“houstonatlanta hold the vegas” – blackgirldemontreal goes city hoppin

Yours truly will be on a plane to Houston shortly, so in the process of cleaning and packing, my attempts at writing a proper review will be minimal. However, I will leave you these videos from Erick Arc Elliott’s performance in Brooklyn, swiped swiftly from YouTube.  I wish I coulda been there to support! Anyways, I take off the first of July, so between now and the 29th, I'll be trying to start up new posts. The Cinematic Experience, Greatness Opens Doors, and everything else I promised will be done on the plane, where I’ll be forced to work. Just me, an iPod, a pen and a notebook. Rock with me.

“ do not over look ” - shinoshis

After the blog’s personal blow up after the Noir review, Producer extraordinaire, Shinoshis of Flash Frequency Music hit up my inbox. After showing a little love to one of the littler people that endorsed the Noir project, he asked me if I wanted to stay up to date with his work. Obviously since I was impressed, I said of course and allowed to be updated every week. Now, before I could get my first e-mail from him, I did a little Google work only to notice that not to many people were giving him his ups for the song production in their “reviews”; most only mentioning him in the tracklist. That ain’t right Joe. In a day and age where with the click of your fingertips, you can tell the entire world that you’re a hairstylist when the only thing you’ve done with hair is air-dry it; there are a lot of pretend producers out there. As a result, in times like these, people don’t recognize you by what you call yourself, but what your actions prove. That is what separates real from fake.

Born in Akron, Ohio and brought up in Clayont County of Atlanta,Georgia, Kevin was brought up around music. The Chambers’ family however did not keep little Kevin listening to one type of music; Pops didn’t discriminate between old and new school and sister Marie listened to everything. Marie played a large part in Kevin’s musical interests, becoming what he calls a “big inspiration” and “keeping (him) on (his) toes on what to look for in music.”  Therefore, producing didn’t come as a shock when Kevin began at the age of 15, originally to help keep his head on straight when overstressed. On the subject of producing, he refers to it as “an outlet you might say that eventually grew as a passion and something that I can do whenever my mood is swinging.”



With social networks like Twitter, Facebook, Last.fm and all of the blogs, new rappers are popping up everywhere. They’re in your DM, working their way into your timeline, vandalizing your wall and taking a seat on your Last.fm profile. But what about the producers? They’re just about no where! When asked about if he ever thought about switching over to the rap game, the current Dallas resident comments on not finding it attractive. Although having a little of a past in rap and a current dabble, he notes that there are “too many rappers” and that to him, there’s no “point of expressing (himself) in that form” and would “rather produce to show more emotion and imagery.” Despite the lack of dues given to producers now a days, whether they be major or underground, Kevin remembers that “there was a time where we didn’t get no respect at all and no shout out or anything, but the respect have grown” but doesn’t just take things for how they are, as he pushes for more of what he and other real producers deserve.

“The respect is there, but not enough respect. We put so much time into our craft and they don’t see (it) as that. Just as a tool to make someone else better and that’s (the) artist. Not saying that artist are users, but just on the respect level in the "industry" it’s on that.”    
-- Kevin “Shinoshis” Chambers, June 2010

Getting in the good books with Kevin has allowed me access like no other to his directory. From everything to psychedelic rock instrumentals to bass destroying hip hop beats, he’s got it all. I’m more than sure that his computer is pretty much a melting pot for sounds from just about every inch of the Earth and every genre in it. However though, despite being an “open box”, he mentions that there are “still boundaries you don’t wanna hit, but always think about the light that’s coming into the box and stay focused on the least obvious.”

From someone that’s worked with the likes of Erick Arc Elliott, N-Dex, Jeff Chery, K.Sparks, The Nationals, Avatar and P-Dubb and looking forward to doing working with a vast spectrum of different artists such as Bjork, SAGA, Jay Electronica, Little Dragon, Telepopmusik, LCD Soundsystem, Genesis, and RadioHead, Kevin Chambers, also known as Shinoshis does his best to follow the same advice he gives to other producers whether they be alumni or freshmen in the game:

“Do music that people normally don’t expect from you.”

“ the madbury club ” – the wait is over.

While waiting for my English exam to begin, I made my way to my high school’s library. On the third floor in the main wing, I sat amongst Shakespeare and Sista Soulja as I snuck onto Twitter. And low and behold what I found. At 12PM, Monday Madbury Madness had begun. With the intense studying that took place over the weekend to help me attempt at a passing grade in math, I completely forgot to check when exactly Madbury would be unveiling for the first time. And when I clicked the lovely link, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

 

As I told Cory ( who so kindly hit me up to tell me that he liked my blog ), Philip was not joking when he said that Madbury would be “changing the game”, as seen in the right hand corner of the tagline. The entire site doesn’t even look like a blog. I mean, is it even really a blog? It doesn’t seem blog-y. It’s…it’s a Madbury. That’s what I’ll refer to it from now on.

The Madbury is everything in one. From complete spreads to in-depth music reviews, Madbury has it all. Especially eloquence. Throughout every post I’ve clicked on, the writing style that is seen in every article, review and spread is consistent, well thought out and witty.

Stop reading this and go look. Nothing I say could capture the sheer awesomeness that this Madbury is anyway.

“ the madbury club ”

Now, if Kat Stacks still thinks she’s got the internet going crazy, she’s dead wrong. Obviously she hasn’t been brought up to date with the new up and coming project which is only know as “The Madbury Club”. Bloggers, tweeps ( ugh, that’s not even a real word ), message boards, streetwear fashion enthusiasts, artists and designers alike are all buzzing with anticipation. Anyone interested has already invested their time in following The Madbury Club’s separate Vimeo, Twitter and Tumblr pages just dying for a little insight. The navy blue and salmon ( at least I think it’s salmon ) striped banner has been popping up all over the place, leaving everyone on the edge of their seats. Trying to keep up with all the different blogs and Twitters of those who seem to be a part of this little conspiracy isn’t easy. Jumping back and forth and constantly hearing the name Madbury Club but never learning anything about it has been crazy. I was starting to believe that this was some kind of Streetwear illuminati. I mean, hey, we all knew something was going on, but we could only be sceptical about what was going on with all the rumours going around and not knowing for sure who was part of this conspiracy.

However, with the direction and shots of Kellen Dengler and Phil, this little video was dropped two days ago ( June 3rd ) and I must say, it’s quite a beauty.

Now that the invitations have been passed out ( to everyone from fellow Montrealer Marcus Troy to Erick Arc Elliott and Mr. Theodore of bkCircus ), we’re all hoping that Phillip or anyone else will let us know what is really behind this whole Madbury Club since the suspense has been kicked up a couple more notches.

“ plane ” – erick arc elliott

“Plane” was a video that many anticipated, so much that even the drop time, midnight, could deter fans. And as usual, Erick did not disappoint. Now for a little background on this video, the way you see it now was not how it was originally planned. After throwing a couple ideas up in the air, the concept of “Plane” went from a black and white video reel with Erick as the main focus to this beautiful compilation of New York City shots and the madness that some of it’s residents live.

However, as what usually happens in the pursuit of greatness, Erick encountered MANY problems on the way. Getting turned down for room reservations, loosing actors and high class equipment; he could have easily given up. But he didn’t. Erick’s a trouper! This video, which I find of much better quality than those of mainstream, was filmed perfectly. With the help of close friends and the anticipation of international fans, Erick and director Christopher Yoon created something that I find to be timeless. With all of that, this is “Plane”.

The video opens up lively, the bright colors of NYC drawing the viewer in. As a self-proclaimed New York City enthusiast that doesn’t get to visit as often as she likes, the scenes depicting the Brooklyn Bridge, Times Square, Empire State Building are amazing to see. The focusing is perfect, everything is crisp and runs smoothly. None of the scenes blur and they all fall right into place, especially the scene in the subway. Now, anyone who’s been to more than a few of the subway stations outside of Manhattan knows how dark they can be, but still this shot came out sharp. The smoking scenes however were not only my favourite but a few others as well that I passed the video along to. All of them are completely detailed to the point where even when you pause, especially at the 1:35 time mark, you can see all of the lines in the smoke. Just perfect. More amazing shots lead up to the closing scene where the elevator doors close and the word “ P L A N E ” comes across the screen.

But trust, after watching this video, you won’t want those three minutes and twenty seconds of your life back.

(all images taken from theloveinus.com)