Ask Me About A Rapper w/Alaska

[ALASKA]

I'm kind of surprised at the rappers you've either never heard of, or whose music you are unfamiliar with...

really? why?

I guess, as far as I can tell you seem to be up on some pretty obscure acts, but aren't aware of or as familiar with some acts I would have thought were more obvious such as Luniz, Nine or T La Rock...

a lot of the unfamiliar acts im up on because we came through the same scene. i mean i know of the guys you mention but i never got to heavily into them.

[RetroVerde]

Zion
Dizzee Rascal

[ALASKA]

Zion
Dizzee Rascal

im assuming you mean zion from zion i. if so i think he is awesome. i love the project he did with grouch, and the song 'the bay' is one of my favorite songs.

dizzee even though he is on jux i havent really heard much of him outside of the song he did with bun b and fix up look sharp both of which i enjoy a lot.

[Drastik]

What're your honest to god thoughts on Vast Aire?

Karniege

and Me http://www.zshare.net/audio/13831256c569f14c/

sorry drasic. as of this moment im too drunk to listen but i promise i will listen over the next day or so and write up a review....fair enough?

now that im burning and remember that you said this... whatsup?

[RacquetballGangsta]

iono if u done these yet

aceyalone
freddie foxxx
i-self
planet asia
u-god

[ALASKA]

What're your honest to god thoughts on Vast Aire?

Karniege

and Me http://www.zshare.net/audio/13831256c569f14c/

sorry drasic. as of this moment im too drunk to listen but i promise i will listen over the next day or so and write up a review....fair enough?

now that im burning and remember that you said this... whatsup?

ok just listened. first of all great sample in the beginning.

as for the rhyme. the pros - good rhyme construction with the multis and word play. good lines liked the opposed to poi thing. that made me laugh. good voice and energy.

cons - the flow was a touch off at times and i think you need to work on sounding a little more comfortable on track.

[ALASKA]

iono if u done these yet

aceyalone
freddie foxxx
i-self
planet asia
u-god

i havent. so lets bangem out.

acey - dont really like his music too much. he is obviously skilled and has built a rep as part of project blowed, but like with micah 9 it just doesnt do anything for me.

Freddie Foxxx - is great in small doses. like his verse on the sex and violence album is one of my favorite all time verses. the shit is so cold. his work on 19 naughty 3 was also steller.

i self - he is the dude from micronauts right? if so i think he is sick. the obilesk movement album is the only thing i have heard from him. i love that record. it was one of those records i got, listened to once and didnt like much. found a year later during a move and decided to give it another chance and was blown away.

planet asia - ehhh

U-God - ruiner of many a great wu track

[Drastik]

What're your honest to god thoughts on Vast Aire?

Karniege

and Me http://www.zshare.net/audio/13831256c569f14c/

sorry drasic. as of this moment im too drunk to listen but i promise i will listen over the next day or so and write up a review....fair enough?

now that im burning and remember that you said this... whatsup?

ok just listened. first of all great sample in the beginning.

as for the rhyme. the pros - good rhyme construction with the multis and word play. good lines liked the opposed to poi thing. that made me laugh. good voice and energy.

cons - the flow was a touch off at times and i think you need to work on sounding a little more comfortable on track.

thanks. i appreciate it. back to the rhyme book.

[ALASKA]

What're your honest to god thoughts on Vast Aire?

Karniege

and Me http://www.zshare.net/audio/13831256c569f14c/

sorry drasic. as of this moment im too drunk to listen but i promise i will listen over the next day or so and write up a review....fair enough?

now that im burning and remember that you said this... whatsup?

ok just listened. first of all great sample in the beginning.

as for the rhyme. the pros - good rhyme construction with the multis and word play. good lines liked the opposed to poi thing. that made me laugh. good voice and energy.

cons - the flow was a touch off at times and i think you need to work on sounding a little more comfortable on track.

thanks. i appreciate it. back to the rhyme book.

anytime

[AWAE]

mr. lif

[ALASKA]

mr. lif

first time i saw lif was like 96 or 97 in nyc. i didnt even know who was playing. the girl i was dating at the time heard about this spot that had a monthly show or some shit. anyway we went, lif performed and i was a fan for life. he is the only person who ever made me feel like i needed to run out and buy his music the day after seeing the show. i bought the elecktro single and i didnt even have a turntable. anyway i think lif is amazing.

[Xaula Zany]

I might have missed some.

Did you do Doom and/or NYOIL yet?

if so then what about Dres

i didnt

doom - he isnt gonna flip up a ton of styles on you but he is always clever and always says shit that cracks me up. i also think he works what he has very well. picks solid production for the most part and usually has interesting projects.

NYOIL - heard for the first time today with that lynch'em video. he isnt the greatest rapper on a technical level, atleast from what i heard on that song. however i really liked the passion he had on it and he is saying a lot of shit that a lot of people feel but havent really had the heart to say on track. i hope he brings about some change so people finally start calling people out again and condemning the bullshit.

dres - is a terrific mc. my fav of the native tongue type dudes. style, confidence, high skill level, clever. he is a reallly good mc.....i also chilled with him a few years back when we were working on the first record. he told me he still makes enough money off this or that or whatever the fuck that song is called....it slipped my mind, old age is a bitch.

"The Choice Is Yours"

Das Efx

or

Sage Francis

Das Efx - I still play their first record. i know the iggidy shit was kinda gimmicky and people were biting it a bit, but i thought it was really dope. the album was really fresh too. once they got rid of the iggidy they just became average mcs to me and got progressively more boring as time went on.

Sage Francis - A lot of sages stuff is political which im not really that into so im not really familiar with his music. I toured with sage last summer and watched him rock pretty much every day for 3 weeks and he is a top notch live performer. he has great flow, very entertaining on stage and works his crowd perfectly. i will also say this about sage. i went into the tour with preconceived notions as to who he was, and when i got to know him i couldnt have been farther from the truth. He is cool. very nice and a good sense of humor. in a weird way sage is also kinda responsible for hangar 18. years ago before we started working on our first record i remember getting involved in a thread on HHI that sage was on i remember talking some sort of shit about him and anticon and people jocking them/going to shows. Sage's response was something along the lines of perhaps if atoms family focused more on their music and careers instead of focusing on message boards and talking shit on us you would be doing the same thing. in a weird way it was just the kick in the ass i needed, i started separating from atoms on a work level and ventured out, found pawl, started working on some of the solo shit i have been posting over the past few weeks, from there wind came back into the fold and the rest is history. so thanks sage.

Alaska,

Thanks for the kind words, man. I don't think that's the answer B. Ware was hoping for, but it's nice to know that we've ended up on genuinely good terms.

I guess I'm kind of oblivious to the impression I make on people when they don't know me on a personal level. The Paid Dues Tour was especially funny because Murs was suspecting some shit might pop off between me and a few of the other people on the tour. In fact...remember that pow wow we had in the park before the tour started? I was kinda floating around, looking at clouds pass by...not paying much attention...meanwhile, that shit probably had a lot to do with me and my "beef" with other people on the tour. haha. Which Murs told me about later.

After that group meeting, Cage (one of the ONLY people on that tour who I haven't had some kind of dealings with in the past) came up to me and was like "yo man...I just want you to know...I don't have a problem with you." As if there was some kind of negative tension.

I said, "Oh. Cool, man. I uhh...I don't have a problem with you either. I like your music. I'm a fan."

"Oh, alright, man. It's just...I've been hearing stuff, ya know? And I just wanted to clear the air and let you know there are no problems."

Haha. Man, that fucking tour....in retrospect...that shit was so great. So many weirdos going to so many weird places with a constant juggling of dynamics. This should have been a reality TV show.

Now, to pass the focus back onto you, this was the first time I saw you perform since the Atom's Fam days. However, the stage show that you and Windnbreeze put on was surprising to me in a good way. Fantastic showmanship, great flows, catchy choruses, and most importantly a GOOD TIME for all. I had zero understanding of the Hangar 18 thing before stepping into that tour and by the end of it I was a fan. So I'm glad that a post I made 10 years ago helped inspire something productive because it's good stuff. I think that might mean I have a .500 batting average now.

As for H18's supposed sabbatical (which you also mentioned off-handedly in this thread), I heard about that a week ago and I took it as bad news. However, y'all know what you need to do for yourselves and none of us know the intimate details. I wish you the best.

I just posted the photos I took on the Paid Dues Tour on my myspace page www.myspace.com/sagefrancis

it only took a year

peace

[Philaflava]

Sage why do you think so many people have run-ins with you? Is it to the point where you finally realize it or do have no concern whatsoever? I have to think if you weren't so content in your surroundings and career you'd probably be twice as popular with twice as much money and fans if you didn't have so many negative dealings with people.

[Xaula Zany]

Sage why do you think so many people have run-ins with you? Is it to the point where you finally realize it or do have no concern whatsoever? I have to think if you weren't so content in your surroundings and career you'd probably be twice as popular with twice as much money and fans if you didn't have so many negative dealings with people.

Well...I don't know. I speak my mind and I don't have too many filters. It's always been like that and I don't think it can change it. You tend to offer business advice from time to time on your site here, which is fantastic, but I see you ignoring the opposite side of the coin a lot. I am content in my surroundings (which you acknowledge) so why would I be bugging about ways to double my fans and money? Maybe I'd have half the fans and money if I was any different than how I already am. If you consider my issues with certain people or companies to be "negative dealings" then I guess I thrive off of whatever you consider to be negativity. I don't think we view life, words, and success in the same way. This is a definite thread-jack though so I'll try and bow out of the discussion. If I double my fans and money in the next year it's because of you. Just remember that. I definitely will, because it means that I'll have my balls sitting in a jar as a constant reminder.

[Donny Chicago]

Cannibal Ox
Aesop rock

[Dids]

Can-U
Ardamus
Noah23

[Reggie]

I might have missed some.

Did you do Doom and/or NYOIL yet?

if so then what about Dres

i didnt

doom - he isnt gonna flip up a ton of styles on you but he is always clever and always says shit that cracks me up. i also think he works what he has very well. picks solid production for the most part and usually has interesting projects.

NYOIL - heard for the first time today with that lynch'em video. he isnt the greatest rapper on a technical level, atleast from what i heard on that song. however i really liked the passion he had on it and he is saying a lot of shit that a lot of people feel but havent really had the heart to say on track. i hope he brings about some change so people finally start calling people out again and condemning the bullshit.

dres - is a terrific mc. my fav of the native tongue type dudes. style, confidence, high skill level, clever. he is a reallly good mc.....i also chilled with him a few years back when we were working on the first record. he told me he still makes enough money off this or that or whatever the fuck that song is called....it slipped my mind, old age is a bitch.

"The Choice Is Yours"

Das Efx

or

Sage Francis

Das Efx - I still play their first record. i know the iggidy shit was kinda gimmicky and people were biting it a bit, but i thought it was really dope. the album was really fresh too. once they got rid of the iggidy they just became average mcs to me and got progressively more boring as time went on.

Sage Francis - A lot of sages stuff is political which im not really that into so im not really familiar with his music. I toured with sage last summer and watched him rock pretty much every day for 3 weeks and he is a top notch live performer. he has great flow, very entertaining on stage and works his crowd perfectly. i will also say this about sage. i went into the tour with preconceived notions as to who he was, and when i got to know him i couldnt have been farther from the truth. He is cool. very nice and a good sense of humor. in a weird way sage is also kinda responsible for hangar 18. years ago before we started working on our first record i remember getting involved in a thread on HHI that sage was on i remember talking some sort of shit about him and anticon and people jocking them/going to shows. Sage's response was something along the lines of perhaps if atoms family focused more on their music and careers instead of focusing on message boards and talking shit on us you would be doing the same thing. in a weird way it was just the kick in the ass i needed, i started separating from atoms on a work level and ventured out, found pawl, started working on some of the solo shit i have been posting over the past few weeks, from there wind came back into the fold and the rest is history. so thanks sage.

Alaska,

Thanks for the kind words, man. I don't think that's the answer B. Ware was hoping for, but it's nice to know that we've ended up on genuinely good terms.

I guess I'm kind of oblivious to the impression I make on people when they don't know me on a personal level. The Paid Dues Tour was especially funny because Murs was suspecting some shit might pop off between me and a few of the other people on the tour. In fact...remember that pow wow we had in the park before the tour started? I was kinda floating around, looking at clouds pass by...not paying much attention...meanwhile, that shit probably had a lot to do with me and my "beef" with other people on the tour. haha. Which Murs told me about later.

After that group meeting, Cage (one of the ONLY people on that tour who I haven't had some kind of dealings with in the past) came up to me and was like "yo man...I just want you to know...I don't have a problem with you." As if there was some kind of negative tension.

I said, "Oh. Cool, man. I uhh...I don't have a problem with you either. I like your music. I'm a fan."

"Oh, alright, man. It's just...I've been hearing stuff, ya know? And I just wanted to clear the air and let you know there are no problems."

Haha. Man, that fucking tour....in retrospect...that shit was so great. So many weirdos going to so many weird places with a constant juggling of dynamics. This should have been a reality TV show.

Now, to pass the focus back onto you, this was the first time I saw you perform since the Atom's Fam days. However, the stage show that you and Windnbreeze put on was surprising to me in a good way. Fantastic showmanship, great flows, catchy choruses, and most importantly a GOOD TIME for all. I had zero understanding of the Hangar 18 thing before stepping into that tour and by the end of it I was a fan. So I'm glad that a post I made 10 years ago helped inspire something productive because it's good stuff. I think that might mean I have a .500 batting average now.

As for H18's supposed sabbatical (which you also mentioned off-handedly in this thread), I heard about that a week ago and I took it as bad news. However, y'all know what you need to do for yourselves and none of us know the intimate details. I wish you the best.

I just posted the photos I took on the Paid Dues Tour on my myspace page www.myspace.com/sagefrancis

it only took a year

peace

FRIENDS FOREVER

[Money Gripp]

FRIENDS FOREVER

[Mark 563]

I'm kind of surprised at the rappers you've either never heard of, or whose music you are unfamiliar with...

really? why?

I guess, as far as I can tell you seem to be up on some pretty obscure acts, but aren't aware of or as familiar with some acts I would have thought were more obvious such as Luniz, Nine or T La Rock...

a lot of the unfamiliar acts im up on because we came through the same scene. i mean i know of the guys you mention but i never got to heavily into them.

Sure, I get that... I didn't mean it as a cuss... Just an observation...

[ALASKA]

I might have missed some.

Did you do Doom and/or NYOIL yet?

if so then what about Dres

i didnt

doom - he isnt gonna flip up a ton of styles on you but he is always clever and always says shit that cracks me up. i also think he works what he has very well. picks solid production for the most part and usually has interesting projects.

NYOIL - heard for the first time today with that lynch'em video. he isnt the greatest rapper on a technical level, atleast from what i heard on that song. however i really liked the passion he had on it and he is saying a lot of shit that a lot of people feel but havent really had the heart to say on track. i hope he brings about some change so people finally start calling people out again and condemning the bullshit.

dres - is a terrific mc. my fav of the native tongue type dudes. style, confidence, high skill level, clever. he is a reallly good mc.....i also chilled with him a few years back when we were working on the first record. he told me he still makes enough money off this or that or whatever the fuck that song is called....it slipped my mind, old age is a bitch.

"The Choice Is Yours"

Das Efx

or

Sage Francis

Das Efx - I still play their first record. i know the iggidy shit was kinda gimmicky and people were biting it a bit, but i thought it was really dope. the album was really fresh too. once they got rid of the iggidy they just became average mcs to me and got progressively more boring as time went on.

Sage Francis - A lot of sages stuff is political which im not really that into so im not really familiar with his music. I toured with sage last summer and watched him rock pretty much every day for 3 weeks and he is a top notch live performer. he has great flow, very entertaining on stage and works his crowd perfectly. i will also say this about sage. i went into the tour with preconceived notions as to who he was, and when i got to know him i couldnt have been farther from the truth. He is cool. very nice and a good sense of humor. in a weird way sage is also kinda responsible for hangar 18. years ago before we started working on our first record i remember getting involved in a thread on HHI that sage was on i remember talking some sort of shit about him and anticon and people jocking them/going to shows. Sage's response was something along the lines of perhaps if atoms family focused more on their music and careers instead of focusing on message boards and talking shit on us you would be doing the same thing. in a weird way it was just the kick in the ass i needed, i started separating from atoms on a work level and ventured out, found pawl, started working on some of the solo shit i have been posting over the past few weeks, from there wind came back into the fold and the rest is history. so thanks sage.

Alaska,

Thanks for the kind words, man. I don't think that's the answer B. Ware was hoping for, but it's nice to know that we've ended up on genuinely good terms.

I guess I'm kind of oblivious to the impression I make on people when they don't know me on a personal level. The Paid Dues Tour was especially funny because Murs was suspecting some shit might pop off between me and a few of the other people on the tour. In fact...remember that pow wow we had in the park before the tour started? I was kinda floating around, looking at clouds pass by...not paying much attention...meanwhile, that shit probably had a lot to do with me and my "beef" with other people on the tour. haha. Which Murs told me about later.

After that group meeting, Cage (one of the ONLY people on that tour who I haven't had some kind of dealings with in the past) came up to me and was like "yo man...I just want you to know...I don't have a problem with you." As if there was some kind of negative tension.

I said, "Oh. Cool, man. I uhh...I don't have a problem with you either. I like your music. I'm a fan."

"Oh, alright, man. It's just...I've been hearing stuff, ya know? And I just wanted to clear the air and let you know there are no problems."

Haha. Man, that fucking tour....in retrospect...that shit was so great. So many weirdos going to so many weird places with a constant juggling of dynamics. This should have been a reality TV show.

Now, to pass the focus back onto you, this was the first time I saw you perform since the Atom's Fam days. However, the stage show that you and Windnbreeze put on was surprising to me in a good way. Fantastic showmanship, great flows, catchy choruses, and most importantly a GOOD TIME for all. I had zero understanding of the Hangar 18 thing before stepping into that tour and by the end of it I was a fan. So I'm glad that a post I made 10 years ago helped inspire something productive because it's good stuff. I think that might mean I have a .500 batting average now.

As for H18's supposed sabbatical (which you also mentioned off-handedly in this thread), I heard about that a week ago and I took it as bad news. However, y'all know what you need to do for yourselves and none of us know the intimate details. I wish you the best.

I just posted the photos I took on the Paid Dues Tour on my myspace page www.myspace.com/sagefrancis

it only took a year

peace

thank you man. we will see where things go, but the sabbatical feels right and we are both pretty happy with the decision.....sounds like a divorce...hahaha.

paid dues was the best tour i have ever been a part of. i dont see how any tour can ever match the fun and energy of that tour. the two people on the tour who were wild cards for me were you and cage because i didnt really know either of you well but you guys both ended up being to of the my favorite people i met on the tour. wind and i went out for dinner with murs on the day off in denver and i told him as much, he said that he knew once people got to know each other everyone would get on like gangbusters. murs is the greatest person in our field.

those pictures bring back such good memories. im so happy i got to be part of that.

[ALASKA]

Can-U
Ardamus
Noah23

honestly im not really familiar with the works of these guys. i like ardamus' work on the posse cut and i always kick it with him for a bit when i see him in dc. he is a cool cat, genuinely nice. last time we played dc with del ardy was rocking the phila flava shirt proud....and i have to say i was jealous that i dont have one yet. i need to get on that.

[ALASKA]

Cannibal Ox
Aesop rock

already did both of these guys

Ox -

as an artist - i feel el was the star of that record. his production on that album was just amazing. it provided the perfect soundtrack for what vast and vordul were trying to do. i think vast and vordul had a great thing going with that album. i was actually in a group with vordul before he started working on that record. i always thought they had the potential to make a great record if they worked together with the right guidance. vast at that time had a lot of good metaphors and out of all the people i know sounded the most comfortable on track. i still think vordul was the best rapper to come out of atoms family and his verses on that album gave me the same feelings i used to feel when i listened to supreme clientele. i loved his style wordplay and ideas.

as a fan/friend - I will never listen to this album again. it makes me sad. i see it as the embodiement of wasted potential. between mismanagement of their careers, egos, personal tragedy, etc i just hate it. I think they could have been great and had a great moment but vast and vordul let it get away from them. they had a great ally/mentor in el and they could have gone on to make some really interesting music but now we will never know. still pisses me off to this day.


Aes -

as an artist - I remember the first time i heard aes back in like 96 or 97, i thought he sounded like a combination of rock and el-p which at the time was mind blowing. As he started dropping more material i he was kinda stuck in that box, i always liked the stuff he put out but it wasnt until labor day that he really started standing out and in my opinion having his very own thing. The thing i really like about aes is that you see he is on a creative journey. with each album he impliments something new. whether its song structures, changing his sound a bit, loosening up with his flow, etc. My favorite aesop releases daylight ep, fast cars, and none shall pass. aes played none shall pass for me a year before the record dropped and i was blown away by it. It has a distinctly west coast feel to it and not in the way that he just tried to sound west coasty but that living on the west coast has had an effect on his which really shows that he is an artist taking from his environment and growing beyond trends and sounds. I love that dude.

as a fan: I feel like i have had the opposite curve that a lot of aes fans have had. I like his sound more and more with each new release. i was never a huge fan of darker music. that being said if the darker music is good i can check it, but with aes his music has gotten away from the earlier darkness and moved to a more fun sound. his rhymes and beats have a lot more movement now. its hard for me to go back to a lot of the early work, because the direction of the newer work makes the old stuff sound dated.

[ALASKA]

I'm kind of surprised at the rappers you've either never heard of, or whose music you are unfamiliar with...

really? why?

I guess, as far as I can tell you seem to be up on some pretty obscure acts, but aren't aware of or as familiar with some acts I would have thought were more obvious such as Luniz, Nine or T La Rock...

a lot of the unfamiliar acts im up on because we came through the same scene. i mean i know of the guys you mention but i never got to heavily into them.

Sure, I get that... I didn't mean it as a cuss... Just an observation...

no worries. i didnt take it in a bad way at all.

[ALASKA]

FRIENDS FOREVER

my eyes are a dreamy shade of blue in that picture probably because i had been drinking for 3 weeks straight.[/quote]

[HomeSkillet]

stop being so nice alaska, you are ruining the thread.

[ALASKA]

stop being so nice alaska, you are ruining the thread.

hahah. im a nice guy

what do you want me to tell you. i have given you my honest opinion all the way through. you gotta give me that much.

[-Bruce-]

Illogic

And Alaska whatever happened to Centa of Da Web? Molecule and Witchcraft were dope..

[Haitian Jack]

What're your honest to god thoughts on Vast Aire?

Karniege

and Me http://www.zshare.net/audio/13831256c569f14c/

ok since your asking....and ive never before said this

i think vast had the potential to be great but he let his ego get in the way and alienate anyone who cared about him or could have helped his career, surrounded himself with yesmen. he hasnt been near the mc he could have been since look ma no hands which had some real bright points. im dissapointed with the path he took. i can say this now because im semi retired/on sabbatical which i also havent told anyone.

karniege is cool for what he is. he hitched his star to the wrong wagon. he has a joint with some cat i dont know called swagger something or another that is insanely dope. he should focus on that.

sorry drasic. as of this moment im too drunk to listen but i promise i will listen over the next day or so and write up a review....fair enough?

marq spekt is the dude in that gruop wit karnage. duke is nasty as fuk.

[ALASKA]

Illogic

And Alaska whatever happened to Centa of Da Web? Molecule and Witchcraft were dope..

illogic is dope. last thing i heard from him was celestial clockwork. i know he is working with a new producers but i always like illogic best when he rocks with print.

centa of the web did the one album then atoms did the great purge. at the time we were about 25 deep. some of the guys like witchcraft and molecule werent really fully into it so we cut the group down to myself, wind, crypt, vast, vordul, osirrus (for a while) and jest. we were the guys that were always going to shows, making songs and even in the studio when others were recording. the other guys it was more of a hobby for. i havent seen molecule or witchcraft in well over ten years. i liked there style and thought they had some good stuff going. i hope they are doing well.

[Tan]

lil dap
melachi the nutcracker
breez evahflowin