Fou Malade - “Thioukhna Kaye” - Music Video
December 29, 2006 | Leave a Comment
Abass - ‘Mo’F#&*%@!!’ - Music Video
December 29, 2006 | Leave a Comment
Nix “Rap Rekk” - Music Video
December 28, 2006 | Leave a Comment
Wa Geble - “Rap New Generation” - Music Video
December 26, 2006 | Leave a Comment
TONIGHT! LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE!! EAST MEETS WEST BOXING DAY DEC 26TH! BAMBOO AND CHOSAN IN CONCERT
December 26, 2006 | 1 Comment
Host: DJ EBRO AND KIMATHI
Location:
RARE R&R
416 W 14th street, New York, NY View Map
When: Tuesday, December 26, 7:00pm
Lets get ready to RUMBLE!! Rumble in the concrete Jungle! Many have pondered on the state of Hip Hop, Is Hip Hop Dead? The Answer to your questions will be reveled on Boxing Day Tuesday Dec 26th @ Club Rare R&R in New York City’s ever-stylish Meat Packing District. 416 W 14th Street Btwn 9th and Washington/10th ave. Doors: - 6.30 pm $10 Show 7-11pm as two of Africa’s most prolific MC’s BAMBOO (Star of the film Hip Hop Colony) and CHOSAN (From Kanye West’s Diamonds) show YOU! Where the future of Hip Hop is headed. Get your head right for 2007!
Morocco’s ONE wins electricity project in Senegal
December 24, 2006 | Leave a Comment
Morocco’s National Electricity Office (ONE) has won a $16.5m
contract for electrification of 550 villages in northern Senegal.
According to the concession contract ONE will distribute and manage
electricity distribution for 25 years, the company announced Friday
(December 22nd). The Moroccan company aims at reaching 24,000
electricity-service subscribers in three years.
In related
news on Friday, Minister of Energy and Mines, Mohamed Boutaleb stated
that the country expects 10% share of the renewable sources of its
energy balance by 2012. Currently the renewable energies contribute for
only 4% of the power production.
Video for Sen Kumpa “Niawal”
December 24, 2006 | Leave a Comment
Sen Kumpa video for ‘Niawal’!
Glen Adams Show
December 23, 2006 | Leave a Comment
Big up all the folks who came to see Glen Adams at Galapagos last Thursday! We had a blast and we hope you did as well.
Looking forward to the next one!
Trinity International Hip-Hop Festival
December 4, 2006 | Leave a Comment
This is for Trinity
The Original Upsetter: Lee Perry and the Upsetter’s Keyboardsist - GLEN ADAMS live @ Galapagos Art Space
December 1, 2006 | Leave a Comment
12.21.06
The Original Upsetter: Lee Perry and the Upsetter’s Keyboardsist - GLEN ADAMS live @ Galapagos Art Space
Event Information:
Thursday, December 21, 2006
8:00 PM - 3:00 AM
21+
cover: $10.00 | 7 $ with RSVP - 10$ at the door
Contact Email:
rsvp@nomadicwax.com
Venue Information:
Galapagos Art Space
70 North 6th St.
between Kent and Wythe
Brooklyn, NY 11211
The legendary reggae keyboardist GLEN ADAMS (of Bob Marley/Lee Perry and the Upsetters fame) - will be taking the stage at Brooklyn’s Galapagos Art Space to celebrate his birthday Jamaican style on Thursday, December 21st 2006.
Many people are familiar with Adams’ funky reggae keyboard licks on classic Lee Perry and The Upsetters tracks such as “Return of Django,” “Duppy Conqueror,” “Small Axe” and “Soul Rebel” among others.
Adam’s one of reggae’s most prolific keyboarists having built his career playing with BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS and AUGUSTUS PABLO in addition to his years as LEE PERRY’s right hand man and chief song writer. Adams has been sampled by dozens of classic hip-hop tracks and has gone on to produce tracks for countless others including pop songstress Jennifer Lopez.
Adams will be backed by NYC’s Jammyland Allstars (featuring members of Nomadic Wax Allstars and Hotter Fire) and will also be joined by ska/reggae kingpin KING DJANGO and NYC supergroup Subatomic Sound System.
DJ Small Change will be spinning reggae classics as well as Nomadic Wax’s Benny Beats who will be spinning his usual gumbo of reggae, afrobeat and global hip-hop as well as NYC Reggae DJ - Queen Majesty who will be holding it down on the 1s and 2s spinning reggae classics for the duration of the evening.
GLEN ADAMS:
Glen Adams began his musical career as a vocalist in 1961. Glen was a Member of The Soulmates, The Reggae Boys, the Hippy Boys and the Upsetters band performing with Bob Marley, Agustus Pablo and Lee Perry.. He as also been a member of The Heptones and after that The Pioneers. Adams emigrated to USA in 1971 and has been living in Brooklyn since then.THE UPSETTERS:
Producer Lee “Scratch” Perry’s longtime house band, the Upsetters appeared on some of the most legendary records in reggae history, including the early hits of the Wailers. The group was named after Perry’s 1968 smash “The Upsetter,” and the Upsetter tag was also applied to his record label; although the line-up was mercurial — essentially the roster consisted of whoever was in the studio the minute the tape began to roll — among the key Jamaican musicians who passed through the Upsetters’ ranks were siblings Aston and Carlton Barrett, Sly Dunbar, Glen Adams, Winston Wright and Boris Gardiner. Despite scoring a handful of their own hits, including 1969’s “Return of Django,” the unit was best known as a support act, enjoying their greatest influence through the records they made during the late 1960s and early 1970s with the Wailers, including the seminal “Duppy Conqueror,” “Small Axe” and “Soul Rebel.”
KING DJANGO:
A seminal force in the American ska & reggae scene, KING DJANGO has made his name internationally as a singer, ragamuffin MC, song writer, arranger, instrumentalist (trombone, ukulele, harmonica, melodica, etc.), producer, studio engineer and record label owner (Stubborn Records).
King Django always keeps busy and always has a surprise or two up his sleeve. Drawing on such diverse influences as roots reggae, dancehall, ska, rock, soul, swing, and American and Yiddish folk music, he has always been a hard man to pigeonhole. His versatility within genres of punk, rhythm & blues, and Jamaican grooves is unmatched, starting early as the singer / trombonist of legendary NYC ska band The Boilers (1986-1988), evolving through reggae/soul/punk/jazz experimentalists Skinnerbox (1989-1998), and achieving mainstream recognition as the founder and leader of traditional ska supergroup Stubborn All-Stars (1994-1999). After the ska revival died down, King Django was able to devote his full energy to solo material: “Roots and Culture” (Triple Crown Records, 1998) combined ska, reggae and traditional klezmer music; while “Reason” (Hellcat / Epitaph, 2001) was an adventurous, eclectic self-produced album of rock deeply grounded in roots-reggae, dancehall, hip-hip, and drum and bass. In late 2003, King Django headed to Switzerland to record “King Django Meets The Scrucialists,” unleashing twelve brilliant slices of political roots reggae, rockers, dub, lovers rock, ska and dancehall, including two combinations with German ska/dancehall superstar Dr. Ring Ding.
In 2003 and 2004, Django hit the road in support of three releases on three different independent labels. A Single Thread, an 11-year career retrospective, which saw release in three countries (Megalith Records, USA/Ska In The World, Japan/Leech, Switzerland) presents an overview of Django’s range of style and capabilities. In 2003, King Django headed to Europe to record King Django meets the Scrucialists (Jump Up Records, Chicago/Leech, Switzerland. These sessions unleashed the true lyrical genius that has been inside Django all this time. The result was twelve brilliant slices of political roots reggae, rockers, dub, lovers rock, ska and dancehall, including two combinations with German ska/dancehall superstar Dr. Ring Ding. The American release also includes two exclusive dancehall versions created with the hottest new riddims coming straight out of Jamaica. Version City Sessions (Asian Man Records, California) showcases Django’s talents as a producer, engineer and remix artist.
King Django has toured internationally many times over as a solo artist, as the leader of Skinnerbox and Stubborn All Stars and as trombonist for Rancid, The Toasters, and legendary New York City hardcore band Murphy’s Law. In the studio, he has worked closely with fellow NYC pals the The Slackers and Skadanks and recorded with Tim Armstrong, Lars Fredrickson and Matt Freeman of Rancid and Dicky Barrett of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones on Stubborn All Stars’ Back with A New Batch in 1997 (Triple Crown). At about the same time, Django began collecting studio equipment and soon the legendary Version City was born. Within months, a steady flow of bands flocked to this NY mecca to create warm Jamaican vibes with Django©ˆs knowledge, production and engineering skills. Over the years, several “Version City” multi-artist collections have been released worldwide showcasing this unique clique that became the heartbeat of East Coast ska/reggae music. The latest of these is Version City Rockers’ Darker Roots (Antifaz Records, Puerto Rico) which features veteran Jamaican artists such as Sugar Minott, Yabby You and the Prophets, Sister Nancy, Ranking Joe and Cedric Brooks.
At present, Django spends a lot of time recording and producing many bands in many genres in his relocated Version City recording studio, now in New Brunswick, NJ. He also performs regularly with his King Django Band, King Django’s Roots and Culture Band, and as a “selector” (DJ) and “DJ” (MC) with his Version City Sound System, among others.
SUBATOMIC SOUND SYSTEM:
SUBATOMIC SOUND SYSTEM: It’s dangerous to play with the elements. That’s the first thing Emch, aka Scientifik, discovered when he began experimenting with Noah Tha Riddim Doktor in the Subatomic Lab. It was innocent enough to start – a classically trained guitarist, a seasoned bass player and a whole lot of old school 45s cluttering the place up. But then the test tubes came out, because no true doctor or scientist can leave well enough alone. Soon the lab was so full of equipment, instruments, and crisscrossing wires that the door to enter only opened wide enough for them to carefully slip in and out sideways. One wrong move could spark an electrical fire… or worse.
Sure enough, at the turn of the millennium, a massive explosion caused a collision of circuit boards, New York City asphalt, and human skin. When the smoke cleared and Emch began putting together the scattered pieces, he saw the same fundamental compounds at the core of many disparate things.
In this defining moment, Emch imagined people and sounds put together the same way and from there SUBATOMIC SOUND SYSTEM was truly born, a group and a sound that was both inclusive and expandable. SUBATOMIC SOUND SYSTEM melts down the vintage sound of bass-heavy dub reggae, the head bobbing funk of underground hip hop, the throb of dancehall, and the futuristic fever of jungle and broken beat to unleash the common elements that tie these styles together and give them a universal, cross-cultural resonance.
Behind this sound is a collective of diversely talented individuals that are at once a studio production crew, live soundsystem, and band – uniting the best of each tradition: the flow and breadth of DJ sets, the improvisational energy of live musicians, the sound manipulation techniques previously confined to the recording studio, and the conscious lyrics and honest story telling that define all good vocal music.
To bring this juggernaut to life, SUBATOMIC SOUND SYSTEM uses an innovative combination of analog and digital machines, live instrumentation, and a highly original crew of MCs and vocalists who represent these musical traditions. The end results are: 1) a hypnotic body rocking new album that sounds thick as gravy and 2) a unique live show that steadily keeps waists winding to infectious grooves and deep melodies. In any given live set, dub, roots, and dancehall reggae get mashed up with futuristic hip hop, broken beat, and space age drum and bass rhythms that are manipulated and rearranged in real time collaborative interaction with feeds from the musicians, MCs, and vocalists: Daddy Lion Chandell, King Django, Naada, Nemiss, Rhiannon, Paige Scott and Treasure Don.
The results of this diaspora of talent and influences are both premonitions and a nod to the past. Consider the history: Back in the 70s, Motown toured with a single backup band and a cast of vocalists that shared a common family vibe. At the same time in Jamaica, mobile sound systems were playing those R&B records while DJs chatted and sang their own versions, fresh from local studios. As imported American soul collided with Caribbean rhythms, it was further twisted up with studio effects and then unleashed on ears hungry for new sounds. This evolving sound system tradition later spanned the globe, giving birth to rap music here in New York City and influencing the spread of DJ culture and electronic dance music worldwide. SUBATOMIC SOUND SYSTEM is built solidly on this foundation, paying tribute to the past while flipping the script with the sounds of the present and the future.
Together, SUBATOMIC SOUND SYSTEM has been taking the East and West coast underground by storm. Their unorthodox mashup of styles, combined with innovative use of new technology, creates a powerful live experience that defies expectations and challenges musical prejudices. With the release of ON ALL FREQUENCIES, SUBATOMIC SOUND SYSTEM has begun spreading their gospel of hypnotic dub bass, pulsing syncopated rhythms, and sincere melodic messages around the globe – providing living proof that while it is dangerous to play with the elements, it’s worth walking through the fire.
NOMADIC WAX
NOMADIC WAX is a mobile “guerilla-style” production company and record label dedicated to producing, presenting and distributing hip-hop and underground talent from around the globe. Nomadic Wax was conceived by Benny Herson who stumbled upon a thriving underground hip-hop scene during a trip to Senegal in the summer of 1999. Enthralled with the political and social message of the group’s lyrics he researched and wrote “Fat Beats Dope Rhymes and Thug Lives: Hip-Hop Youth and Politics in Dakar” – an award winning thesis which earned him the Threshold Grant in 2000. With a desire to help spread underground politically conscious hip-hop from around the world, Herson returned to Dakar in 2001 and began producing and making beats for Senegal’s top underground MCs. Herson then created Nomadic Wax – a guerilla style record label and production company dedicated to distributing, producing and promoting hip-hop from around the world. In 2003 Nomadic Wax released the critically acclaimed “African Underground: Hip-Hop Senegal” the first of a multi part compilation series documenting the hip-hop scene in Africa. In that same year Herson also began the African Underground night in New York City – one of New York’s hottest underground hip-hop parties featuring MCs and DJs all over the world.
Since its inception, Nomadic Wax has worked with over 60 Global Hip-Hop artists from all over Africa, North and South America, The Middle East, Caribbean and Europe in addition to other well known acts such as well as Hasidic Reggae star – Matissyahu, Basement Bhangra’s DJ Rekha and Leroy ‘Horsemouth’ Wallace (Burning Spear’s drummer and star of the cult movie Rockers). Over the past 5 years, the Nomadic Wax brand has become synonymous with Global Hip-Hop and has been featured in The New York Times, Village Voice, BBC and National Public Radio.
BENNY BEATS:
Ben Herson was born into a musical family Boston MA. At the age of five he began studying drums and percussion. At 16, Herson took his skills to the stage and the recording studio as one of the founding members of legendary ska band Skavoovie and the Epitones.
After a decade long career playing with Skavoovie, his drum set skills led him into the studio playing drums for reggae legends including Yabby U, Sugar Minott, Glen Brown, among others. Herson also continued toured with NYC reggae and rock steady groups – Dub is a Weapon, The Slackers, The Rocksteady 7 and Kind Django. For the past fourteen years, Herson toured throughout the United States, Canada and Europe dozens of times, released a handful of internationally acclaimed albums and recorded a multitude of songs used released in films, television, radio and compilation recordings worldwide.
After a life-changing trip studying West African drumming in Senegal, Herson discovered a vibrant hip-hop scene in Dakar, Senegal’s main capital. Enthralled with the political and social message of the group’s lyrics he researched and wrote “Fat Beats Dope Rhymes and Thug Lives: Hip-Hop Youth and Politics in Dakar” – an award winning thesis which earned him the Threshold Grant in 2000.
With a desire to help spread underground politically conscious hip-hop from around the world, Herson returned to Dakar in 2001 and began producing and making beats for Senegal’s top underground MCs. Herson then created Nomadic Wax – a guerilla style record label and production company dedicated to distributing, producing and promoting hip-hop from around the world.
In 2003 Nomadic Wax released the critically acclaimed “African Underground: Hip-Hop Senegal” the first of a multi part compilation series documenting the hip-hop scene in Africa. In that same year Herson also began the African Underground night in New York City – one of New York’s hottest underground hip-hop parties featuring MCs and DJs all over the world.
Nomadic Wax has worked with over 60 Global Hip-Hop artists from all over Africa, North and South America, The Middle East, Caribbean and Europe as well as Hasidic Reggae star – Matissyahu and Basement Bhangra’s DJ Rekha.
Over the past 5 years – Herson and Nomadic Wax have become synonymous with Global Hip-Hop. Herson has toured the worlds a featured speaker, lecturer, panelist and moderator at Universities and Music Industry conferences all over the world. Herson has also been quoted and featured in The New York Times, Village Voice, BBC and National Public Radio speaking on the subjects of hip-hop, politics and globalization as well as co-founding and hosting the radio series Nomadic Sounds on Pacifica Radio Station WBAI.
