By : Robert Ham

 You won’t find too many rappers nowadays who cop to being influenced by politically minded singer/songwriter Billy Bragg or can boast that their new album features contributions by a members of indie superstars Broken Social Scene. But there are few rappers in the world like Shad.

The 28-year-old artist has distinguished himself from his peers through not only the frisky, Native Tongues-inspired production on his three full-lengths, but his bold lyrics that have tackled everything from the genocide in Rwanda to his own personal struggles with money and self-doubt. It’s a potent mix that has captured the attention of critics in his native Canada who helped get him nominated for a Juno Award and shortlisted for the Polaris Prize as well as by hip-hop icon Kanye West who counts himself as a fan.

Shad is gearing up for his next big step forward with his third album TSOL. The LP features some bright stuttering beats by cohorts like Ric Notes and Classified, and lets the rapper pontificate on the role of women in hip-hop (“Keep Shining”) and how music can stir up all manner of emotions (“At The Same Time”). Shad spoke with NXTLVL from his home in Vancouver about the progression of his career and his hope to make music that affects and inspires others.

What inspired you to want to make music? Were there particular artists that made you want to become a rapper?

I don’t think I can pinpoint it to any particular artists. Growing up, I just like music a lot, like a lot of kids did and still do. In high school, I was listening to Common, Outkast, Ras Kass. They were the artists that really impressed me a lot. I can’t say that they were the ones that made me want to make music. All the music inspired me. It started out as fun in high school, freestyling as a way to have fun. It evolved from that into a way to express deeper things, more meaningful things.

Were you hearing a lot of Canadian hip-hop when you were growing up?

Definitely. The town I grew up in [London, Ontario] was halfway between Detroit and Toronto. So whatever was going on musically there in Toronto and in American found its way to where I was growing up.

So, how then did you get from freestyling in high school to the point you are now with your third album about to hit the streets?

I think it was a steady progression and a lot of good fortune along the way. In high school, music wasn’t something that was very serious for me. Once I got into college, I started doing stuff with a group. It was a lot of fun and it was just something to do. From there, I started to write things that were more personal and I was looking for an outlet to do that. The opportunity came up not long after to record my first album and start doing shows on own. And from there it’s just been a progression with personal and professional growth happening side by side. I’ve been really fortunate to have a lot of breaks and a lot of people helping me out along the way.

Has it been good for you to be able to express these more personal things in music?

It’s been very helpful for me. It has helped me gain an awareness of where I am at and helped me to have the profound experience of translating some of these profound ideas that I might not be consciously aware of. And hopefully other people are connecting with it and benefitting from it as well. I don’t know how to sum it up. It’s been powerful in my life.

What is it like to hear that someone has been affected by one of your songs?

That’s always been cool to hear. Sometimes it’s been situations where people might interpret a song differently than what was my conscious intention, but it still hit them on a deep level. Music is not necessarily about the meaning that’s translated in the lyrics. It might be more profound than that.

Do you feel like you’ve progressed in some way from where you started to where you are at with your new album?

I think so. I hope to progress with every record. Hopefully I’m getting more clear and more concise in my songwriting and that there’s still a lot of depth there. I want people to be able to appreciate it on different levels. With the new record, the intention was that I’m a little bit older now and I wanted to make music that was less angst-y, but still have it be fun and positive.

The video for your song “Compromise” was posted not too long ago on Kanye West’s blog. How exciting was that?

That was super cool. The Internet is a funny thing. It’s cool when people that you are a fan of get a hold of your stuff. Hopefully that means new fans come along too.

It seems to me that when Christian rock acts find themselves getting some kind of mainstream success, they tend to downplay their faith, yet even the most mainstream of hip-hop artists is very upfront about their beliefs. Why do you think that is?

It might just be the nature of hip-hop lyrics. With rock lyrics, you can be more…I don’t know if poetic is the right word, but there are layers of meaning in what they are singing. With hip-hop the tone is pretty straightforward and like a conversation. You just say what you want to say and say what you mean right there on the surface. There’s less opportunity to downplay anything. It’s just right there.

If you weren’t making music, what do you think you would be doing?

I have no idea! Hopefully something that I could contribute some level of passion and meaning to. Not everyone gets to do that. I’m not sure that I get to do that. I’m lucky that I get to make music.

By: Josh Gloer

A crowded living room in Philadelphia once yielded the soulful sounds that only emanates from singing Gospel music. A woman sat behind the piano, and her friends egged a young boy to sing.

This living room became of one his first stages, where Japhia Life reluctantly agreed to sing, and his training to sing for the glory of God began.

Decades later, Japhia Life is about to drop his forth album, Nazareth, a collection of unreleased singles from his first three records. While some of the tracks have been posted on MySpace, this album boasts a truly unique compilation of this emcee’s work, including two never before heard tracks.

“This album is really an album of music that was made during a space and time where I was really trying to find a comfortable place musically, where I could express my talents with a good balance of quality music, balanced with faith expression,” he said.

It’s an eclectic mix, as these tracks span the course of his young career. Since he started writing rhymes, Japhia Life has been called a Christian artist, a hip hop artist, an emcee, and it’s safe to say, he’s had as many sounds.  He describes his first three albums in a range from 90’s classic to dark and emotional. His third album garnered criticism for being too “poppy.” (It was an album that ironically produced the biggest tracks of his career to date.)

“My style has always been an eclectic mix, just always trying to express myself and my growth and where I’m at, at that time in my life. I continue to grow, so each album is going to sound different.”

The projects were full, booming with passion and faith, and the tracks that didn’t fit with the final projects were too good to keep from his fans.

“It’s just a lot of different songs that I made when I was just really coming into my own and paving my own lane,” he said.  “A lot of Christians may hear that stuff and may want to work with them as an artist that’s actually in the Christian community. So that’s kind of what happened to me. Just kind of finding my way and saying, ‘Where can a person that’s a believer find a comfortable place that he can express faith, and what would that place look like?’”

And so the name, Nazareth was born.

“For me that place would be where Jesus would be from.”

But this isn’t just a slice of life from a budding career.

“I definitely want them to be impacted by my content, the things I’m saying on it,” he said. “Spiritually, I want them to be impacted by it. But also I just want them to have an alternative to the music that they listen to that’s secular, that they feel isn’t healthy for them spiritually. I def want them to have some songs that they can listen to that’s just good music, but at the same time, they can still be impacted by my content on a spiritual level.”

He claims this album represents his reinvention of faith, as it represents his own personal journey as an artist and as a Christian – two things, in his case, that go hand in hand.

“For me personally the balance is just having the freedom of expression as long as it doesn’t compromise my faith. Whether people label me as a Christian artist or just a hip-hop artist, to me, it really doesn’t matter, I am what I am. At the end of the day, you’re really not what people label you, as opposed to what you really are. For me that balance is just an expression of who I am as a person. A Christian is one of the things I am as a person. I don’t really have to label my music as Christian, but I don’t have a problem if people label me as Christian, because I am a Christian. People have the option to label me at their own discretion. I’m not concerned with the labels.”

Nazareth is set to drop in early March 2010, and his next project West Side Pharmacy is slated to follow shortly. For all the info, check out: http://www.myspace.com/japhialife.

———–

Josh Gloer is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles. He’s been a writer on six seasons of MSNBC’s Lockup: Extended stay. He has also written for MTV, TLC, TruTV, HGTV and Oxygen. Josh has been a journalist for about 12 years, doing celebrity interviews with actors such as Djimoun Hounsou, Dennis Farina and James Marsden; and bands like Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Orgy and sax guru, Carl Grubbs. Josh’s work has appeared in Filter, Car Audio & Electronics, Zink!, ITEM and many other publications and websites. He was recently honored to have his fiction appear in an anthology of LA writers, including Charles Bukowski. www.joshgloer.com

By Josh Gloer

Theory Hazit moved to Portland, Oregon, two years ago because he needed a change. Having never been on a real vacation, he wanted to drive his kids across the United States, and show them a cross section of our country. He wanted to hook up with fellow rappers, Omega Watts and Wildchild to name a few. He wanted something new.

Two years later, the emcee has something new to share. Coming together with producer Toni Shift, the pair has created a super duo – Modern Marvels.

“Modern Marvels is basically what we’re all trying to do,” Theory Hazit, the vocals of the duo, said. “We’re trying to be our own super heroes and save hip hop. At the same time, I feel like everything I do is marvelous. Everything we do for God is marvelous, because God is marvelous.”

Serving God through the gifts they’ve been given is a priority for the pair, and the two gelled after working on the very first track.

“We just basically wanted to make some really good music, classic sounding music, without trying to make classic music,” Theory said. “A lot of the stuff Toni composes bring creativity out of me, forces me to be creative. Sometimes he’ll just make bangers and the stuff just comes out naturally.”

But that’s not to say that the construction of Modern Marvels was easy. It’s been three years in the making. Theory thought it was completed in September of 2008, but decided not to release it.

“The more I held on to this record, the better it got.” Tracks were removed, and others added. Another year of work went into the album. Finally, late in 2009, Theory and Shift is ready to release what they call the “genesis” of Modern Marvels. “I’m in love with the album again,” Theory said. “It’s a banging album now. I’m proud of it.”

Some of his pride might come from the unusual depths he admits to going to.

“Its really personal, for me,” Theory said. “I always write personal stuff, but I’m really transparent on this album.”

Modern Marvels covers topics Theory says have been overlooked. The joys of marriage and raising kids, solving personal problems with love and being a grown man providing for a family to name a few.

“There’s not much talk about love. People are just out to get theirs,” Theory said. “Life has its ups and downs and there’s nothing perfect around it. Focusing on God, and relying on God… that helps you to endure the struggles and obstacles that come your way.”

Theory wants to teach people through his sucuesses and failures and he’s had no problem airing his shortcomings on the album. He said he hopes it will be a guide, a light to show others how situations can be handled.

“When people hear this album… I really want them to learn from it. I have a gang of mistakes on the record, basically teaching lessons on that. I want people to react and take it in and apply it. The message of the album is creativity. Creativity is not dead, especially doing it unto God. Doing it with God.”

While the powers that be are keeping the release date under wraps, expect Modern Marvels to hit the shelves sometime this winter. For now, check out the title track featuring Wildchild and Lightheaded at: http://bit.ly/2mbaTP.

———–

Josh Gloer is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles. He’s written six season of MSNBC’s Lockup: Extended stay. He has also written for MTV, TLC, TruTV, HGTV and Oxygen. Josh has been a journalist for over 12 years, doing celebrity interviews with actors such as Djimoun Hounsou, Dennis Farina and James Marsden; and bands like Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Orgy and sax guru, Carl Grubbs. Josh’s work has appeared in Filter, Car Audio & Electronics, Zink!, Item and many other publications and websites. This fall, his fiction is scheduled to appear in an anthology of LA writers, including Charles Bukowski. www.joshgloer.com

By: Josh Gloer
 

Akron, Ohio. The former Rubber Capital of the world. It’s the home of the ice cream cone, hamburgers and caramel corn. Visitors here can see the world’s largest model train in the city that stakes claims on famous residents like Angie Everhart, Hugh Downs and Devo!

It’s no surprise that Akron, however, is not known for a budding young hip-hop scene.

“The hip hop scene is pretty dry in Akron.”

But its fitting that 24hits (Steve Bader) hails from the City of Invention. It might not yet be a household name, but its one that carries with it, a heavy message. October 20th marked the date that 24hits, along with DJ 2 Snaps, dropped his album The Grey Area – and his message was quickly downloaded to computers across the country.

“It’s basically like the elephant in the room,” Bader said of his album. “If you’ve met a Christian who really turned you off from Christ its kind of letting you know that that’s not what its about. It was something that, a topic that I felt didn’t have a representation as far as like the church and the kind of like messed up stuff that it does, and if there’s a representation that speaks out about that its not really a Christian perspective.”

His message may be controversial, but his intention was never to make waves. He’s clear about one thing – he’s trying to help.

“I didn’t want to piss anybody off and make diss records about the church,” Bader said, “but I think it covers the extremes that people get carried away with and kind of put in place of what’s really supposed to be the reason that we all get together and the reason we even congregate – just to share the love of Christ and to worship the savior.”

His goal is to reach out and grab those people who’ve been jaded, or turned off from the church.

“Anything that a non – Christian would look at the church and say this is what I don’t like about the church, I think it covers those things in a loving way. But also doesn’t shy away from the fact that we’re all sinners and we all need Christ.”

He’s constantly asking hard questions in his tracks.

“Why is it that we would get together and hurt each other?” He asked. “Why would we put laws on something that has nothing to do with what the scriptures are?”

Questions that may have no answer.

But Bader continues to ask. The producer has a unique approach when it comes to music. Raised in a home where all things secular were frowned upon, his exposure to music was very limited.

“I wasn’t allowed to listen to music,” Bader said. “It was pretty much hymnals, maybe a little Sandy Patti if I was lucky. But I ate that stuff up because I loved music.”

Bader remembers the first time he heard Hip Hop. It was during the credit sequence of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movie, and he listened to it over and over until he wasn’t allowed to listen anymore. He was hooked.

“Maybe it was just the fact that I had to do without it for so long that made me love it so much.”

Bader was later nearly expelled from his Christian school for having a DC Talk tape in his locker. Now, music has become his life, his vehicle to explore the deep crevices of life. He invites you to do that with him, and experience The Grey Area.

“I don’t think this is an album that everyone is going to enjoy,” Bader said. “I think there’s a certain group of people and a scatter group of people that have been turned off by the church or hurt by the church and I think if they got their hands on it they’d kind of feel that somebody else knew what they were going through. It would kind of maybe give them hope.”

For a free download of The Grey Area, go to: http://www.moongardenrecordings.com/.

For more information on 24hits, check out: http://www.myspace.com/24hits

———–

Josh Gloer is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles. He’s written six season of MSNBC’s Lockup: Extended stay. He has also written for MTV, TLC, TruTV, HGTV and Oxygen. Josh has been a journalist for over 12 years, doing celebrity interviews with actors such as Djimoun Hounsou, Dennis Farina and James Marsden; and bands like Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Orgy and sax guru, Carl Grubbs. Josh’s work has appeared in Filter, Car Audio & Electronics, Zink!, Item and many other publications and websites. This fall, his fiction is scheduled to appear in an anthology of LA writers, including Charles Bukowski. www.joshgloer.com

By: Josh Gloer

Haunting, dark, gritty, angry… not words that can often be used to describe a Christian album. Maybe its time. 

The Grey Area, from the mouth and mind of 24hits and Dj 2 Snaps is all of the above, shattering stereotypes as it delivers a poignant message – we’re all sinners, we all need Christ. 

The album comes in two different forms – in a hand made sleeve or as a free download – but don’t for a minute think that signifies lack of talent or authenticity. These tracks are raw, real and ready to turn heads. Tracks roll from monastery like drones to the screams of heavy metal and back again. Just when you think you feel the onset of predictability, it changes – never failing to surprise.

One thing doesn’t surprise – each track is more passionate than the last, too dark and disturbing to turn off. 24hits’ desire and drive seeps through the speakers with every thump, making the entire album have more feeling than anything I’ve heard in a long time.

Well worth the free download: http://www.moongardenrecordings.com/

By: Josh Gloer

With a guy like Sareem Poems, you never know what you’re going to get. Sharlock Poems or The LA Symphony, an emcee or poet, hip-hop or rap… While the man continuously reinvents himself, one thing is redundantly clear – you know you’ll get something worth listening to.

“Enter…” The challenge echoes in track one of the Renaissance musician’s latest endeavor, Black and Read All Over. A repetitive drone, it’s an invitation to experience life through lyrics that pour from the mind of a man who’s been there, lived it and come out the other side with a story to tell.

Black and Read all Over is an aggressively gritty trip back to the artist’s roots, the album like a punch in the face to remind fans that Sareem has yet to go soft. Angry yet thoughtful rhymes cause speakers to ache, humming the tracks as though this album, after a long wait, has fulfilled their purpose. Old school gangster laid over church organs, the vocals are the real star as this no flair, stripped down track list are reminiscent of Biggie and Busta rolled into one.

With Akil of Jurassic 5, Oddisee, Pigeon John and Lmno (to name a few) lending a hand, Sareem has given his fans something to think about. Stand up, be yourself, see the light, see the world through different eyes… in these 14 tracks, Poems proves that good lyrics don’t have to be polluted with negativity to be good. There’s a message here, and it’s positive.

It doesn’t matter what style he chooses or under what name he goes… Sareem Poems delivers.