Merc80.com

At what point did it become so cool to “dumb it down” and not care about things deeper in life?  At one point the men and women who spoke about the realness of life were respected.  We didn’t assume they were fake or just trying to get put on.  Their care came from the inspiration of people before them, the leaders who were dedicated to uplifting people and setting them on a better path.  Say what you will about whether they are just trying to get looking eyes and listening ears, ask yourself: Is their message true or not?  Are they looking at things with a focused lens, or just spouting off the same basic things we always hear about being righteous?  With all of this fast food music, there comes a point where you need something more healthy and nurturing.  What you put into your body has a direct effect on you just like what you put into your mind.  What has a more direct hold on your mind than music?

For those looking for something deeper, I offer you Los Angeles emcee: Legs.

Formally named Legacy, he changed it to Legs.  I first spotted him while I was in grad school at UCLA.  I hadn’t formally spoken to him at length, but most of the time I saw him he was working with an after-school youth group that taught the fundamentals of Hip Hop.  I saw him a few times with young teens walking around campus.  I even helped put on a  concert on campus and somehow, he already had connections to make sure the kids met the band after they performed.  His determination and leadership was very apparent to me without us ever having a conversation.  The other cats I knew that were friends with him could vouch for him.  Soon enough I found out he knew a large bunch of the talented musicians and poets in the Los Angeles underground including Jimetta Rose, and the homie Kampaign.

Legs does not beat around the bush in his music.  He even makes mention of the words many “deep” musicians hear when their stuff is “too deep” or “too Black” or “too militant”.  Things like that often seem to scare people.  But regardless of that, Legs is determined to bring you his thoughts.  As many people say “People don’t buy what you do, but why you do it.”  Legs is not another cat just trying to get on as a hustle.  This is something he cares about and refuses to steer in another direction.  Some may call it stubborn, but I call it integrity.

Check out the sights and sounds below.  He has two albums both for free!  You can’t cant lose here.
His newest album “Journeyman” dropped today! Check out more of his bio here:
http://www.iamnappy.com/nappy-nation-artists/legs/

Contact Info
Email: legs2010@gmail.com
Phone: (323) 605-5817

Journeyman- LEGS from Nappy Nation on Vimeo.

Check out his joint with Jimetta Rose “We Choose You”

Here’s his latest project,  Journeyman

Before I had my cameragirl I was just running around with my little flip Mino camera interviewing people wherever I could catch them.  I think I met Jansport J randomly at this studio that’s right around the corner from my house.  I heard some of his tracks and I told him I wanted to interview him.  Next time he was in the studio he hit me on Twitter like “Yo, let’s make it happen.”  And that was that.  I was really happy to see that he took his craft seriously, and that spirituality is something that he holds near and dear to his heart.  Since then, he’s dropped the High Power Moves project with Hawdwerk, and they have been hittin the LA scene tough ever since.

Part 1

-How he fell in love with music and his influences

-How he hustled to be come a producer

-His fav producers of all time

-His style

-How much things have changed in less than a year.

Part 2

-Bringing the 626 to the LA scene

-His current project

-The importance of being humble and putting God first.

Check him out:

http://twitter.com/JansportJ

http://myspace.com/JansportJ

http://imeem.com/JansportJ

http://the189.com/highpowermovestv

Bonus!

Peep the video for Ride.  Jansport J on the beat, Hawdwerk on the lyrics.

Listen to more of the High Power Moves here!

There was no way I was going to miss this show.  I had met Chang, head of Guerilla Union.  I tried him nearly a month before to see how I could get in as press.  No luck hearing from him.  Before I knew it, it was time for the show.  I tried my luck here and there.  Nothing.  The very day of the show I had some computer issues and I had to try to get it fixed.  Of course that would happen right when my friend calls me to tell me he had an extra ticket.  I had to spend money for the computer which wouldn’t allow me to get the $175 VIP ticket.  If you’ve ever been to a show like Rock the Bells, you know how tiring it is to stand for hours on concrete amongst thousands of people.  Hardly any air.  Hot.  Close quarters. People pushing past you.  I wanted a VIP ticket because at least then I could sit down somewhere.

But as it turned out, being amongst the crowd was actually the most interesting part of the show.

Once I finally got there, I could hear Lauryn Hill singing.  I was disappointed that the legends like KRS, Slick Rick, and Rakim went on so early.  I feel like their voices and songs should be put in front of the largest audience possible.  But hey, who knows what the reasoning was.  From what I could hear Lauryn was singing “Ready or Not”.  From afar she sounded great.  But once I talked to others they seemed very disappointed.  There were some mixed reviews.  Some said, “If you know Lauryn, you know what to expect.”  Lauryn is a free spirit, somewhat all over the place.  She’s going to do her songs the way she wants.  The question might be, is she doing it in a way that’s most effective for others to enjoy? I know enough people who saw her in LA and in the Bay Area that just wasn’t feeling her.  On top of that, apparently she started nearly half an hour late in both shows.  There were a few who felt that she must be on drugs or something.  Many were looking so forward to seeing her but didn’t get what they wanted.  I remember in 2006 I saw her at my last Rock The Bells experience where Wu Tang was the headliner.  She came out as a surprise, but the crowd was so restless and annoyed that when Lauryn’s band started doing a “Free Jazz” intro, they started throwing things at her and the band.  I wonder if maybe Lauryn doesn’t have all the rights to the songs she did.  Some of you may know that you have to still have certain rights and permission to perform certain songs live.  Maybe that’s why she had to change them.  But I do hope she has someone advising her for a proper comeback.  Many people seemed to be heartbroken at not seeing the Lauryn they once knew and loved.  I am sorta happy that I didn’t have to witness that if it really was that disappointing.

Once I got there, Tribe Called Quest was the next act.  Man, I had never seen them live before.  Low End Theory changed my life.  So did Midnight Marauders.  The thing is that there are some songs on Midnight Marauders that I like, but aren’t my favorites.  You could kinda feel that amongst the audience.  Sometimes performing an entire album isn’t such a great idea in execution.  Luckily they changed it up and did some of the other tracks from Low End, Instinctive Travels, etc.  I had never heard those jazzy basslines of theirs on a large system before.  You could feel the bass vibrate your whole body.  Busta came out and you could hear the whole crowd react in shock.   During the set, Q-tip noted to the crowd that in 1993 Midnight Marauders and 36 Chambers by Wu-Tang dropped on the same day.  A week later, Snoop dropped Doggystyle.  It made me reminisce on how so much great music was dropped between 93-94 that formed my love for Hip Hop.  I miss times like that.

Next up was Wu-Tang Clan.  Yep.  ALL of them.  ODBs parts were done by his son.  He sure did look and sound like him.  Again, doin an entire album, full songs like that can be a bit tiring to hear all at once.  I saw Wu-Tang in ’06 at Rock the Bells.  Heard all the songs.  It was still hype of course.  It seemed like part of the largest group of people in the audience came to see them.  I feel like Wu-Tang is Hip Hop’s version of KISS, or some kind of heavy metal group.  There was a girl behind me who knew every verse to Tribe and Wu Tang.  It was great.

Finally it was time for Snoop.  A lot of people started to file out because they wanted to avoid the traffic exiting, but many stayed.  I tell you.  Snoop knows how to put on a show.  He had filmed vignettes of every skit from the Doggystyle album. He was smart by having a small live band played along with the recorded tracks so that the songs weren’t too monotonous.  His performance of Murder Was the Case was excellent.  I never really paid attention to how great his lyrics were on that album.  At the time I was in 7^th grade and it was the raunchiest, most graphic album out.  But the songs where Snoop really shows his writing and rapping skills…please revisit that album.

I was actually happy to be amongst the crowd.  It felt good to sings songs with a large group of people.  To look around me, and see people staring at the stage just to see their favorite acts.  Times where the beats would drop out, and Raekwon would rap acapella, and thousands of people were rapping along with him, word for word.  But this is the kind of energy and feeling that can only happen when people really believe in the music.  I hope future artists were inspired by it.  I surely was.

As we round it off with Res, we go on the descend on how she maintained with the industry and kept pushing on her own solo projects.

- Dealing with the industry

- Where you can find her and her music

-Words of advice

Please stay posted with Res

Twitter- @The1Res

Website- The1Res.com

BONUS!

Check out some of my personal favorite cuts off her latest album Black Girls Rock.  Be sure to peep her website to get it!

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Over the weekend I saw two things on Twitter that made me really see that we’re in a sad state of affairs when it comes to music.

The first, from Phonte of Little Brother/Foreign Exchange…

phontigallo – I imagine bein a club DJ in 2010 is like bein a world class chef that’s forced to make fried bologna sandwiches every night.

The 2nd, from DJ Jazzy Jeff.

djjazzyjeff215 – Listening to the radio makes me realize…I STILL miss DILLA

I was having a good back and forth convo with local LA native/fierce microphone wrecker/femme fatale Brandi Kane.  She asked Why are local West Coast artists not getting any love, especially in Hip Hop.  In my view, it has nothing to do with “love” anymore.  It’s about what is hot currently,. and that standard is the “Dirty South” sound.  808s, fast hi hats, simple choruses, and maybe dances.  Teach Me How To Dougie is from a West Coast group, Cali Swag District; but, you’d almost think they were from the South.  It’s not about individuality or separation, it’s about one particular sound.  Part of that is because of the media and technology.  It’s very easy for us to all hear and witness the same trends.  But also, clearly, the powers that be are sticking to what works.  I talked to NY emcee Pack FM this past weekend.  He even said that right now it’s the same local cats running the circuit.  In NY, even the legends are played out.

There are lots of sounds and sights being made all over the place.  The questions is how and when will they be recognized.  Seems like people everywhere complain about the radio.  They make their own Pandora stations and tailor to their own tastes.  This is great for individuality…but wasn’t it a lot of fun when we could all sing together?

The human spirit needs to know itself, but it also knows itself through the interaction of others.  Let’s take it back to some jams you might all know and love.   Picked at random by some homies and myself.

Peep the comments about them from Youtube.