Category: J-Zone

Playlist: Best New Music – August 2018

BEST NEW MUSIC AUGUSTWelcome to the first edition of our new monthly playlist series, highlighting much of the best new hip-hop from the last month. Listen to the August 2018 tracklist below, and then go support the artists with a purchase from wherever you buy your music. Check us on Spotify for more curated playlists.

Interview: Juggaknots

JUGGS INTERVIEW

Few other groups epitomized the sound of the mid-late 90s underground Hip-Hop golden age better than the Juggaknots. Originally consisting of brothers Breeze Brewin and Buddy Slim (now aka Kev Fevr), they released the classic Clear Blue Skies in 1996, before later adding their sister to the line-up, Queen Herawin. In this exclusive interview, Gingerslim spoke to all three groups members about their impact on the scene, their jobs as school teachers, life since Clear Blue Skies and a lot more.

[The following has been lightly edited for length and clarity].  

You’re all siblings and you all ended up making music together, so was it a very musical household you grew up in? What are your earliest memories of music?

[Buddy Slim]: Memories in music, hmmmmm. Being raised in a strict Caribbean household with both of our parents coming to New York in the 60’s from Jamaica and Trinidad respectfully, the only music you might hear is an occasional reggae or calypso classic, but what you probably didn’t hear was enough practice from our piano lessons that quickly dissipated when dad felt we were not practicing enough and shut down our lessons.

Once upon a time, I was practicing my DJ abilities, of course after finishing my homework, and one of our father’s favorite lines was, “you don’t have any extra work?” So of course I answered, “yes sir, homework and extra work has been done hence the reason I’m practicing my DJ set.” My father then proceeded to throw my whole DJ set on the floor and said; “MORE schoolwork!!!”

[Queen Herawin]: My earliest memories of music growing up were definitely Caribbean based as well, although there were certain specific songs that stuck out from other genres too. I remember dancing in the living room with my mother to Stealing Love by Carlene Davis. This song is still one of my favorites, probably because of the connection to my mother and the warm memory it possesses. My father’s sound was soca music, however, other specific artists he often played remind me of him as well…like Grover Washington Jr., Etta James, Dinah Washington or Lionel Richie.

My love of Hip-Hop happened in Elementary School. It happened living in the Bronx. It happened watching Video Music Box and when I fell in love with MC Lyte, Slick Rick, Special Ed, Jungle Brothers, De La, Queen Latifah, Boogie Down Productions and so on and so on. I matured into Hip-Hop through my brothers, listening to the Clear Blue Skies album, going to studio sessions they would take me to, seeing it become real…the process of it. The combination of this experience, fan, and voyeur, made me want to be part of it and be really good at it.

It’s been over 10 years since we last had an album from you guys. Is that the last we will hear from you as a crew? Are you ever tempted to come back for one more?

[Buddy Slim]: Yes sir, in the immortal words of KRS-ONE; “We’re not done.” After our last full-length studio album, Use Your Confusion, we decided to have all members devote time to their individual solo efforts. We dropped Queen Herawin’s solo debut, Metamorphosis, off our Matic Entertainment label in 2015, and we are now preparing for two Brewin solo efforts. One being a collection of Brewin’s scattered efforts in the form of an EP, then his full-length solo to follow. A compilation consisting of artists from the Matic camp and a reggae project from Kev Fevr aka Buddy Slim. As for the JuGgs, after we get those ideas out, we plan to start plotting the next Juggaknots offering, God spare the life!!!!

[Queen Herawin]: I certainly would love to do another album with my brothers! As Kev mentioned, we’ve been working more on solo work and collaborative projects, however, there is always a special synergy of working on a Juggaknots project that represents us as a whole. I’m curious and excited about the idea of what that would sound like. I think it could be the best one yet! The foundational album, the first, was a hands-down classic! I’m a major fan of that album, not only because they are my brothers, but because the music was amazing! Stepping away from something for an extended period of time creates an opportunity to share something truly unique when you return.  

What made you guys decide to quieten down after Use Your Confusion?

[Buddy Slim]: During the recording process with UYC, things got a lil toxic. We had been trying to break that ceiling for almost 15 years and we felt as a team and as a family that it would be best for each member to follow their own individual voice. Even though we are family, any relationship demands compromise and we were not compromising but the hiatus has kept us busy and allowed time for us to heal, recharge, and refocus. Our label, Matic Entertainment, always keeps us busy, discovering and developing talent, making tracks/songs for that talent and also trying to get better as entrepreneurs to run a more efficient successful endeavor for ourselves, fans, and our roster. We also spend a significant amount of time running, tweaking, upgrading and improving our lab, BBS (BronxBullyStudios), BX, NY.

[Queen Herawin]: For me, life happened. My daughter was born that same year. Motherhood became my focus. Music was and will always be there, however, I was expanding in other ways as well, ways that needed my time, energy, love, commitment, and creativity. That experience provided creative direction and ammunition for my next project, Metamorphosis.

What have you been up to since Use Your Confusion was released? I understand you gravitated towards teaching?

[Buddy Slim]: Yes, we are all still teaching; myself and Brewin are still servicing the Bronx (ironically in the same North East Bronx neighborhood where we grew up) community and Herawin took her talents to Chicago.

I remember seeing Breeze on the Adult Rappers documentary talking about how he tried to keep his rap career secret when he started teaching, but I would have thought it would have been a good way of connecting with the kids?[Breeze Brewin]: We are educators. The first way we teach is socially. I love this art form, but I’ve been teaching children of color in neighborhoods very similar to where we grew up for 14 years. I am in no way embarrassed or regret earlier artistic work. However, my mouth was a little reckless in a good way at the time. I didn’t care; unadulterated. With that, some of the things that were said, I can’t see me saying now, especially knowing we live in a society where people can be critical utilizing specifics that serve their purpose and/or narrative.

Lines are taken out of context to sell a story and make mcs with public service livelihoods the bad guys. I saw it with Brownsville Ka. I could see it with us, as educators. So I’m a bit cautious. I haven’t even used the N-word recently. However, that only makes it more challenging. One of my idols, Rakim, rarely used any obscenities and was as hard as anyone in the game. So I have rhymed in front of the kids, but I’m careful with my word and topic choice. It was actually in an elective class on rhyming. I was trying to school them.

When you guys first formed it was an exciting time for rap and you were on the frontline of that whole underground movement. Did you have a sense at the time of how special what you were doing was, or is that something that has come with hindsight?

[Buddy Slim]: It was an interesting time, at one time ourselves and Company Flow were recording at the same studio in the city. I remember that time Co-Flo had finished up their debut effort and it was just Juggs and Flo in our own private listening party at the studio. We also performed together a lot back then. I remember our first show together was pretty crazy; we performed Clear Blue Skies wearing masks of old presidents, and Co-Flo was ill. Brewin was really the one who first connected with El-P and them, so for a lot of us in the cru it was our first exposure to the Co-Flo experience and them joints had us bent.

[Queen Herawin]: For me, I was just becoming part of that scene. Kev and Breeze were really at the forefront of the underground movement as foundational artists who helped set that wheel in motion. I became more of the experience through the Lyricist Lounge Volume One compilation on the song Weight. I didn’t realize how important and influential that song would be for my career and consequently add to my weight as a Juggaknots member, solidifying my role as part of the group and giving me needed exposure, experience and performance opportunities to enhance my craft and be better. As far as looking back, it shocks me at how many retrospective projects have been made, honoring underground Hip-Hop, yet neglecting to note Juggaknots as part of that foundational experience.

It’s always been interesting to me – maybe cos I’m a frustrated rapper at heart – that there are artists as talented as yourselves, who don’t have a constant urge to make music and put those skills to use. Was there a point when you thought the focus of your careers would always be Hip-Hop, or did you always see it coming to an end sooner than that?

[Buddy Slim]: We never stopped but life sometimes dictates direction. We had kids early and in the industry, money comes in ebbs and flows. When it’s good it’s really good but when it’s bad it’s real bad. So we had to reassess how we were going to incorporate life and the dream. Simultaneously.

[Queen Herawin]: The urge is always there. Whether it’s silently whispering in your ear for attention, or screaming at the top of its lungs to be heard. It’s in the fabric of who we are. We were artists before educators or perhaps educating through the music before we were doing it in the classroom. As Kev mentioned, so eloquently I must add, “life sometimes dictates direction” and juggling both hasn’t been easy, but our love for music has kept the flame lit, just maybe not the lights on. Teaching has provided that. We still persist to be who we are, and if and when that direction shifts, allowing us to provide for our families through the music solely, the creative balancing act may be one that we do until we no longer have to.

[Breeze Brewin]: I love this art form. I would love for this to be the only means of supporting myself and family. However, I needed to hit a certain level of income for my family to be comfortable. For a while, the music provided for that. When it didn’t, or I didn’t (who knows what drives what) I couldn’t see my family involuntarily joining the ranks of the starving artists. My son and daughter never asked for any of that. That being said, I have nothing but respect for the artists that took a chance and banked on the dream more exclusively.

I remember Pumpkinhead (RIP) was always talking about that ‘GRUSTLE’ (grind and hustle). He always had something on the burner and was able to make it work. John Robinson’s another perpetual professional creator. That dude always juggled hustles in a way that seemed effortless. I know it took a lot of effort. I can only celebrate and admire those that made it happen, as a full-time artist. When times got tough, I couldn’t. There were some other issues that made it necessary to keep a more traditional 9-5 type gig. Lucky for me, my job as an educator is very inspiring. It keeps me close enough to the young people of my community and often gives me ideas for music. The same way I wanted to make music to impact people. I impact through educating.

The balance seems to be finally tipping in terms of artists needing a major label behind them to put an album out. Do you think it will make the industry evolve for the better, or will labels always find a way to exploit new talent?

[Buddy Slim]: Labels will always exploit, that’s the nature of the beast, but times are changing. It seems that Hip-Hop is coming full circle, it’s about to be like back in the day with small independent labels like when Prism, Sleeping Bag, and Warlock were the go-tos. Hence the reason why we have been in business as a Hip-Hop label (Matic Entertainment) for the past ten years. We hope to relive those glory days and hopefully be more of a player in the independent Hip-Hop label scene.

[Queen Herawin]: The freedom that any artist has to put out music is bittersweet. It allows of course for full creative range, but it also allows, therefore…for FULL CREATIVE RANGE!!! There is so much music that is being called music, that doesn’t exactly sound like music [laughs], But it sells, it gets views, like millions and millions. Music as a craft has tipped the scales there as a result of this freedom, like giving kids a bunch of markers and saying…ok, you can do whatever you want on the wall. Some will just scribble, while others will create actual pictures and thoughtful images that represent art.

Juggaknots have been a very influential group for a lot of the artists who have come up after you. Do you pay much attention to the current generation? And if you do, do you have any favorites, anyone who you think will leave a real mark for the next generations?

[Buddy Slim]: We have a lot of favorites we feeling out here, right now we been vibing a lot to Axel Leon outta the South Bronx. He is a beast but what can we say we bias to the BX.

[Queen Herawin]: I can be stuck in my old ways of loving what I love and what inspires me, even if it is in the past or from artists who have been creating amazing music. From this generation, it’s more their energy I’m in awe of [laughs]. I would love to work like that! Non-stop. But again, quality over quantity. But quantity sparks momentum. I heard 16 Shots by Stefflon Don and thought it was dope. The beat is crazy, but it was the fusion between the Hip-Hop sound and Dancehall that got me. It kind of reminded me of Lady Saw’s 99 Ways; her tone and the tone of the song had a similar vibe to me. I liked the fusion and definitely was rockin it in the car. It must be our Jamaican roots as well, mixed with the Hip-Hop foundation.

What’s next for you all?

[Buddy Slim]: Dropping these Brewin solo efforts, a Queen Herawin EP is in the works, the Fevr compilation/Reggae project. Plus as always, discovering/signing new talent and keeping up with the craft. We are also expanding into literary works, app designs and film.

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Gingerslim has been a hip-hop fan since 1994 and has written for various blogs and websites since around 2006. During that time he has contributed to style43, Think Zebra, Headsknow and Front Magazine. His main interests in rap are UK hip-hop and the underground movement in America, with a focus on Rhymesayers Entertainment and the once mighty Def Jux label. He lives in Bristol and has a beard. All other details are sketchy at best. Follow him here. 

Interview: Dave Cooley

DAVE COOLEY STUDIOStones Throw Records followers and liner note junkies will probably recognize the name Dave Cooley from albums like Donuts, Madvillainy, Champion Sound, The Further Adventures of Lord Quas, and Ruff Draft. Cooley is a world-renowned and well sought after mixing and mastering engineer, audio restoration specialist, and producer at Los Angeles-based mastering studio, Elysian Masters. He’s currently working on a number of “top-secret” projects and audio restorations/re-issues with the assistance of Elysian Masters’ recently attained and newly-restored Neumann VMS66 lathe-cutting machine, of which there are only a few left in existence. Matt ‘The Witzard’ Horowitz recently interviewed Cooley about everything from Paramore to Silversun Pickups, J Dilla to DOOM, and everything in-between.

How much does the overall sound (to the common ear) of an album generally change and progress from when you first get it from the artist to when you’re completely done mixing and mastering?

Well it can change quite a bit in terms of where the focus is being drawn to within the tune. Ultimately my goal is to honor what the intention was, the feel that the artist was originally shooting for… but just more of that same feel and more energized. By the time things are mastered, the listener’s ear should be drawn to the interplay of all the different sonic registers and events, so that the music sounds more dimensional, huge, and sort of animated in presentation. That might be done through pressurizing the sound (compression), highlighting or separating things (EQ), smoothing the high frequencies, or spatializing the mix. Spatializing means handling the depth from the upfront leading edge of the sound all the way to the “back wall” or deeper image of the sound.

Now some people will say mastering is just getting things “loud” which is somewhat true, but it’s not that easy. You’ve got a limited amount of canvas, and to maximize every square inch of it with the least amount of degradation to the signal…. it’s knowledge that takes a long time to develop. A lot of easy processes that people have access to at home are either the wrong choice… or overcomplicated and tricky to simplify. Knowing which parameters on a piece of hardware or plugin to not touch on an album, or to take out all together… again, not easy… takes years of experimenting. I compare it to surfing. Looks easy but it’s a lot of muscle memory built up over time. No way are you not wiping out first 10-50 attempts.

How much hands-on or face-to-face interaction do you typically have with artists like Madlib & Freddie Gibbs, DOOM, Silversun Pickups, Paramore, Electro-Acoustic Beat Sessions, Washed Out, etc?

I’ve been lucky enough to work with some amazing artists and really enjoyed being there with them during the creation of the music, mapping out songs and performances. That was in my producing days with bands like SSPU and others. There’s so much face to face when producing that it’s like you’re in a mountaineering base camp together; making a record with a band really does feel like climbing a mountain. On the other hand, when it comes to mastering we have a no attendance policy while doing EQ (Equalization). It’s a one day process usually and I find that almost nobody expects to attend anyway. It’s both a technical and a meditative process; it doesn’t help the music if we’re trading war stories or jokes while I’m working. I take that very seriously and I need to zone in and listen deeply to the tunes. Sometimes the artist will come in at the end of the record and work on spacing/sequencing with me in the studio and I really enjoy that, but even that’s rare these days… most people just fire off notes or tweaks, if any after listening.

Do artists ever disagree with decisions you often have to make during the mastering stage, especially those who are producers themselves? You really must have gone to-to-toe with some sizeable egos, over the years, plus plenty of perfectionists like J Dilla!

Very occasionally, but less and less… and if there’s a redirection after the first listening it’s always for the best because it’s almost universally a project preference thing and not a technical thing at that point. They want it brighter or less bright, that’s pretty common. But often times I’m taken aback by how quick we get through a record, one pass in many instances. Ironically Dilla… the perfectionist… signed off on everything almost immediately with very little second guessing. Madlib too. I would say experience = less indecision. Both on the engineer’s part and on the artist’s end.

The names of engineers often only get noticed by crate-diggin’ liner note junkies, but when you read histories of classic Hip-Hop studios like Callipe, Power Play, D&D, and SugarHill Recording Studios, the engineers always get their proper shine; would you say that Hip-Hop is a genre that really appreciates and respects the skills an engineer brings to the table?

There are times that we engineers are acknowledged and it’s appreciated: a shout out in a rhyme to Mario Caldato or Bob Powers, etc. I was very grateful to be included in much of what’s been written about J-Dilla’s story and legacy as another example. And then conversely, there are times when we’re plainly written out of the historic narrative. Not every single record necessarily; It’s more like when you see a body of work or a true contribution to a sound or label that engineers should be given their fair share of acknowledgement I think.

What album(s) have you contributed to that you’re most proud of and which album (if any) would you go back and approach differently knowing what you know now, in retrospect?

My favorite mix was for These New Puritans’ Hidden album, if only for how wild it was sonically, and just surviving the sheer track count with orchestra, programmed drums, and live band. I think I have Stockholm Syndrome on that one. My favorite mastering jobs I’ve done, probably the two M83 records and our recent Bob Marley: Exodus 40th Anniversary reissue. And Madvillainy because it’s pretty reckless and punk in spirit.

As far as what I would approach differently today… probably all of them done pre 2017! Not that they should have been done different, but I prefer to keep evolving. If my skills and techniques remain the same then I’m not honoring new ways of looking at things, or I’m not trying to do my best sonics yet. The early Stones Throw records, some of the techniques on those… I wouldn’t default to now. But they became part of the sound of those records. It fit the music, and people liked what it was contributing as far as the aggressive and disorienting sound. Sometimes I get requests to run things like that (which is retro at this point) and I do it if it’s right for the record. No absolute methodology, just whatever supports the vibe of the record.

How exactly did you go from playing in Rock bands to producing for Silversun Pickups to mixing for J Dilla and Madlib to mastering records for Paramore and Jimmy Eat World to doing audio restoration and working with the Neumann VMS66 lathe? Your musical career path really sounds like it’s been one hell of an exciting journey!

It was borne out of necessity. When I got in, it was the tail end of the music industry as it was previously known. We went from a Pangea major label land mass to a broken up world of independents. To survive, you needed to be able to translate between the differing cultures and sub-genres, and navigate between all the newly minted indie labels. You needed to be a jack of all trades too because budgets were scant. Lastly, I spoke “record collector”, which was the equivalent of a rosetta stone… and hard to find in an audio engineer in the early 00s. That really helped me lock up with Light In The Attic, NowAgain, Stones Throw, Dangerbird etc. I guess things have only gone further in that direction since. For my clientele I still need to know the difference between zamrock, beach goth, and next gen new age… what those sound like. I don’t think most mastering engineers do.

What was it like being right there in the studio while Madlib & DOOM crafted and recorded Madvillainy? Do you happen to have any particularly crazy stories you’re able to mention from those fateful sessions at The Bomb Shelter?

Well the beat making all happened at Madlib’s Bomb Shelter before I was brought in; he had hundreds of 2 track beat snippets on CDs. In one month of reclusive producing he had a CD made up called “100 beats”. Two weeks later, he had another CD made up called “Another 100 beats”. He had Jeff Jank (in house designer at Stones Throw) make custom album artwork for these CDs which were only used internally at the label and to shop beats to MCs. DOOM would go through those to pick out his faves. Most (if not all) of the material for Madvillainy, Jaylib’s Champion Sound, and I think Dudley Perkin’s first album was sourced from that one month’s worth of Madlib beats!.

The music was then imported to Protools at my place, and then DOOM tracked all the vocals. We had a great mic sound and workflow, everything got pretty well cinched up. DOOM took the semi-final material home and upon review decided that he had put everything down with “too much energy” in the vocal takes. So all those takes were scrapped! He ended up re-recording the vocals with a super laid back delivery, on a rough mic, and those became the finals… I think to the betterment of the record. It just had a better dichotomy to it. Madlib’s beats were so day-glo intense; DOOM’s casual delivery worked well against that. I also remember loaning DOOM a book: Tao of Physics. Every time I saw him he wanted to talk about that; he was really into the the idea that quantum physics was a manifestation of the ancient Tao teachings. So some of that super-consciousness you get from his rhymes, it’s informed from places other than psychotropic substances. He was more of a hip-hop Tim Leary: well-read in addition to being a cosmic explorer. Also, we probably went through about 8-10 differing album sequences for Madvillainy… over a period of 2-3 months. Peanut Butter Wolf and Jeff Jank were grinding out how it was strung together, there were probably 50-60 snippets of audio scene changes that needed to be put in a particular order, to create that audio-meets-comic-book feel.

While recently perusing your Discogs profile, I noticed you’ve had a hand in nearly every Adrian Younge (Linear Labs) release since 2013, including Adrian Younge Presents The Delfonics, Ghostface Killah’s 12 Reasons to Die I & II, Something About April II, and The Electronique Void (Black Noise). What’s it been like steadily working alongside Younge as his career rapidly progresses and evolves? How did it feel being part of what most would quite arguably call Ghostface’s recent “Rap career resurgence”?

Adrian is a really heavy artist in that he’s a multi-instrumentalist composer/arranger. And he cranks out consistently great records. He and I have worked closely together over the years to get a finished sound for his records that people recognize immediately, and he’s great at getting me input on what he needs the mastering to sound like. Working for his projects is right in my wheelhouse (historic record presentation mixed with hip-hop/breaks). He’s also probably one of the most gentlemanly dudes I’ve ever worked with, a savvy businessman, and a great friend. As far as 12 Reasons to Die, I was a fan of Wu-Tang Clan of course from way back. While I was mastering, I was trying to get it where I felt like I was listening to a classic Wu record for the first time all over again. Am I getting that record buzz I remember from being a teenage rap fan skipping class? If so, move to the next song. Sweat, repeat.

How did you go about attaining your fully-restored Neumann VMS66 lathe-cutting machine now housed at Elysian Masters? I remember you’ve said you and your crew used it to cut Ariel Pink, Betty Davis, and Paramore’s recent records… but what exactly does it do, for those who may not be familiar with such a machine?

Well this particular vinyl lathe was rescued from the backyard of a DJ in Boston who didn’t have the time or resources to restore it properly and get it running again. We spent about a year with four people working on it, and 10s of thousands of dollars, to get it cracking again. It is now cutting amazing records, just amazing. We went nuts making sure that the lathe was restored to the condition it would have left the German factory in 1966, which was truly a painful process. Then we took it miles further by improving the electronic components and wiring, shortening signal paths, and optimizing the computer that handles the groove placement.

DAVE COOLEY LATHEWe got it to the point where we were benefiting from the fantastic original discrete designs by optimizing them with new component choices, but also benefiting from certain modern upgrades that could only happen within the last couple years. The result is a lathe that cuts a lacquer master for vinyl that is really efficiently cut. And super musical and high fidelity. The running times can be longer, the depth of cut can be deeper for more volume and better signal to noise, and lead outs at the ends of sides are long. This puts most of the music on the outermost diameters where it sounds the best. We feel it’s the best cut for the money out there and possibly at any price point. So once our clients have a 14” lacquer master from our shop, then that is sent out for electroplating to create the metal parts and then the stampers that will handle the production run for a vinyl release.

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Matt Horowitz has been a hip-hop fan ever since he first heard Wu-Tang Clan’s Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) back in the mid-90’s, which positively or negatively changed his life ever since, depending on who you ask. He single-handedly runs online music publication The Witzard, and has been fortunate enough to interview Eothen ‘Egon’ Alapatt, Guilty Simpson, Dan Ubick, Career Crooks’ Zilla Rocca & Small Professor, Kool A.D., Cut Chemist, and J-Zone, amongst countless others. He enjoys writing about and listening to hip-hop, Punk/Hardcore, and Indie Rock on vinyl with his lovely fiance, while drinking craft beer, red wine, or iced coffee. To paraphrase both Darko The Super and the Beastie Boys: “Already Dead fans, they want more of this… I’m a Witzard like my man Matt Horowitz!”. Follow Matt here.