Grapetree Records - The Interview

This was one of those articles I wrote that I desperately wanted to write for quite a while. Being that I was a radio DJ spinning the music and hearing all of the rigamarole concerning Grapetree Records and everything behind what was going on, I discussed this with editor of FEED at the time and said I wanted to take the assignment.

My tenure as a DJ for the hip hop and dance show Zero Gravity brought me in contact with many people in the industry. Some of those relationships I still have until today. Much has changed since that time but I learned a lot during that time.

In terms of interviews, this was really the first one where I had to hunt down multiple people. It wasn't too hard except for the most part (read the article on details on what happened with Knolly Williams).

All in all, I found out that I LOVED doing research and simply being an investigative reporter of sorts. Interviews are a forte of mine and I wish I had the opportunity to do more of them. Suffice it to say that having this as one of the main feature articles in that issue of FEED gave me a little license with the length which just added to the enjoyment of writing it.

Just click on each image to view it at full size.

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Posted in: articles,C.R.O.W.,DCP,features,Fiti Futuristic,Grapetree Records,holy hip hop

Book Review - Out There

Back in my former days, I worked for a small start up newspaper called Classic Entertainment Flash. It wasn't funded well and I was paid a pittance for the work that I did. However, I thoroughly enjoyed writing for them for the sake of writing mostly.

It didn't last long but I did get a few credits from it. One of them was a book review I had done on Howard Blum's book Out There. To say the least, the book was out there.

It was entertaining UFO conspiracy propaganda and is convincing in some parts if you hadn't done all of your research. Needless to say, my views on such things have changed DRASTICALLY over the years and I would have a totally different outlook when approaching the book. Nevertheless (I still have it), it was an engaging read.

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Posted in: books,Classic Entertainment Flash,review

Shabach - Profile

Quite frankly, I had forgotten that I had done this piece. I stumbled upon it while looking for another piece to upload. I actually had to read the article over again to remember (albeit vaguely). But just in reading it, I did enjoy the piece. Hopefully you will also.

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Posted in: FEED,magazine articles,music,profiles,Shabach

Editorial - The PAJ

This was another surprise piece that I had no idea was going to be published. It was an editorial piece that made it on the front page of the Progressive Airplay Journal, a trade industry journal in the Christian radio industry. I'm not sure if it's even around any more.

I used to be a radio DJ with 89.3 WYSZ, YES FM. I was more of a consultant that was ignored on a good portion of the suggestions for the "rhythmic" additions to the weekly playlist, rhythmic being hip hop and dance. Not a big winner in CHR.

I was happily surprised when I saw that this and it just validated the point that these kind of things were what I should be writing about. Passion counts in writing and it shows.

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Posted in: editorial,newsletter,PAJ

Review - Southern Gospeltality

This was the first release by Southern Gospeltality. It was a compilation and it had some relatively hot tracks on there. Though I wasn't (and still am not) a fan of dirty south hip hop, I found myself mildly impressed with the samplings on this CD.

The best track in my opinion was Whatchagonnado which fused together east coast, midwest, and dirty south rap styles. My favorite was the east coast style but the others were done just as well.

The went on to put out a bank of CDs which were nominal. I was never a big fan of any of the solo artists but again, I'm not a fan of dirty south.

If memory serves me correctly, 7 Ball was clueless about this release which gave me a definite ins to do the piece. This is the issue where the Knowdaverbs piece I did showed up also.

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Posted in: music,review,southern gospeltality

Letter - Computer Music

This little piece was a pleasant surprise as I had not really expected this to be printed. It was on a topic I happen to be passionate about where I think many a producer and composer seem to get off the tracks when in comes to music creation.

Nevertheless, the editors at Computer Music though that it merited a spot on their Letters page.

Some may question the validity of getting published via a letters page. I think it says something about a writer who can string words together and get published without so much as a query. It truly does show that when you have enthusiasm about a topic that it will show through your writing and others will pick up on it.

Mind you, I'd already been published extensively before this but it was nice to know that I got myself one more. I look at is as good publicity.

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Posted in: music,opnion

Review - Sonik Boom Of Love

Why lie? This is one of my favorite albums in my music collection. It was one of those rare goodies that was released on a small label that just rocked the house.

Alexander East a.k.a. Sonik Boom Of Love, went on to do other singles that ended up on various mix CDs. On in particular was DJ Collette's In The Sun. If you can find a copy of this, grab it if you're into some real deep funk house music.

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Posted in: 7 Ball,music,review,sonik boom of love

7 Ball Feature - Gospel Gangstas

This was a feature story that I did for the now defunct 7 Ball Magazine. It was a piece on the Gospel Gangstas just as they had released their third album I can See Clearly Now.

I can say this however: after this album, they just didn't have the edge in their music that they had when they first came out. Actually, I would say this is the beginning of the of the decline.

I enjoyed doing this piece as I got a chance to actually interview them.

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Posted in: 7 Ball,features,Gospel Gangstas,magazine articles,music

7 Ball Bankshot - Cross Movement

This is a short piece that I did back in 1999 for the national music magazine 7 Ball. It's a short profile piece highlighting the sophomore project of Cross Movement, a mainstay in the Christian hip hop arena who have spawned and inspired the likes of Flame, Trip Lee, LeCrae, and Da Truth. Just click on the image to see and enlarged version of the article.

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Posted in: 7 Ball,articles,Cross Movement,magazine articles,profiles