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Polling w/ BuzzDash

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:01:42 +0100

It's almost that time again. College football will be in full effect by the end of the month. The perfect time to start predicting who's going to have a championship year right?

History

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 12:25:34 +0100

Shaman Work Recordings, who secured industry notoriety with The Alpha Projects releases in 2002 and 2003, have relaunched with a new site and new releases from exemplary artists across a broad range of music genres, including hip-hop, soul, jazz, and dance.

Shaman Work is the braintrust of founders Chris Craft, Lamar Gilliam, John Robinson and Gerald Watson who believe that integrity in music and business can be achieved through versatility, creativity, positive energy and strong relationships within and outside the boundaries of the company itself. Shaman Work aligns itself with artists and business partners who share this same philosophy. "Shaman Work is a culture that cultivates and nurtures creative and positive people from all walks of life; we are 'culture scientists,'" notes Gerald Watson.

"Shaman Work is just that!," says John Robinson, "Doing the work of a Shaman via music and other forms of entertainment and media. Shamans are the medicine men of the village who care for the health of the community and oversees that all is well and healthy. We are releasing music with substance and integrity that has healing power when exposed to the mind, body and soul."

"Shaman Work represents the culture of the thought-provoking hip-hop we grew up on; artists such as A Tribe Called Quest, De La, Brand Nu, Ice Cube, Scarface and so on," adds Lamar Gilliam. "We release music that stands up to other respected art forms. We feature a versatile mix of genres and artists, from hip-hop to jazz to afrobeat to electronic, not seen in many independent labels, especially those that specialize in hip-hop."

Shaman Work relaunched with a newly designed website as well, showcasing a variety of web features such as Shaman Work Radio, photo-sharing, artist blogs and tweets, polls and quizzes and click-thru merchandise and album purchasing. "Shaman Work embraces technology as a means to not only market and reach the fans of the artists in our label family but also to discover new avenues of expression, communication, art and commerce. We explore all innovative methods to promote and sell, especially online, our artists' music, merchandise and live shows while reaching existing and potential new fans in smart, fun ways," says co-founder Chris Craft.

Shaman Work's active family of artists include: Carlos Nino and Lil' Sci's What's The Science?; Blackberry Jones, Build an Ark, Chris Craft, DJ 2Tone Jones, DJ K.O., John Robinson, K Banger, Scienz of Life, Sene, newcomer Tiffany Paige, and Wale Oyejide. Upcoming artist releases from Shaman Work include Elevation from What's The Science? and DJ K.O.'s Picture This� which features an array of respected talent including Talib Kweli, Skyzoo, Royce da 5'9, Phonte (Little Brother), Elzhi, Kaze, Silent Knight and more. Both albums street on September 23, 2008.

Testy Testy

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:55:11 +0100

Hollaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...

History

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 12:52:35 +0100

Shamanwork History

WTS on OKP

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 11:00:44 +0100

Hip-Hop as a culture isn't known, either by its active participants or outside observers, for an abundance of hugging. Oh sure, physical contact of every stripe, from violent altercations to illicit sexual encounters, have been given microphone-time by countless emcees over the years. But how often does the word "hug" pop up in a rhyme?

Despite what those statistics might show (and I'm far too lazy to produce such statistics myself) the real truth is that there's a lot more hugging going on in the Hip-Hop community than all those rappers are letting on. One of my mom's most cherished memories was receiving a giant bear-hug from Flavor Flav of Public Enemy back in the day. And I myself have in fact hugged my fair share of rappers over the years.

Granted, the most common sort of Hip-Hop hug is the uber-manly, one-armed, back-slap-while-gripping-fists variety which the participants would probably be too embarrassed to even admit was a hug. But I'm calling shenanigans on all that macho bullshit right now because I know a hug when I see one goddammit. So you can save your "no-homos" for somebody else.

Carlos Nino & Lil' Sci (What's the Science?) 'Elevation'. Former Scienz of Life frontman Lil' Sci knows that Hip-Hop culture needs hugs way more than another "party like a Rockstar" incitation, and that mainstream culture could probably benefit from the wholesome, nurturing embrace of positive Hip-Hop too. So, heeding the sampled vocal intro which states "the music is the only way you can do that," Sci quotes K.M.D. leader Zev Love X from "Figure of Speech" by way of a hook for "Love, Hugs, and Hip-Hop Soul," the jumpoff track from Elevation, the new album from What's the Science?, his and Carlos Nino's new collaborative effort.

Built on an uptempo clatter of drums, percussion and claps accented by a tangle of violins & synths and twined with pulses of undulant upright bass, "Love, Hugs, and Hip-Hop Soul" finds Sci citing classic Hip-Hop lyrics and proclaiming Hip-Hop's near divine power for inspiring positive change like Erykah Badu on "The Healer." And the song's lyrical juxtaposition of Hip-Hop purist philosophy and progressive social policy is mirrored in the production's balance between dusty, bass-heavy beats, Jazz and avant-garde experimentalism is a handy encapsulation of what the duo has in store for listeners on the remainder of the album.

Relying as much on robotic electronics as the off-kilter organics of Jazz, Funk and Soul, Los Angeles-based DJ, musician and producer Nino's beats should please anyone familiar with his catalog (with Ammoncontact, The Life Force Trio, Build An Ark, Hu Vibrational, etc) while providing a surprising change of pace for heads whose knowledge of Sci's doesn't extend beyond his early output as part of Scienz of Life . Sci is still dropping jewels on tracks like "Natural Scriptures," "Circulate" and "Honor, Courage, and Karma/Infinity of Rhythm" featuring a fiery guest-verse from Prince Po of Organized Konfusion, but the beats, which marry Prince-esque keys, syncopated Boom-Clap-influenced beats, icy synths, big sub-bass tones and multiple movements help him attain new heights of musical elevation.

Both the title and tagline of this blog might be references to math of different kinds, but I've always enjoyed science more than math in any kind of educational setting. Lil' Sci and Carlos Nino's work in the field is just another point in science's favor. And while I doubt the two did any research into the actual science of hugs (it exists, look it up) it shouldn't take a Bunsen burner and a lab coat to recognize the positive effects a dose of auditory affection like this one can have.

www.okayplayer.com

WTS Rush Hour Review

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 14:37:28 +0100

What's The Science? ELEVATION

Collaborative project by Carlos Nino (Ammon Contact / Build An Ark) and Lil Sci (aka John Robinson / Scienz Of Life / Sol Uprising).

When listening to projects that come from Carlos Nino's hand, making connections is the main thing that springs to mind. Connecting likewise, open minds from the past and present and having them collaborate with each other, either in a live setting, or production wise, to create new music. The output on one hand clearly shows traces of sixties & seventies soul- and cosmic jazz, and on the other, easily finds it's place along other contemporary hiphop and electronic productions.

Rapper Lil' Sci performs throughout the whole album and verbally takes you from one track to the other. All tracks are produced, or receiving contributions from a wide range of different producers/musicians from the Los Angeles area. An important contribution to the sound here comes from arranger Miguel Atwood �Ferguson (also responsible for many arrangements and general musical direction on the Build An Ark album , as well as on other projects like The Life Force Trio).

Other names involved are Daedelus, Carlos Nino's partner in Ammon Contact Fabian Ammon, Tiffany Paige, Ubiquity's Nobody, Warp's Flying Lotus, jazz singer (the main voice from Build An Ark) Dwight Trible, La based jazz pianist Nate Morgan, Organized Konfusion's Prince Po and Nick Rosen. Recommended!