Photos: The Twilight Zone in-store Release
Mic Blacque Twilight Zone ft. Top $ Raz
Mic blaque recently released an excellent new project entitled, The Twilight Zone.
Not only was I featured on the project but I also had the pleasure of performing at the release at Swagga360 in Brooklyn, New York.
Check out some performance photos below:
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Photos: Grisley Pear 7.21.11
A heatwave, a lost I.D. card and a psycho waitress but still a great night.
Shout out to Silent Knight and the Fuse band.
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THE NEW FLESH IS COMPLETE!
From just an idea all the way to its manifestation. Thank you Coole High, Thinker, Mic Blaque, Alejandro “Sosa” Tello Jr., Fresh Daily, Joann Gomez, Marthalicia Matarrita, Aqua League, Live at the Dojo, Spills, J57, J Monopoly, KO Beatz, Dr Khil, Kyle McEwan, Harold Mccummings, Miles Moran, Isamu Mcgregor, Ciph Diggy, Alvietron, Grace K, YC the Cynic, Scienze, and Cavalier for helping and being a part of this project. THE NEW FLESH IS COMPLETE!
The New Flesh drops February 22. Album release party February 23 at Southpaw in Brooklyn.
“THE NEW FLESH” PROMO
The New Flesh February 22.
The New Flesh (Artwork)
The New Flesh drops February 22nd. Photography by Joanne Gomez. Back Cover art by Marthalicia Matarrita. Additional artwork and layout by FRESH DAILY.
Listen: “The Plague” Feat. YC the Cynic (Prod. by J57)
Official new Single off the album The New Flesh, which drops February 22nd.
Written by Top $ Raz & YC the Cynic. Produced by J57
Original photo by Joann Gomez (www.musiclookslikethis.com).
Graphic by Q of The Mad Bloggers (www.themadbloggers.com).
Recorded and Mixed by Mic Blaque at Rhytm and Lyrics Studios. Mastered by Alejandro “Sosa” Tello Jr. at Ampliphonic Studios.
EVENT: A J Dilla Tribute In D.C. (2/19/11)
Buy tickets in advance at www.iheartdilladc2011.eventbee.com
Top $ Raz at Acoustic Cafe (Photos)
This Saturday I was at Acoustic Cafe in Bridgeport, CT, performing with Sketch Tha Cataclysm and Jesse Abraham. Great show. Check out the pictures from the event.
For more pictures, visit iHeartDilla.com and TheMadBloggers.com
Top $ Raz x Brooklyn Bodega Radio (2/4/11)
Tune into Brooklyn Bodega Radio on pncradio.fm for my interview with The Company Man on Friday, February 4th.
Event: Bars Mitzvah (NYC 2/3/11)
I’ll be playing with my band for the first time since the summer on February 3 at Southpaw in Brooklyn. And we’ve added a new piece – the turntables. DJ Tech is the newest member to my band, The Minority Report. Come out.
Also Performing:
Jesse Abraham
Fresh Daily
Kosha Dillz
Featuring:
Premonition, Jeanette Berry, Kyle Rapps, Millie Holidae & Special Guests.
DJ Sosa on The Wheels
Hosted by Isha “Ice” Cole
21+ w/ ID
Admission: $10
Door time: 9pm
Listen to “THE MAN”
Okay, so anyone paying attention knows that I was on a little hiatus from music between the months of October and December, but I’m back now and I’m coming back strong!
The New Flesh, my upcoming album, is now scheduled for a February 22nd release, and I’m extremely excited for you guys and gals to hear what I have on this album. Just to get your appetites wet, I’m releasing “The Man” as a lead single.
ABOUT THE SONG: I’m known for my storytelling and gut-wrenchingly honest lyricism, but once a while a guy just wants to have some fun. This is that track! In the words of Warren Britt “this is a I rap better than you joint”.
The song is produced by J Monopoly of OISD. When I got this instrumental from J, my face dropped– Like what the f**k?! Are you kidding me?! This beat is bananas! I really don’t deserve a beat like this, but I definitely thank the brotha for trusting me with it.
Anyway, without further or do, here’s the song titled “The Man” off my upcoming LP The New Flesh.
STREET CREDIBILITY (EXCERPT)
Here’s an excerpt from an article I wrote for iheartdilla.com.
Perhaps I should be happy; perhaps there are clear benefits to a middle class moving in to an impoverished area. Already we have seen the development of a new gigantic Stop & Shop supermarket, developers have broken ground on a YMCA, and the boardwalks have been rehabilitated. I presume that soon the streets will become safer, as these new home owners will demand to keep the natives out of their cracked windows, and somewhere down the line even the smaller grocery stores will start to carry Koshi cereals, soy milk, and other products to please their new stereotypically health conscious neighbors. And perhaps maybe, when I myself ascend towards the middle class I will be able to purchase one of these homes. Wouldn’t that be a story book ending: the poor kid from Far Rockaway buying a luxurious home in the same poor city that made him the strong man he is today. Classic. But as an artist practicing the craft of hip-hop, what does this say about my street credibility?
LEAKED (EXCERPT)
Here’s an excerpt of an article I wrote for Iheartdilla.com
Ever since November 22nd, people have been asking me the same question: “What do you think of that Kanye?” My answer to this question should be easy, either I like it or I don’t, but instead I find myself giving long explanations on why I can’t fully answer that question. The main reason why I’m not sure whether I love this album is due to the excessive leaks the album has been subject to, some on purpose and others not so much.When I listen to an album for the first time, I like to be on a long train ride in an isolated corner where I can listen to the album from start to finish. I look forward to the surprises, the skits, and the bells and whistles that come with the album. The Jay-Z introduction in the beginning of “Hova Song” (the intro to his fourth album Volume 3) comes to mind when he says “I know you just ripped the packaging off your cd, if you like me you reading the credits right now…” Unfortunately for Young Hov that album leaked months before the album was released, thus killing the effect of that intro (when was the last time you copped a bootleg with album credits???) I imagine it was a great experience for those who waited for the CD to officially drop and were really just ripping the packaging off of their CD. Unfortunately you can’t beat the bootleggers, your album is going to leak on to the Internet and there’s pretty much nothing you can do about it. But now there’s a fairly new phenomena going on: the leaking of unfinished and or reference tracks of future songs.I know, I know, you guys love Drake and you can’t get enough of him. But leaking a reference track he’s made for another artist on to the internet?- Whatsupwitthat? Nothing ruins a song more than it being leaked before it’s been finished, or even recorded by its intended artist. How are these songs even being offered to the public? This ofcourse is a question of ethics for the blogs/websites that allow for these songs to be downloaded. It’s obvious that the government and RIAA are offended by these leaks; the Department of Homeland Security seized the hip-hop website onsmash.com on the account of file sharing copyrighted materials.If the blogs want to appeal to the record label and the government its clear what their decisions should be, but what about loyalty to the listeners and fans? We live in a culture where information can go from new to old in the passing of seconds. If you’re tweeting about a song that was posted an hour ago you’re already miles behind the rest of the world. Needless to say, the demand is high for the newest of new information. If a blog can get hold of an exclusive song from a reputable artist like Kanye West or Drake (and with sites blatantly reposting other’s material, that exclusivity may only last 30 minutes if you’re lucky) they’re guaranteed a large amount of hits which can translate in to dollar signs. Perhaps there was a time when a blog might not post an unfinished song, but in today’s high demand it may seem unavoidable…. read the rest here
Whaddaya Call That?
So in the last two months I’v cancelled two shows, and backed out of releasing an album, took down my email address, and deleted my twitter? Whattaya call that? Nervous breakdown maybe? That may be a little too far, but it’s definitely not healthy.
Remember when hip hop was fun? Are you tired of that question? Most of us are. It’s one of those things that nostalgia does to you. I’ve been thinking about nostalgia a lot lately. I’ve been thinking about how it makes you feel like the past was some how greater than the now. I remember when I didn’t have a job and how miserable I was being broke, but now that I do work I often think it was more fun being broke. Though I know this is a lie. Or is it? The new job definitely released some stress for me but I’m pretty sure the old stress just got replaced with new ones. The question is: are these new stress factors less stressful than the old ones?
The question of greater stress is something you have to answer before you pursue music as a career. I love music, and I will probably die with an instrumental blasting in my ears, trying to finish the last line in a verse unable to find a relevant word that rhymes with “orange”. Still this love has nothing to do with a career. Another thing you’ve got to do: separate the love from the career, but that’s another story. Lets first talk about separating stress.
It’s my theory that no new situation eliminates the number of factors of stress in your life, but only changes them. Stress follows the same laws of energy conservation that the elements follow. Here’s an example: you hated how your ex never cleaned up. Your new girlfriend cleans up, but she doesn’t cook like your ex used to cook. Old stress replaced with new one. Get me? The same thing happens when someone “makes it”. If I were to make it in music, will the stress of fame, publicity, and all the other things that come with it be less stressful than my life now. Am I up for that trade off? I’m not sure. Whaddaya call that?
NO TEARS
The “No Tears” video is here, and I just have one thing to say…wow! We had a clear vision on how we wanted the video to come out, but to actually see it on the screen is just wow. I knew that I wanted this video to be the ultimate ode to where I came from, but I didn’t think that this vision would resonate so much within my own soul. Watching the “No Tears” video brings back a lot of good memories. It’s funny, when you’re younger growing up in an impoverished environment, you fail to see the good things a lot of the time, but nostalgia has a way of glossing over things and making them look pretty. All I see now when I look at the past are pretty things, and stuff I wish I could live over again.
What is “The New Flesh”?
There’s this interesting thing with genetics or evolution, or perhaps both, where the genes are passed on with vital information for survival. I’m not talking about the small things like “don’t forget to breathe” or “breast milk=good”, but rather the things we learn over time. It’s a known fact that many African Americans have latrophobia, or the fear of doctors. Many social scientist site the centuries long mistreatment of blacks by doctors and scientist in the name of medicine, (from slavery to the Tuskegee experiments) as a reason for this fear. This may explain why those who grew up in this time would fear doctors and scientist, but how does that explain my irrational fear of the doctor in this day and age? It has been speculated that the genes in our body, the ones that are passed on from generation to generation, somehow retains learned information like a secret, and when we are born they whispers these secrets to our brain. “Don’t go to the doctor, he’s bad for you,” it may say to us, and our brains, seeing no reason to doubt the genes, holds on to this fear and doesn’t forget it. Even today I find myself afraid or unwilling to see the doctor, and this was before I read “Medical Apartheid”. Interesting right? Perhaps, but this isn’t what “The New Flesh” is about. “The New Flesh” is about something a little more figurative than literal.
What doesn’t kill you will make you stronger, and if it doesn’t you’re already dead. This is Darwinism 101, the strong survive and the weak dies or learns to surround itself with the strong. Funny how all systems mimic that of the human body, from computers all the way to air conditioners, every system mimics the perfection of the human system. The same thing can be said about social system. Survival of the fittest mimics the survival of the body. What doesn’t kill you makes your body stronger. If you get chicken pox you’ll never get it again, you’re too strong for it. The scars we develop are tougher, thicker, and smoother than the skin before it. Beginning guitar players may complain about sensitive fingertips, but those strong enough to keep at it will soon develop callus that will protect them from irritation. These are all literal examples of “new flesh”, but like I said “The New Flesh” is less literal.
A woman dates an abusive man whose sole purpose is to beat and torture her. She survives the relationship, and not in the sense that she gets out of it alive, but rather she learns from it like the animals learn to adapt to climate change. It’s one thing to find a hiding place in colder climates, yes this can be seen as survival, but a woman that learns to never let another man hurt her like that again—now that’s like growing fur and becoming something brand new. That’s evolution. When she learns to love herself and choose to love those who will return it, she has become the new flesh. This is what “The New Flesh” means. It’s about being stronger in every sense of the word.
I’ve heard the criticisms of “Spilled Milk”, and I have chosen to become stronger for my survival. As an artist, you will not survive unless you learn to evolve. So this album is stronger faster kill pussycat. It’s more mature, it’s longer, it’s BETTER. I promise you, if you liked the one before, you will love this one. And if you hated the one before, you will like this. “The New Flesh” drops on November 30th. Stay tuned.
GOLDEN – BLOG SUPPORT
Check out the post on Birthplace Magazine for the new leaked song “Golden”. The New Flesh is scheduled for a November 30th release! Get Ready!
NEW SONG – GOLDEN
You ever felt like the walls were closing in and no matter how much you knew in your heart people were rooting for your success you could not help but feel alone? Yeah, well you’re definitely not alone in that feeling. In fact, I been feeling like that myself lately. It’s funny how I can record a song 2 months ago, and have it relate so much to my life today. The leaking of this song “Golden” was completely spontaneous. I didn’t plan on letting anyone here the KO Beatz produced track until the album The New Flesh came out in November. Yesterday changed all that however. While in one of the most shittiest moods I’ve been in in a while, the song “Golden” just so happens to come on my ipod while on shuffle. The song uplifted me, I could feel every line in the song, and I knew– because I wrote it– that the words were genuine. I knew I had to release this song for myself, to let people know where my head was today, and also for the people out there that are like me.
