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Nick Speed, Danny Brown, Big Herk and Phat Kat with “Whatupdoe?”.
Catch this track and others on Speed’s upcoming double-disc release.
Nick Speed will be at the Zoo Bar August 31st, performing alongside Slum Village.
Detroit Hip Hop news bits:
Buff1 was interviewed by Platform8470 (Belgium) with a lot of great questions leading to a lot of great insights.
Buff1 on politics:
Also in ‘House Of Horrors’ you claim that it has been worse also before the Bush (JR) administration… but could you give some examples of presidents that really fucked up as much as Bush?
I’m not sure anyone has screwed up as much as him but it’s not like things just got bad when he became president. Especially for minorities and the impoverished. We all know the crack epidemic came when Reagan was in office. Black people and people in the inner-city in general are still dealing with the effects of crack.
So when you’re voting, you don’t vote for Republicans nor for Democrats?
I vote Democrat. I just had to drive a point home that Democrats aren’t the savior. We have to take responsibilities in our own hands in rejuvnating and rebuilding our communities.
The murder rate in Detroit is the second highest in the country after New Orleans…what are some of the main reasons for that and how can violence be abandoned in Detroit and do you believe tracks like ‘House Of Horrors’ can make an actual difference?
I don’t know the main reasons for that, probably too many guns, period. I hope ‘House of Horrors’ can help. I want Black people to hear that song and realize that Bush is not in the hood shooting people in the head over a girl or a traffic accident. That’s us doing that to us. That’s why I say ‘We jumped off the pedestal and hung ourselves with the devil’s rope’.
Buff1 on OneBeLo and the Subterraneous Crew.
Talking bout fam you also have tight bonds with Subterraneous Records, how come?
Because they weren’t too cool to show love. We’re been supporting each other since about 1998. Lo (of Binary Star) wanted us to be a part of the Sub crew actually. Along with Nick Speed (G-Unit producer), Elzhi and everyone in the crew. That didn’t end up happening but we’ve stayed down ever since.
Read the entire interview here.
A Hip Hop Beyond Entertainment town hall meeting is to take place June 2nd in Detroit.
Press Release
For Immediate ReleaseTrue Infinity Solutionz
Presents
Hip Hop Beyond Entertainment
Town Hall MeetingMay 4, 2007
This is an urgent call to the City of Detroit residents!!! We are extending an invitation to all interested and concerned citizens to come out and express your views and feelings surrounding the current state of Hip-Hop within our communities and our families. Councilman Kwame Kenyatta, True Infinity Solutionz and Hip Hop Congress will hold a Town Hall Meeting Saturday June 2, 2007 from 12:00 p.m. - 5:00p.m. In the Coleman Young Municipal Center located at 2 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, Michigan to raise awareness and listen to all concerns and issues surrounding Hip-Hop. This will be an open forum that will offer long-term solutions to issues that we are facing daily as people and as a kulture.
There will be a panel discussion addressing the current state of Hip-Hop, in lieu of the recent derogatory remarks made by radio talk show host Don Imus. It’s a long-overdue call for accountability by the studio bosses who have been pumping swill into the heads of America’s children for years. Hip-Hop music from its inception has always had lyrics that were encoded to reach those who were in the streets of urban America. Music is neither good nor bad in itself but it depends on what the purpose of it is for the individual. How music is used determines its significance and the words of these songs carry the major part of their value.
We have a responsibility to educate and speak to our youth, our community and society. It is now the season to raise our sights and restore the peace, love, and unity that Hip-Hop was founded and built on. It is time to uplift and exalt each other as brothers and sisters with no regard to sexual orientation, gender, nationality, or economical status. The moment that we carry out these duties will be the moment that we can all embrace each other and move mountains. It is time to respect, recall, recapture, and reinstate the principles that Hip Hop was built on. It is time to place our women in high regard for who they are not just for the bodies they represent. The true aspects of Hip-Hop express a conscious way of life, acknowledging the influences on society, especially on children; also encouraging womanhood, manhood, sisterhood, brotherhood, childhood and family.
The panel discussion will include speakers Councilman Kwame Kenyatta, Rev. Al Sharpton of NAN Network, Rev. Horace Sheffield of New Galilee Baptist Church, Bob Law of Philadelphia WURD 900 AM Radio Personality of the Respect Yourself Talk Show, City of Detroit Hip-Hop Industry professionals and Artists, Nick Speed, Hip Hop Congress, Temple of Hip Hop, Project Art, Detroit’s Talented Extravaganza, True Infinity Solutionz and many more. This is more than a meeting , more so the beginning of a high velocity movement.
For further information or to participate in the panel discussion you can contact Marshell Lumas at (313) 740-8677
The Detroit Free Press has an interesting sidebar to their recent article on Phat Kat. The Freep has listed Detroit Hip Hop talent who are well received worldwide. They might have done better naming those who don’t do well overseas as several other names could have easily been added.
Here’s the list:
DJ Dez: He’s worked with Slum Village, Lloyd Banks, Truth Hurts, Erykah Badu and Jurassic 5 and is heading to Japan in June to DJ a week’s worth of solo club dates.
Slum Village: Former members include James (Jay Dee) Yancey and Baatin. The rap group, now a duo, has been a longtime favorite on the underground scene, and has had national success but hasn’t reached household-name status. 2005 proved to be a big year for them; they signed on to be pitchmen for the 2006 Chevrolet Impala and 2006 HHR.
Ta’Raach: The producer and DJ is best known for working with other Detroit standouts, including Jay Dee, Dwele, and techno guru Carl Craig.Big Tone: The founder of Wasted Youth, he’s worked with many of Detroit’s producers and rappers.
Black Milk: He’s one of the city’s rising producers who also raps. He produced tracks for Slum Village’s “Trinity” album and worked on Lloyd Banks’ new album with Detroiters Nick Speed, DJ Dez and Young R.J. In March, the 23-year-old released his major label debut, “Popular Demand,” on the Fat Beats/Sony BMG imprint.Guilty Simpson: He inked a deal with Stones Throw Records, an L.A.-based label that also recorded music by Jay Dee. People are calling him one of the next great Detroit rappers.
The Black Milk inclusion may be premature at this point but its only a matter of time that he’s an overseas favorite. You can also add DJ House Shoes (coming off a recent European tour), Frank ‘N Dank and to a slightly lesser extent, D12.
The international connection is definitely there as many readers of this site are outside the U.S.A.’s borders (All of Europe and Japan in particular).
DetroitHipHop.net hooked up with Phat Kat for an interview just days before his Carte Blanche album was to be released in stores. In a candid talk Phat Kat talks about how “Cold Steel” reflects his city, Detroit producers, as well as some hometown sports.
DetroitHipHop.net: Who am I talking to, Phat Kat or Ronnie Cash?
Phat Kat: You talking to Phat Kat right now.
DHH: Who gave you the name Phat Kat? How did that come up?
PK: That name started like way back, when I was in high school. Man, I used to have this little yellow little hoopty man. The cat who used to fix the car gave me that name.
DHH: Your current album is being released and promoted by Look Records out of San Francisco. Was there anything specific that prevented you or discouraged you from continuing an agreement with Barak Records in Detroit?
PK: Yeah, I mean I wasn’t really a priority. I wasn’t looked at as a priority, you know, it just wasn’t really a good machine for what I was tryin’ to accomplish with my music.
DHH: Was it a personality thing or was it that musically you weren’t seeing eye to eye?
PK: I mean we really wasn’t seeing eye to eye musically. You know, we just really didn’t see things when it came to making music man. When you create music you gotta have full reign when you creatin’ it and I didn’t have that, so, you know, that’s where the clash came up and other things came into play.
DHH: You’ve talked about having more creative control on this album. Did you find yourself gearing your music towards a specific audience, or did you feel that an audience would gravitate towards Phat Kat as long as you did you?
PK: Exactly. Can’t nobody be better at being me than me, so as long as I did me my fans is gon’ stay behind what I’m doing and hopefully what I’m doing will be heard on a wider level and that will create more fans – a bigger fan base. The snowball effect.
DHH: Take me through the process of coming up with ideas for the Cold Steel video (which has been getting a lot of good feedback).
PK: Yeah, I’ve been getting crazy feedback from that video. The concept was… it was all Anthony Garth. It was all the director you know. Like I said man, I mean, everybody gotta play they position and like Anthony said, “That’s just art”. So if you give him a song, he just paints a picture with the song. That’s what he saw when he made the video – he heard the song.
DHH: A lot of the extended Phat Kat family came through didn’t they?
PK: Oh yeah, Marvwon, Black Milk, the Cardiboys, I mean, you know, cats that I fuck wit. It was a lot of people who didn’t make it neither like Guilt wasn’t there, T3 was in the Bahamas or something. All the people who came out… it was a good thing.
DHH: At the end of the video, there’s a caption that says “Guns don’t kill people, people with guns kill people.” Why did you choose to write that message?
PK: Because you know the whole concept of the video was, we just wanted to talk about and show the effects of guns, you know, the effect that people with guns, you know what I’m sayin’, have on our city as a whole. We showed the everyday life and how grimy it was in Detroit and I just wanted the world to see what we see everyday.
DHH: You definitely didn’t sugar coat any of the imagery of Detroit.
PK: I couldn’t. I couldn’t. I mean there’s over 550 million firearms in worldwide circulation, you know what I mean? So that’s like, (laughs) 1 firearm for eleven people or something. I don’t know how it break down, but that’s a lot a damn guns man!
DHH: What do you think it is about Detroit that makes its’ rappers use guns as metaphor as much as they do?
PK: I guess you can relate that to emcees talking about how they kill other rappers on the mic, so they try to use that as a metaphor like their rhymes are like guns, you know what I mean, stuff like that, but I don’t know man. That’s a good question.
DHH: Had you heard Royce Da 5′9″ spitting over “Cold Steel” for some mixtape?
PK: Yeah, that was dope man! I wish I coulda had Royce on that joint. Maybe I’ll get him on the remix if I could catch up with him.
DHH: What is it about you, Dilla, Slum Village and other Detroit artists that fans in Europe and across the world really, find appealing?
PK: Just real hip hop. People just respect and gravitate towards good music over there. Over in the states it’s more so, watered down with all the dance songs, singy-type music and over there it’s still the golden-era of hip hop. That’s why we’re received more over there.
DHH: On “Survival Kit” you’re schooling heads on the rules of the game. Do the newer cats ask you for advice?
PK: I try to kick it with a lot of up and coming guys. I talk to a lot of cats. I just hope they listen. You know, I just want them to learn… Really I just try to lead by example. I just want to show cats what not to do, to learn, just look at my career and learn from it.
DHH: Having Dilla production on Carte Blanche was a foregone conclusion, but tell me about the new generation: Young RJ, Nick Speed and Black Milk. What’s your typical reaction when you pop in one of their beat cds.
PK: I’ve been dealing with Young RJ, Black Milk and Nick Speed when they first started making beats, so I’ve been hearing their progression. I’ve been dealing with them from day one so it’s a beautiful thing,
DHH: What’s your production game like?
PK: Actually it’s funny that you asked that ‘cause I’m going to be producing two joints on the next album. I’ma shock a lot of people man - on the production. I’m gonna kill ‘em with some of these Kat beats.
DHH: There’s quite a bit of discontent of hip hop that’s out now. Do you think that plays in favor of an artist like you?
PK: Yeah man, it’s a beautiful thing because with all the garbage that’s out here right now this album is like a breath of fresh air to the people. The reason people are not buying albums is because it’s not a lot of good albums being put out. I mean artists need to make good music and people would buy it. So I feel good about how the game is looking right now and I just wanna bring some balance back. Challenge people to create real albums again instead of 3 songs and you know the rest tape fillers
DHH: What will you do after hip hop?
PK: I’ll probably… I’ll always be involved with the process of creating music but probably get me a little league football team and coach some football for the kids or something.
DHH: One or the other:
What do you like better, tours or making music?
PK: Wow (pause). Making music. Because if I’m not making the music I can’t do the tour. (laughs)
DHH: What has a better chance of occuring this year: America electing Obama or finding Osama?
PK: Electing Obama. They already know where Osama is.
DHH: ‘89-’90 Pistons or the ‘03-’04 Pistons?
PK: Ooh, I’ma say the ‘89-90. Its close but it just seem like the chemistry was… It’s all about chemistry and the ’89-90 Pistons, the chemistry was there. They had all the components to be a championship team. The Pistons do now but I don’t think that the chemistry is there and it might not be the players, it might be the coach. ‘03-04 was a good look. That was, but I still gotta go with ’89-90.
They had Vinnie, Joe Dumars, Isiah, John Salley, and Rodman… Buddah. That was a good team man.
DHH: Which job would you rather take (if you had to right now): Mayor of Detroit or President of the Detroit Lions
PK: Wow… (laughs) Wow! I think I’d have to go with president of the Lions. That’s something I’d prefer since the Lion’s have been losing since ’90, you know what I mean? I think that I could change that around.
DHH: Anybody would probably do a better job than Matt Millen.
PK: Oh my goodness! He needs to be on the first thing smokin’ outta here (laughing).
DHH: Anything you’d like to add that we haven’t covered?
PK: Just support the album man. It’s from Detroit. By Detroit. So let’s show the world how the city supports it own.
Much thanks to Phat Kat. Carte Blanche is in stores tomorrow (May 8th).
Biba Adams’ feature on Detroit producer-extraordinaire, Nick Speed tells the story of how he broke through.
He began to distribute beat CD’s, while still working with Detroit rap artists, including another close friend from his high school days, Elzhi of Slum Village. It was in 2004, that he executive produced Elzhi’s popular mixtape, Witness My Growth.
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That same year, one of his beat CD’s landed in the hands of D. Prosper, vice president of artists and repertoire (A&R) for G-Unit Records.
“I went out to New York, on the Greyhound, I was supposed to hook up with Kanye West’s manager,” Nick recounts. “I got there, and he stood me up, apparently called back to Chicago in an emergency. Luckily, I had a couple other meetings lined up. I walked my music into Atlantic Records…I met with a distributor who knew the A&R at G-Unit, he called him, and he said that he had the CD but hadn’t made any decisions yet.”
G-Unit would eventually call a mutual acquaintance, a Detroiter who gave him rave reviews as a producer…
Detroit Hip Hop in the news