“I did some more digging in old tapes today and uncovered this forgotten about never before released gem
 
Not mixed, not mastered, off an old cassette… so the sonic quality isnt all that great
 
If I remember right this was recorded sometime after Ox started recording Cold Vein with El-P. I think they had already released Iron Galaxy b/w Straight off the DIC joint single with Co Flow but hadnt recorded much else besides those two songs, Metal Gear, & Pigeon for Cold Vein. So this would be around late 99- early 2000 that they recorded this at T1s studio. Obviously they later re-recorded Painkillers for Cold Vein with El but this version has a completely different Vordul verse and a longer Vast verse than the Cold Vein version, and obviously a completely different beat.”
 

The video is erased from time now. If anyone has a line on the footage, holler @ a player without a bowl haircut. Done Waiting:

Columbus rapper Copywrite videotaped punching Shia LaBeouf’s bff Cage next to a car. This video also has Copy carrying on a phone conversation after the fight with the girl in the video. The conversation is funny bc Copywrite is acting like he wasn’t involved and getting jokes in.

During the actual squabble it looks like Cage is trying to pull something out the trunk and Copy is pounding on his head. Doods used to be friends and make music together. And obviously aren’t and don’t anymore.

Mainstream pissin’.

Peace,
Employee

Unreleased track from 2005, to be included on the upcoming Central Services EP Forever Frozen in Television Time. Gotta love the unhinged quality here. Camu probably knows he can’t ‘sing’ in the traditional sense of the word, but he just doesn’t really seem to give a fuck and plows through the song with the confidence of Tony Bennett doing the second encore of a permanent weekend engagement at The Bellagio. It’s the Mike Tyson “I’m gonna fuck you till you love me” strategy.

via El-P’s bandcamp page

Tracklist:
1: Perfect Plan
2: Plot for a little bit
3: The Way it’s going down
4: We do the Work
5: Oxycontin pt 1

DOWNLOAD ALL TRACKS IN THE PLAYLIST HERE (COURTESY OF DEF JUX)

To commemorate the passing of Tero “Camu Tao” Smith and promote some of his music being released later this year, Def Jux graciously put together the playlist you see embedded above. Amongst other things it features the world premier of “Perfect Plan”, a first taste of Camu’s sadly posthumous solo debut King of Hearts. Please read below for a statement from El-P and the Press Release, originally posted here.

Thanks to Def Jux and Philaflava forums poster Brougham33 for the heads up

Two years ago today Tero “Camu Tao” Smith died after a grueling battle with cancer. He was a friend, a son, a brother, a groom to be and last but not least a brilliant producer, singer, rapper and entertainer. Words can not express the heartache that has been felt in the wake of his passing by those who loved and respected him.

For two years i have written about Camu on this day. Not a day has gone by that we, his family, friends and fans, haven’t thought about him. About who he was, what he did and what he never got the chance to do. About the talent he never got to truly share with the world and the love he did. For over four years i have hoped to make the following bittersweet announcement:

This summer, on August 17th, Camu Tao’s first and final solo album KING OF HEARTS will be released by Definitive Jux in collaboration with Fat Possum Records. In conjunction with this release we will also be giving away (for free) the 2005 Central Services (Camu Tao and EL-P) ep “Forever Frozen In Television Time”.

In many ways KING OF HEARTS is a record of what could have been, a snapshot of an artist mid-evolution. In some ways its a diary discovered in the belongings of a friend who passed away. Or maybe it’s a scrap book of a master inventor with only half of the schematics of some incredible new invention detailed inside. You don’t need to see the invention fully realized in order to recognize the magnitude of the creative force behind the sketches.

For those of you who know, i don’t feel like I have to explain to you how important the release of KING OF HEARTS is. He was, as i’ve said before, the secret none of us wanted to keep. He is a legend.

For the many of you out there unfamiliar with Camu and his work: we’ve written a bio/press release as well as collected some of his music as well as a world premier off of KOH called “Perfect Plan” which I’m putting below. I only ask that you take a little bit of time out of your day to investigate. Don’t let yourself be closed off to this mans music simply because you haven’t heard of it/him before. Getting his amazing, weird, raw and original music heard is all he ever wanted. We only ask that you give him that chance. I believe you’ll be happy you finally discovered the world of the King Of Hearts. I know for the many of us who loved and respected him that knowing Camu and his music changed us forever.

What we hope happens when you hear King Of Hearts is that you feel the way we feel; This music (even in its raw form) is some of the bravest, most surprising, inspired, and (now more so than ever) poignant material around from an artist who was only beginning to tap into his potential. It’s a raw reminder for his fans, friends, and family of how special and off the wall his energy was, and yet it sounds nothing like anything he’s ever done before or has previously been known for. In fact, I don’t think its over the top to say that what Camu was doing sounds like nothing before it because I know for a fact that there was never anyone like Camu before him.

There won’t ever be another after, either.

Rest In Peace, Tero “Camu Tao” Smith

Sincerely,

Jaime “EL-P” Meline

PRESS RELEASE:

CAMU TAO “KING OF HEARTS” TO SEE RELEASE ON DEFINITIVE JUX / FAT POSSUM ON AUGUST 17

Camu Tao, the legendary MC, producer, and singer, whose life was tragically cut short on May 25th, 2008 after a protracted battle with lung cancer, will have his debut solo album and final statement, King of Hearts, posthumously released on August 17, 2010 as a collaborative release between Fat Possum Records and Definitive Jux. Described by friends, peers and colleagues as “wild, proud, loving, tough, outspoken, spontaneous, and brilliant,” Tao was a creative powerhouse whose output was as staggering in its scope of influences as it was emotionally evocative. El-P describes King of Hearts as “raw, exciting and unlike anything anyone has heard”. Even newer school rappers feel the impact of Camu’s work, “These songs are so before their time it’s ridiculous” says Kid Cudi. Cage sums up the album as “a masterpiece in the making.”

Camu got his start in the late 90’s alongside RJD2 and Copywrite in Columbus, OH’s seminal hip hop group MHZ whose releases were issued by Bobbito Garcia’s legendary vinyl only label Fondle ‘Em Records. After dropping his cult classic solo debut 12-inch Hold the Floor on Definitive Jux in 2001 he went on to become a central fixture at the label, his distinctive contributions playing a key role in The Weathermen (his crew with Aesop Rock, Cage, El-P, Yak Ballz, Tame One and Breeze Brewin) and as one half of S.A. SMASH (alongside Keith “Metro” Lawson) on their 2003 Def Jux full length album Smashy Trashy. As a producer his brilliant contributions are evidenced on Cage’s seminal album Hell’s Winter, and The Perceptionists’ Black Dialogue, as well as appearances on Aesop Rock’s Danger, Fire & Knives, El-P’s Fantastic Damage and Collecting the Kid, Prefuse 73′s Surrounded By Silence, and many, many others.

At the time of his death Camu Tao was working on what his friends and colleagues anticipated to be his breakthrough solo record, King of Hearts, initially scheduled for release on Definitive Jux in 2008, but left incomplete in the wake of his cancer diagnosis. Pieced together from the demos and home recordings he left behind (which have subsequently earned him fans amongst such esteemed peers as Dangermouse, Kid Cudi, and many others), the new release offers a privileged view of a magnum opus in the making by a blossoming visionary who was denied the opportunity to bring his unique masterpiece to fulfillment. The record marks a departure from his former works, most notably as it finds Camu favoring a distinctively playful, semi-soul croon as well as the off-kilter and wild rapping that earned him a reputation among peers and fans as an innovative genius. Musically King of Hearts delves into realms of gritty, electropunk pop, alternately veering between the dark carnival-esque and the sublimely summery. Pleasantly disorienting electronic tones cascade and pulse as dense, propulsive beats build a solid foundation upon which Tao constructs immensely hooky and infectious choruses. Written and produced by Camu himself, King Of Hearts is the last vision of a criminally underrated talent in the midst of a major artistic breakthrough cut short before being fully completed.

Also prior to his death Camu Tao formed production crew and side project Central Services with longtime friend & collaborator El-P, whose long awaited 2004 debut EP Forever Frozen in Television Time has gone unreleased until now. In conjunction with the release of King of Hearts Definitive Jux will be issuing Central Services’ EP as a free digital download.

Nasa, Def Jux distant relative and engineer/production machine, puts his own cloak on Subtitle’s apparel ode “Clothes Make The Man” from his tragically ignored La Cita STROBE EP that was launched earlier this year. Though I find the subject matter tedious, Subtitle’s approach to each track he tackles is appealing. If only for his audaciousness. In a good way.

Peace,
Employee

2009 the year of the duck…

There is this duck who lives on the corner of Allerton Avenue in the Bronx who became sort of my best friend and encompassed a hell of a lot about what the year was like for me, what the fuck right?

Well let me explain, see I still make music full time “somehow” despite it being extremely hard to do. I’ve some how managed, save for the occasional bouncer/porter job and trips to Belmont and Saratoga Parks’ I made it through another one on music by the skin of my teeth. Mostly by not going near Manhattan and smoking more regs than exotics so all in all it was s good year. I made quite a lot of music in 09 in hopes of a long overdue (for me) 2010 release, we will see. One thing is for sure, music got made.

Which brings me to Music in 2009 on a whole, strangely I was forced to listen to the radio this year more than any year I can recently remember, simply for the fact that their were very few independent records that I was able get through. So I heard a lot of Kanye, Beyonce, Wayne and Drake and way to little of New York Mc’s. Yes I know, “Empire State of Mind”… well that song would be scared to sit on the same train as “New York State of Mind” so yeah that didn’t do much for me.

Warning elitist rant approaching: There’s actually a note change in the hook of “ESNY” that makes me fucking cringe, as if Alicia Keys decided to channel Charles Mingus and throw some off note, planned accident shit in there only problem is there is singing in key of other things happening and it’s a super dense part of the song, so please do me a favor Hun, lay off the Smack if your not actually on smack playing a style of music that is sparse enough to allow that, to a room full of people on smack. Thanks in advance.

Anyway back to 09: It seems to me the oft over looked yet glaring tragedy of the whole music business collapse is that, if there is no smaller stores or even major chains now, that might take things on consignment and indy labels have to play things so tight to the vest that they can’t release the amount of records they once did, where does the alternative music listener go to find something they feel good about supporting and actually speaks to their rebellion or even what little is left of the movement they fought so hard to cultivate? The internet? Yeah well, that’s not even a real place and while it is easier for artists to utilize the nets to reach people and ultimately offers more opportunity for different artists to be heard than ever, it’s super- passive in nature and in many ways more polarized than a Beverly Hills High School cafeteria with its social networking sites and Hip of the Day blogs, oh and it’s also completely superficial in nature, not saying it’s not the main line to music in ’09, but if we take an example of the internet as a barometer for what music music listeners want Somaya Reece is getting more love as a rapper than Freeway, so yeah, not so much. Remember the Duck.

I won’t bore you with remedies for the ill or what I think should be done because that involves burning buildings down and making Chuck D and RZA joint music Czars who oversee all aspects of what major record labels put out of course they’d have to consult the few independent label heads left who have persevered through it all as sort of rap music war generals, this is my fuel. I almost wish I hadn’t lived through the Sleeping Bag, Cold Chillin’, early-Def Jam era so that I wouldn’t be so damn bitter in the ’09…..not.

’09 Highlights for me personally: I played a bunch of shows this year with Aes that actually made me feel really fucking good about things, notably early in the year in Toronto with Camp Lo (my actual neighborhood heroes), Red Rocks with Atmosphere and Murs and then a festival in Pomona California. That one was mainly for the drunken hilarity that ensued post show (Slug). So all in all if I’m fueled by a longing for better music to be more widely embraced than I’m driven by the amount of people who actually check for those of us who have stuck with it for so long and come out to see me, really my friends but the support just seems to grow and seeing kids who now have been listening to me in some sort of incarnation for 10 plus years is incredibly rewarding. I only hope to not make a record that makes you stop checking for me. The Duck….

Now about that duck, this is a fucking huge duck, like a movie duck not like a mallard, like a fucking snow white swan/goose king dick duck and he just sits in this ghetto ass fenced-in yard about 5-by-5 in the middle of a not so pleasant area chilling all day all night. He’s been there for at least 6 years and this year it dawned upon me that duck is maybe the only thing that is a perfect example of why shit is what it is and to keep going. Many a nights on my exorcising I think fuck this shit, I should of went to school, got a job, not do drugs or at least not that much of any of the shit that made me who I am and then I see The Duck and he kind of looks at me like, bro you know what? Look at me, I’m a duck, do you see any other fucking ducks around here? Well I’m supposed to be a fucking Duck so that’s what I am and your supposed to be what you are so be it. so it all makes sense for a second.

Lets go 2010.
________________________

A tip of the hat to Rob Sonic. More Rob Sonic here.

Peace,
Employee

P.S. – If you’ve never heard this song, you need to:

Highly incendiary rumors are floating about concerning the collapse of EL-P’s baby, Definitive Jux Records. Aesop Rock on the verge of signing to Rhymesayers? Makes sense taking into account Felt 3 and Ace Rizzle’s permanent jaunt to the West Coast. Another question mark is the claim of $200K+ in debt beleaguering the label. The original post also takes note of Cage’s 180 from white rage to white guilt.

The end of an era? Baseless internet fodder? Anyone know……or care?

Peace,
Employee

SHOUT: Conspiracy Radio

UPDATE: This is Slug’s statement: “there have been no discussions about aesoprock joining our roster.
seems like some unreliable-source-shit is going on.
plus, for a piece that is attempting to bring you the hot gossip, they sure did take some time to give their unfavorable opinions on cage.
whole piece smells like horseshit.
don’t believe the wipe.”

Jay-Z used this year to usher in a new era of mediocrity. Adding “mundane as a mawfucka” to his resume, we were all treated to the metrosexual extravaganza that is Blueprint 3. Let’s forget for a moment the fucking absurd promotional push that preceded BP3‘s reveal climaxing (no homo) with Hova’s appearance on Oprah Winfrey’s daily circus of an hour for white women. The true marker of an artist in decline: Discussing the intricacies of a cocaine distribution network to millions of women across the country discarding Lunchables packaging and counting Girl Scout cookies. The cherry on top, though, was Jay’s decision to pick the prettiest feather/Manchurian Candidate from America’s fedora and feature the miserable sack of shit on the miserable sack of shit titled “Off That.”. If you actually purchased this album, iTunes or the brick & mortar route, your 2010 will consist of manscaping regimens and bikini-cut underwear for men woven in Germany.

The Sexually & Emotionally Reinvented Indie Rapper

One name: Cage. I was admittedly hyped earlier in the year when I caught some YouTube footage of him rocking a new track at what looked like a fucked-up house party from the nineties you forgot about going to. But I guess that’s the splendor of the internet: It feeds your own delusion. I digress. Depart From Me , I imagine, is the closest humans will ever be to audibly witnessing, in the form of music, the angst of a menstrual cycle in a woman entering her early-twenties. This is a powerhouse of a project if you are fond of contrivances, confusion and high-gloss black nail polish. Why is this peculiar? A) Cage was the quintessential self-hating, drug-abusing, wishing-he-was-born-black poster boy not more than a new moon ago, B) There is no way on this planet or any other that Cage’s transition to Jello Biafra’s maxi pad wasn’t calculated in order to salvage a career and C) Pete Wentz’s stunt double is signed to a label helmed by an internationally respected MC and producer who is on record, hundreds of times over, condemning the same bullshit he’s now financing. All we can do now is embrace the audacity of reality and prepare for a new wave of Emo so powerful that both Brian Bosworth and Kool Herc will shed tears.

Time To Chew & Digest My Own Words

Before Felt 3: A Tribute to Rosie Perez even leaked, I wrote it off in harsh terms as an easy method for bank account padding utilized by the contributing entities. Let’s face it, folks: Does Slug sincerely need yet another series of greenback infusions from your teenage, female cousins? Is Murs in dire need of reaping the financial rewards for skirting the laws of political correctness and throwing up numerous affronts to feminism that would land any other rapper in hot water? Can Aesop Rock buy any more sweaters with large, striped, neutral-hued bands of complexity for rapping like a living, breathing, chopped & screwed dictionary? Needless to say, but I’m going to anyway, this volume of Felt is like a lost 3rd Bass LP from an upside-down dimension where the atmosphere (no fucking pun intended) is thick with Lexapro and pornography. Now I’ve personally never been a Sluggie. This isn’t to say I haven’t heard a handful of his songs that are above-the-cut, but not a rhymesayer (no fucking pun intended) I regularly listen to say rhymes. Murs was a favorite of mine pre-2000, but his output in da noo-noo millennium is kinda doo-doo fuh really, son. Aesop Rock, though: FUCK. His beats sound like they were constructed and sequenced by a pissed-off, pessimistic, pedantic-plus Prince Paul. Initially I assumed it was the element of surprise that ultimately grabs you in terms of the production. The second listen was when it took root that with some more ASR-fueled shit of this caliber, he has the capacity be as compelling with a sampler as he is with a microphone.

The Mother Fucker You’ve Never Heard Of Who Should Be All Up In Your Headphones

With damn near 1,000,000 calling it home, if you’ve lived here long enough you know San Jose is no larger than Mayberry to you. Enter 2 Left Feet. Formerly known to long-time residents as Kefing the Asiatic of the once almighty Epic Paradox. Granted, his subject matter and approach have changed to a certain degree. Yet and still he maintains a jovial accessibility and wit so many in his category lack in droves. It is this distinctness that bleeds into his music. Half-hustler/Half-Ho Slayer. All San Jose.

2 Left Feet

Until next time…..

Peace,
Employee

Introduce yourself to the readers, tell them a bit about your history, how you came up, etc.

Peace ya’ll my name is Homeboy Sandman. I came up in Queens. I had not much, more than enough, a purebred sort of a mutt. Growing up I always listened to the nicest cats. Everyone from the Fresh Prince to Black Thought to Redman to Big Pun to Eminem to Andre 3000. I never got caught up in the people everybody talked about who weren’t actually nice, of which there were many.

Since we all are creations of our influences How would you describe your sound and how do you feel they come across in the music you create?I would describe my sound as lyrics so sharp I don’t even need flows and flows so sharp I don’t even need lyrics. The gentlemen I mentioned in my first answer come across in the music I create because they set the bar that I must rise to then go beyond. They inspire me to do things that have never been done before. Find flows never flowed before. Melodies never used, experimentation with wordplay and subject matter, and finally to boldly go where no emcee has gone before. John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, The Dave Bruebeck Quartet, and Spyro Gyra are also among my melodic influences and Billie Joel is one of my favorite lyricists of all time as well.

 

 

What is your creative process writing and recording?

I Begin with the beat. Two questions come from that. First, how does this beat make me feel? What’s the mood? What’s the tone? That’s what I’m going to talk about. Something somber. Something happy. Something pure, once I have that I’m ready to go in. Secondly, what should rhymes over this sound like? What melody compliments this music. THIS IS MUSIC. Find that melody. Fit the words into that melody like putty into a crack. God does the majority of the work throughout this process.

There is the idea that the NYC scene is over, I see a bit of a resurgance going on right now, Time out New York even did a piece on all of the open mics and weekly showcases that are going on.  What are your feelings on the scene, where it’s been, where it is and where it’s going?

That’s ridiculous. The scene is flourishing mightily. I come across emcees every day, from professionals like Tanya Morgan and Pack FM, to open mic up and comers like YC the Cynic and Top $ Raz, who are making phenomenal music and putting on phenomenal performances. We’re getting stronger every day. It’s going forward towards the creation of hip hop that will be looked at as music first and foremost.Who are some of the up and coming NYC artists that should be on people’s radar?

 

YC the Cynic and Top $ Raz I mentioned earlier. J Monopoly and The OISD Crew. Kalae AllDay. Brown Bag All Stars. Fresh Daily. P.SO. Jersey cats but always in NYC 8TH W1 and Brokn Englsh, just to name a few.

 

Hip hop seems to be taking a bit of a back seat to rock on a popular music level, much like metal and rock did when rap took over in the mid 90s. Obviously there will always be rap music around and being created, as an up and coming artist how do you think rap no longer being the cash cow for the music industry will affect the music, on a personal level and a macro level?

This ties into my last answer a bit. As more and more hip hop that is actually music becomes widely available people who love music will check for it. People who love music aren’t checking for this gimmicky nonmusical hip hop byproduct that’s being widely popularized. Why would they? It’s not music. People’s increasing immunity to garbage hip hop will affect the music because people will take note that the age of garbage is behind us, finally. Hip hop has finally matured to an art form where it’s artists say to themselves “oh he/she did that?! Well then I have to go even further and do this, or take another direction and do this,” rather than “oh he/she did that? Well then I have to do that too.”

I first learned of you when I would see colorful photocopies with these amazing stanzas written on them signed “Homeboy Sandman” posted all over the trains.  To me it seemed like it was a calling card to, for lack of a better term, real heads and MCs.  It wasn’t necessarily something the average Joe or casual fan would understand as far as the patterns and the cleverness of the lines.  What was the thinking behind that and what kind of results did that campaign yield.

That’s exactly what that campaign was all about. I’ll get the masses later. Right now let me do something to let all the people that know what nice is know that I’m nice. The lines, the emcees I mentioned, was all geared towards people that really know this art recognizing that I really know it too, thus becoming interested in checking for me. The thinking behind the whole thing was “I’m nice, now all I need is for people to know it.” I’ve always been an outside the box thinker and a do it yourselfer. The results that campaign yielded were a citywide notoriety that allowed me to warp various levels in regards to my visibility, marketability, and my entire career. Companies pay millions of dollars for that type of promotion. Seriously.

 

So what’s coming up for Homeboy Sandman? What is the ultimate goal? 

My third album, The Good Sun is dropping in February. Look for that. Look for The Good Sun art campaign before that, it will be everywhere your eyes can see. If you thought that train idea popped off wait until you see this! My ultimate goal is to be the real life Wyld Stallyons (from Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure) and make the world a better place with my music. A much, much better place.

Finally, any shows or projects you want to promote?THE GOOD SUN RISES THIS FEBRUARY. OPEN YOUR EARS AND LET THE SUN SHINE IN. And come through Sputnik in BK on November 14th and watch me put in work with PseudoSlang and Loki Da Trixa. And if you’re not in NYC check out the website for road dates ’cause we be putting in road work sun.

 

Peace and love.

You fan find Homeboy Sandman at www.homeboysandman.com

- Alaska

I’ve never understood Yak’s appeal. Beat reminds me of an EL-P throwaway. Def Jux’s roster as a whole seems like they’re gravitating toward this “sound” and it’s highly unappealing. That being said, this is one of those inexplicably catchy tracks you wish you’d never heard because you know it doesn’t carry any merit other than its capacity to render your brain incapable of obliterating it from memory.

Peace,
Employee