UC Berkeley’s Students for Hip Hop will be hosting their 19th annual “Hip Hop in the Park” on 05/02/15. This annual celebration has a special place in my heart; I remember attending in high school when my mentors Group Uv Nutz killed the stage.. also, I opened for Frontline at this event back in ’03 or ’04.. This year, yours truly will be rocking with my comrades Breathless and BPos. The headliner is the critically acclaimed Fashawn.. this is my favorite verse from dude..
2FS (Kensho Kuma x Orukusaki) will be hosting Scarub of the Living Legends’ album release party on April 18th, 2015 at the Legionnaire in Oakland. Line-up includes veteranos Xienhow and Zyme (formerly Enzyme Dynamite) that I came up with in the East Bay scene.. Btw Xien’s “True MC” video is at a quarter million views..
“Meet the Cast” Trailer-
Orukusaki and Tefari at Filmatic Productions are continuing the weekly ROTC TV webisodes; every week, the episodes will capture the featured performers, patrons dancing to Kev’s set, MC’s, the Gemstone Band, and the overall vibe of ROTC. Khali at aFilmNoob shot and edited episodes 6.
ROTC TV: Episode 6- Return of the Beat Boxer
ROTC TV: Episode 7- Jern Eye
ROTC TV: Episode 8- Brycon x Luke Sick
ROTC TV: Episode 9- Mack Deezoe
ROTC TV: Episode 10- Boom Bap Sessions
Return of the Cypher now has an official weekly webisode series thanks to my brother Orukusaki and Tefari Casas from Filmatic Productions. Each ROTC TV episode will feature cyphers on and off the stage, the Gem Stone Band, DJ Kevvy Kev rocking the dance floor, featured performers, and patron interviews. Oruk will be the regular anchor, but I’ll cover for him when he’s out on assignments. Here are the first five episodes, enjoy.. Just always remember, ROTC is every Sunday evening at the Boom Boom Room in SF, and it’s always free and never will be canceled. All episodes shot by Tef @Filmatic Productions, except episode 5 shot and edited by Khali at aFilmNoob.
ROTC TV: Episode 5- the Introduction
ROTC TV: Episode 4- Rahman Jahmaal “Street Poetry” Release Party
ROTC TV: Episode 3- Watzreal Album Release Party
ROTC TV: Episode 2- Boom Bap Sessions feat. Joe Mousepad
ROTC TV: Episode 1- January MVP Competition
I will be performing @50 Mason for the first time on 01/07/15, along with my comrades Poe x Citizen, Pure Powers, and OneWerd x Pete Feliciano. I haven’t done a solo performance since the summer time.. so let me get my bars up.
My alter ego 510 Japanda Thug won the ROTC Halloween MC Battle; all contestants had to battle as their characters and Japanda faced very worthy opponents. Captain Ruksok hosted, Z-Man from the Hiero Imperium helped with the judging, and DJ Kevvy Kev held down the decks.
Preliminary Cypher
Round 1: 510 Japanda Thug vs. Anonymous
Round 2: 510 Japanda Thug vs. Spready Kruger
Final Round: 510 Japanda Thug vs. Slender Woman
On some real shit, I thought that the final round could’ve gone either way.. so I decided to split the prize money with Slender Woman… who is actually the alter ego of Babii Cris. A lyrical prodigy who is barely 21.. her self-produced, self-engineered album is dropping 01/03/15.
Cloud NI9E will be finally dropping his debut solo album “Alternative” on 11/19. The Tokyo based producer released “the Program EP” with me last May and completed a successful Japan/ South East tour in the summer of ’13. He was also hand selected by Nujabes’ Hydeout label to become a member of the “Ficus” collective, which was specifically designed to carry on the late Japanese mastermind’s sonic legacy. This collective also enlisted 9th Wonder of Jay-Z/ Little Brother fame. The “Alternative” debut features two tracks by yours truly and one from my crew member Orukusaki.
TRACK LIST :
1. Recollection
2. Everlasting feat. Orukusaki
3. Bird’s Eye View
4. Peaceful Warrior feat. Kensho Kuma & Justin Murta
5. Stages feat. Cise Starr (from CYNE)
6. Kazamidori
7. Suicidal Psychology feat. Chiba Chemist
8. Stand Alone (Musou remix) feat. Audace
9. Botanique feat. Pumpkin
10. Talking all days feat. David Whitaker
11. One Day
12. Life Work feat. Kensho Kuma
13. Tokyo kid ~Split style~ feat. Kemui
14. My heart is a melody
15. Home
16. Eclipse (Kamiaritsuki pt.2)
ROTC young gun drops the “New Bay” video. Dude has been paying dues on a regular basis; buy a snapback off of him when you run into him and support the grind.
Infinite is a seasoned veteran of the Bay Area Hip Hop scene; when I was finishing up my undergraduate degree at SFSU in the early 2000’s, him and Wonway were widely recognized for being unfuckwitable in the local battle/ open-mic circuit. The “Double Beatdown” concept refers to his dual mastery of MCing and beatboxing. It was shot at the Return of the Cypher event at the Boom Boom Room, and features a brief cameo of basically everyone, including your truly.
Breathless is a comrade of mine who routinely rocks with us at “Return of the Cypher.” I have always been thoroughly impressed with her live performance (she dressed up as Michael Jackson one time and merked it,) and her radiant personality shines through on the brand new “Go Crazy” video. It features cameos from ROTC soldiers MC Mars, Jay Peezy, and yours truly. Make-up/ costume designs by Sara Stylism and directed by Beto Moon Cricket Lopez.