Raheem Jamal - "Rewind / Marc's Little Brother"

Incase you missed it the first time around on Building With Bricks Volume 3 (2008, Brick Records), here's Raheem Jamals' Rewind / Marc's Little Brother. Raheem recently described it as "a quick flashback to my youth," but damn, I'd say more like it's a lyrical achievement, vividly painting a picture of the ups and downs of his early years. Produced by Raheem, engineered and mixed by yours truly -

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Live in Malden, MA this Saturday!

I'll be performing live in Malden this Saturday alongside Raheem Jamal, with Top Choice Clique, Esoteric and Blacastan also in the place. Come through, it'll be a good one!

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Raheem Jamal

To continue running down the line leading up this show on Wednesday, I wanted to give some shine to another performer sharing the bill with Dagha and myself... Raheem Jamal.

Over the years, Raheem and I have gained a friendship out of being on the same label, but he knows I've been a fan of his since way back when I first heard him set it off on the Electric track, Respect Life.

Electric- Respect Life (From Life's A Struggle) -

(Raheem Jamal, left. Raydar Ellis, right)

Also around that time, I caught Project Move's debut track on 7L and Beyonder's Vinyl Thug Music. Alongside emcees Anonymous and Moe Pope, the trio would release a dually titled full-length in 2006, Love Gone Wrong / The Butterfly Theory. Here's one of the title tracks:

Project Move- The Butterfly Theory -

It was during Raheem's work on his solo debut, Boombox, that I really started to get to know him. Entirely produced by Raydar Ellis, the beats on this album are a perfect marriage to Raheem's subject matter and emotion. I was lucky enough to be a fly on the wall for some of these recording sessions, and have great memories of witnessing their chemistry and excitement first hand during the making of this record.

Raheem Jamal- Live It Up -

Raheem Jamal- The Thang -

Oh yeah, and that's Anonymous doing the uncredited bugging out on Live It Up. He'll be in the building Wednesday as well.

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Wednesday February 24th - Live From the Basement with Will C., Dagha, Anonymous & Raheem (Project Move), Agari Crew

If you're in the Boston area on February 24th, come through to the Good Life for "Live From The Basement!" This show is going to be a great time. I'll be on the bill with my boys Anonymous and Raheem Jamal from Project Move / Electric Co., as well as Dagha and others.

All the info should be on the pictured flyers. I champion all of these dudes I just mentioned, so I figured I'll drop a little material by some of the individual artists performing at this show, as we lead up to the event. Let's start with Dagha.

I first got put up on Dagha through his affiliation with the Electric crew. They only put out one album as a collective (Life's A Struggle) back in 2004. Here's a track off of it, featuring every emcee in the group- Insight, Anonymous, Raheem, Moe Pope and Dagha .

Electric - Where Would U Be (Remix)-

The Electric album is 90% produced by Insight (Y Society), with interludes produced by DJ Real. It is a superb release that was highly slept on. That same year, Dagha destroyed it with his guest appearance on Insight's The Blast Radius album, on The Method of Madness.

Dagha's first solo offering, Object In Motion, came in 2005, the same year he appeared on Edan's Beauty and the Beat LP (on the track Rock and Roll). Here's two of my personal favorites off of Object In Motion:

Dagha - No Sheets (produced by DJ Real) -

Dagha - Back To The Center (produced by DJ Real) -

Dagha's most recent full-length, The Divorce, is yet another above average release. A concept album, The Divorce tells the story of some major relationship woes. Here's a song that appears early in the disc (another Insight production):

Dagha - Devil's Work -

Alright, I'm definitely doing this post on the fly, but the point is Dagha is dope, 'nuff said. He's enough reason alone to come through to the show.

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"Saving Seamus Ryan" Release Parties Recap!

(above: photo by Chris Hunter- Rhode Island)

I can't keep up with Eso, he's updating his site constantly these days. He already posted a recap of the Saving Seamus Ryan release parties in Rhode Island and Mass, but I figured I'd share some pictures from the event as well. By the way, the parties were a blast! Everyone killed it! Thanks to all the people who came out and supported.

It was good to finally see my man Blacastan perform live. Check out his new mixtape The Master Builder. It'll wet your appetite for his Brick debut right around the corner. Apathy put on a great show in Boston, and the headliners were in full effect...

(above: photo courtesy of Performer.com- Boston)

7L, Esoteric and Beyonder united for something special, performing selections ranging from the Soul Purpose days all the way up to the present. Eso performed a condensed rendition of Saving Seamus Ryan, complete with cameo appearances from Qwill (Hold On) and Benny Macko (Blacastan). It was quite the show.

I gotta of course say thank you to Eso for having me on the bill for both events, and definitely have to send a shout out to Beyonder for holding it down on the tables for my sets. He was killing it! At the end of Be Yourself Syndrome, Raheem and I just fell back and let him cut for mad long... he was in the zone. Which reminds me, I can't forget to give a shout out to Raheem Jamal and thank him for holding it down with me at all these shows. Do NOT sleep on Boombox / Project Move / Electric! It's truly a pleasure to be rocking on stage with him.

(above: Raheem Jamal, myself - Rhode Island- photo by Chris Hunter)

(below: Beyonder - photo courtesy Performer.com)

I was also thoroughly impressed that Beyonder didn't miss a beat when somebody handed him a beer on stage directly in the middle of hyping for Word Association with 7L & Esoteric. Anybody who knows that track has to know how important not missing a word is. Besides that, there were just a lot of great moments from each night. I think my personal highlight during my set was performing Losers and getting some great crown interaction / participation. There's nothing better than a good crowd. I'm regretting not filming this one (I seem to never use my video camera), but here's a couple more pictures...

(above: top two photos courtesty Performer.com, third photo by Matt Conley- Boston)

(below: photos by Chris Hunter- Rhode Island)

Enjoy your Halloween, be safe!

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Reminder- Tonight: "Saving Seamus Ryan Release Party @ Middle East in Cambridge, MA (10.28.09)

A friendly reminder about the "Saving Seamus Ryan" Massachusetts release party tonight (10.28.09) @ The Middle East in Cambridge. Featuring performances by 7L & Esoteric, Apathy, Will C. with Raheem Jamal, and Blacastan. See you there!

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"Saving Seamus Ryan" Release Party in Rhode Island This Friday (10.23.09)

First off, happy birthday to KARMA!

Come through to wish him a belated happy birthday this Friday (10.23.09) for the Saving Seamus Ryan Rhode Island release party, featuring performances by 7L & Esoteric, Will C. (me) with Raheem Jamal, and Blacastan, with musical hosts The Bladerunners!

I'm going to debut a new song there called Origins. It has nothing to do with the X-Men or Species II.

The Massachusetts release party will be the following Wednesday (10.28.09) in Cambridge @ The Middle East, and will feature 7L & Esoteric, Apathy, Blacastan, and Will C. with Raheem Jamal. See you there!

Pictured below is the brand new / limited 7L & Esoteric fitted cap, which will be exclusively sold at the Saving Seamus Ryan release parties. For more info, go to esoterichiphop.com

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