Posted by
Eyesofphases
at
6:53 PM |
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
When Substantial was recording his debut album, …To This Union a Sun Was Born, he was driven by adversity. The Maryland native was struggling to balance school with a budding music career, was homeless at times and still reeling from having buried more than ten friends and family members.
The resulting album—produced by Nujabes and Monorisick of Hyde Out Productions and released in October, 2001—earned Substantial international critical acclaim and a particularly devoted following in Japan, where it was recorded and distributed. …To This Union was a top ten seller for two months at Virgin Megastores in Tokyo, Japan, and outsold artists such as Ja Rule, Jermaine Dupri, Faith Evans and Angie Stone in November. The album was dedicated to his late father and niece.
In the years that followed, Substantial—real name Stan B. Robinson—released a slew of singles and featured appearances, choosing to remain an independent artist to maintain creative freedom. In March of 2007, however, he officially joined the like-minded roster of independent hip-hop record label QN5 Music, whose artists are both close friends and frequent collaborators of his.
“I met Substantial through PackFM and Mecca during the final throes of the NYC underground scene’s heyday,” says QN5 founder and artist Tonedeff. “They were all in a group together called Dominion and I had seen them. Immediately, I was blown away by his wordplay and delivery.” Tonedeff, Substantial, PackFM and Session would go on to form the group Extended Famm and release the critically acclaimed 2002 album Happy F*ck You Songs.
On January 8, 2007, the man The Source Magazine called “a lyrical problem” will release Sacrifice, the long-anticipated follow-up to—and first official American offering since—…To This Union A Sun Was Born.
Despite being bred from much the same place as …To This Union, Sacrifice is decidedly more optimistic. Comprising sixteen tracks of smart lyricism and breezy beats, the disc evokes the dwindling sense of fun that once permeated the culture and plays seamlessly as a collective nod to the genuine feel-good hip-hop of yesteryear. Perhaps best characterizing this is “Resurrection of the House Party,” the album’s energetic first single, released in September 2007 with an accompanying video, or “My Favorite Things,” an ode to hip-hop culture which Substantial calls one of his favorite songs on the album. Sacrifice features production by Kno (CunninLynguists), Tonedeff, Algorythm & Burns and a guest appearance by QN5 labelmates Extended Famm.
“The album is made of everything that makes me me: Six years of writing, mixing, soul-searching, love, hate, strife, life and death,” says Substantial. “I found myself while making this album, which surprised me, considering how much I lost.”
The cover art—photographed by fellow Maryland native Eddie Tombs IV—is a tribute to martial arts, which Substantial has practiced for years.
“We thought that mimicking a samurai performing Seppuku with a microphone would be a powerful statement,” says Substantial. “I honestly couldn’t think of any better way to illustrate Sacrifice than with this image. As artists, we often push ourselves to the edge and beyond in pursuit of our dreams, often sacrificing for our family, friends and fans. It’s a difficult journey.”
Posted by
Eyesofphases
at
12:56 AM |
Friday, October 24, 2008
This video and song really explain the way I feel working the 9-5 grind, for those who don't know this group, you will real soon Exile on the beats and Blu on the mic, Support real hip hop yall.
For all the hip hop heads out there, I have stumble upon a book called Behind the Beat. This book is pure bliss for all beatminers, crate diggers, and hip hop heads alike. Behind the Beat takes a look into the home studios of some of hip hop greatest from The ones, Madlib, the late J Dilla and many others. The book also comes with an incredible mix tape featuring music from the owners of these incredible studios. Check it out, beautiful photography a chance to get acquainted with some of you favorite producers and some producers that you haven't heard of yet. This book touches me because I look at my own set up and appreciate the gear I own and every time the needle touches a record and I find a sample to flip. I fall in love with hip hop all over again
Posted by
Eyesofphases
at
6:56 PM |
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Whats good everybody this your boy Eyesofphases also known as EOP to most. I am introducing this blog to the worlds to expose people to new music, movies, fashion and all outlets of expression or other things that people don't know about but need to. This first posting will be a shameless promotion of the mini ep of my sophomore album Scent of An Angel. The link below is zip file where the ep can be download, enjoy and feel free to comment. There is also a link for the SKILLZ Beat tape that I was also featured on. If anyone has any music or so on that they would like to share feel free to hit me up eop1081@GMAIL.COM or e_y_e_s42@hotmail.com and I will be glad to post it.
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