City of Dope

It looks like Mista FAB has big plans for the Town, he’s endorsing Ron Dellums as the new Mayor of Oakland. That’s good news for all the thizzed out yellow bus riders who have been undecided up until now.

FAB sat on a Hip Hop meets Politics panel a couple of weeks ago when Dellums came to speak. FAB was impressed and told the candidate that he and other politicians need to have a way to make their political speak relatable to the Hip Hop fan base that Mista FAB and others have.

FAB also told Dellums that he should not be fooled into thinking that because he sports a grill, wears his hat backwards and gets hyphy that he doesn’t stay up on the politics effecting Oakland. Following in the tradition of 2Pac who was always well read and stayed informed, Mista FAB is and numerous other artists are the same way. Part of being able to get their hustle on is being up on all aspects that impact both their business and neighborhood.

It’s good to see someone from the ‘hyphy movement’ step up and deal with some real shit going on in the area. From what I’ve heard, FAB is already pretty involved in the community and does tons of volunteer work. I’m pretty sure Dellums might want to see Fabby trade in the ‘Stop Snitchin’ shirt.

Read more at DaveyD.com

It’s going down tonight.

Crown City Rockers
‘B-Boy’

This is a good one for the summer.

Here’s another one from ‘Pick A Bigger Weapon’, it’s funky!

The Coup - We Are The One’s

These guys have about a century in the rap game between them, so they know what their doing.

Pimp C, E-40, B-Legit, and Bun B - The Corruptor’s Execution

Dre Dog
‘Situation Critical’

MTV’s My Block is now a thing of the past and will be quickly forgotten, because BET has a whole fucking week of hyphy madness coming your way. I’m shocked that they are actually putting down a whole week dedicated to the Bay considering I haven’t seen a Bay Area video on there in about a decade. Im hoping Spice 1 and Dre Dog might be able to sneak their way into one of these shows.

“Hyphy promises to be more like the ‘second coming’ of the glory days of Bay Area music artists,” stated Charles Johnson of Oakland’s Young Lion Entertainment. It has been more than a decade since hip hop dominants like rap artists MC Hammer, The Luniz, Digital Underground and E-40, put the Bay Area music scene on the map. Hyphy has erected a new stage for unique and talented artists like Oakland native Mistah F.A.B, rap’s version of the Grateful Dead — Hieroglyphics Crew, The Federation, and the ageless Too Short. The country will have the opportunity to catch a glimpse and experience the movement through BET next week.

The BET series covers the past, present, and future of Bay Area Hip Hop. The series opens Monday’s with hip-hop icon, rap artist Too Short—a pioneer Oakland Rapper who went from slanging tapes on the corner to platinum sales—and concludes on Saturday with the Bay Area’s Top 10 Countdown.

The schedule is as follows:
Monday 5/22/06 Too Short – A Day in the Life
Tuesday 5/23/06 Hyphy – A subculture of Hip Hop
Wednesday 5/24/06 E-40 – His second wind
Thursday 5/25/06 Hieroglyphics & Davey D – The Past, Present, & Future
Friday 5/26/06 Bay Area – The Road Map
Saturday 5/27/06 Top 10 Countdown.

This player below is an interview Davey D did with Mad Linx from BET and Big Chuck from Soul Beat. Listen to it, you might learn something.

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San Francisco super-producer TomC3 is pack with his latest installment to the rap game, ‘Project Polaroid’. This time around, he’s teamed up with the legendary Kool Keith to hit you with some super scientifical madness. Everything is full blast android. Peep game.

TomC3 and Kool Keith

Wassup Tom, let ‘em know who are you, how you got started and what you have done.
TOMC3 / producer. I got started by being fascinated by all the greats such as Ultramagnetic MC’s, Rakim, the whole Juice Crew, BDP etc..I grew up listening in an era that was very innovative. The mid to late 80’s! So, basically what i did was work at various odd jobs and saved up enough money to buy my first sampler. An akai s950. Thats basically how I got started. I learned the hard way, there was no internet etc to help you out with beats and samples!

Well, as for the projects that I have done so have been Dopestyle 1231 (self titled album), Kaijin (Japacronix), Nate Mezmer(Kill The Precedent), Project Polaroid(The Original Soundtrack) Bucc Rogerz feat. Kool Keith (Transmitting Live 12″). I also did a remix for Tweaker feat. Robert Smith from the Cure that hasnt come out yet.

Some people think Keith has fallen off a bit since the days of Dr. Octogon. Does this record get it back to that feel?
Well, as far as Keith falling off since the Octagon days, it’s just a matter of opinion I guess. He still sells units, so there is a fanbase that steadily purchases his stuff. Judging from sales it wouldn’t indicate so. But I guess people were expecting another Octagon and he hasnt given them that. So, in that sense I suppose people would assume he fell off according to that.

This album we did (Project Polaroid) does touch on that era of Keith in that he is kickin some sci-fi type stuff. But the album itself isnt based just off of that concept. It’s its own thing, I would like to believe. I would say its a return for him to rappin over sample based production. But, if you were a fan of the Octagon era, then you would definitely dig this album.

Anyone who’s listened to Keith’s music know he’s a bizzare dude. How is it working with him, do you guys get along well?
Working with Keith is fun. He has a lot of routines he needs to do before he records. i.e. go to porn shops, buy chicken wings and look at magazines for an hour or maybe go to Red Lobster. Keith really knows what he is doing when its time to record. He doesnt take many takes to get it right, he’s very quick during the recording process.

We get along pretty good on a business and personal level. You just have to know his routines and you’ll be fine. He’s a funny dude.

Project Polaroid has collabs with Motion Man, Jihad the Ruffneck from Third Sight, and Prince Po. I know you’ve worked with Motion and Jihad before, but how did the track with Prince Po come together?
Well, that came about because I have always been a fan of Organized Konfusion. Prince Po was my favorite in the crew. I thought he had some of the illest lines. Especially on releasing “Hypnotical Gasses”, he has some of the illest lines on the album . I basically got in contact with him through the label he was on at the time, LEX. I hit him up and he was totally down and did that verse on “Mechanical Mechanix”. I told him what we were going for on that song and he just ripped it. I mentioned something about “Hypnotical Gasses” to him, and thats why he mentions Reed Richards in that verse as a reference to our conversation!!

The 12″ and LP cover both have some tight artwork. Why dont people put more effort into the cover art?
Yeah, the artwork is pretty damn dope. I dont remember seeing anything like it. My brother , DIET, came up with that stuff. He has a lot of good ideas. Watch for his stuff coming out, its pretty innovative! You need to get him on CITY OF DOPE!!
Yeah, a lot of covers are pretty un-imaginative. Some dude on the cover with a gold chain in baggy clothes, or with his shirt off etc…pretty lame. You look at the top ten releases for hip hop and the covers all look the same! I seen some cool artwork in the other forms of music though.

Last summer you went around the country on tour with Keith and Guru. That must of been a crazy experience, any wild stories from the road?
It was pretty wild at times. I cant really mention that stuff in print because thats some private shit for certain people. But I’m sure you have heard it all befoe anyways, right? I remember being in Colorado at this bar next to the club we performed at and this girl bought me a drink. That never happens, isnt that wild! hahahah…..we had a chrysler 300 for the whole tour. It was pretty comortable. On the way to Texas we were driving late at night from New Mexico and I remember running over something on the freeway. Whatever it was, it wasn’t in my sight, it seemed like it was out of nowhere. I looked in the rear view mirror and saw nothing , so I didnt stop. So we get to Texas and we stop at some place to eat. We are outside standing around and I look at the car and it looks funny, something isnt right. Upon close inspection, the side spoiler? was missing! Thats what I ran over on the freeway that night! The shit fell off!

You dont do a lot of production work outside of your own projects. Why is that? Is there anyone out there you really want to work with?
Hmmm, good question. Well, probably because I haven’t really gotten out there yet. I am hoping that after this project with Keith, people will be lookin for some tracks. If not, I have a lot of projects I’m workin on anyways. Plus, I actually prefer to work on whole albums as opposed to just tracks. I like to vibe with the artist like that. Bounce ideas off each other etc. Build an album instead of just “here, here is a beat I made, rap over it”.
As for working with people..hmm.. A lot of people. Maybe Sean Lennon, Dre Dog, Beck, Trent Reznor, Beastie Boys.

Ive always thought you looked like the love child of Kid (Kid and Play) and Juwon Howard. Do you get that often from people?
Youre funny, I thought I escaped that! Yeah, I used to get that a lot. Not as much lately. I used to get Juwon Howard more than Kid. It’s funny when you realize it yourself. You hope no one notices, but sure enough, they got me! I used to have a hi top fade as well! I can still do the kid n play kick step mean!

What does the future hold for TomC3?
Well, lets see..There is going to be another single for Project Polaroid comin out soon with remixes from different producers , can’t mention any names because it isnt final yet, but its gonna be good! ..I have an album that Motion Man and myself are working on called Ernie Drastic. Then theres the Motion Man and Del album that we are workin on right now. Also expect a collaboration with my boy the Specialist. He has some of the illest beats right now! Also doin some tracks for the upcoming Nate Mezmer album as well. Maybe another project with Keith. Thats what I got cookin right now….more to come!!

Tom & Keith at Myspace
Threshold Records

Black Dynasty
‘Deep East Oakland’

Dont miss the Zack Morris Motorola cell in the beginning.

The East Bay Express ran a piece this week about local celebs, The Team, and the new album ‘World Premiere’. To me, it appears more to be an add for their ‘grapple’ flavored energy drink, ‘Hyphy Juice’. Can’t knock the hustle.

“Hyphy Juice is the brainchild of Carson and his partner K.O.A.B. The two own the Moe Doe record label, which put out World Premiere, and created a new company, the Oakland-based It’s Good Bev Co., after being inspired by Nelly’s Pimp Juice and Lil’ Jon’s Crunk Juice. “We wanted something to represent our culture on a national level,” Carson said. They also “wanted something that tastes like candy.”

After two and a half years of product testing, Hyphy Juice hit the shelves earlier this year — just in time for the Team’s album release. The national explosion of hyphy into mainstream consciousness was a fortunate coincidence, and so far, the response has been encouraging: Carson claims the drink has earned $600,000 in revenue in its first two months. “The hyphy movement can sell the juice, but the juice is so delicious, it sells itself,” he boasts. “We got the West Coast on lock,” he adds, with national distribution in the works. According to Carson, business building is in the soil. “All the acts that come out the Bay Area, they always had ownership,” he notes, naming Too $hort and Hammer in particular. “We from Oakland, we represent the blue-collar hustle of the Bay; it’s just taking it to another level.”

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I’ve had that shit, and it’s alright, but I prefer Jolt. Twice the caffeine.

This one’s nothing new but it’s super dope, the best remix of this track I’ve heard.

Tell Me When To Go - Trackademicks Remix