Rickey Vincent interview part 1

Pour les connoisseurs, Rickey Vincent alias UHURU MAGGOT est une référence en matière de funk. Il s'était signalé l'an passé (en tout cas un post avait surgi sur le forum Funk O Logy) par une critique très argumentée du biopic sur James Brown "Get On Up", et si vous surfez sur le site de Davey D ( au hasard article intitulé "Hip Hop and Funk...Bay Area Style"), vous verrez, si vous lisez l'anglais des interviews et articles sur les débuts du rap, notamment en Californie, où bien sûr Mister Uhuru Maggot est impliqué. Mais Rickey Vincent, c'est surtout "Funk, The Music, The People and The Rhythm of The One", un ouvrage de 1996 qui traite, vous l'aurez compris, du black metal philippin. Je plaisante bien sûr!! Avec un second ouvrage, "Party Music: The Inside Story of the Black Panthers' Band and How Black Power Transformed Soul Music" qui s'intéresse aux liens entre le mouvement Black Power et la musique populaire afro-américaine, TRZ se devait d'investiguer, injecter un peu d'intellect dans cet hédonisme gangsta rap West Coast, selon les clichés ( Fabe sur les productions de Bass Click, Kuisto je crois? Rêvons, rêvons....). Rickey Vincent parle du choix de son nom de scène/ personnage radiophonique, de l'importance de Sly & The Family Stone pour le funk des années 70 et 80, notamment les innovations de Larry Graham, de la richesse de la scène soul/funk de la Bay Area, du degré d'implication des Black Panthers dans la culture populaire ( musique, cinéma....), à vérifier. On évoque aussi le cas du documentaire sur le P Funk d'Yvonne Smith "Parliament Funkadelic: One Nation Under A Groove", qui ne pourra pas sortir en "physique" avec tous les problèmes de copyright, le projet de livre autour des artistes féminines du P Funk ( "The Girl Is Bad: The Story of the Women of P Funk"), la difficulté d'avoir des biopics de qualité concernant des artistes noirs des années 70, en tout cas ceux cités dans le livre "Party Music". On rappelle par ailleurs qu'un film sur Rick James est envisagé, affaire à suivre, ça n'est pas dans l'interview cela dit. Lisez maintenant, anglophones!! Why the pseudo or nickname "Uhuru Maggot"? At KALX radio, where Davey D and I both started, we were all encouraged to take the most exotic names we could think of. Davey was from the Bronx and already had his. The Reggae deejays were good at taking on characters like Spliff Skankin' and Too Dread, and P-Funk is full of cartoon characters, so wild names are normal. I was working in a deejay crew around 1982 and my partner wanted to call us "Spank Incorporated" which was cool but not wild enough for me. I just thought of Uhuru Maggots as a way to talk about freedom (Uhuru) and funkativity (Maggots). He didn't like the name but I did, and started using it as soon as I got on the air. It was also a way to avoid ever, EVER having someone else show up with the same name. For me Bay Area means ( musically) several things, first of all the rap scene, "hyphy", Thizz Nation for the youngest ones, "Mobb sound" ( E 40, Suga T, B Legit, Celly Cel..) for the older ones, and also Digital underground, Too Short, Spice 1, then the heavy metal scene, especially tharsh bands from the 80ies like Exodus, Mordred, Legacy/ Testament, Death Angel, Metallica ( they came later, from LA), then the punk/hardcore scene with Dead Kennedys, Crucifix, and former Texas acts like Verbal Abuse, MDC, DRI. So what else can people find in the Bay? The Bay belongs to Sly & the Family Stone. The psychedelic funk as we know it truly started in the Bay Area and the P-Funk cats will tell you so. First: Larry Graham on Bass. He was doing distortion and exotic rhythms AND melodies on bass that were only done on guitar before him. Every 70s black band borrowed that from Larry. Stevie Wonder, Ohio Players, War, Mandrill, Funkadelic, Kool & the Gang, Rufus, Temptatons (Norman Whitfield stuff), Isley Brothers, everyone. Bootsy broke it down once on a TV doc: "Everyody was trying to say they did it but no, it was Larry Graham. At that particular time he was doing things with the bass that no one else was even thinking about" Sly was able to arrange all the rock, gospel, jazz and soul onto JB grooves so the fully formed FUNK that we know and love, could exist. Ask ANY funk master alive today and they will say they got the groove from the JB thing, but figured out The Funk from Sly & the Family Stone. The Stand! album in particular. That was 1969, light years ahead of its time. In the Family Stone vein there is: TOWER OF POWER, GRAHAM CENTRAL STATION, THE POINTER SISTERS, & THE HEADHUNTERS (Herbie Hancock's incredible jazz-funk fusion band). Listen to the funk in SANTANA, AZTECA, COKE ESCOVEDO or any other latin fusion group from around here.... The Funk is all up in it. Later there was CON FUNK SHUN, and Foster & McElroy ( who wrote Timex Social Club hit « Rumors », ndm) produced EN VOGUE, and TONY TONE TONI, and some other spinoff groups, ALL of which used the deep Funk formula, even if it did not sound exactly like Sly. Also, the MINNEAPOLIS sound is heavily influenced by the Bay Area. Prince stole SHEILA E from Oakland, and also took Rosie Gaines and a number of other players to Minnesotia from the Bay. Prince is a huge Sly fan and was VERY pissed that Jesse Johnson got ahold of Sly first, and did that duet "Crazy For You" back in 1986. Larry Graham now lives in Minneapolis and is Prince's spiritual advisor (they are both Jehova's Witness) and musical advisor. Later of course you have Hammer and Too Short and DIGITAL UNDERGROUND which is the closest thing to a P-Funk rap group. Also, I think of Shock G as the Sly Stone of rap because his innovations were so far advanced, now that people are trying to put as much flavor in their rhymes as he did, and as much P-Funk into their loops as he did, he's just a ghost in tha machine. But everywhere I listen, there is Great Funk - that can easily be seen as heavy on the Sly Stone formula. So what does the Bay Area have? The special ingredient that made The Funk what it is, that's what! Stupid question but I had to ask, is (and /or was) there a soul & funk scene in the Bay Area? Very much so. Super Soul Souvenirs KSOL radio was so big they put out their own Soul comps. Sly Stone was a deejay there also. But it took many years before CD compilers dug into the vaults and brought the early stuff out. « Get Your Lie Straight » has some great Bay Funk & soul. Notice Lenny Williams, who went on to front TOWER OF POWER during their superstar years. Get Your Lie Straight

Downsouth rap stories

I ordered 2 very interesting books about Texas rap , first one is Scarface (real name Brad Jordan)'s "Diary Of A Madman: The Geto Boys, Life, Death, and the Roots of Southern Rap" check this one and listen to this Downsouth rap and French rock. The second book is "Sweet Jones: Pimp C's Trill Life Story" by Julia Beverly, about Chad "Pimp C" Butler and UGK from Port Arthur...have a listen to this West and Downsouth rap and that about Pimp C, Shaft controversy and other topics . Enjoy the stuff!!! Well it seems I already had advised you to read Brad Jordan's book, sorry, so better get this radio show, you won't be disappointed if you like Southern rap LSD and Geto Boyz and here is another episode for your pleasure Let them roll

Let him roll....

Yes I'm back and advise everyone this book "Diary Of A Madman" by Brad Jordan aka Scarface, very interesting, and by the way, check this...Downsouth rap and rock'n'roll

Some stuff to listen too (from me)

If you go there Saulviktornewman Empire you might enjoy, if not, at least I tried :-)

It's All About Doing that G.T.A

Et oui, ce mois-ci ( février 2014) c'est le mois du Gangsta Rap et du Gangsta Funk donc commencez par écouter ça Prelude to Gangsta Music et aussi ça Westside Latino Rap for you It's Gangsta & G funk music month for you people ( February 2014) so have a (good? bad?) taste in Maggot Brain "cooking for thought" just above, just click on the links, they don't bite....

Let's go DISCO with Chic, Donna Summer and Friends !!!

A propos de Trayvon Martin/ About Trayvon Martin

Ce qui suit est un article de David Walker ( Badazzmofo)... Guilty as Charged Posted on July 13, 2013 by David Walker I’m going to try and keep this as short as possible, because even though I have a lot to say, I’ve said so much of it time and time again, and I’m sick of repeating myself. Just hours ago, the verdict came in on the Trayvon Martin murder case. George Zimmerman, the man who admitted to shooting the unarmed teenager, was found not guilty of murder. And not guilty of manslaughter. And not guilty of a modern day lynching, which when you really examine what happened, is exactly what happened. Trayvon Martin was lynched, and Zimmerman was acquitted of the crime because—and let’s be totally honest here—the life of a 17-year-old black kid has no value and no importance in this country. None. Nada. Not a single bit of value as a human being, because no matter what any of us may say to the contrary, black people as a whole in this country have been deprived of their humanity. Florida just reminded us of what we all know, or should know—but really wish wasn’t true—and that’s this simple fact: America doesn’t care about niggers, and as a group, all of us black folk are niggers. This is not to say that all white Americans hate all black people, but as a nation, we have yet to fully bestow on black people their humanity. Some of us have been given it on an individual level, by other individuals, but people of African descent were stripped of their humanity as a means to justify slavery, and even though slavery has been abolished—or at least partially abolished (because the current prison system suggests something to the contrary)—humanity has not been something restored to people of color. Black people were enslaved because racial ideologies in this country created a system of racial inferiority and superiority, in which blacks were inferior. This is not an opinion, but a fact, and all it takes is close reading of history to better understand the long-term, multigenerational impact of this ideological construct. The result is that white people, or someone like Zimmerman, who is perceived as white, despite his Peruvian ancestry, are superior to black people like Trayvon Martin, which is why Zimmerman got away with killing Martin. As a black person, Trayvon Martin was not a human being, period. Just like Emmet Till was not a human being. Just like all the black people who were lynched, or forced into slavery for life were not human beings. I wish I could say that I was surprised by the verdict in this case, but as the trail wore on, I felt the inevitable outcome gnawing in the pit of stomach. In America, we pride ourselves on the concept of “innocent until proven guilty,” which sounds really good, along with phrases like “all men are created equal,” and all that stuff about inalienable rights, and blah blah blah. But the fact of the matter is that presumed innocence is a luxury largely afforded to the same select few that the Constitution of the United States was drafted to protect. If you don’t know what that means, or who the Constitution was really written for, then I suggest you bone up on your history. The point that I’m getting at is that the presumption of innocence brings with it the presumption that someone must be guilty—and therein lies a paradoxical flaw of the criminal justice system. If the accused is to be presumed innocent, then someone must be guilty. And in Florida, we just saw how that plays out in the court of law. George Zimmerman was not on trial so much as Trayvon Martin was on trial. In finding Zimmerman innocent, Martin was found guilty. Never mind the fact that Martin was the victim. I mean let’s really think about this. The ONLY way Zimmerman can be innocent is if Martin was guilty of something that justified his being killed. An armed adult killed an unarmed teenager, and a jury decided it was the victim’s fault. This is where the real problem in America starts to come into the light. The same ideological constructs that favors white men in this country, also serves to bestow upon them the presumption of innocence. But with that great gift, someone must always face the presumption of guilt. How many women have suffered sexual assaults, only to face allegations that they somehow did something wrong or provoked their attack? How many black have been brutalized and murdered, because they acted inappropriately around white people? Those of us who can be counted amongst the oppressed—by virtue of race, gender, or sexual identity—know all too well that when we accuse people of oppressing us, the burden of proof is on us. Women must prove that they are the victims of sexual harassment and sexual assault. People of color must prove that they are the victims of racial discrimination. A system that places burden of proof on the victim is a broken system built on oppression and ideological constructs, with clearly defined roles of who is inferior and who is superior. At the end of the day, the burden of proof was placed on Trayvon Martin to prove that his murder was not justified. Unfortunately, this country does not favor people like Trayvon Martin. Instead, he is not the victim, but the attacker. He died because he deserved to die, because he was a threat to the safety of a man with a gun. I’ve read several analyses of the case, and what some people have tried to put across is that the only two people who know what happened in this case are George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin, and at the end of the day, there was not enough proof that Zimmerman acted in the wrong. I would counter by saying that we all know what happened in this case: Zimmerman, a man with a gun, killed Martin, a teenager without a gun. There is not nearly as much nuance to be found here as some people would like to believe. One person took the life of another person, and the judicial system in the state of Florida made this a case about who was guilty of a crime. Sadly, the guilty party was the kid who was gunned down.

Maggot Brain radio shows

Oui quelques liens pour les initiés..et les autres...L'ombre du Fouet le tout dernier, sinon ici, vous en avez une belle collection, en cherchant bien...

Interview with David Katz, about Lee "Scratch" Perry, part 1

Why and how did you get interested in Lee Scratch Perry ? My earliest exposure to reggae came in the late 1970s and early 1980s, as I entered my teen years. At that time I still lived in a small town in northern California, which had one radio station, KTIM -- a very progressive station that had a 3-hour reggae radio show every Sunday night called Midnight Dread. The presenter, Doug Wendt, was a real ambassador for the music, he travelled to Jamaica frequently and brought guests to speak live on air and introduce the culture of Jamaica, like he had a dub poet from Jamaica explain what dub poetry is, what is niyabinghi, and so on. He played very rare, deep music... a lot of dub, crazy things like Jux Incorporation, a Studio One dub album, and a lot of Lee Perry music. He had the Wailing Souls, live on his show, singing 'Kingdom Rise, Kingdom Fall' a capella, right when it came out, as well. So I was exposed to a lot by that programme, and began to really get deep into the reggae. Seeing Jack Ruby's sound system in 1982 really blew my mind... seeing The HArder They Come and Rockers did as well... and then, I went to London for the first time in 1983, saw DBC sound system... saw a thriving Jamaican community...caught Awad live with Vin Gordon and Bami Rose in the band... and back in the US, dub became a real fixation... I remember buying Super Ape and being really blown away by it, and Blackboard Jungle Dub. Roast Fish was another killer... And there was more and more reggae radio, you could tune into different programmes daily in the SF Bay Area at that time. And I bought Reggae Bloodlines, a great book, and later REggae International, and the Catch A Fire Marley book, etc etc. Anway suffice it to say that I got deeper and deeper into reggae and dub, and really loved Lee Perry's work -- it was always challenging and different. So, around 1984 or 85, a friend in SF started a little music magazine called Wiring Department, and he asked me to start writing for it, and I did, but he hated reggae, so would not let me write about reggae. But when Lee Perry did the Millionaire Liquidator album, I really loved it, and eventually convinced the editor of the mag to let me write about it -- I played him the album and it was so off-the-wall, he could not deny me to write about it, basically. At the end of 1986, I came to London and found LSP was still here. So I arranged to meet him and try to interview him for that magazine.... the interview did not happen the night we met but he took the article I had written about him away and read it, and was impressed at what I had written, especially about the song 'Introducing Myself.' He felt his message was getting through to me, and he'd apparently been searching for a 'ghost writer' to help him with his autobiography, so he put me through a ritual involving some stones from the river Thames and a ring with a winged skull on it, and... I became the 'ghost writer.' So I spent 2 years in his company at his request, seeing him just about every day... Why not The Gladiators, Mighty Diamonds, Desmond Dekker or someone else? -- I love the Gladiators, big-time. Love Mighty Diamonds too, and love Desmond Dekker too. I love all Jamaican music, from mento and jazz and JA r&b through ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub, deejay, dancehall... but especially love roots and dub... not so found of slack dancehall or gun-talk. What happened with LSP is not something I planned... but that is what happened, how it worked out. When I was researching the Lee Perry book, once I finally got to Jamaica I interviewed Albert Griffiths of the Gladiators, and got in touch with Clinton Fearon in Miami. I met Tabby and Judge from the Diamonds and we did a great interview at the grounds of Devon House. And a lot of that material was used in my second book, Solid Foundation: An Oral History of Reggae. I never managed to interview Desmond Dekker, though I did see him live and actually attended his funeral... Are you a musician or a producer yourself? Yes, I played keyboards in some bands in SF for several years, between 1984-86 roughly, and was a singer in a band too, played bass in a band out there too. When I came to the UK, I was approached by Pete Holdsworth, who I used to buy records from, when he had a stall on Portobello Road, so Pete asked me to join a band he was forming, I played keyboards in that band for a while but we never really got anywhere. I did, however, introduce LSP to Pete -- LSP came to one of our gigs. When that band broke up, I played very briefly with Steve Marshall but he and his friends were of a much higher musical level than me, so they fired me pretty quickly...and, I'd gone to Paris for the first time in 1987 when LSP performed there, and I got friendly with some musicians there and one of them, a guy called Bruno Clark, I started to record with him in France, some of that stuff came out as the Positive Brothers, produced by him and me, but not much happened with it either, aside from some airplay on Radio Nova, and an underground buzz. Eventually I was faced with a choice, would I try to play music, or just write about it? It seemed if I had a talent in one area or the other, maybe my talent was more in writing about music, rather than playing it. So I stopped playing and just concentrated on writing. Plus by then, things got a bit tough financially, so I no longer owned any instrument, except a melodica. Later, I did some recording with this guy Digidub, which was released on a 10inch on the David label. Haven't really played music for a while but do sit in on sessions from time to time and offer my input when requested. According to you is there any other "record label CEO" and producer who destroyed his tool( I am talking about the Black Ark incident...) Good question. There is talk that another studio that burned in the late 1960s, that the fire may have been started intentionally for insurance purposes, but that has not been substantiated. LSP says similar claims were made when the Ark burned, but he did not actually hold insurance for the building when it burned. From what I read, Lee "Scratch" Perry started with ska and then kept on creating stuff, is he more than a producer, I mean did he for example write songs with the Upsetters or he would just hum something and people would turn that into lyrics & music? Well, first of all, you should keep in mind that Perry got his start as a singer and songwriter. He wrote 'Rough And Tough' and took it to Duke Reid, but Reid did not like his voice, thought he was not a good singer, so he gave the lyrics to Stranger Cole without Perry's permission. Then Perry went to Coxsone, Coxsone was also using his lyrics, as well as having him do whatever needed to be done, like bringing new releases to the sound systems, etc etc, but Coxsone also thought Perry's voice was not so great... though Perry did record quite a number of songs for Dodd as a singer. Perry can't read music in the conventional sense, nor can he play a musical instrument conventionally, other than percussion. But once he began doing his own productions, for his own vocal work, he would have the lyrics and melody in shape, bring it to Gladdy Anderson and the other musicians, get them to shape the rhythm and melody and then record it. And with the work of others, he would shape what they created. I hope you understand what I mean. fin de la première partie....

P FUNK Month, Sir Nose told ya !!!

We got the ladies involved in Parliament, Funkadelic and "side projects" Women In Parliament, and before that we got this is that P funk enough for you?, and way before we had that Message to the Afronauts...and we cannot stop and we will not stop, unless you get enough!!!

Une histoire du rap part 2

6) Votre avis sur les documentaires comme "Black dragons gang" ou "Gangs story", vu que des bandes comme les Requins Vicieux, Black Dragons ou Black Panthers ont des liens ( MC Jean Gabin, Jo Dalton, Destroyman & Jhonygo...) avec le mouvement rap? Ce sont des témoignages à la fois précieux, et à prendre avec circonspection. Précieux parce qu'ils ont contribué, dans les années 2000, à rendre public et à ouvrir le débat sur tout un pan de l'histoire du rap en France auquel seuls les plus initiés avaient accès, et encore parfois sur le mode de la rumeur et du fantasme plutôt que des faits. Reste que le surgissement de ces documentaires dans un intervalle assez court correspond aussi à une stratégie de certains acteurs, et sont de ce point de vue susceptibles de mettre en scène des faits réels pour revendiquer une légitimité dans le monde du rap en jouant de l'aura sulfureuse associée à ce style musical. Or avoir un passé délinquant ou avoir activement lutté contre les groupes skinheads d'extrême-droite ne garantit pas que l'on fera un grand artiste ou un bon homme d'affaires. L'inverse est également vrai, d'ailleurs. C'est tout le problème du "génie", magistralement résumé dans la phase célèbre de Daddy Lord C dans « Toujours plus haut ». 7) Qu'est-ce que IAM (et ses membres en solo) a réussi, que NTM ( le collectif ou les membres en solo, Yazid, Psykopat, Kool Shen, DJS, Joey Starr) a raté? L'imitation d'un solo de saxophone à la bouche. « Jazz »... 8) Votre avis sur la disparition des magazines rap comme RER, L'Affiche, Radikal, Real, Syndikat, Get Busy, Groove magazine, Rap magazine... C'est en partie une fatalité, liée au développement du numérique et aux difficultés croissantes que rencontre l'ensemble de la presse, et en partie une situation paradoxale vue l'importance du public amateur de rap en France. La persistance d'une presse musicale pour d'autres courants musicaux, parfois moins importants par leur public ou leur succès commercial que le rap, indique que quelque chose de spécifique doit se jouer au niveau des pratiques de lecture et d'accès à l'information musicale des amateurs de rap. Mais je n'ai sur la question que des hypothèses floues ! 9) Pourquoi les adeptes du son West (comprendre G-Funk) sont mal vus ( Réciprok, Sté Strausz à ses débuts, Doc Gynéco, Stomy Bugzy, et le Ministère AMER, et plus récemment Aelpeacha, CSRD, 4.21, Southcide 13, 2 Moines, Myssa...) alors que le son dirty/downsouth a bien pris en France (je pense au titre "Rap bizness" de Passi ou à des morceaux de Dabaaz sur son album de 2006 ou 2007)? J'ai l'impression qu'on a affaire là à des groupes dont la trajectoire et les éventuelles critiques dont ils feraient l'objet sont extrêmement différentes. Réciprok a été pris, dans une certaine mesure malgré lui, dans un clivage qui le dépassait, et n'opposait pas sons east coast vs west coast mais paroles légères et festives vs. critique sociale. C'est un temps assez précis de l'histoire du rap en France, qui va de la montée en épingle par les médias généralistes du succès de MC Solaar pour dévaloriser d'autres groupes (comme NTM) et des exigences en matière de format musical des grands réseaux radios en 1994-1997 au changement de programmation musicale de Skyrock en 1998. Ni Expression Direkt, ni Sté, ni Doc Gynéco n'ont connu la même opprobre. Aujourd'hui, la qualité du premier album de Doc Gynéco, par ailleurs énorme succès commercial, est largement reconnue. En ce qui concerne le Ministère AMER et Stomy Bugsy, ils jouissent d'une reconnaissance importante dans le monde du rap jusqu'à la fin des années 1990. Pour aller plus loin sur cette question, il faudrait préciser à quelles instances de jugement précises on fait référence. 10) Projets futurs.... J'aimerais travailler sur l'implantation des musiques afro-américaines en France dans les années 1960-1970. Le travail de Vincent Sermet a ouvert un vaste chantier qui ne fait que commencer. Dans la période actuelle, je m'intéresse aussi à cette catégorie à la fois répandue et mystérieuse de "musiques urbaines". J'aimerais comparer les usages de cette étiquette dans les industries musicales françaises et britanniques.

Une Histoire du Rap?

Some French stuff pour une fois ( comment ça pour une fois? t'es comme un journaliste sportif toi, il y a une brassée de matches amicaux ou non mais tu ne parles que de France- Allemagne et...le micro était branché? Et bien..euh ce n'est pas comme cette journaliste américaine qui avait un jouet sous sa jupe, hein? rien de grave), interview de Karim Hammou ( pendant que je rajuste ma cravate) 1) Pourquoi un bouquin sur le rap français, sachant qu'il y en a déjà eu un paquet (même si le rap post 1998 a en effet été peu abordé)? Je crois au contraire qu'il y a peu de livres sur le rap français, et que nombre de choses restent à écrire. J'en resterai au type d'angle privilégié par mon livre : une histoire du rap, distincte à la fois des travaux décrivant l'état des lieux de "la culture hip-hop" ou "du rap" à un moment donné et des témoignages autobiographiques. Jusqu'à ce jour, soit trente ans après les débuts du rap en France, il n'existait que l'ouvrage qu'Olivier Cachin a consacré au rap dans son ensemble, dans lequel on trouve un chapitre dédié au rap français, l'ouvrage essentiel de José-Louis Bocquet et Philippe Pierre-Adolphe, compilant de nombreux entretiens réalisés en 1996 avec des acteurs de la scène rap, et le travail très récent de Thomas Gaetner, focalisé sur les années 1990. Aucun de ces ouvrages n'opte pour la lecture socio-économique qui est la mienne. Outre le fait qu'il s'agit d'un travail obéissant, en amont, aux méthodes des sciences sociales, c'est l'une des originalités de mon livre : articuler les transformations des industries musicales, des médias, des politiques publiques et des quartiers populaires à l'évolution du rap en France, et ne jamais traiter ces différents acteurs sans restituer leurs enjeux propres et leurs lignes de fractures internes. Si l'on entre dans le détail, l'une des originalités de mon travail réside aussi dans les matériaux sur lesquels il s'appuie. A plusieurs reprises, je privilégie l'examen systématique de documents : des 45 tours sur lesquels on trouve des morceaux rappés en français dans les années 1981-1984, des émissions télévisées (TF1, A2 et FR3) de 1987 à 1991, des albums de rap français de 1990 à 2004, les débats à l'Assemblée nationale évoquant le rap de 1990 à 2010. Le témoignage des acteurs vient alors compléter, préciser ou illustrer les éléments que je mets en évidence, mais il n'est pas premier. Cette méthode me permet d'introduire un certain nombre de repères quantitatifs et systématiques, de mettre à l'épreuve des faits la mémoire du rap en France telle qu'elle peut se transmettre d'amateurs en amateurs - moi y compris. 2) Comment l'idée de comparaison entre les groupes d'avant 1998 et après, des autoproduits, signés sur labels indé, signés sur major est venue? La comparaison entre les albums selon leurs conditions de production était assez évidente, la question des rapports majors / indépendants et celle de la concentration du marché du disque étant des problèmes traditionnels de la sociologie et de l'histoire des musiques populaires. L'idée de comparer des générations de rappeurs est plus originale. Elle ne vient pas, ou pas directement, des distinctions entre "old school" et "new school" qui scandent le récit habituel des évolutions stylistiques dans le rap. Elle vient d'une hypothèse, inspirée par le travail du sociologue Howard Becker : selon les conditions dans lesquelles leur apprentissage professionnel se fait, les artistes ne réalisent pas leurs oeuvres de la même façon. Un changement dans les conditions d'apprentissage du métier (parce que l'industrie du disque évolue, parce que de nouveaux médias émergent, etc.) peut donc conduire à des façons de faire du rap assez différentes. En distinguant des générations de rappeurs, j'ai pu mettre cette hypothèse à l'épreuve des faits. Et on voit que s'il y a beaucoup de différences entre la façon dont la première génération, de 1990 à 1993, et la deuxième génération de 1994 à 1997, réalisent leurs albums, les nouvelles générations qui arrivent dans le monde du rap à partir de 2001 s'écartent peu des manières de faire de leurs prédécesseurs. 3) J'ai feuilleté le livre, Ministère AMER est cité plusieurs fois, par contre Expression Direkt et TSN c'est la portion congrue (c'est le futur scribouillard qui s'exprime)... Ce serait une erreur de penser que la longueur du nombre de références dans l'index constitue un indicateur "d'importance" dans l'histoire du rap en France des groupes ou des artistes concernés. L'histoire que je raconte n'est pas centrée sur les seuls artistes, c'est une histoire collective, celle d'une pratique d'interprétation, et j'ai choisi d'illustrer chaque épisode par le cas de tel ou tel groupe en fonction des sources dont je disposais. En l'occurrence, l'analyse du rôle d'Expression Direkt est loin d'être réduit à la portion congrue, même si elle se focalise sur les premières années du groupe. Reste que mon histoire du rap s'intéresse particulièrement à la façon dont ce genre musical s'est intégré à l'industrie du disque, et que parmi les matériaux privilégiés résidaient dans les albums et les featurings. De ce point de vue, le rôle du Ministère AMER, puis de ses membres, et notamment Kenzy, fondateur de l'un des plus importants labels indépendants de l'histoire du rap en France, a une place de choix dans mon travail - sans commune mesure avec celle de TSN dont l'activité de producteur intervient relativement tard (à partir de 2000) et ne rivalisera jamais avec l'influence que le Secteur Ä a pu avoir à son époque. J'ai par contre certains regrets, je trouve notamment que l'analyse d'un label comme Night & Day fait défaut dans mon travail. Mais il fallait aussi que je mette un point final à cette histoire-là, charge à de futures recherches - les miennes ou celles d'autres personnes - de préciser, compléter, critiquer la lecture que je propose. 4) Quel rôle Tabatha Cash a joué dans l'essor médiatique du rap français (c'est un peu ironique comme question)? Sur le plan médiatique, ce rôle est anecdotique. Elle a contribué à freiner les préventions de l'équipe de Skyrock vis-à-vis du rap. En introduisant dans sa brève émission de libre antenne, animée avec Fred Musa en 1994-1995, une programmation rap principalement américaine, elle a démontré que cette musique pouvait séduire les auditeurs de la radio. Clara Morgane jouera-t-elle le même rôle pour le reggae dance hall (référence à son album produit/composé par Lord Kossity)? Aucune idée ! 5) Le rap français s'exporte-t-il bien dans les pays voisins (Suisse, Allemagne, Espagne, Italie surtout)? Il s'est bien exporté pendant les années 1990, oui, notamment en Angleterre, et plus encore en Allemagne. Les liens entre IAM, Sens Unik, et les groupes qui gravitaient autour d'eux y ont grandement contribué, mais aussi l'aura d'un marché du rap français florissant dans la deuxième moitié des années 1990 alors que la scène rap allemande restait bien plus underground. Pour ce qui est des années 2000, dans le contexte de crise de l'industrie du disque, je ne sais pas. (la suite au prochain épisode...)

Un nouvel ami veut prêcher pour sa paroisse

Oui, un certain Saulviktornewman a décidé de "spread the musical wisdom" sur Mixcloud, avec du Foesum par exemple, ou de la new wave, ou encore ceci pour les fans de soul music et Chicago Enjoy!!!

Du digital, du numérique pour les cavemen

Spécial FISHBONE, ça c'est la 1ère salve, et pour les fans de Blaxploitation, Blaxploitation SICKNESS, la discussion du 29 septembre..la prise de son est hasardeuse, mais l'intention y est..we spread wisdom for the community

What about Louisiana?

Here's the whole itw with David "D Funk" Faulk...enjoy the reading!!! Did you work with Black Menace and Ghetto Twiinz? What happened to them? And PNC (Partners N Crime)? Yes. I worked with all of them. The artists on Big Boy Records back then were G-Slimm, Partners-N-Crime (PNC), Mystikal, Fiend, Black Menace, The Ghetto Twiinz, Elate' and Insane. I played all of the music (guitars, keyboards/piano, bass, etc.) on all of their Big Boy Records album releases. I still consider them all my friends and some of us still keep in touch when we can but so many people have gone their own different ways, you know? Time goes on and people's lives change, they have kids, get jobs, etc... It's hard to believe Partners-N-Crime's "PNC3" CD was around 19 years ago! I remember playing the instruments and us recording those songs like it was only yesterday. These days, Black Menace and Partners-N-Crime are still around. From what I understand, they are more into working with some of the younger up-and-coming rappers, mentoring them and building their own independent record label. I spoke with Mista Meanor (one half of PNC) only 3 or 4 days ago. He was looking for someone to design a logo for their label. I've always been just as much into art (drawings, computer graphics, etc.) as I am with music so I'll try to come up with something they will want to use. As far as The Ghetto Twiinz go, I really don't know much concerning what they are doing these days. Tonya (one of the twins) wound up getting married to DJ Precise but since he and I had a falling-out (see answer to question #10) and don't speak to one another, I don't really know much about their current lives. It's a shame too because I had always gotten along well with Tonya and Tremethia and really enjoyed creating music for them. Do you have an idea/are you aware of the influence of G funk and down south rap on people in France and elsewhere (Europe, Asia...)? Do you know some French rappers or producers: beat makers? I actually had no idea. It's almost like New Orleans is in their own little musical bubble here and most of the people don't realize how much the rest of the world likes (or even hears) any of the music that comes out of this area although I'd assume that whoever is collecting the royalty checks and money from the sales would be well aware of where it's selling. To this day, I don't know much in regards to where the music I created was sold (or is selling). I was royally screwed over regarding all the music I did on those CDs. To this day, I don't receive a single penny in royalties or anything. I was verbally promised that I would be well "taken care of" when the money came rolling in and yet I watched as the owner of the label and the guy who got the producer credits bought Land Cruisers and enjoyed the money from record sales while nothing was ever kicked back to me. Nothing. Zero. After that, I knew I would never work with that label or DJ Precise ever again - and I never have. I have a number of gold and platinum record awards and plaques - all of which I'd happily throw in the garbage if I could have been properly compensated instead. Don't get me wrong though. I still consider the musical content and creativity to be the most important and enjoyable thing. I'll never stop creating, composing or playing. If ever there is an instrument within reach, I'll pick it up and get lost in my own little creative world for a while because of my love for music - not because I hope to make a "hit record" and a ton of money. But no matter who you are, if you created something with someone else only to find out that they not only got paid a huge up-front amount of money for it but that they can sit back while they forever receive royalty checks in the mail at their nice home and driving their expensive cars while you wonder how you're going to pay your next month's rent. Then you find out their plan from the very beginning was to use your skills or talent simply to make themselves rich because they had secretly been copyrighting everything in their name all along. If I sound a little bitter about that - I am. Even with a signed statement by the artist Mystikal (and some other BBR artists who were around in those days) confirming they remember me creating the majority of the music on those CD's, their is a law called the "statute of limitations" which basically states that - in my waiting for him to do the right thing - I waited too long to file the case. The only way around this now is for HIM to contact the copyright and publishing offices and declare that he did NOT produce, write and compose all of those albums by himself... and, of course, that is nevvvvvver gonna' happen. I was all set to bring a guitar, a keyboard, a bass and a drum machine into a courtroom and have them call out the name to any song from any of those albums and I would play 'em right there. Of course, I would then expect him to do the same because his not-being-able-to-play-anything would be proof enough... but I digress... Let's talk about your career, how and why did you decide you would be a musician? Is the name "D Funk" related to D Train? Did you study classical music, jazz? Did you play with soul, funk or rock bands? I guess you could say it had to do with being born into a musical family of sorts. I never studied music and even to this day, I play entirely by ear. My mother used to dance on the stage in Dublin, Ireland where she was born and raised. She was always singing around the house when I was growing up and my oldest brother played in a rock band for as long as I can remember so there was always something musical going on around me I guess. We also had a little upright piano in the house but I didn't have an interest in music at that time yet - but I completely remember the day I wanted to get a guitar and learn how to play. I must have just turned 14 years old and I was hanging out with some guys who were much older than me - like in their early 20's maybe - and they would sit around smoking marijuana and playing their records and tapes and they'd just sit there listening intently. Music wasn't simply a background thing to them. I remember thinking it was strange when I'd go to talk about something and they'd be like,"Shhh. Listen to this song." Anyway, I remember they were playing a song and something was strange about it to my ears. I remember saying,"There's something wrong with your tape or whatever - it's like.. skipping or something..." because I couldn't tap my foot or hand to the beat. They said there was nothing wrong. The band was purposely playing that way! Well, that blew my mind and changed the rest of my life in ways of listening to and understanding music. The band's name was "Rush" and the album was called "Hemispheres". Well, to make a long story short, I soon bought a 2nd-hand guitar from a pawn shop and started out trying to learn songs by Rush and other odd-time progressive rock/jazz fusion music but even though I liked all that intricate stuff, I was a huge Prince fan and really enjoyed anything funky with lots of bass playing and wah-wah guitar effects. "Earth, Wind & Fire", "Cameo", etc.. - were all very influential to my playing style. Then, fast-forward a few years later to when I was 17 years old, I applied at a local recording studio and told them I'd do anything - cleaning up the place, whatever - in order to learn about recording and engineering. Luckily, they took a chance and hired me making $150 per week mostly making digital back-up copies of old reel-to-reel tapes and stuff. In the meantime, I started a band and was creating my own original music. The only music I ever really enjoyed creating with a band was always some weird mixture of funk and progressive rock/jazz fusion. Sometimes during the day at work, I'd be on my lunch-break or something and I would take every opportunity I could get to play the studio's instruments because the owner of the studio had a lot of great vintage keyboards and synthesizers, guitars and basses, a Baby Grand piano and a drum set, etc... It was a dream come true to be around all these instruments every day and really helped me learn and grow musically. Different local rap artists and labels would book time at the studio and eventually they would hear me playing one instrument or another and ask me to play on their songs. There's a ton of those early, early rap records from New Orleans that I was never even credited as playing on. I just saw it as a way to make some extra money while getting my own band going, you know? As far as the name, "D-Funk" goes, it came about by accident actually. Early on while doing the session work for different people, one guy didn't know how to spell my name and what should have been,"D. Faulk" (my first initial and last name), he had typed as, "D Funk". By the time I had seen it, it was already released that way but a few of the rappers I knew said I needed a cool producer name and that I should just keep using it - so I did. I wish I had a better story as to how I got my producer name but it was really just an accident. :) How and why become someone who can play several music instruments? Besides Prince and maybe Bootsy Collins I don't know many of them being in front (and not behind the scene/ in the background). I just genuinely enjoy playing any musical instrument I can get my hands on. Every instrument seems to enable me to release a different aspect of my feelings or emotions. When I play a piano, I tend to play with a lot of dramatic and moody expression whereas when I pick up a bass guitar, my hands seem to naturally gravitate toward a funkier style with all the slappin' and poppin' a bass enables you to do. I mean, you simply can't create the same feeling and sounds on an electric guitar as you would be able to do with an acoustic 12-string guitar. They sound totally different and early on I realized that I didn't want to have to wait for another musician to be available in order to create a complete song. By learning as many as I could, I was able to record myself playing the drums and then over-dub a bass guitar, then a keyboard, then a lead guitar, vocals, etc... whatever you want. A lot of that inspiration came from people like Prince and Paul McCartney who I'd find out later that some of their best songs that I enjoyed so much were actually recorded by them playing all the instruments themselves in the studio. Of course, their bands were needed in order to play the songs live and stuff but it's a great way to really help yourself complete the writing (and recording) of a song without having to wait for other musicians and their schedules to coincide with your own. About the song "Slippin Into Darkness" (G-Slimm) I suppose you know Eazy E also used (well maybe more DJ Yella) WAR song, if you had to compare which one would you choose? Hmm. I don't think I could compare them. I mean, as far as the G-Slimm song goes, basically the "producer" brought a cassette to the studio with a song by War on it and asked me if I could replay each of the instruments. I said sure and he recorded/sampled me playing each instrument while I tried to emulate the same feel and sound that was on the original song. I haven't listened to the song in years but I remember there were two versions of the song. One version had me replaying all the instruments and the other version was simply a sample from the original War song sampled and looped/repeated which G-Slimm rapped over. I think the original version was the one that had the music sampled from the War song. Then, when Relativity was interested in signing G-Slimm as an artist and wanted to re-release the CD, they asked us to add another 4 or 5 new original songs and, due to the fact that you have to pay more to use a sample of someone's music as opposed to if you replay it, they might have then used the version where I replayed the song. In all honesty, I really don't know at this point - it's was so long ago. Still about G Slimm, could you tell us how the song "Four Deuces and Trays" was born, the lyrics, and the beats? Did you take part in the shooting of the video clip? I had no part in the shooting of the video. Due to the fact that the "producer" had always tried to keep my music playing and production work a secret, I was never invited to any of the video shoots. I suppose in retrospect that I could have gone if I sought to do so and everything but I'm not the type of person to just show up somewhere if I wasn't invited. Plus, I'm sure I wouldn't have been included in the actual video. I don't know how much skin color played a part in a lot of decisions back then but me being the only white person with a company that began using slogans like,"Black-owned and Operated" (to follow No Limit Records' lead), I honestly doubt they wanted to show me as the one and only white guy creating the majority of the label's music. The song itself came about the way most all of the songs we were doing at that time came about. The music would be created first, always. Then the rappers would basically take a cassette tape home with them and write their lyrics. When they had their words all worked out, they'd come back to the studio to be recorded. I remember at that time G-Slimm was really influenced by a lot of the west coast music sound and so the music we'd create for him would be done with that in mind. About another famous song, "Y'all Ain't Ready Yet" (Mystikal), how was it conceived/ created? This is a very interesting story and a bit of information that just about no one knows: The bass-line for "Yall Ain't Ready" was actually a bass-line I had been working on for a song my band was going to do called,"Crimson Holds". One day while we were in the midst of creating and recording Mystikal's album, I was in the little kitchen/lunch area in the back of the studio and, as usual, I was practicing and playing some of the songs for my band. I was playing an acoustic guitar and repeating the main bass-line riff when Mike (Mystikal) walked into the area and went,"Whooooo!! What's that?" and began doing this little side-to-side thing with his shoulders he does when he's really feeling the groove of something. He said,"We gotta' use that! Don't forget that." I knew I wouldn't forget it because I had been playing around with that riff for a couple of months already. Well, it was the end of BBR's recording session that day but like 2 days later when they came back to the studio, I remembered how much he liked that bass riff so that was the first thing I played on top of a simple mid-tempo beat just to remind him of it and no sooner did I begin playing it when he (again) went,"Whooooo!! Yeah! That's that thing from the other day! Keep playin' that!" And that was that. I think we just sampled the bass and looped it over the simple beat for him to write and work out his lyrics to it and when he came back to record it, I knew it would be something. I knew people would really feel it. I didn't know it would be his first single but I really liked it a lot. Mystikal liked it so much that he didn't care about the label wanting me to be "in the background", he included my name in his lyrics and at one point in the song say,"Dave, play that funky guitar!" I still remember to this day when the album was about to be pressed up and he had a sheet of paper torn out of his notebook with everything he wanted to have printed in the liner notes of his debut CD. There was a big thank-you section he showed me where he thanked me in detail for all of my creativity and how his album wouldn't have been the same without my guitar, keyboard and bass playing, etc..., etc... When the CD was pressed up and the first box of them were brought to the studio, we all got a copy of course and I couldn't wait to pull the plastic off and open the case to see my little pat-on-the-back. But it wasn't there. Nothing about me except being listed as a "playa" of instruments. As soon as I saw Mystikal, I said,"Mike? What happened to that cool thank-you thing you put about me?" It really meant a lot to me and yet it wasn't there. He said he didn't know why it was excluded so I asked the "producer" (DJ Precise) what had happened. He said,"The place that pressed the CDs said there wasn't enough room and some things had to be taken out." In other words, he lied. Yet for some reason, I continued to believe him. Album after album of music, I saw the one person who was responsible for keeping my name hidden, for blocking me from ever getting a penny of royalty money, etc... - I saw this one person as my friend. Soon, my "friend" would build a small career and name for himself on the music and creativity I put into all of those CDs while I would get nothing. Amazingly, years after it's implosion, the label would try to make a comeback with him producing the music by himself. Take a guess what happened. Nothing. People aren't stupid and they know when something is missing. All of a sudden, every song he did didn't sound anything at all like the hits people were used to hearing from "him" before. Even with trying to hire session musicians to add guitars and basses to his drum loops and beats, it wasn't selling. Am I secretly happy about this? No way. I'm openly thrilled about it. You see, even though he and BBR can no longer use me to fill their pockets ever again on any new music, they still continue to collect royalty money from all of the past recordings and albums we created. And a few years ago when Ja Rule used a sample from one of those Mystikal songs, guess who gets another big new royalty check in the mail. Ten years from now if Burger King decides to use a sample from any of those albums I created and played all of the instruments on, once again I'll continue to receive nothing while this "producer" will be watching for his mailman to come by. Let's talk about the album "Fours Deuces and Trays", how much time did you spend on it? How did you and G Slimm work on it, did you rehearse parts of songs, achieve a track then another, and another, or you wrote the whole ( the beats i mean, not the lyrics), G Slimm would come, listen to one beat, write something, go in the booth and record? The entire album was probably created from start to finish within 4 or 5 months I would guess. Most of the time, we would continue working on instrumentals no matter who was the current artist we were working on. For example, we would be creating the music tracks with G-Slimm in mind and he would be at the studio almost daily to hear what we were creating and he might sit and write lyrics there in the studio or take a rough copy home on a cassette to continue writing but if we were to create an instrumental that he wasn't really feeling to fit him, it wouldn't matter because there was always 6 or 7 other artists or groups who would gladly scoop it up and begin writing their lyrics to use the song for their own CD. Nothing was ever really rehearsed but when an artist would be in the booth and recording their vocals, you could work out some little discrepancies on the spot by stopping the track and saying,"Put more emphasis on that last word." or "It sounds better when you do it a little more laid-back on that part.", etc... Generally, we'd always only record one song at a time so the artist could put all his attention on that one. To have an artist record 2 or 3 songs in one day could tend to make it a bit stiff or "formula" if you know what I mean. These days, it's not uncommon for a lot of the new young local rappers to simply download a bunch of instrumentals from different websites out there and then come to the studio and flip through their notebooks of lyrics and throw some verses on them and they're done. We used to really put a good amount of time and effort into the artists and songs but I don't hear that kind of dedication in many of the artists around these days. I'm not saying there aren't some but many of them just kinda' throw it all together and wonder why they haven't been discovered or signed to a major record label. I've said it before but I think a major difference is that a lot of so-called producers simply produce tracks whereas I like to produce the artist. How do you write in general? Do you sample something ( a guitar riff for example), add some bass, keyboards, drums, or you play the sample (for example "Funky worm" by Ohio Players or "Mothership Connection" by Parliament) with real music instruments ( i mean bass, guitars, drums, not just a computer) and use the result as you want, or you create something from nothing, a bassline, a drum pattern or a guitar riff or some keyboards, and then it leads you to something else and so on and at the end you have the music part? I talk about your work nowadays and also you work at Big Boy records back in the days.... Simply put: I like to use as much live instrumentation as I can and I never sample - ever - unless a particular sample is requested by someone I am working with. That's the way I've always done it and continue to do it today. I'll usually begin by creating a drum beat but sometimes I might start out with a guitar riff or keyboard chord progression and then build all the other instruments around the initial one. It may seem like a simple formula but no keyboard synthesizer or computer program can take the place of holding a real instrument in your hands - in my opinion. I've done a good amount of experimenting with computer programs like Acid and some others but mostly just for their looping and multi-track capabilities. Some instruments leave you no choice but to play them on a keyboard like if you want an orchestra-like section on your song with violins, cello, french horns, etc... (By the way, I was wondering - do you call what Americans call a "french horn" simply "a horn"? Hehee.) There was also DJ Precise in the Big Boy records staff, which was his role ? Did you work together? 11) Are there rappers, or singers you would like to work with? I've mentioned a good bit about him and his role in my answers to some of the other questions. Whenever possible, I choose to refer to him as the guy who was credited as the "producer" (in quotation marks). He's had enough of a life making money from the music we created while I still receive nothing so I avoid using his name whenever possible but basically he'd create or play a drum loop and I would create and play everything else. Rappers or singers I'd like to work with? I'd have to say guys like Jay-Z, Dr. Dre, The Beastie Boys (r.i.p. MCA), Kanye (sans the attitude) because I like people who aren't afraid to try new and different things in their music. I admire the innovators. People who like trying to mix it up a bit and incorporating other sounds into hip-hop music like heavy rock guitar riffs or odd-time signatures, progressive jazz chords and new age ethereal moods, etc... There are so many possibilities. Those are the kinds of things I've always tried to do when creating original hip-hop music. How would you describe Louisiana for foreigners, in general and about music scenes? I have to say that New Orleans is known worldwide as a kind of music mecca but in reality the music scene here probably 85% cover bands doing old blues and dixieland music or top 40 hits. The greatest thing about New Orleans is the food which has a lot of french/cajun seasoning and spices, etc... It's best to come to New Orleans and eat but musically its a struggle for anyone to make it out of here doing original music. If you had to compare yourself ( the way you write songs/music) to Cold 187um ( Above The Law), Erick Sermon, DJ Quik, Khayree, RZA, The Bomb Squad, what would you say? Of those you mentioned, I have to acknowledge DJ Quikk as someone I very much admire. From what I understand, he is a real musician and his rap tracks always showcase that too. Other than that, I really couldn't compare myself to anyone else because I think I have my own way of creating and the majority of my influences are musicians that most people have never heard of: Allan Holdsworth, Return To Forever, Mattias IA Eklundh, Steve Vai, Mike Patton, John Zorn, Frank Zappa, King Crimson, The Dregs, etc. I think that my influences being as they are has got to affect the way I think in terms of creating music and the fact that I do a lot of hip-hop and rap music wouldn't make a lot of sense to many people but there is so much great music out there. I don't understand how anyone can just listen to the radio as their main source for hearing new or interesting music. I think the majority of the greatest music and musicians out there will never be heard on the radio - which is a shame. What is David "D-Funk" Faulk up to nowadays? 14) Something to add? Struggling and trying to make it. Hehee. I'm currently working on my own debut solo CD of all original music featuring myself playing all the instruments. I have a website that needs some serious updating which will hopefully be completed by the time this interview is printed. Other than that, I'm still recording and producing other artists. I've been lucky enough to work with some great people since my Big Boy Records days. I produced a song for George Clinton with myself on all the instruments, did some assisting / engineering for Lenny Kravitz and Glenn Tilbrook (of Squeeze), recorded and mixed the artist Tricky for a remake of Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit" (Verve: Remixed) and some other things. I'm always looking to be involved with new and unique projects so if anyone your way is interested, these days it's easy to collaborate and create music by sending stuff back and forth through the internet. - David "D-Funk" Faulk DFunkFaulk@aol.com | MY WEBSITE - Divergent Recordings | (504) 296-1004

Sunless Friday...some rain too!

Et oui, FISHBONE était de passage dans cette charmante et culturelle ville de province que l'on nomme, Joey Joey Starr, mais j'ai pas fait 500 mètres que les...petit moment d'égarement..que l'on nomme Tours, plus exactement Chambray-les-Tours, la banlieue ouest ou nord ouest, sans Booba, Ali et les cohortes des Hauts de Seine, ce qui fait que le hiphop local ne repose pas en paix (en tout cas pas celui de basse qualité mais c'est une autre histoire...)..comme me l'a fait remarquer plaisamment un collègue d'instrumentations sonores, que gagnait-on avec le tarif plus élevé du "ticket"? Steeve O ou un autre clerc du Jackass crew qui surgit de sa boîte en disant "Got punked, mother f**ker!!!!" Enfin bon, Angelo Moore, Norwood Fisher et Cie étaient bien là, en rouge ( ça passe, Chambray n'a pas été colonisé par Snoop Dogg, Eastsidaz, Dogg pound, LBC crew, donc n'est pas encore un territoire CRIP :-)), en vedette américaine pour Mass Hysteria...on en reparle plus tard, et on salue le clavier ( funny guy, qui non seulement se permet de se moquer de moi, mais plonge de temps en temps dans la foule)..Red party at Chambray, fallait y être, j'espère que c'était le cas pour vous!!

Blaxploitation Sickness contest: correction des copies

Voici les réponses que j'attendais aux 7 questions... 1) Pierre Rousselet est PARANO REFRE, non seulement présentateur de "Blah Blah rap" sur MCM mais également rapper du groupe Tout Simplement Noir ( fallait me dire au moins tout ça) 2) Le principal compositeur ( sauf mention du contraire par les spécialistes) du morceau "Maggot Brain" est le guitariste voire lead guitar player EDDIE HAZEL ( en tout cas c'est la réponse que j'attendais) 3) on pouvait citer "Ebony, Ivory and Jade" ( Rosanne Katon), "Coffy" ( Pam Grier), "Melinda" ( Rosalind Cash), " TNT Jackson" ( Jeanne Bell), "Sugar Hill" ( Marki Bey), " Darktown Strutters" ( Trina Park+les 2 autres actrices)...etc... 4) l'influence de la voix off ( trailer anglo-saxon) = RUDY RAY MOORE aka DOLEMITE ( n'est-ce pas Bullhorn?) 5) le lien entre les Boondocks et "Black Dynamite", c'est que la version animée de B.D. est assurée par ceux qui ont bossé sur le dessin animé "The Boondocks" ( les aventures de Riley & Huey, et de leur grand-père) 6) le film qui a donné lieu au terme "Blaxploitation" c'est "Superfly" ( terme créé par Julius Griffin en 1972, si je me souviens bien) 7) 4 femmes importantes dans la vie politique afro-américaine, Fannie Lou Hamer, Kathleen Cleaver, Betty Shabazz, Coretta Scott King, Assata Shakur, Rosa Parks, Angela Davis, Nina Simone... On reviendra sur l'opération Blaxploitation/ Blaxploitation Sickness event plus tard...mais ceux qui n'étaient pas là le 29 ont raté quelque chose ( "Black Dynamite" on peut toujours acheter une copie du film), je vous le dis...il y a des enregistrements pirates (semi-officiels quand même) qui vont circuler, wait and see !

Interview with David "D Funk" Faulk

( it's just a part of it...if you want to read more, you have to be patient :-)) 1) Did you work with Black Menace and Ghetto Twiinz? What happened to them? And PNC (Partners N Crime)? Yes. I worked with all of them. The artists on Big Boy Records back then were G-Slimm, Partners-N-Crime (PNC), Mystikal, Fiend, Black Menace, The Ghetto Twiinz, Elate' and Insane. I played all of the music (guitars, keyboards/piano, bass, etc.) on all of their Big Boy Records album releases. I still consider them all my friends and some of us still keep in touch when we can but so many people have gone their own different ways, you know? Time goes on and people's lives change, they have kids, get jobs, etc... It's hard to believe Partners-N-Crime's "PNC3" CD was around 19 years ago! I remember playing the instruments and us recording those songs like it was only yesterday. These days, Black Menace and Partners-N-Crime are still around. From what I understand, they are more into working with some of the younger up-and-coming rappers, mentoring them and building their own independent record label. I spoke with Mista Meanor (one half of PNC) only 3 or 4 days ago. He was looking for someone to design a logo for their label. I've always been just as much into art (drawings, computer graphics, etc.) as I am with music so I'll try to come up with something they will want to use. As far as The Ghetto Twiinz go, I really don't know much concerning what they are doing these days. Tonya (one of the twins) wound up getting married to DJ Precise but since he and I had a falling-out (see answer to question #10) and don't speak to one another, I don't really know much about their current lives. It's a shame too because I had always gotten along well with Tonya and Tremethia and really enjoyed creating music for them. 2) Do you have an idea/are you aware of the influence of G funk and down south rap on people in France and elsewhere (Europe, Asia...)? Do you know some French rappers or producers: beat makers? I actually had no idea. It's almost like New Orleans is in their own little musical bubble here and most of the people don't realize how much the rest of the world likes (or even hears) any of the music that comes out of this area although I'd assume that whoever is collecting the royalty checks and money from the sales would be well aware of where it's selling. To this day, I don't know much in regards to where the music I created was sold (or is selling). I was royally screwed over regarding all the music I did on those CDs. To this day, I don't receive a single penny in royalties or anything. I was verbally promised that I would be well "taken care of" when the money came rolling in and yet I watched as the owner of the label and the guy who got the producer credits bought Land Cruisers and enjoyed the money from record sales while nothing was ever kicked back to me. Nothing. Zero. After that, I knew I would never work with that label or DJ Precise ever again - and I never have. I have a number of gold and platinum record awards and plaques - all of which I'd happily throw in the garbage if I could have been properly compensated instead. Don't get me wrong though. I still consider the musical content and creativity to be the most important and enjoyable thing. I'll never stop creating, composing or playing. If ever there is an instrument within reach, I'll pick it up and get lost in my own little creative world for a while because of my love for music - not because I hope to make a "hit record" and a ton of money. But no matter who you are, if you created something with someone else only to find out that they not only got paid a huge up-front amount of money for it but that they can sit back while they forever receive royalty checks in the mail at their nice home and driving their expensive cars while you wonder how you're going to pay your next month's rent. Then you find out their plan from the very beginning was to use your skills or talent simply to make themselves rich because they had secretly been copyrighting everything in their name all along. If I sound a little bitter about that - I am. Even with a signed statement by the artist Mystikal (and some other BBR artists who were around in those days) confirming they remember me creating the majority of the music on those CD's, their is a law called the "statute of limitations" which basically states that - in my waiting for him to do the right thing - I waited too long to file the case. The only way around this now is for HIM to contact the copyright and publishing offices and declare that he did NOT produce, write and compose all of those albums by himself... and, of course, that is nevvvvvver gonna' happen. I was all set to bring a guitar, a keyboard, a bass and a drum machine into a courtroom and have them call out the name to any song from any of those albums and I would play 'em right there. Of course, I would then expect him to do the same because his not-being-able-to-play-anything would be proof enough... but I digress... 3) Let's talk about your career, how and why did you decide you would be a musician? Is the name "D Funk" related to D Train? Did you study classical music, jazz? Did you play with soul, funk or rock bands? I guess you could say it had to do with being born into a musical family of sorts. I never studied music and even to this day, I play entirely by ear. My mother used to dance on the stage in Dublin, Ireland where she was born and raised. She was always singing around the house when I was growing up and my oldest brother played in a rock band for as long as I can remember so there was always something musical going on around me I guess. We also had a little upright piano in the house but I didn't have an interest in music at that time yet - but I completely remember the day I wanted to get a guitar and learn how to play. I must have just turned 14 years old and I was hanging out with some guys who were much older than me - like in their early 20's maybe - and they would sit around smoking marijuana and playing their records and tapes and they'd just sit there listening intently. Music wasn't simply a background thing to them. I remember thinking it was strange when I'd go to talk about something and they'd be like,"Shhh. Listen to this song." Anyway, I remember they were playing a song and something was strange about it to my ears. I remember saying,"There's something wrong with your tape or whatever - it's like.. skipping or something..." because I couldn't tap my foot or hand to the beat. They said there was nothing wrong. The band was purposely playing that way! Well, that blew my mind and changed the rest of my life in ways of listening to and understanding music. The band's name was "Rush" and the album was called "Hemispheres". Well, to make a long story short, I soon bought a 2nd-hand guitar from a pawn shop and started out trying to learn songs by Rush and other odd-time progressive rock/jazz fusion music but even though I liked all that intricate stuff, I was a huge Prince fan and really enjoyed anything funky with lots of bass playing and wah-wah guitar effects. "Earth, Wind & Fire", "Cameo", etc.. - were all very influential to my playing style. Then, fast-forward a few years later to when I was 17 years old, I applied at a local recording studio and told them I'd do anything - cleaning up the place, whatever - in order to learn about recording and engineering. Luckily, they took a chance and hired me making $150 per week mostly making digital back-up copies of old reel-to-reel tapes and stuff. In the meantime, I started a band and was creating my own original music. The only music I ever really enjoyed creating with a band was always some weird mixture of funk and progressive rock/jazz fusion. Sometimes during the day at work, I'd be on my lunch-break or something and I would take every opportunity I could get to play the studio's instruments because the owner of the studio had a lot of great vintage keyboards and synthesizers, guitars and basses, a Baby Grand piano and a drum set, etc... It was a dream come true to be around all these instruments every day and really helped me learn and grow musically. Different local rap artists and labels would book time at the studio and eventually they would hear me playing one instrument or another and ask me to play on their songs. There's a ton of those early, early rap records from New Orleans that I was never even credited as playing on. I just saw it as a way to make some extra money while getting my own band going, you know? As far as the name, "D-Funk" goes, it came about by accident actually. Early on while doing the session work for different people, one guy didn't know how to spell my name and what should have been,"D. Faulk" (my first initial and last name), he had typed as, "D Funk". By the time I had seen it, it was already released that way but a few of the rappers I knew said I needed a cool producer name and that I should just keep using it - so I did. I wish I had a better story as to how I got my producer name but it was really just an accident. :) 4) How and why become someone who can play several music instruments? Besides Prince and maybe Bootsy Collins I don't know many of them being in front (and not behind the scene/ in the background). I just genuinely enjoy playing any musical instrument I can get my hands on. Every instrument seems to enable me to release a different aspect of my feelings or emotions. When I play a piano, I tend to play with a lot of dramatic and moody expression whereas when I pick up a bass guitar, my hands seem to naturally gravitate toward a funkier style with all the slappin' and poppin' a bass enables you to do. I mean, you simply can't create the same feeling and sounds on an electric guitar as you would be able to do with an acoustic 12-string guitar. They sound totally different and early on I realized that I didn't want to have to wait for another musician to be available in order to create a complete song. By learning as many as I could, I was able to record myself playing the drums and then over-dub a bass guitar, then a keyboard, then a lead guitar, vocals, etc... whatever you want. A lot of that inspiration came from people like Prince and Paul McCartney who I'd find out later that some of their best songs that I enjoyed so much were actually recorded by them playing all the instruments themselves in the studio. Of course, their bands were needed in order to play the songs live and stuff but it's a great way to really help yourself complete the writing (and recording) of a song without having to wait for other musicians and their schedules to coincide with your own.

Essonne G Funk

Mr "L'Heure Du Crime" aka G WAX le Parano G vous présente sa nouvelle oeuvre Enjoy!

Louisiana G Funk...in the 90ies

Alors qu'un certain album, "Four Deuces and Trays" est réédité par Big Boy Records, Il serait bon de regarder "behind the music", dans les coulisses, qui faisait quoi... David "D Funk" Faulk a travaillé sur cet album de G-Slimm, interview à suivre....David Faulk