it got started was actually pretty entertaining.

Bambu's EPK

2010-02-03T02:10:00.000-08:00

GO head BAAAAM!!

the bridge

2010-01-25T15:11:00.000-08:00

AAAAAAHHH I miss the BAY!!
NEWAYZ. this is my good homie DoDat and his homie Melina Jones on some real gangster shit from Town to City and bacc again. Loved it!!

"The Bridge" Do D.A.T. ft. Melina Jones from FreshVibe Media ® on Vimeo.

Daicon IV

2010-01-25T15:03:00.000-08:00

Lemme geek out for a second (or my whole life whatever) ran across this animation the other day. I believe they used it as the opening to an anime film fes. in the 80's but not sure. What i do now is that daicon (aye kinda raddish) is the old name of the studio that did evangelion (Gainex)!!!! Crazy rite!! (If your an Otaku). Anyway enjoy.

PS. i obviously have some problems with the female portrayal in this.

Feb 4th video

2010-01-24T23:13:00.000-08:00

Relief Show Feb 4th. Nuemos

2010-01-21T13:02:00.001-08:00

eduardo galeano THE WHITE CURSE

2010-01-19T18:51:00.000-08:00

Galeano was pretty formative in my development as a person i mention him on my Spaceships. Read em he's dope. This is an article he wrote bacc when Aristide was ousted the second time. I hadn't come across it before. It illustrates a point how Haiti has continually been punished for daring to be free. It was sent to me as one of the infinity lessons from 206Zulu.

The White Curse [Haiti]

by Eduardo Galeano

The Progressive magazine, June 2004

On the first day of his year, freedom in this world turned 200. But no one noticed, or almost no one. A few days later, the country where this birth occurred, Haiti, found itself in the media spotlight, not for the anniversary of universal freedom but for the ouster of President Aristide.

Haiti was the first country to abolish slavery. However, the most widely read encyclopedias and almost all educational textbooks attribute this honorable deed to England. It is true that one fine day the empire that had been the champion in the slave trade changed its mind about it. But abolition in Britain took place in 1807, three years after the Haitian revolution, and it was so unconvincing that in 1832 Britain had to ban slavery again.

There is nothing new about this slight of Haiti. For two centuries it has suffered scorn and punishment. Thomas Jefferson, a slave owner and champion of liberty at the same time, warned that Haiti had created a bad example and argued it was necessary to "confine the plague to the island." His country heeded him. It was sixty years before the U.S. granted diplomatic recognition to this freest of nations. Meanwhile in Brazil disorder and violence came to be called "Haitianism." Slave owners there were saved from this fury until 1888 when Brazil abolished slavery-the last country in the world to do so.

And Haiti went back to being an invisible nation-until the next bloodbath. During its brief sojourn on TV screens and front pages earlier this year, the media showed confusion and violence and confirmed that Haitians were born to do evil well and do good badly. Since its revolution, Haiti has been capable only of mounting tragedies. Once a happy and prosperous colony, it is now the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.

Revolutions, certain specialists have concluded, lead straight to the abyss; others have suggested, if not stated outright, that the Haitian tendency to fratricide derives from its savage African heredity. The rule of the ancestors. The black curse that engenders crime and chaos.

Of the white curse, nothing was said.

The French revolution had abolished slavery, but Napoleon revived it.

"Which regime was most prosperous for the colonies?"

"The previous one."

"Then reinstate it."

To reinstate slavery in Haiti, France sent more than fifty shiploads of soldiers. The country's blacks rose up and defeated France and won national independence and freedom for the slaves. In 1804, they inherited a land that had been razed to grow sugarcane and a land consumed by the conflagrations of a fierce civil war. And they inherited "the French debt." France made Haiti pay dearly for the humiliation it inflicted on Napoleon Bonaparte. The newly born nation had to commit to pay a gigantic indemnification for the damage it had caused in winning its freedom. This expiation of the sin of freedom would cost Haiti 150 million gold francs.

The new country was born with a rope wrapped tightly around its neck: the equivalent of $21.7 billion in today's dollars, or forty-four times Haiti's current yearly budget.

In exchange for this fortune, France officially recognized the new nation. No other countries did so. Haiti was born condemned to solitude.

Not even Simon Bolivar recognized Haiti, though he owed it everything. In 1816, it was Haiti that furnished Bolivar with boats, arms, and soldiers when he showed up on the island defeated and asking for shelter and help.

Haiti gave him everything with only one condition: that he free the slaves-an idea that had not occurred to him until then. The great man triumphed in his war of independence and showed his gratitude by sending a sword as a gift to Port-au-Prince. Of recognition he made no mention.

In 1915, the Marines landed in Haiti. They stayed nineteen years. The first thing they did was occupy the customs house and . duty collection facilities. The occupying army suspended the salary of the Haitian president until he agreed to sign off on the liquidation of the Bank of the Nation, which became a branch of City Bank of New York. The president and other blacks were barred entry into the private hotels, restaurants, and clubs of the foreign occupying power. The occupiers didn't dare reestablish slavery, but they did impose forced labor for the building of public works. And they killed a lot of people. It wasn't easy to quell the fires of resistance.

The guerrilla chief, Charlemagne Peralte, was exhibited in the public square, crucified on a door to teach the people a lesson.

This civilizing mission ended in 1934. The occupiers withdrew, leaving a National Guard, which they had created, in their place to exterminate any possible trace of democracy. They did the same in the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. A short time afterwards, Duvalier became the Haitian equivalent of Trujillo and Somoza.

And so, from dictator to dictator, from promise to betrayal, one misfortune followed another.

Aristide, the rebel priest, became president in 1991. He lasted a few months before the U.S. government helped to oust him, brought him to the United States, subjected him to Washington's treatment, and then sent him back a few years later, in the arms of Marines, to resume his post. Then once again, in 2004, the U.S. helped to remove him from power, and yet again there was killing. And yet again the Marines came back, as they always seem to, like the flu.

But the international experts are far more destructive than invading troops. Placed under strict orders from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, Haiti obeyed every instruction, without cheating. The government paid what it was told to even if it meant there would be neither bread nor salt. Its credit was frozen despite the fact that the state had been dismantled and the subsidies and tariffs that had protected national production had been eliminated. Rice farmers, once the majority, soon became beggars or boat people. Many have ended in the depths of the Caribbean, and more are following them to the bottom, only these shipwreck victims aren't Cuban so their plight never makes the papers.

Today Haiti imports its rice from the United States, where international experts, who are rather distracted people, forgot to prohibit tariffs and subsidies to protect national production.

On the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, there is a large sign that reads: Road to Ruin.

Down that road, everyone is a sculptor. Haitians have the habit of collecting tin cans and scrap metal that they cut and shape and hammer with old-world mastery, creating marvels that are sold in the street markets.

Haiti is a country that has been thrown away, as an eternal punishment of its dignity. There it lies, like scrap metal. It awaits the hands of its people.

--
206 Zulu - Universal Zulu Nation Seattle
www.206Zulu.com
www.ZuluNation.com

Help for Haiti: UW students offer assistance to quake victims through fundraisers, donations

2010-01-19T11:21:00.000-08:00

go hed Sol.

By Kristen Steenbeeke
January 19, 2010

Junior Sol Moravia-Rosenberg was sitting in class when he got a text message about the earthquake in Haiti. He had no idea how big it was, but what he did know was that his family was there — most in the heart of Port au Prince, Haiti, where the quake struck the hardest.

At first, he didn’t know much. All communication was down in Haiti, and it was difficult to get information. However, soon after he received the text, his brother — who is a member of a close-knit Haitian-American community — called him from New York to explain the dire circumstances of the situation.

“I was really worried about family,” Moravia-Rosenberg said. “I didn’t even want to turn on the news. I didn’t read anything. I didn’t even want to watch CNN. And the next day, in the morning, all the media and news reporters were finally there, and there were all these really graphic images. Some of the statistics started to come in; I was overwhelmed, and at that point, it hit me, and I was really emotional.”

This intense personal response to the situation stirred something in him, and after a conversation with his mother, he decided to plan a benefit show to support the victims in Haiti.

And, though he soon found out that, despite several collapsed houses, all his close family members survived the quake, this comfort didn’t stop his concern.

“At that point, it’s really just worrying about my countrymen and about the people and the future of the country, ” Moravia-Rosenberg said. “It’s a whole generation and a whole history that was really rocked in a matter of minutes.”

After the initial shock of the quake wore off, he had a meeting with several friends to plan the logistics. They booked Neumos for Feb. 4; the show will include many well-known local artists, such as SOL himself (Moravia-Rosenberg’s stage name), Dyno Jamz, The Physics, DJ Pryme, Common Market, and a break crew called Flying Sneakers. Khingz, another local artist and Haitian-American, will host the event.

In order to get the show going, Moravia-Rosenberg collaborated with Jaleesa Trapp, president of R.E.T.R.O.(an open-mic show run at the Ethnic Cultural Center), and Kayla Huddleston, director of the Black Student Commission. Though they don’t have personal connections to those in Haiti, the spirit of service and empathy is more present than ever.

“It’s different for me because, being African-American, I don’t know where my family is from,” Trapp said. “I feel for all people, no matter where they’re from. People in Haiti — they look like they could be my cousins.”

Along with the benefit concert, those at R.E.T.R.O. are helping to staff the Red Cross booth, which is run by the American Red Cross Club at the UW and set to collect donations from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 pm., today through Friday, in Red Square and on the HUB lawn. As of last Friday’s count, $472.13 has been raised from donations.

“All of us feel really drawn to it,” said Red Cross Club President Jane Lee. “I think a lot of people have just been really touched by what’s happening and really horrified at the devastation.”

While the majority of these people don’t have close ties to Haiti, several have expressed an intimate connection to the situation.

“Some people have been just emptying out their wallets,” Lee said. “We’ve also had people come up to the donation booth saying, ‘I’m from Haiti, and this issue means a lot to me,’ so they’ve been wanting to help out at the booth.”

Moravia-Rosenberg says it’s Haitian pride that keeps him going.

“Being Haitian is something I’ve taken with me every day of my life,” he said. “It’s something I’m very proud of … If anyone can survive something like this, it’s Haitians. The Haitian revolution was inspiring to people all over the world — from Nelson Mandela to Martin Luther King. It’s super important that it comes full circle, and hopefully Haiti can inspire us to reach out when it really hasn’t gotten very much love since the Haitian independence.”

Reach reporter Kristen Steenbeeke at news@dailyuw.com.

Fallin' Bacc On

2010-01-16T13:45:00.000-08:00

It was touch and go for a minute. No lie... I wanna apologize to my brotha for stressin him out so deeply ( my bad gabe), but the emails were appreciated. To recap for those not knowin' i got some tremendously bad news related to the recent tectonic activity in Haiti. And quite honestly i lost my mind. I suffered a mild quite and rather intimate nervous break down while trying to separate myself from the feelings I was being drowned in. It felt like being in a sense deprivation chamber that was built around a 13 century racc. Like being stretched to far in the dark. Yea like i said i lost it. and I'm a lil ashamed of it. I became altogether useless for people in greater and more dire situations than myself. I promise i do not react that way in a gunfight. But it's ok cuz i'm bacc. I'm me (just not as much of me as there was before) and I'm ready to work. I will be returning to Seattle for many reasons not the least of which is a benefit show organized by Sol for our cousins bacc home. It will be Feb 4th @ Nuemos, and I urge everyone that can to come out and show your support not for us but for a nation who has been continually punished for the audacity to fight for freedom. Much love thanx for reading hope to see you soon.

Magnitude 7 earthquake Breaks My Life

2010-01-13T12:27:00.001-08:00

For a number of reasons i can't even make clear on this blog this recent earthquake in Haiti has broken my heart. I have been sitting around for the last 24 hours or so thinking obsessing over what to do, how to proceed ., what to fel. I got nothing I spent all last night in the shower begging for numbness. just standing there hoping the cold water would freeze me or disconnect my nervous system or something. I just honestly don't want to feel any of this anymore. My once vaunted skills at logical reasoning that pull me and many others outta near madness inducing situations like this are a failure. I got nothing in me but this crushing super gravity. This weight that gets heavyier while i wait for news, and then finnaly over comes what ever i had the strength to handle when the news finnaly comes. They're gone. All of them. Thats it. You officialy have no where else to belong to. Happy new year

Ahhhh finallythe future

2010-01-01T14:36:00.000-08:00

20X is here and I'm excited. 2009 was very trying for many people and while there where lil disappointments i look bacc on that year as a full fledged victory and am anxious to continue that trend so I'm posting my new years resolutions right here for the universe to bear witness.

first to release lots of free music.
I gotta bunch of EP and mxtape ideas that i wanna bring to fruition this year. i doubt I'll drop a full length solo record this year but i will make my presence known thru consistent quality releases for FREE! Plus we will be droppin the Hi-Life album and I'ma get my guy Nam bacc out there.

Let Go and Let Love. this mantra is what made 2009 so fulfilling for me and I'ma rocc with this some more. I came up with this after a ruff break up where i really took to heart the statement that G-D is love and that you should let go and let G-D.

TOUR- BOOM that's the big one. If you aint gettin on the road then this isn't your job its your side hustle. Plus i fiend for new experience. I'm at least hittin this whole country but japan is always on the table it's time for me to materialize these blessings that been waitin on me.

Inspire. I really wanna inspire my homies to go for theirs super hard this year. One of the reasons I haven't wanted to live in the city is because i get surrounded by dope artist that arn't pushing them selves to reach they're full potential. Look I love Geo an Sabz but I'm tired of folk thinking that they ARE town music. It's not their fault tho' it's ours for not trying harder to reach beyond the city limits when expanding our music audience. So part of this year I'm pushin everyone to get the fucc outta here and put in work!

That's me this year if you wanna roll like that lets roll together if you can't just don't lay in the road.

pax rex

THE REVIVAL

2009-12-30T00:18:00.000-08:00

soul food rite here. i made this apart of me. thank ya'll for making this and doing what you do.

THE REVIVAL from EMERGENCE Media on Vimeo.

new millinium falcon

2009-12-28T01:17:00.000-08:00

Sooooooooooooooooooo what a day, what a day, what a day! Well got the first (well not really) video shoot of my very own (again not really that was cloud city) with the hilarious Mr. Wes Goodlife under my belt. It was crazy, frustrating, funny,enlightining and i learned a lot. I wanna thank everyone who was involved. Of course Wes Goodlife of KissKissGoodnight prod. Kitty wu (my manager) Mel Carne who flew up from the bay and played down brown leah, Ryan and B-flat for jumpin me and lettin Mel and I beat them up. the City of Seattle (ID, Seattle Center and the north end). Much love and i aint takin my shirt off for NOBODY!!

the filth part 2

2009-12-26T16:49:00.000-08:00

cloud city

2009-12-26T12:03:00.000-08:00

this is off my blaq han solo themed ep (which had 10 songs) Cold Hearted in Cloud City. Dir. by Wes Goodlife of KissKissGoodnight prod. enjoy

Khingz- Cloud City from Wes Goodlife on Vimeo.

Shot on a HV30 and edited with Final Cut Pro, for Kiss Kiss GoodNight Films

Khingz
Cloud City
Cold Hearted in Cloud City
Dir: Wes Goodlife

bout time

2009-12-23T22:46:00.000-08:00

please enjoy this sublime dedication to the place that raised me.

my brotha daichi!!

2009-12-23T02:03:00.000-08:00

how the fucc did i not know about this???!! Daichi is one of my best friends and and I gave the toast at T-bone steaks wedding. I was in cali when this dropped but damn I was slippin! I hella mis these dudes they both moved bacc to japan and left a lil whole in me that wont be filled til i get out there and see them. any way here's the video to fight lullaby off T-bones latest album. (which I'm also on how did i not know about this).

my lil devil!!

2009-12-22T00:09:00.000-08:00

kitty wu got one so now so do I!! see it's a compatition hahaha!!!
This is my article off of eldiablito.com. re-copyed in it's entirety. Shout out to the homie Senyor Cullera for writing an article that makes me sound interesting. much appreciated!! Best christmas ever. haha. NOW READ!

From the Maroon Colony to solo debut Mi Vida Negra through his contributions through Absynnian Creole (nee Ab-Knights), on to his latest opus, From Slaveships to Spaceships; the Dominicano/Haitian rapper, Khingz has been pushing forward with artistry and intelligence to places rarely breached by people with such talent and delivery.

While many people would agree with the cause and beliefs of Khingz, formerly Khalil Crisis (Born Khalil Equiano), the majority of those rappers/singers/activists which take up the social causes which Khingz espouses are not nearly as talented; nor do they have an interesting a story. Whether it was when his ancestors were brought over as human chattel to work on the island of Hispaniola or when his family came to the United States, struggle has never been something to set them back. Khingz still fights back against the effect of colonization and slavery. Although not physically in chains, the battle is now in mind and spirit.

As Khingz explains it, the challenge is now to overcome the mentality brought about as the Europeans “taught us we where in no way equal to those who oppressed us.” Just as the people in Mexico are proud to represent La Raza, Khingz is quick to represent his culture proudly, teaching his fellows that theirs is just as valuable and vibrant as any other.

Bespectacled, and polite with a smile, Equiano does not carry himself with the stereotypical angry revolutionary ways. Instead he is focused on empowerment along with finding ways to overcome “the legacy of poverty and disempowerment that comes with having the resources of your people taken away.” Such has not always been a positive effort, when Khalil had not yet earned his crown.

“As a youth my self hate was aimed outward to other folks (who looked just like me but wore a different color or lived on the other side of town) and in some ways violence against them was violence against myself which didn't bother me because I hated my self.”

As he grew in time, Equiano realized that behaving in such ways was counter-productive. He formed the hip-hop crew Maroon Colony and turned his rage in other ways. He became one of the most accomplished and recognized battle MCs this side of Alpha P. Facing down nationwide competition in the Brainstorm Battle, Khalil was the first champion of the esteemed event.

Through forming Absynnian Creole with Ethiopian-American spoken word artist/hip-hop poet Gabriel Teodros, Khingz was able to round out his game. Being able to meld well with the South Seattle neighborhoods of his upbringing, the Latin roots and power and soul of his African ancestry has turned Khingz into a dynamo. While some artists would be proud to be classified as being similar to another pop radio entity, Khingz proudly displays who he is; an original.

To borrow a turn-of-phrase from collaborator Teodros, Khingz is a “cultural chameleon” who can be successful in many different arenas of urban music because he is authentic while still not allowing himself to settle for the status quo. Indeed, we have seen him (and his people) grow up from Slaveships to Spaceships; Khingz is headed to another level of invention that Gene Roddenberry never imagined.

Khingz.com

Por Lo Senyor Cullera

Go see Khingz this Christmas Night as he rocks the party with Santa Claus at Seattle Hip-Hop monthly, The Corner.

*SANTA CLAUS
*KHINGZ
*ORBITRON
*JARV DEE (W/B.A.Y.B. & CLOUDNICE)
*DJ NANINO

THE RENDEZVOUS
2322 2ND AVE(BELLTOWN)

21+ $5 10P
myspace.com/thecorner206
facebook.com/joe corner

HI-Life Sound System

2009-12-21T20:59:00.000-08:00

Me and the mad geniuses behind GodSpeed have created a group called HI_life sound sytem (or just Hi-Life) we had our debut with Big World breaks last Friday. it was some epic shit look foward to us releasing a dope album in 2010!! here's a clip from our first time roccin at the nectar. shout out to my homeboy Nam i just made a couple million wit!! hahaha!! much fun.

just relized i spent half this clip jumpin around in the crowd.

Tribal music!!

2009-12-15T13:38:00.000-08:00

Aiit these cats where my main main main influence!! that do the math was the reason i really thought i could do some rappin in seattle. 14 fathoms was dope but this really dialed into me.

Boot camp Clicc

2009-12-15T13:32:00.000-08:00

Aiiit these guys where my main eastcoast influence. it started wit the shining by smiff and wesson (one of my favorite records of all time) but then i went bacc to black moon and stayed up on everything they did till this day. still a huge fan!!! while lynch and kurupt influenced my cadence (and subject matter to be honest) these guys had flows and had hella fun doing it. made me wanna be in a group.

bro lynch

2009-12-15T13:30:00.001-08:00

another influence on me style wise. Look i'm from the south end and you aint grow up in the end in the 90's and NOT fucc with this. season of the sicc was the sound tracc to every summer for a minute!!!

that kuruption!!

2009-12-15T13:25:00.000-08:00

ok so wanna the biggest influences on my style was all ways kurupt the kingpen. ever since lyrical gang bang and niggaz and bitches i thought dude was raw. I obviously grew into my own flow and continue to evolve it but you can still hear that cat in me when i get to frre stylin to this day.

Macclemor x Ryan Lewis VS EP

2009-12-15T10:35:00.000-08:00

do yourself a mighty favor and get this!!!!!

get it here

kitty wu eldiablito interview

2009-12-15T00:21:00.000-08:00

So kitty wu didnt wanna post this cuz she thought it would be weird to post it her self. so here it is.

Kitty, Kitty Wu!!! Who are you?
Written by Senyor Cullera

Judi Rafaela “Kitty Wu” Martínez, the bubbly and cute-as-a-button face of the Coolout Network will be turning 21 this coming week (we tease, but it would be wrong to reveal a lady’s age), so we decided to get to know the hija de Zacatecas a little bit more. As of late she, along with Coolout collaborator and fellow NW luminary Georgio Brown, has been focusing on a documentary film of 30 years of NW area Hip-Hop music and culture. She’s no one-trick-pony though. She can strut and chew gum at the same time; while also running things in the leadership of the 206 Zulu and Managing Accounts with Devastator Management. As told to Lo Senyor:

What was your “oh shit! Welcome to the industry” moment?
[D]riving up to Bellingham to hear Chuck D speak at the college up there and out of the blue there is a blizzard and our VJ cancels. Georgio looks at me and says, ‘You gotta do it.’ I am looking at him like he is crazy. This is Chuck D of Public Enemy, you know? I was terrified. I remember shaking my head and just repeating no when Chuck D comes over all calm and says something to the affect of ‘it's gonna be good, we'll get through it,’ and of course we did (no thanks to my great interviewing skills). I learned real quick that in this medium it is all about the eye and the edit.

How did you fall in love with Hip-Hop?
When I fell in love with Hip-Hop I had no idea it was Hip-Hop. To me it was dance music. My girlfriends and I would sneak out and drive….to this club in the U District called the Underground. Donald Glaude and Randy Schlager would be spinning things like "It Takes Two" by Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock, "I'll House You" by the Jungle Brothers and "Paid in Full" by Eric B & Rakim, that type of thing.

And Seattle Rap?
My besty Michelle had a tape that our guy Todd Krake had made. The last song on the tape was "Squaredance Rap" with that crazy voice that Mix was using on that
track. I think we must have rewound and listened to that song 10x before we got out of the car. I just remember thinking...who is THIS guy...this sounds like nothing I have ever heard in my life.

What is it like for your children to grow up with a ‘Cool Mom?’
Good question. Mi hijos have differing views on whether or not their mom is cool. My oldest child and my middle child both work with me for our all-ages programming for 206 Zulu. They have grown up immersed in a love for the culture. Now, my youngest is very much into rock. The only time I am cool to him is during Bumbershoot. This year one of his favorite groups, Modest Mouse was performing on my stage. The look on his face that day after seeing them is one of my favorite memories. One weekend a year I get
to be cool in his book, other than that I am just Mom.

If (INSERT SONG TITLE HERE) is not played at my birthday party at Nectar, my night will not be complete!!!
"Blaq Han Solo" by Khingz!!!

Kitty’s Birthday Party will be a lovely, lovely event. Please feel free to buy her favorite drink, a Champurrado, for her and enjoy the jams as everyone parties with the most talented DJs the NW has to offer.

Sunday Dec 20th FREE @ 8pm

Nectar Lounge
412 N 36th St
Seattle, WA 98103
(206) 632-2020
www.nectarlounge.com

For Coolout’s Coverage of the history of 206 Zulu, please don’t neglect yourself; visit:

http://vimeo.com/4664125 (part 1)
http://vimeo.com/4649381 (part 2)

Devastator Management Group
khingz.com & shabazzpalaces.com

!!GO MACHINE!!!!!

2009-12-14T23:41:00.000-08:00

if you where in seattle and no showed to this.... you fucced your self.

Cloud city ATS

2009-12-14T23:17:00.001-08:00

lil somethin from after the shoot for cloud city by wes goodlife of kisskissgoodnight prod.

cloud city the making of feat. Wes Goodlife from khalil equiano on Vimeo.

quicc lil wsup after we finished the shoot for the video for Cloud City the intro to my last ep.

2009-12-04T18:18:00.000-08:00

Look strait up, I don't like how mudede writes and that's the truth (to much self aggrandizement and not enough focus on the actual music). Though I must admit I agree with more of this article then any other he has ever written. My guys from HellaDope are just that and I'm happy they got a positive write up it's been long over do. so with out further delay direct from the pages of a blog you could read yourself(the stranger ) HellaDope by charles Mudede

Rocket Science Diction Seattle Hiphoppers Helladope's Space Race to Planet Rock

If I were to rate the 20 best local hiphop albums of all time, 25 to 30 percent of the music on that list would come from 2009 alone. Since Dyme Def opened the year with the Panic EP, there has been a deluge of remarkable recordings by a wild variety of rappers and producers. Indeed, there is so much good music coming out that it's hard to keep up with it. These days, it goes like this for Seattle hiphop fans: While enjoying and trying to fully absorb a new recording by some young cat or established veteran, a newer and equally interesting recording drops. For example, on the day before Thanksgiving, I received THEESatisfaction's latest, "Icing," a gem of a tune produced by OC Notes in his Pioneer Square studio. But the day before receiving "Icing," I was listening to Helladope's Return to Planet Rock and trying to come to terms with yet another contender for the best local hiphop recording of the year. When it rains, it pours.

Helladope are a rapper/producer duo from Blue Scholars' land, Beacon Hill. Consisting of 29-year-old rapper Jerm and 22-year-old producer/MC Tay Sean, Helladope are part of a larger entity that came into existence in 2007, Cloud Nice. This collective includes acts such as THEESatisfaction, Jus Moni, Thaddeus, and Mowglii. The collective's reason for existence is to promote and consolidate the "culturally diverse Beacon Hill community." Helladope are also part of what I call, and will continue to call, the third wave of local hiphop, whose leading figures are They Live!, Mad Rad, Champagne Champagne, and GMK. Third wave, which also includes albums like OOF! by the Blue Scholars and From Slaveships to Spaceships by Khingz, is defined by a robust eclecticism, producing albums around themes, and a postracial attitude to fashion and fusion of cultural elements. (Indeed, the Go! Machine shows at the Crocodile can be seen as a celebration of this new movement in local hiphop.)

With Helladope's Return to Planet Rock, the theme is space travel, rocket science fiction, distant galaxies, stars, and moons. On this album, a rapper is not human but an alien who happens to be in the form of a human. We also hear a race of rappers declare: "This is my planet!" But we do not know on which planet they dwell. There is also a chill "Cosmic Voyage" with THEESatisfaction on a pimped-out spaceship. And on "We Come in Peace," dark energy makes an appearance and throws down a rap to a disco beat: "We are the energy causing your planet to rotate." Musically, Helladope keep it low-tech, with cheap-sounding synths, old-school drum-machine rolls, and electro-funk beats. Theirs is not the future as we see it today (which is a biotech future), but as it was seen in the past, in the '70s and '80s (man-machines, space suits, radio transmissions). This is the future of yesterday; this is a return to Planet Rock.

Let's go back to the early '80s and think for a moment about two groundbreaking tracks—"Clear" by Cybotron and "Computer Age (Push the Button)" by Newcleus. Both tracks, which the theorist Kodwo Eshun would call works of "sonic fiction" (the black form of science fiction), are very serious. "Clear" is about an army of machines that is clearing, erasing everything to create space for a new tomorrow. "Computer Age (Push the Button)" fears the eradication of the human past by machines. With Helladope's sonic fiction, all of the anxieties and nihilistic drives are removed, and what we have instead is a future that's all about play. "You boys and girls get on the floor and show me something new," raps the cheerful and encouraging robot on "The Soul Electric." The age of "Pro Tools, and YouTube, and MySpace, and Google" does not fear the power of machines.

One more point about Return to Planet Rock, and also THEESatisfation's Snow Motion (these two locally produced albums interlock). The father of this dusty, low-tech, science-fiction funk is veteran producer/rapper Specs One. Back in the late '90s and early '00s, he released a series of CDs (which are now very hard to find) that contained beats and raps that sounded as if they were transmitted from another world. Helladope have, of course, a much cleaner sound than Specs's early recordings, but the space mode/cosmic mood is one and the same. The "original space neighbor" now has a lot of company on his far-out street

what up black!!

2009-12-01T13:01:00.000-08:00

love this guy enuf to spell his name right. THATS REAL.

Souls is bacc!!

2009-12-01T11:41:00.001-08:00

i remeber drivin to oakland in a car fulla crips and ending up smoking and freestyling with pep love over at a-plus' house over this beat he made off wanna the scores on tenchu. good memories.

aye at the end of the video on the cover, whose the 5th guy? is that jesus? is jesus in souls of mischief? i could believe that.

dame-

2009-11-30T17:52:00.000-08:00

word dame dash and ill-literacy are redefining my vision for my career. They're giving voice to alot of the half formed ideas churning in my head. checc out this interview wit street level.

StreetLevel.com Presents: On The Level Ep. 6 with Damon Dash from streetxlevel on Vimeo.

lets not do this to eat lets do this to feed.

fresh espresso

2009-11-30T14:13:00.001-08:00

what up rik!!

it's a northwest classic

2009-11-30T02:11:00.001-08:00

BOOM Baby my next show is going down. i will be performing with be flat as part of the hi-life sound system get redu folk!!

making some filth part 1

2009-11-26T23:36:00.000-08:00

decided to document the making of my next album. I'm calling it the filth right now but that is subject to change. here's the first installment of the series james lipton you have permission to love this now.

khingz-the filth part 1 from khalil equiano on Vimeo.

i make music, this is how.

maclemore bts for The Town

2009-11-23T14:11:00.000-08:00

yea so Zia has a new blog called loveandshoestrings.com.
pretty cool huh?

guy marries game... foreal!!

2009-11-21T01:03:00.000-08:00

That Nene Anegasaki, she's a charmer. She's also a video game character from extreme dating sim Love Plus, now wedded to a flesh and blood gamer.

The two were married when a man brought his DS along with a copy of Love Plus to a church in Guam. There's no word on honeymoon plans, but the two will be holding a small reception for family, close friends and the internet on November 22nd. (Seriously, there will be a webcam and stuff.)

It just goes to show, the power of Woman has no bounds. Stick her in a digital fortress, simplify her beauty to Nintendo DS rendering limits and give her a shrill, anime voice. Woman will triumph all the same. [Tiny Cartridge via technabob]

Send an email to Mark Wilson, the author of this post, at mark@gizmodo.com.