Rest in Paradise Gifted Universal Rhymes Unlimited

Finally, we are on the eve of the innovative, 5-day crowdfunding event, One Spark, that has had the cities creatives all abuzz for the past several months.  Starting tomorrow, creatives from all over the world and our very own city will ascend on Downtown Jacksonville to show us what they’ve got.  For the next 5-days the heart of the city will transform into a massive working space as the creators display their ideas, talents and creations, with the general public acting as judges by voting for their favorite creatives via smartphone, kiosks, text messages or web:  How to Vote.   Up for grabs is a $250,000 fund, which will be distributed amongst the creators, based on the votes.

Amongst the creators are some of TLP’s favorite indie artists:  Ample Differential (Matrix Group/FFJB Music), Chopp, Mal Jones (Mal Jones Presents..The Lyricist’s Hour Live!), Paten Locke and Eye Socket Show (Willie Evans Jr. & $BIG BUCKS$ Crew)  so be sure to check them out at their various displays and vote, vote, vote!  Click the pics below to be redirected to each of their pages for information.

For more information on One Spark visit beonespark.com and download their app on iPhone and Android phones to vote and stay abreast of all of the creators, events and parties associated with One Spark.  And be sure to stop by One Spark’s Official Merchandiser, ICON Boutique at 108 E. Adams St and at various booths throughout the One Spark campus for all of your merchandise needs.

Ample Differential

#686

Chopp

#692

Mal Jones Presents..The Lyricist Hour Live!

#630

Paten Locke

#771

Eye Socket Show:  Featuring Willie Evans Jr. and the $BIG BUCKS$ Crew

#808

Our condolences go out to the family, friends, fans and fellow artists that cherished him.  Rest in Paradise, Ausmoses.

http://www.reverbnation.com/ausmoses

M4U is the brainchild of host, Kojo, a Kentucky native who currently calls Jacksonville, Florida home.  In Duval, Kojo found an artist’s community filled to the brim with enough talent to easily rival major entertainment hubs like Atlanta or New York, if only they had more exposure.  “We’re giving Jacksonville something it’s never seen before.  We not only want to showcase local talent, we want to attract talent to the city and spotlight Jacksonville as a thriving hub for pursuing a music career,”  Kojo says.

This season, viewers can expect to see Kojo interview guests like Jeremy Mincey of the Jaguars, recording artist J.DASH who is best known for his Billboard charting hit single, “Wop” and many more.  M4U will also feature fashion segments by the Mz London, as well as “The Hot List”, a top 5 viewer selected music video countdown, that will feature videos from local artists.

M4U premiers on Sunday, April 7, 2013 at 7:30 pm on CW17 (Cable 9).

And for a sneak peak of the first episode, join the cast and crew of M4U on Thursday, April 4, 2013 (7 pm – 9 pm) for the Show Premiere Party at De Real Ting Cafe at 128 W. Adams St. in Downtown Jacksonville.

For more information on Music 4 U (M4U), please visit www.music4utv.com.  Like them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/m4utv and follow them on Twitter @M4UTV.

On August 12, 1958, 57 notable jazz musicians gathered on the steps of a brownstone in Harlem, NY to take the black & white photo that came to be known as the iconic ‘A Great Day in Harlem’.

• 54 years later, on November 9, 2012, 44 independent artists in Jacksonville, Florida’s artists community, that included poets, vocalists, writers, musicians, MC’s and more, gathered to pay homage to that great day in Harlem with their own black and white canvas and titled it, ‘A Great Day in LaVilla’.

As a transplant, I only became familiar with the legend of Jacksonville’s LaVilla neighborhood as the ‘Harlem of the South’ and a hotbed of talent and innovation after I joined The LaVilla Project family in 2009.  After doing my own research and visiting the remnants of the old neighborhood, I became immediately fascinated by the history of the community and set out to carry on tradition by shining light on the wonderfully talented artists that call Jacksonville home.  In fact, the name The LaVilla Project was chosen by the sites founder, Renaldo Horn, because he saw in today’s talent, pieces of the past and thought that it’d only be right to pay homage to the LaVilla community by naming the site after it.  So when I received notification that Cyntoria Thomas and Anthony ‘Ahynte’ Heard was planning to honor LaVilla’s and Harlem’s notable legacy by recreating the ‘A Great Day in Harlem’ canvas, there was no question on whether I wanted to be involved since without the neighborhood, this site would not exist.

The day that the photo was taken, on the steps of The Karpeles Museum, could not have been more perfect.  The weather was beautiful, the artists were excited and hopeful and there was an energy in the air that can only be described as electric.  And as the talented Jihan Grant of DigitalMiss Designs snapped several takes to get the just right photo, I believe that every artist involved knew that they were a part of something special.  The canvas was revealed on February 6, 2013 to raves reviews and has since been featured on News4Jax and in The Folio Weekly and is the talk of Jacksonville’s artists community as word spreads about the great day that the ‘LaVillans’ pulled off and the greater days ahead.

For more information on ‘A Great Day in LaVilla’ visit:  A Great Day in LaVilla Facebook Fan Page.

Watch ‘A Great Day in LaVilla’ Organizers, Cyntoria Thomas, Jihan Grant, Anthony Heard and Christopher White be interviewed by News4Jax’s Kumasi Aaron here:  LaVillan’s on News4Jax.

To learn more about the LaVilla community visit:  http://ritzjacksonville.com/.

Nakia:  Introduce yourself to the readers of The LaVilla Project.

Chris Slade:  My name is Chris Slade.  I’m a rapper out of Jacksonville, Florida, originally born and bred.  I went to school in Tallahassee, but I came back and worked and now I’m on the music thing.  I’ve been on the music thing, but I really started taking it seriously in 2010.

N:  Ok, according to your bio, your stage last name has a cool acronym.  What is it and why did you choose it?

CS:  Yeah, it’s Saw Life And Did Everything.  I once said a line when I was a teenager about how I slayed beats, so my brother used to always called me ‘Slayed’.  I made that name, but then I realized that I wanted it to be deeper.  I wanted it to actually have a meaning. In my life and in my career, how I see it and how I really want it to be is I want to be everywhere and do everything, like reach every market and try to capitalize on everything I can to be the biggest artist that I can.  I want to see life and literally do everything.

N:  Nice.  And what would you say inspired you to rap?

CS:  My brother.  My brother is a promoter in the city and he introduced me to rap when I was like 11-12.  Heltah Skeltah; I rapped on one of their beats the first time.  And I was really into Reasonable Doubt.  I was into B.I.G. and Pac, but I also used to listen to Del the Funky Homosapien, Pharcyde; that’s the type of stuff he put me on.  So I was really into rap, being younger and listening to it and that’s how I honed my skills.  AZ; I used to listen to Sugarhill and learn how to write.

N:  You just ran down some dope artists that you came up listening to, who would you say are your favorites?

CS:  Jay, Scarface really helped me.  I listen to a lot of Nas, like I said AZ, Redman, Meth.  Ras Kass, Tha Alcoholiks.  Of course, Kanye, even Trick.  My favorite Trick Daddy album was www.thug.com, I used to ride to that.  Early Tip, Outkast.

N:  You’ve mentioned artists from the West Coast, Texas, South, East Coast obviously and the Midwest; how do you think listening to such a vast array of artists influenced your style?

CS:  As a kid, when I would write, I used to try to pick out little things that would stick out to me, like how animated Ludacris and Eminem were and I figured that Eminem got it from Will Smith because he was real animated back in the day.  I like that kind of animation, so I took that and I put it in how I deliver.  Articulation, I got it from Jay because he used to really articulate and he’s just really smart with the rhymes, so I wanted to use that.

N:  Word.  One thing I’ve noticed about your projects was the throwback theme you incorporate.  Like on Birth of the Cool, the cover is an old school pic of Sammy Davis Jr. and Bill Cosby and of course the title is a nod to Miles Davis.  And on The Life of the Fly, you used Sammy and Diana Ross and then there’s your upcoming joint, New Jax City. What’s up with that?  Are you paying homage to those eras?

CS:  Yeah, that’s just how my style is.  My daddy used to play Miles Davis, Frankie Beverly and Maze and the Richard Pryor albums, who was cool in everything he did, it had a style to it.  Like Bill Cosby and how he hung with Sammy back in the day and how Sammy mixed in with Frank and was in The Rat Pack.  That inspires me.  It’s classic.  I like classic stuff and would want my music to be classic and to transcend to other art forms.  And with New Jax City; my style is different, not the norm of the city so it’s to incorporate myself and be the voice of the people who are like me and can relate to what I do and how I live.  Not really too crunk, just giving you what I am.

N:  Ok, tell me about New Jax City.

CS:  It’s sixteen songs.  I worked on it with Quallaam Waters, he does recording, engineering, producing and also studios.  We worked on it the whole year of 2012.  I put Birth of the Cool out because I had done it already and I just fell deep into doing a record that was extending what I did with Birth of the Cool .  I’d done Birth of the Cool and I was going to make it a part two, but I turned it into New Jax City.  I had done three other mixtapes, but people weren’t really getting aware of it until Birth of the Cool.  So what I want New Jax City to do is extend that sound, give you more of me, tell you who I am, tell you where I come from, tell you what I’m about and explore with me as I go through the city.  I feel like I’m from the city, so I should be bringing awareness to the city if I’m trying to be an artist that catapults the city.  I want to give people the essence of a guy that’s coming out of Duval County that’s not the norm, but still represents the city in a good way.

N:  Word up.  What’s the first single from New Jax City? 

CS:  The song is ‘Flyest Nigga Ever’.  I wanted a song that represented me and everything I’m about, so I figured I’d put that out.

N:  That’s bold.

(Laughter)

CS:  Yeah, it’s bold and I know people may look at it and think, ‘Wow, is he really saying that?’  But I mean, why not?

N:  Yeah, but if you don’t think it, no one else will.

CS:  You know what I’m saying?  I feel that way and I feel that I make dope music and I should be able to say that if I’m trying to make my way into the music industry and be that guy.  Why would I run from that?  And I think we made a pretty dope video for it.   When you hear that and you see the video, it gives you a better look at my vision.  And then when you hear the mixtape, it’ll all come together.

N:  You mentioned to me that later on this evening, the video for ‘Flyest Nigga Ever’ will be previewed at a movie screening.  Tell me about that.

CS:  Yeah, the movies is The Homeboys by Carlos ‘The Videographer’ Smith II, he has Los2KS Films.  He’s premiering a movie tonight about four homeboys in Jacksonville and the director of my video, Adam Pressley, was one of the stars of the movie.  So he and I were talking and he was like, I wish we could preview the video at the start of the movie, like a trailer and so he hit Carlos up and he was down, so that’s how it went.

N:  Good job!  Ok and tell me a little about the director of your video, Adam Pressley.

CS:  He directs a lot of weddings and videos at clubs, but when he worked with me; I was his first music video.  I gave him the vision of what I wanted to do and this is the fourth video that we’re on now.  He really wants to be a serious director, like I want to be a serious artist, so we just put our stuff together like, we’re going to do this.  He digs the music and he digs the vibe and we both have the same vision and we’re making it work.

N:  Cool.  Do you have a creed or any words that you live by?

CS:  To do everything with purpose.  That’s what I live by.  Me and my manager talk everyday and we’ve gotten to the point where everything we do, has to have purpose.  I always heard people talking about the purpose driven life and I never really got it, but I get it now.  That’s how you get things done, if you’re driven with purpose.

N:  Where can we find more information about you?

CS:  Ok, my personal Twitter is @chrisdamnslade and my music Twitter is @chrisslademusic.  Facebook:  Chris Slade Music or Chris Slade.  www.chrisslade.bandcamp.com is where you can find Birth of the Cool.  My single ‘Flyest Nigga Ever’ from New Jax City is on flyingwrite.bandcamp.com.  And my website is flyingwrite.blogspot.com.

 N:  Right on.

Next Sunday, celebrate HerStory with the good folks that have brought us Support the heART & The Lyricist Hour!  In honor of March’s Women’s History Month, two of Duval’s dopest artists, Chopp (Support the heART) and Mas Appeal (The Lyricist Hour/Simple Complexity) have come together to bring us HerStory an event that will celebrate the womb from which all of civilization was birthed through food, music, poetry and crafts.  In honor of the event, this week we’ll be posting links to the work of the amazingly talented women who you’ll get to see live. Proceeds from the event will benefit The Women’s Center of Jacksonville and we all know that the only thing better than a party is a party with a purpose!

For more information and presale tickets for the event, visit herstoryjax.tumblr.com and the HerStory Facebook Fan Page.

HerStory Schedule

3-3:30 Introduction of vendors/live art starts
3:30-3:45 Community Mic Time (Interest meeting announcement)
3:45-4:15 Girls Rock Jacksonville/Women’s Center of Jacksovnille
4:15- 4:30 Raffle
4:30-5:00 Nan Nkama African Dance Ensemble
5:00-5:15 Community Mic Time
5:15-6:00 Poetry

MUSIC!!

6:00 Alex E
6:30 Love Reigns
7:00 Liz Russell
7:30 Lashes OUT
8:00 Christina
8:30 MyVerse
9:00 Chopp
9:30 MJ Baker
10:00 ETurn
10:30 Boog Brown

 HerStory Spotlight Artists (03.02.13)

Chopp

For more information on Chopp visit http://www.reverbnation.com/chopchopp.

Boog Brown

For more information on Boog Brown visit http://Boogiewoogiebrown.com/.

HerStory Spotlight Artists (03.01.13)

Nan Nkama Ensemble

For more information on Nan Nkama West African Drum and Dance Ensemble visit http://facebook.com/NanNkama.

Alex E.

For more information on Alex E. visit https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ritual-Union/460000867371914?fref=ts.

MyVerse

For more information on MyVerse visit http://www.reverbnation.com/MyVerse.

HerStory Spotlight Artists (02.26.13)

Lashes OUT

For more information on Lashes OUT visit https://www.facebook.com/Lashesoutband.

Lizz Russell

For more information on Lizz Russell visit http://facebook.com/elizabeth.russell.35.

HerStory Spotlight Artists (02.25.13)

Love Reigns

For more information on Love Reigns, visit https://www.facebook.com/iamlovereigns.

ETurn

For more information on Eternity, visit https://www.facebook.com/ETurnMusicFan.

HerStory Spotlight Artists (02.24.13)

MJ Baker (Reflections of the Room)

For more information on MJ Baker, visit https://www.facebook.com/MJbakermusic and www.mjbakermusic.com.  Also, check out our interview with her and ill Clinton of Reflections in the Room:  Reflections in the Room Interview.

Christina Wagner

For more information on Christina Wagner visit http://myspace.com/christinawagner.

Back in 2009, when I joined The LaVilla Project, the founder of the site Renaldo Horn, gave me an assignment.  It went something like, “Get an interview with Tough Junkie.”  That was no problem, since Junkie was already my homie, but it was then when I started to understand the mystique that surrounded the MC/Producer whose presence on the scene was what I described as “engima” in my July, 2010 The Reluctant Leader interview with him.  Tough Junkie will have you believe that there is no mystique, that he’s just someone who chooses to follow his own playbook and the number one priority in that playbook is taking care of his community, because unless they’re taken care of, he cannot prosper.  So Tough Junkie has spent the last few years doing just that, getting his house in order and is now ready to put his team on the map with the release of the Missing EP on Dres of Black Sheep’s, Pool of Genius imprint.  In lieu of the release, I thought it’d be a good idea to catch up with Tough Junkie about Missing, fatherhood, the FFJB crew and where he finds inspiration.  And after the interview, peep the brand new video for ‘Get on Some Soul’ by Tough Junkie and the FFJB Team. 

Nakia:  Wow, it’s been more than three years since we sat down and talked like this.  You guys were pregnant with your son, Kingston, at the time and now he’ll be three this year, right?  So let’s talk about fatherhood, how has that been so far?

Tough Junkie:  Easy.  I wrote in one of the newer songs on, not on this album, but the actual full length album that’s coming later, how a lot of folks thought that raising a child would change the person that I am.  But I think it’s only magnified it.  No regrets, no secrets, nothing to hide, so it’s easy to raise the young one.

N:  And what kind of guy is Kingston?

TJ:  It’s not definite yet, but right now he’s become a destructive cat.  So, I’ll be able to show him how to fix things and that’s good because he’ll be very constructive.  His character as far as personality, he’s very exploratory and he likes to get into everything right now.  But he’s reserved when it comes down to people.  He won’t shake nobody’s hand, unless he sees one of us shaking their hand.  He’s observant of people’s energy.  That’s good.

N:  A very good thing.  Now about the new project, Missing.  First off, why you’d title it Missing?  I’m sure there’s a story.

(Laughter)

TJ: Yeah, it’s actually a pretty funny story about it.  A friend of mine, Cassie; she’s helping me write memoirs, believe it or not.  And (one day) I was going through one of her portfolios and I saw the picture that eventually became the cover art and I asked her if I could have it.  She asked me why and I was like, ‘It’s because our cultures music is missing the heart’.  Now the original picture didn’t have a cardinal, it had a chicken.  So I was like, ‘Yo,’ in my best Ghostface voice, ‘Yo, these cats is missing their heart out their bird chest.’ (Laughter)  So if they get a chance to buy the CD, I can actually hand them an artificial heart that they can use to do whatever they never had the heart to do.

N:  Now that’s hilarious, because I’ve been listening to the project and when you rang the doorbell “Hollow Spaces” was playing, how appropriate.  The project is dope by the way.  Missing was released under Dres of Black Sheep’s, Pool of Genius label, how did you guys come together to release this particular project?

TJ:  He was looking at trying to put a working space together for everyone that he has been working with as of late.  The FFJB was basically together, but he modified a lot of how we worked for his situation.  All of the resources that he had, he’s trying to give to the next generation of MC’s that he deemed would be second generation Native.  So that’s where most of that push came from.  He’s very, very happy with how we’re putting music together.  So he made a few phone calls, got a few situations put in place and he was like, this is the year, we’ve got a chance to move forward.  He’s basically putting us in the same machine that him and Lawnge were in when they were performing together.

N:  And how has the reception to Missing been, so far?

TJ:  Surprisingly good.

N:  Why surprisingly?

TJ:  I tried a couple of things on this project.  And it has panned out pretty good.  It’s one of those things where I’m not good with a project unless I’m uncomfortable with it.  Same thing here, I’m like singing all over it.  I was like, ‘What in the world is going on?’  I don’t know what’s going on!

(Laughter)

N:  Is that you singing on the bonus track?  “Monochrome”?

TJ:  Me, Myztroh and Picasso were all singing.

N:  The high voice is Myztroh, right?

TJ:  The high, high voice is mine.  The Phillip Bailey that we do on stage, that’s me!

(Laughter)

N:  I wouldn’t have put that on you!  It’s actually pretty dope, y’all are harmonizing!

TJ:  Yeah, it’s crazy.

N:  Ok, what is the single from Missing and will there be any visuals to go along with it?

TJ:  “Get on Some Soul” is the single.  And we had my good friend DJ Nick Fresh come in and choreograph all the dance moves for the video.  Stillwater is dancing.  That dude is stiff, that dude don’t dance, but he’s killing it.  My goal is to impress his parents with his dancing. It’s the simple two step that we usually do, but Nick Fresh actually put the Jackson 5 legs swings it.  We do the sunshine thing, we turn to the side.  I actually know the moves, it’s crazy.  Yo, we were killing it!  Look for it in the next week or so.

N:  No doubt!  Let’s talk about your joint, “Tron”.  Everybody loves “Tron” and you’ve performing it since last Spring.  Why isn’t it on Missing?

TJ: “Tron” was an accident.  It was sent to a handful of people, just to check out.  They sent it to the other couple of thousand people and it caught on.  Missing was the EP that I’ve been holding on to see if we could get a cult following before we actually started putting out full-length albums, so “Tron” will be on the full-length.  We’re basically building the brand of Pool of Genius records, so I just had Missing sitting, waiting and now that we have it here, it’s doing pretty well.  We have some South Americans that bought it, some Irishmen picked it up, some UK sales and some Australian sales.  I’m glad that’s it being received the way it’s being received considering I’m singing a lot more than I’ve sung anywhere else.

N:  Do you have a title for the full-length and will it be an extension of Missing or will it stand on it’s own?

TJ:  Monochrome the Improv.  It’s going to be a sequel of Refined.  Refined was like, here’s my life and all of the episodes that happened in between.  (Monochrome the Improv) is like, ‘…since these episodes’ or ‘Meanwhile…’.  Monochrome is more so picking up where Refined left off.

N:  I like that.  I peeped that with Missing, how the bonus track (Monochrome), picked up where the first track (Other Colours) left off.

TJ:  Yeah, we’ve gotten away from that with albums, reprises.  It was (once) an essential part of the album, because it allowed you to reflect on what has already happened.  And without an album having a start and a beginning; it’s just a collection of songs.  And it loses it’s value quicker.

N:  And when can we expect Monochrome the Improv?  Will it be released on Pool of Genius?

TJ:  This summer.  And if Pool of Genius is strong enough to house it, yes.  We’re trying to build it up right now.

N:  In the past couple of years, FFJB has established a very strong presence on the scene.  How is the chemistry with you guys and what can we expect from other members of the team?

TJ:  The chemistry hasn’t changed.  We just wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page before we decided to start coming out.  Duval Spit has an album.  Stillwater has an album.  Picasso has three albums.  DX has an album.  We’re coming out swinging this year.  So now that Missing is out, you’re gonna start seeing the other crew members albums coming out.

N:  In terms of the scene here, what has changed or has it stayed the same from three or four years ago?  What is your impression of the way things are here?

TJ:  I’ve drawn the line in the sand and after I did it, I realized that nobody reads sand-script.  And that’s what I’ve been dealing with as of late.  Paying dues, repping your crew properly, making sure that everybody in your crew can eat, making sure that everybody in your crew is okay like mentally and family wise; we’ve lost that somewhere down the line.  And that’s not just in the industry; that’s in the underground as well.  And I’m watching it happen.  So I don’t want to continue on with my career if my household is not good or if my community is not good.  If I’m walking out of the house and jumping into a Benz, but everyone on the block has windows with wood in them; how good am I to not help my neighbors help my yard look good?  There are folks that are giving me advice about my career, but not giving me a hand about our community.  The scene is in a good place because we’re finally getting noticed, we’re accepted, we’re not getting shut down every five minutes, so as far as the appearance of how the scene is, we’re in good shape, because everyone understands that the appearance needs to be good.  But infrastructural, we still have to put up some braces to keep this house up.

N:  How do you think your desire to see everyone eat as opposed to looking out for self will help or hinder your progression as an artist?

TJ:  Two years ago, it would have damaged me.  Now that I have an understanding of it, it’s not going to bother me.  In the words of most of the people on our scene, I’ve been the person who wants to do everything the way I want to do it.  But I know that it’s not that.  I’ve never had a Hip Hop history to pull from, so I don’t follow those rules.  I look up to Prince.  I want to have Prince’s career in what I do.  So how do I do that?  And Prince was basically like, I have my set of rules, they’re just not the same set of rules that everyone else is playing with.  And now he’s at the point where he don’t have to talk loud, they turn his mic up.

(Laughter)

N:  Word.  What inspires your music?

TJ:  Life.  And not just my life, everybody’s life.  I just write about life.  In the history of man, the only true history we have is our music.  Because the winners of the wars write the history books, but they will always preserve the music.  That’s how we know Persia existed, through the music.

N:  Why did you choose Tough Junkie as your name?

TJ:  I like to tell jokes a lot.  I like to have everybody in a good mood and laughing and joking.  Throughout the years, I thought it was funny to say that I wanted to be a junkie, when I grew up.  ‘Hi, my name is TJ, I’m eight and I’m going to be a junkie when I grow up.’  Everybody laughs, for the first day in the school.  And the more I realized it, a junkie is not necessarily hooked on drugs.  A junkie can be hooked on anything that he feels is necessary  for him to operate properly.  I just happen to be addicted to music.  It helps calm my days, it helps calm my nerves and it also helps me to deal with people who haven’t figured out their way to calm themselves.  The tough part came from a spot where if you approach anything 100% people say that you’re aggressive, because you’re working that adamantly towards something, so tough fit.

N:  This has been entertaining as always Junkie.  Do you have any final thoughts?

TJ:  Reconstruction is necessary in any movement that’s being built.  But the people who want to reap the benefits of the reconstruction cannot be afraid of the destruction that needs to take place.

N:  Perfect.

New music from the incomparable Paten Locke; ‘Expensive Wool Pants’ from Nueve, Tres Records 9th anniversary compilation album featuring instrumentals from Blu, Houseshoes, Big Tone and more.  This joint is classy and jazzy, no red cup sipping to this, you gotta break out the snifter.  Peep.  

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD:

NUEVE