I'm bruised, scraped, scratched and sedated. The week we've been waiting for hath come and gone, and in my assessment, SXSW '08 WENT THE FUCK DOWN. Haters sit down now.
Anyway, YOU CAN CLICK HERE to see a bunch of footage on AllHipHop.com and YOU CAN CLICK HERE to see a bunch of footage on USTREAM. Check the Panel footage, like whoa.
CLICK HERE to read NEKESA MUMBI MOODY's story on SXSW Hip-Hop. She's with AP so the story got all over! Like 200 Papers. I love you Nekesa!
I'll write an entire synopsis on this tomorrow (I swear and also realize I haven't in the past couple years), but for tonight let the pics and a few words here and there suffice.
I started off MY SXSW experience by rolling over to the Scoot Inn to check out my homegirl, the First Lady of Sabbathe in the Park... Maggi Horn! Killin' it.
My man Mike was feelin' her.
Chalie Boy killed it at FUZE!
DJ Bull
Public Offenders outside Fuze after their killer set.
These a couple of Hustlers in ATX whogo 24/7 and such
Bankroll Jones
Bushwick Bill rushed at the very least 50 stages at SXSW throughout the weekend. He rapped with bands, introduced bands, rappers, everyone.
Shit was insane. Flavor of Love was cool, but follow this dude with a camera and you'll have 15 seasons of money to be made.
Bun B came out and killed it for sure. (Like I say, more of a review coming soon, not tonight)
Thursday I was able to see ONE artist who I wanted to see that I was not responsible for. El Remolon on the Zizek night at 90 Proof.
JAMMIN'!
Deuce of Hot 93 interviewing Da COD live on the air from FUZE!
El-P, Del the Funky Homosapien
Perseph1, El-P
Devin & the Coughee Brothaz Killed It!
Domo
E-Rock of the 5th Ward Boyz
Jugg Mugg
Rob Quest
ODD SQUAD!
QUEEN MAJESTY!
Mark Sound
Lone Star waqs not an official sponsor but up in the Scoot it officially sponsored my Friday hangover.
Which really wasn't that bad.
JAMMER!
NEWHAM GENERALS!
DIZZEE RASCAL!
Aaron LaCrate DJed for Dizzee
Dan Tobin, Flamin' Hotz
Me & El-P
Me and Jesse from Def Jux
Rad Rich was dressing like that waaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyy before the Cool Kids
Shina Rae, Me and Crystal
Scavone
Spinna of Dollaz and $ince
Austin's Kriminals killed it
As did Da C.O.D.
DJ Knowledge
Dirty Wormz
Tech N9ne fucking destroyed it!
Kidz in the Hall
Josh Martinez and Sleep!
Nick Cachdubs & Naledge
A-Alikes, M-1, Grouchy Greg +
A-Laget came thru from Norway with Lars Vaular. I can't believe I didn't get a decent pic of Lars!
A-Trak
Kid Sister of course killed it.
Kathryn Frazier & Dana Meyerson of Biz 3 Publicity, and I SWEAR I didn't realize that Perry Farrell was the dude in the pic till I looked at it today.
Know'm Sayin'?
I followed Kid Sister up onto the roof of Emo's...
Shannon is a prominent Sculptor in Austin
Dave 1 of Chromeo
P-Thugg of Chromeo
My wife saw Ice Cube roll into Emo's on Friday night for the Biz 3 show and said he wasn't letting anyone take photos. But then I saw Draper and decided to move in for it. ICE CUBE, TONY DRAPER, CLIPSE and WC AT EMO'S!!!!!
Me and Southern Rap Pioneer Tony Draper
World Trade rocked the Carver Center! Bavu Blakes.
Bavu Blakes & Rochelle Terrell
Element 7D - World Trade
The panel was actually really informative. WATCH IT HERE! Soren Baker, Tech N9ne, Tomar Williams
Davey D, Grouchy Greg
Cingo Bling
Pikhasso in the house!
Saturday night atthe Music Hall, Pimpin' Pen got up and killed it.
Murs
Question
Michael Watts and Eddie Deville seriously killed the show at the Music Hall Saturday!
Seriously.
Rob G and SWAT as well
Dolemic & Rob G
Cooda Bang, Archie Lee & Big Red
And David Banner showed them how it's supposed to go!
This did not come from me.
Then on SOnday ti really went down. SABBATH IN THE PARK!
Sabbath Security Scavone, Cosmo Baker, Me and Maggi Horn aka THE BOARD!
The Queen was up in the piece.
The beginnings
Jeanette Live in Austin! Norway in fool effect. SABBATH IN THE PARK!
As seen with Scavone Sabbath Security
Mike, Skratch Bastid, Jazz & Jill
Sun Jue in the spot
Dan Tobin & Casi G. - Flamin' Hotz Records.
Curtis Vodka in from Alaska
ROXY AND QUEEN MAJESTY UP IN THE PLACE!
Serg & my favorite DJ Stef!
Tami & Her Husband
DJ STEF!
My wife Melissa brought the Radio Flyer and got the party really started.
Michelle Frost even.
NORWEGIANS!
Know'm sayin'?
Kasia made a beautiful headband out of REAL FLOWERS for my girls. Crafts are encouraged at Sabbath in the Park.
Ian Meyer - OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHER AND ARCHIVIST OF SABBATH IN THE PARK, LLC!
Tierney was not feeling the paparazzi
Jill, Jazz
And then in this next series, names have been omitted to protect the identities of the partakers of that apple bowl.
Know'm sayin'?
Anyway every inch of Austin was crunk for every second of every day and night from like what, March 12th to the 16th and it's already goin' down today on that St. Patrick's Day!
Also there's a chance Kurupt will be in the house as well, but me personally, I can't confirm that. But Devin and Kurupt are on the Ralph Myerz song. Gonna be off the chain.
And then of course 1 a.m. - BUN B LIVE AT FUZE on Neches at 6th.
We're live in the mix, SXSW www.93.399999999999999999fm102Mhz, dial it in, find it on your internets, let it take you over and bring you down to the field where it's all about to go down.
I mean the street, the 6th street and it's vicinity. Where 1,700+ bands are about to descend and make sure it goes down. You're anticipating you're flight, I'm down here already in it, as if it's already happening, like except the music isn't happening yet it's just all the hustle and the bustle, the last minute hustles and bustles are always the worst. The shit hit's the fan and you're there sitting on the toilet thinking you finally have time to do such a thing, but alas and alak you do not. Cuz once it hits the fan, it's all over the place and you'd better be there to clean it up.
And it's serious, I mean, I thought to myself all week about how on Saturday (yesterdayish) I was going to get my work done and head down south side to the Alamo Theater in the shopping plaza where the Texas Beat offices used to be and see GONZO, the Hunter S. Thompson documentary.
I recently finished reading the recent book of the same name that Rolling Stone published. Now that was a brilliant read. Many of Hunter's friends, family, foes, allies, co-conspirators, etc, talking big about the Father of Gonzo Journalism, so I felt as though I had to see the film. Well once again, book trumps film.
That's not to say that Gonzo is a bad film, it has some really strong moments. The footage of HST is of course very welcome, but to fit the life of a man who lived his so fully into two hours, is almost a futile pursuit. And to waste any minutes of such a film on anyone else, is almost utterly ridiculous. Like for instance, they went pretty much in order, and when they came to Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail, they started going real in depth about the politicians and the politicos and the other hacks on the trail and I started thinking to myself how I was no longer learning anything about Hunter (I actually didn't learn much cuz Ive obsessively read pretty much everything he's written and many of the things that have been written about him) but I was just looking at a bunch of politicians.... meanwhile I could be on the computer promoting my SXSW shows on the internets and I started thinking to myself how I just could not justify sitting and staring at a screen for two hours when I have so much to do, so I slid my body underneath the lil table at the Alamo Drafthouse South and slithered out of my seat on to the floor only to sneak out and race home to do what it is I need to do these days.
Promote these shows.
I'll post a full on list of my shit with updates and recommendations tomorrow so tune into AustinSurreal and forward the list onto everyone you know who may be in Austin this week.
For it's a long road to Buffalo, especially if yer headed east on I-90 through Cleveland and Erie at this particular time of year. There's 20 inches of snow on the ground in my home town and I'm down here whining about 50 degree weather and a little work. It's going to be bright and sunny and warm all week in Austin, TX, I can feel it, you can feel it, we all can have it, when it comes. This Wednesday. See you in Austin. Call me when you get here.
Yeah so I will be on Hot 93 tonight sometime between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. talking about SXSW, probably closer to 8 p.m. cuz I am old and tired and such.
Word to Deuce, he will be hosting some of the events at Fuze and it's goin' down next week and I need ALL of y'alls support. I look forward to seeing you in Austin!
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Also this week, the SXSW FILM FESTIVAL Starts. You can see the entire schedule here. And below here's a few advance reviews I wrote about some films I am very excited about.
I highly recommend this one:
Don’t Get Me Wrong DIR: Adina Pintilie (Romanian with English Subtitles)
Sitting down to watch Don’t Get Me Wrong, a beautiful, slice of life film set in a Romanian Neuropsychiatric Hospital in 2006, one might be easily confused by its premise. And that might just be the point.
Director Adina Pintilie has stated that she went into the facility for eight days, without much of a plan other than to document some of the things she had read in the papers about the people who live behind the stark gray walls that extend seemingly up to Heaven for the people who exist within them, day in, day out, for the bulk of their lives.
What she left with is a story of love.
Not a love story in the traditional sense, there is nothing traditional about Don’t Get Me Wrong, but a love story that mirrors the foibles of the pursuits of love and success in our high octane modern world, with the simpler pursuits of a group of human beings who seem to get by just fine with almost nothing.
Pintilie observes, rather than follows, five patients through their daily lives, one of whom, named Ignat, has spent everyday for the past 40 years in the same spot, moving stones from one side of a plank to the other. The only thing that stops or bothers him is the rain.
Cut to a seemingly never ending conversation between a schizophrenic, obsessive, stair sweeping philosopher with a deep connection to God, and a man who claims to be the only person on Earth who God has given the power to stop the rain, and you begin to realize that the lesson to be learned with this film is much deeper than what appears on the surface.
While the characters in this film are often looked upon as outcasts, without much social worth, the reality may be that these misunderstood eccentrics have a better grasp on what life is really about than 9/10ths of modern society. They know how their actions affect their microcosm of the big picture and in doing what they do, day in, day out, they keep a certain sort of peace for themselves and all who surround them. They find freedom in their confinement, while much of the “free” world works hard to confine themselves. (Matt Sonzala)
And this one is a real eye opener as well. The message mathces the strength of the music. Serious, if you make music, see this one and learn something about what it is that you do...
In the opening scene of this thoughtful documentary on one of reggae music’s earliest innovators and creators, a lone Jamaican Television presenter dressed in a sharp 3-piece suit, stares deeply into the camera and calmly says to his audience, “I’d like you to meet a genius.” He then goes on to laud the accomplishments of his upcoming mystery guest, dropping names of some of the artists he produced in his earliest days – the broadcast is from the late 60’s – and concludes with the statement, “He’s not only a record producer, he’s a songwriter, a poet, a musician, a video expert, and overall, a Rastaman.”
Quick cut to an example of his video/poetic work and you see a shirtless Perry, spinning around in circles outside his Jamaican home, in plaid short, shorts with oversized sunglasses covering his marijuana reddened eyes, and a kufi over his unkempt locks. He is chanting the praises of Jah Rastafari in a language only the deepest Rasta could possibly understand, while flailing his arms and gyrating manically, like a man possessed.
He seems crazy, but as the film progresses, you realize that Lee Perry was never possessed by any sort of devil, not in the traditional sense anyway. But his soul was obviously overtaken by the spirit of rhythm, as his every word, movement and nuance is punctuated by an irrational cadence, wholly unique to him.
A mystery to most of his fans for the bulk of his career, Perry brought reggae music to the masses by providing off kilter rhythms to such greats as Bob Marley, Junior Murvin and Max Romeo, to name but a few. His colorful and creative existence was the subject of many rumors and tales, both wholly true and oft-times understated. This film offers a tell-all explanation of one of music’s most colorful and genre splitting, pace setters, told mostly from his own mouth.
With the wisdom of an elder who saw a genre of music progress from birth to present times, his musical revelations are nothing short of revolutionary, and as the film comes to a close, if you still don’t quite understand the man behind the music, you’ll surely have gained a better understanding of the music that made the man. And helped shape a deep, cultural, renaissance. (Matt Sonzala)
And then of course there's this, which I had been waiting to see for some time. Don't miss out. You have not see this side of Iraq.
Given what we have seen on the news and been told for many years about Iraq and its neighbors in the Middle East, quite possibly the last thing one might think about coming out of the war torn, heavily religious region could be heavy metal music.
Heavy Metal in Baghdad not only follows the Iraqi heavy metal band Acrassicauda – Latin for “black scorpion” - from the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 to the present day, it gives its viewers an inside look at the human side of modern Iraq. A place where average, everyday people live, work, and try to survive in their war torn world.
Acrassicauda is a four piece band, not unlike any four piece metal band from any town on this side of the world. They play the same riffs, wear the same clothes and want the same things as their worldwide contemporaries. But due to cultural differences and religious standards, they are not fully free to practice and produce their art. Even worse, chicks don’t come out to their gigs!
Bombs drop, gun shots ring out, Military Police question and detain the artists and film makers involved, but still they persist, and from a magnificent struggle comes a dynamic film that delivers a slice of life no other film has produced before it.
The film takes you from the bands peak, just after the toppling of Sadaam Hussein, to three years later when they are living in exile in Syria. The directors – better known as two of the main editors of Vice Magazine – take time out to examine the nuances of the city that produced their subjects, and give a truly well rounded vision of what life in Iraq is really like, through the eyes of its average citizens. It’s nothing like what you have seen on Fox News, but it sure ain’t the Sunset Strip. (Matt Sonzala)
Anyway, go see some films. Celebrate great art for the next couple weeks in Austin, TX. Cuz it's really goin' down...
P.S. I don't think that SXSW Selected this next clip but it is hands down my favorite short film of all time. It says so much in such little time. Sums up EVERYTHING!
Man seriously, if you're not in Austin in these next couple of weeks, you're missing out. We got more hip hop music, more hip hop press, more hip hop industry, more hip hop presence than ever this year. It's growing and growing and growing and growing and such... And I'm stoked. March 12th, we ready.
Anyway what follows is the schedule for hip hop and things that I may have had a hand in. I didn't book all the hip hop, some came in via agents and sponsors and my dudes up to the job reeled all that in, but this year, it's exponentially goin' down.
Wednesday March 12th
SESAC Day Stage Cafe Austin Convention Center - 500 E Cesar Chavez St. 5:30 p.m. - Saul Williams (Los Angeles, CA) 2:30 p.m. - Mala Rodriguez (Cadiz, Spain) 12:00 noon - Bisc 1 (Queens, NY)
Fuze – 505 Neches St. 1:15 a.m. – 2:00 a.m. - Bun B (Port Arthur, TX) 1:00 a.m. – 1:15 a.m. - MDDL FNGZ (Houston, TX) Cory Mo (Houston, TX) 12:45 a.m. – 1:00 a.m. – Vicious (Lake Charles, LA) 12:30 a.m. – 12:45 a.m. - Hezeleo & Big Bubb (Port Arthur, TX) 12:10 a.m. – 12:25 a.m. XVII (Pass Christian, MS) 11:50 p.m. – 12:05 a.m. - B Do & T.O.E. (Port Arthur, TX) 11:30 p.m. – 11:45 p.m. - Bankroll Jones (Houston, TX) ---------- 11:00 p.m. – 11:20 p.m. - Chalie Boy (Hearne/Calvert, TX) 10:30 p.m. – 10:50 p.m. - Gerald G (Austin, TX) 10:00 p.m. – 10:20 p.m. - Public Offenders (Austin, TX) 9:30 p.m. – 9:50 p.m. – Slykat (San Antonio, TX) 9:00 p.m. – 9:20 p.m. - Circle G’z (Houston, TX) 8:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. – DJ Rapid Ric (Austin, TX)
Habana Backyard – 708 E. 6th St. - Stones Throw/Duck Down 1:00 a.m. – 2:00 a.m. – Buckshot (Brooklyn, NY) 12:15 a.m. – 12:45 a.m. - Sean Price (Brooklyn, NY) 11:40 p.m. – 12:10 p.m. - Guilty Simpson (Detroit, MI) 11:00 p.m. – 11:30 p.m. - Percee P (Bronx, NY) 10:15 p.m. – 10:45 p.m. - Kidz In The Hall (Chicago, IL) 9:45 p.m. – 10:15 p.m. - DJ Rhettmatic (Long Beach, CA) 9:00 p.m. – 9:45 p.m. - DJ Chicken George (Austin, TX)
SXSW Live at The Bat Bar - Austin Convention Center - 500 E Cesar Chavez St. 4:00 p.m. - Dizzee Rascal (London, UK)
Emo's Main Room - 603 Red River St. 1:00 a.m. - Clipse (Virginia Beach, VA) 12:00 a.m. - Kid Sister (Chicago, IL) 11:00 p.m. - Cool Kids (Chicago, IL) 10:00 p.m. - A-Trak (Montreal, QC)
Hip-Hop, Politics & The Politics of the Music Business
Chuck D once called Hip-Hop “Black people’s CNN.” Is it still today? Do today’s rap artists feel as though their hands are tied when it comes to speaking on social issues? Is it only about the party in 2008? Does the music business actively try to stifle the potential message? Are politics relevant in music? Do you care?
Speakers:
David Banner – (Jackson, MS) Salih Williams – (Austin, TX) Chingo Bling – (Houston, TX) Jean Grae – (Brooklyn, NY) Tech N9ne – (Kansas City, KC) M-1 of dead prez – (New York, NY) Davey D – (Oakland, CA) Soren Baker – Editor of Source Magazine – Moderator (Los Angeles, CA)
