Trying to catch up...Berlin, Koln and Leipzig...

So it’s been almost 2 weeks since my last blog post. To say that it’s been difficult to put my experiences into words would be a vast understatement. I’ve rocked some pretty ridiculous shows and met even more amazing individuals all united by their love for music, art and independent culture.

The shows in Berlin and Koln were bananas! Both spots held down by similar stalwarts and purveyors of Hip Hop: LeBob in Berlin and DJ Cem in Koln. By far, Beatevolution Wednesdays at Cassiopeia and Beatpacker Thursdays at Subway 627 are two of the dopest Hip Hop parties that I’ve ever been to, let alone rocked.




A special thanks goes out to DJ Cem for putting Lokey and me up for almost 4 full days. I tell you what, trips like this would not be possible were it not for the kindness and hospitality of cats like Cem. Excellent host and an even better DJ, Cem’s generosity of spirit is known far and wide (I almost didn’t make the show, but at the strong encouragement of pretty much everybody I talked to in Berlin I HAD to make the trip…thank God I did!).






By last Wednesday Voltron had united (i.e., Rabbi D and Hired Gun were both in Berlin and the 3rd Party was in full-effect). J-Live and Trumastr arrived Thursday morning and we all made the 1 hour long train ride to Leipzig together. The venue, Conne Island, was dope, the show was great, but the catering might have been the best part…Ha! Ha! I guess NYC promoters have me use to begging for scraps, waiting for a late start and playing for a half-filled room because of ineptitude…or gratitude…things that make you go hmmmm...PS big ups to Andre from Conne Island and Roland from Velocity Sounds for holding us down. You're always welcome in NYC!







Well I’d continue, but the next stop was Hip Hop Kemp in Hradec Kralove, CZ…it's gonna take me a minute or two to process it all...Stay tuned for the update soon...

Manchester Stand Up! Agents of Change indeed . . .

So I’m waiting at at London Heathrow for my connecting flight to Berlin. The show at Pangea was pretty solid, though the turnout was a little light. Rabbi and I easily rocked an hour-long set, and it was great to have DJ ZaJazza in town to back us up. Keep an eye out for ZaJazza’s, Rabbi’s and Hired Gun’ “Skillz to Take Brazil” project coming out in October...‘ish is gonna be fiya!

The next morning Rabbi, ZaJazza and myself took the train from Manchester to London and were greeted by an unexpected occurrence...sunshine! Baba Israel and Core Rhythm picked us up from the train station and we made the 5-minute journey to Baba’s RIDICULOUS apartment in Central Manchester.


It’s so great to see someone like Baba finally get his due. The cat’s been working the Hip Hop and Education hustle for quite sometime now. Let me just say that his set up in Manchester is SWEET! He is now the Director of Contact Theatre, Manchester's home for experimental theater. The space is dedicated to giving youth a place where they can grow, learn and make decisions as a young artist, audience members, organizers or leaders. No doubt that Baba is the perfect person to run it!

The show itself was exactly what we needed to keep the momentum going. There were easily over 100 people in attendance (mainly youth) and after enjoying a monster open-mic, a killer set by Core Rhythm and the inaugural running of Say Word’s “The Freestyle Pyramid” (which has found another home at Contact—Keep it going ya’ll!) Rabbi, ZaJazza and I rocked a 30 minute set. The Manchester heads came heavy with the love, dancing from word go. We pushed quite a bit of merch afterwords, but more importantly held down a pretty crazy cipher outside with all the youth.


I was wholly humbled by Contact Theatre, Manchester’s Art Community and Baba’s impending triumphs and successes abroad. I was most inspired however by the youth. Cat’s like Fabian (yes…we share the same name!) are really dedicated to Hip Hop, education and servicing the community. Hearing him ask Baba how to get involved with running workshops and how he knows that working with the community will allow him to follow his passion for music brought a smile to all our faces.


This morning I said bye to all the homies (and homegirl(s)—well really just Dawn—thank you for your hospitality) and began my journey to the next stop...Berlin! Get Up Stand Up 2009 continues...until the next time...Say Word!

Tea time in Hackney...Day 1 oh yeah!

So I finally arrived at Appl Juic's crib in Hackney 3 1/2 hours after landing at Heathrow. My first trip on the Tube was pretty uneventful, and had it not been for a transit strike on the Overground, I probably would have arrived an hour earlier. Appl Juic immediately offered me a beer and he and I preceded to spend the next 4 hours sitting in his backyard talking about UK Hip Hop, Grime, British cultural sensibility and of course . . . Hip Hop education. Appl Juic, besides being a sick emcee, is a Supply Teacher (subsitute) here in Hackney. He's wholly dedicated to using Hip Hop as a means to teach disaffected and marginalized youth. ***Keep an eye out for the Trans-Atlantic youth project. Heck we're personally building on Hip Hop, no reason that our students shouldn't be...



Kernel of knowledge for the day: In many ways Grime developed independently of Hip Hop, and quickly became a way to distinguish UK emceeing from American-style rapping. Hip Hop in Germany had the German language, Hip Hop in France had French. The Brits had to create a new vocabulary, borrowing from the rhythms of Drum 'n Bass, to create something unique to the struggles and identity of its early pioneers. Check out The Barcodes DVD on-line for more info.

After walking 30 minutes in steady-rain, Appl Juic and I finally showed up at the Pangea Project. The spirit of the space quickly reminded me of the Bowery Poetry Club--independent culture for independent artists and thinkers. I'm a firm believer that there is at least one Pangea Project in every major city throughout the world. Our job is to find 'em and nurture the network...



Rabbi D showed up late last night and within 3 hours of his arrival we had already written a song, which brings me to the end of this post. ZaJazza (arriving from Lyon, FR this morning) is firing up Ableton and we're about to record. Then we're off to Pangea for tonight's show! Say Word! Until next time...growth...

Where do I begin? At JFK...

So I've made it this far (British Airways Gate 5)...and I feel like I've already come back. So much preparation went into this tour (booking dates, promotion, merchandise and putting my life in order enough to leave for a month) that the actual travels seem like icing on the cake--which is a great place to be. Hardest part? Saying bye to my love Meredith...Easiest part? Counting my blessings...I'll hit you all up with a real blog-post soon enough...from the otherside of this pond called the Atlantic...TIll then? Peace...

Living the dream,
Far

PS - Stay tuned to www.saywordentertainment.com for tour dates and other details...