Jazzurected filling it in

Jazzurected is...

a Jazz / Hip-hop group, composed of MC and singer songwriter K.J.B.( 1982, Gouda NL)  & Kratos Himself( 1991, Goes NL).

Jazzurected started out when Kaycinn and Kratos Himself who attended the same school were returning from a great jam session.  They decided to work together on a project. DJ and producer Kratos came up with the name Jazzurected. 

The following days Kaycinn wrote some lyrics including his verse for the song  " Sometimes " on Kratos' beats. 

But there was still something missing...  Kaycinn then introduced his longtime buddy K.J.B. to Kratos.

After some time Kaycinn lacked time for Jazzurected because of his part in the awesome Dutch rock / funk / hiphop band called  Sabotage. Kaycinn and female singer Roxanne Janse often perform with Jazzurected during live shows.

From that moment on K.J.B. and Kratos himself formed a duo. They are now working on the Jazztronauts project.

Kratos is currently working on his own first solo album called " My Mellow Yellow Taxi " , in which K.J.B. will also feature.

According to us hip hop is...

We both find it hard to define Hip-hop. To us it is like a feeling.

The feeling you get when people are together and share the love for the art.

English or Dutch rhymes...

In our music we use English rhymes. In English we can both express ourselves much better then in Dutch.

It could happen in the future though. Music works in mysterious ways. Music is an universal language.

Our lyrics focus on....

our feelings, life experience and just having fun with music.

Just expressing what the beat / music makes you feel.

It all comes down to life and feeling.

Our beats....

The concept is that all the beats contain jazz samples. Some beats have got that oldschool hiphop sound but some are very experimental. We are trying to create a new, unique sound.

Old or new school...

Kratos:

There is no way I could ever choose between old or new school. New school can be cheap or fake but if you look hard enough there is still a lot of great stuff happening. And old school, I love the simplicity. Just a drum break and a loop and a rapper with a message.

K.J.B.:

I think a little of both but I think a better term for our music is " Our school ".

Because I personally think it's never really been done.

Jazzurected - Jazztronaut ( Demo Version )

http://soundcloud.com/jazzurected/jazzurected-jazztronaut-demo

Jazzurected - Without You Life Is a Lonely Ride [ Live ] Ft. Roxanne Janse 2011

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAsecXPIgns

Jazzurected - Sometimes [ Live ] Ft. Kaycinn ( Audio only ) 2010

http://soundcloud.com/jazzurected/jazzurected-sometimes-ft

Donald D @ 12 hours of hip-hop. Ft. K.J.B

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd5kharmy3k&feature=related

Site: http://www.jazzurected.wordpress.com

Soundcloud: http://www.soundcloud.com/jazzurected

Contact: jazzurected@gmail.com

Call: +316 29 41 997 ( Jethro Hopmans / Kratos Himself )

Foto's:

http://jazzurected.wordpress.com/pictures/

Overige Links:

K.J.B.: http://www.myspace.com/misterkjb

Kratos Himself: http://www.kratoshimself.com

Kaycinn: http://www.myspace.com/kaycinnn

Sabotage: http://www.myspace.com/onderschatdekunstniet

Roxanne Janse: http://www.myspace.com/dievanmij

Wonderwoman Jean Grae

Women are underrepresented and under respected  in every professional layer of society, be it even worse in the arts and music industry. In hip hop  the term femcee is sometimes experienced as belittling or offensive.


Female hip hop prodigy Tsidi Ibrahim(1976) AKA Jean Grae, formerly known as What? What?, is a skilled rapper and producer. 


Grae's parents were jazz musicians, their daughter reaped the fruits of her parents' love for music.  She enrolled in La Guardia School to study Vocal Performance and majored in Music Business at NYU.
This classically trained musician was part of the disbanded Natural Resource crew in the nineties. What? What? changed her artist's name into Jean Grae, after the X- men character Jean Grey. 


The comic lover is a self-made underground artist who is clearly driven by her passion for writing. This polysyllabic wordplay talent excels many a man. In addition the MC has a great flow and a unique sound.
She uses wit in her storytelling and moreover always keeps it real, a rare characteristic only a genuine MC possesses. She earned a lot of respect because she does not show her sexy booty in order to sell records as it is commonly done by lame superficial musicians. 
Hip hop's all about the music, not the appearance.

No wonder the Cameo Queen worked with Mos Def, The Roots, Phonte, Ground Zero, Talib Kweli, Abdullah Ibrahim,The Herbaliser, Atmosphere, Masta Ace, Immortal Technique, Vordul Mega, C-Rayz Walz, Brooklyn Academy Crew, ... Mr Len( Company Flow) also featured Grae on his solo album, paving the way for a somewhat more mainstream public.In 2002 Grae released her first LP Attack of the Attacking Things. In 2004 she released her second album entitled This Week.


With 9th Wonder she recorded her third album Jeanius(2008) from scratch. 9th had no pre-made beats, Jean no pre- written lyrics.
The record contained autobiographical and emotional elements( e.g. My story about abortion) and featured Phonte, Median and Lil' brother.


According to rumour Grae is currently collaborating with 9th, Clinikal and Passion Hifi on her fourth album Phoenix. Childhood friend Talib Kweli signed her to his Blacksmith Records and  commonly refers to her as one of the few true mc's. She should simply be worldwide recognized as one of the best mc's...


This musician is all about realness, wordplay, beats, be it what hip hop should be. She breathes it, she lives it, she is hip hop. 




Article written by Ann Timmermans


Jean Grae's blogspot
Twitter Jean Grae
Grae's myspace

Review: Diversidad - A unique European experience

As I am currently located in Madrid , I decided to purchase a copy of Spanish  'Hip Hop Life Magazine'  which promoted the European hip hop project "Diversidad" . ( also the title of their first single)


The three-year project was initiated in 2008 by Laurence Touitou and the European Music Office to illustrate how music, hip hop and urban culture has the ability to bring people together, regardless of their language or religion.  


Twenty hip hop artists( 12 nationalities) seized the opportunity to record 14 tracks in 9 different languages. The recording was done in studio ICP( BE)  in ten days time.


Spike Miller, Cookin' Soul, Eversor, C.H.I. and DJ Cut Killer provided the beats.
Cut Killer also took care of the scratching.
The CD features Curse & Mariama( GE), Marcus Price(SW), Orelsan, DJ Cut Killer & Spike Miller ( FR), Rival & Pitcho( BE), Luche(IT), Frenkie( Bosnia),  GMB aka Gery Mendes & MC Melodee(NL), Valete(P), Spanish Nach & Cookin' Soul (Big Size & Zock), Croatian Remi & Shot, C.H.I.(LU) and Eversor(GR). 


The greater number of the rapping and singing is done in the participants' mother tongue, in contrast to the choruses which were mainly done in English. The English translations of the lyrics are provided on the website, as well as the CD cover designs.


I believe the artists and producers keep quality and commercialism well balanced.  The diversity in nationalities add to a diversified, lively, almost exotic atmosphere.  Personally I think it's a pity the Dutch artists on the CD recorded their track in English. However I can only approve of this international initiative.


The CD( free documentary DVD included) can be ordered via the website.




Article written by Joachim Boonaert 


Links:
http://www.diversidad-experience.com/
http://www.hiphoplifemag.com

The sound of tomorrow

Avant- garde hip hop the new movement? Naturally it is as every culture evolves in its own way.

Hip hop experienced its golden age with the straight up boom bap sound of the nineties.

The heroes from back in those days were DJ Premier, DJ Babu, Gangstar , Wu-tang clan , Mos def and Talib Kweli … There is a whole list of names which could be added to the history of hip hop in the nineties.

The beats had grooving strong kicks and snares, yet somehow the music pieces remained simplistic in a fashionable way. Cut up samples in addition to mixed in vocals of old records spiced up the track’s appealing sound. Some of those artists are still in the game continuing their work.

For sure these musicians had their idols and examples from the eighties, such as DJ E3 and Afrika Bambaataa who produced a very electronic sound at the time.

Nowadays we notice an evolution towards a worldwide mixture of strong boom bap sounds and the electronic sounds of the eighties. In other words... our world has changed, provoking a compatible sound.

The new kids on the block have so many new techniques and synthesizers at their disposal, that the variety of sounds has virtually become inexhaustible. The moods and vibes they are unleashing upon the world’s eager ears are now easy to discover through media like Youtube and Wimeo.

Even though music labels struggle to make profit from record sales, these hip hop musicians keep on doing it, pushing boundaries in search of a new type of quality music.

The Dorian concept, Mike Slott, Delic, El Producto, Flying Lotus, Prefuse73 and Dynooo are merely a fraction of the future sound.

Crews like Antipop Consortium, Def-Jux and Cannibal Ox have found a way to communicate a poetic message through skillful wordplay on the new sounds of hip hop. In the UK scene rap became grime, where verses were spit on heavy bass lines and slow beats of dub step and grime.

The youth and veterans out there are searching for new ways to create an innovative sound and approach to hip hop music. We can only sit back and enjoy the new cultural hypes…

So if u ask me, bring on the avant-garde hip hop sounds!

Article written by Geert Van Laethem

Links:

Dynooo

Dorian concept