SWING SHIFT

It's great to be able to let people really know how you feel...



Swing Shift
P.Kaye feat Kreme
Produced by: P.Kaye
Video by:Joe Rok-Hed

(we broke 200 views in about 8 days!! Thanx, guys!!)

EXPLORATION AT ITS GREATEST...

"We artists are indestructable, even in a prison cell or a concentration camp I would be almighty in my own world of art. Even if I had to paint my pictures with my wet tongue on the dusty floor of my cell..."- Pablo Picasso

So, it's been pretty quiet around di Yaahd as of late, eh...? Well, big tings a gwan, people. Getting the music done, making the myths. One of my favorite forgotten elements of hip hop is DJing/beatsmithing. Whether making a track, or just spicing it up, the DJ/producer is an unsung hero of a lot of our favorite tunes. Sampling, as well, can be seen as an artform in and of itself. Not everyone can do it effectively, and some continue anyway. Speaking of, wanna hear the possibly most sampled 6 second drum break in the world?

(Just watch the first 2 minutes, see if you guessed right)
Now, I was gonna give y'all the movie 'Scratch' to watch, documentation of the art of turntablism. However, I thought this might've illustrated "Beat Digging" a li'l better...

Sometimes, I don't even do the beat for my stuff. I think it gives me better vision of where the song should go. Proving my point, here's a li'l single I put together. Nothing major, just a few songs of "Mixed Media On Silicone", my upcoming free release...

"Pennies" produced by Midas Wells™
"LSD" produced by Midas Wells™
"Best Believe" produced by Midas Wells™

AND hot off the presses: My NEW instrumental joint, Lunar Sunrise

BANKSY (BIG ASS ART POST #2)

Near Bethlehem - 2005

He is perhaps the most famous, or infamous, artist alive. To some a genius, to others a vandal. Always controversial, he inspires admiration and provokes outrage in equal measure...
Kissing Coppers, Brighton - 2005

Since Banksy made his name with his trademark stencil-style 'guerrilla' art in public spaces - on walls in London, Brighton, Bristol and even on the West Bank barrier separating Israelis and Palestinians -- his works have sold for hundreds of thousands of pounds. He has dozens of celebrity collectors including Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Christina Aguilera. He is also known for his headline-making stunts, such as leaving an inflatable doll dressed as a Guantanamo prisoner in Disneyland, California, and hanging a version of the Mona Lisa - but with a smiley face - in the Louvre, Paris.


BANKSY in Paris
Oops, WRONG Paris!!!(these had remixed tracks by DangerMouse? WISH I could've gotten one. But, I'd have to have been buying a Paris Hilton CD...)
But perhaps his most provocative statement, and the one that generates the most publicity, is the fact that Banksy's true identity has always been a jealously guarded secret, known to only a handful of trusted friends. A network of myths has grown up around him. That his real name is Robin Banks. That he used to be a butcher. That his parents don't know what he does, believing him to be an unusually successful painter and decorator. Then there's the suggestion that Banksy is actually a collective of artists and doesn't exist at all...

BANKSY works the 9th Ward, New Orleans - August 2008
Such is the curiosity about Banksy that when the great man threw a pizza box into a bin in Los Angeles, the box resurfaced on auction site eBay, with the seller suggesting that the few anchovies left inside might yield traces of his DNA.
Not THIS one...

He is the Scarlet Pimpernel of modern art, so adept at leaving false trails that even his own agent has claimed that he is not certain of his identity. Indeed, trying to establish just who the elusive Banksy is has proved as difficult as predicting the location of his next work. His first official exhibition in New York, the "Village Pet Store And Charcoal Grill," opened October 5, 2008. The animatronic pets in the store window include a mother hen watching over her baby Chicken McNuggets as they peck at a barbecue sauce packet, and a rabbit putting makeup on in a mirror....


Go on, play it. You know you're curious...


(wanted you all to see the detail, that's why the pics are so big...)

MORE ITALS

"Herbs pirate, dem take wey all dat I cultivate..." Keith Porter, 1978



SO, there's a NEXT part of that WONDERFUL Keith Porter interview on The Itals YouTube channel. If you don't remember the first 2 parts, check HERE. The history of this vocal harmony group dates back to the days before reggae music, when the founding members joined rocksteady groups like the Tenors. The Itals have been steadily releasing massive roots and culture chunes ever since. They've never really gotten their due, overshadowed by roots acts like Culture, The Mighty Diamonds, and The Wailing Souls. Brutal Out Deh -- released on Nighthawk Records in 1981, their first and often considered their best album -- is well-respected, but not particularly unique or exhilarating and will likely sound dull and pedestrian to newcomers to reggae. This is not the album to give to someone who thinks that all reggae is boring and sounds alike. Still, the more hardcore roots fans should find enough to satisfy, as heartfelt gems like "Herbs Pirate", "Smile Knotty Dread", and "Truth Must Reveal" give an impression of why The Itals have lasted as long as they have...


Check a full biography on the group HERE at Nighthawk Records...

Hear di man a chat bout how di lyrics fi "Herbs Pirate" a come about...

(Large Ups to @reggaevids, as always)

Follow di video producer, as well as the YouTube channel producer on Twitter...

Come by di YouTube, check di videos (MASSIVENESS). Subscribe fi info pon new ones...

KEEP DI ROOTS ALIVE, FI DI TREE MIGHT GROW!!!

Oh yeah, and...

JAHDAN BLAKKAMOORE

So, man been pon likkle vacation. While I was moving, chat wit di man Midas Wells, who tell me to bring you this. Well, actually, he just said the name "Jahdan Blakkamoore" to me and sent me to my own research.
Worked out better that way, cause now I'm excited enough to want the world to hear it. His mixtape, "Bazooka Shot" is just that. A pure fiyah lick!!! The album, Buzzrock Warrior is pretty wicked, too. He's been around, though. Putting in work since the early 90's, Jahdan was first heard with Boot Camp Clik. To quote Gold Dust Media: "Jahdan Blakkamoore has been a member of the Boot Camp Clik since early on in his career, making heavy noise with his verse on Smif N Wessun's classic "Sound Bwoy Bureill." So it's only right that he hooked up w/ Steele of Smiff N Wessun for a verse on the remix to "The General," the first single from his Buzzrock Warrior album. For more info, check out his crew at duttyartz.com" Now I know most of y'all ain't clicking on all these links, so lemme get to the goodies. But first: Buzzrock Warrior was released on September 15th. You just might wanna pick that up. Real talk. Roots fans, dancehall fans, hip hop fans, likkle someting fi ALL...





Jahdan, Steele, Tek, and the band getting it IN!!!!



Two Generals building a sound...




Couple Sneak Previews:
Come With Me

She Said feat. 77Klash

Broken In Brooklyn

Rise Again feat.Abena Koomson

The General (Remix feat. General Steele)


Clickstravaganza, since I haven't been around...

Dueces...

HUMPDAY LAUGH

SO, I've got a new painter I'm gonna introduce for "Big Ass Art Post #2, but it's not done yet. Instead, I bring you a laugh or to to help through the week.

Were this girl not with her parents, I'd adopt her...:


And THIS, somebody showed me last night, but it's funny anyways(N quite SFW):



"Yep, I said it before, and I'll say it again. Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop to look around every once in a while, you'll miss it..." Ferris Bueler

SMILE, PEOPLE!! More art soon...

THE ITALS

For those who don't know who The Itals are, click here...
Now that that's out of the way, haffi show MUCH love and RASpect fi di one man ya call @reggaevids, who is helping keep culture alive by bringing them closer to us (@ least digitally anyways). He is the video producer behind THIS interview I want to share with you. Here's a li'l history lesson, class:

Part one...


of the interview, where he talks about having to ditch school to go record (ruffness!!!), to record the hit chune "Hitey Titey...


And part two:



in which... "Keith talks about writing and recording the roots reggae classic Ina Dis Ya Time in 1976 and about his creative process"(directly via reggaevids@twitter.com. A yo MakkaMon, a yu call out di shots dem, mi will lick dem...


Oh yeah, for more absolutely ESSENTIAL roots reggae videos, you might want to follow his




*By the way, ya boy is getting his HTML ON, ain't he...? ;)

SATURDAY, UM... FUN TIME

I'm gonna have to smoke a POUND to figure all this shit out. HTML, re editing, artwork, acquisition of new knowledge, and making the whole thing look easy. Probably why I need an assistant. In the meantime, there'll ALWAYS be new music, as soon as I can get it to ya. Some ours, some not. Podcast soon to come. Big Yaahd Sound presents: The UnderHeard. A an amalgamation of styles, genres, tempos; call it a audible gumbo. Shouts out to @Notrox for hipping me. Play this EVERY weekend, it'll make you feel better...


"Get that blunt rolled, put those clothes on..."

STUDIO VAMPIRES

"Chill God.' Yo the Sun don't chill, Allah..."- Raekwon- Knowledge God

Some of us, like myself, hardly ever sleep. Up late, up early, especially in the beginnings. I adopted the terminology from a Shock G. interview. Sleep is for those who have nothing better to do...

Basically... Been the theme song of the strong for YEARS! Accept the invitation to the other side of the light. This blog is a chronicle of what's been done, what we dig, who we are. Stay tuned, and remember, you were first @ the table...