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AUSTIN, TX, United States
a lot of MUSIC, FREEDOM, CULTURE and a little of everything else

Sunday, June 5, 2011

LONG STORY (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO) BY MIRAGE feat. DAVID SHA

LONG STORY


THE OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO FOR A GROOVY JOINT I BEEN PUSHING FOR ABOUT A YEAR AND FINALLY A VIDEO FOR A SONG THAT SO MANY PEOPLE HAVE GIVEN ME SUCH GOOD FEEDBACK ON. IT FEATURES MY MAN DAVID SHA OUT OF HOUSTON, HE IS A GREAT SINGER AND A NICE RAPPER AS WELL. HIS MOVEMENT IS COMING UP.

BUY THE SAVANT ALBUM @ HTTP://WWW.REVERBNATION.COM/MIRAGE512

FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER@MIRAGE512 AND HTTP://WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/MIRAGE512

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

KILLER MIKE LIVE @ FADER FORT AUSTIN TEXAS SXSW 2011

IF YOU KNOW ME YOU KNOW I GOT MUCH LOVE AND RESPECT FOR THIS BIG RAPPER OUT OF ATLANTA. KILLER MIKE IS THE BLUEPRINT FOR THE MODERN HIP HOP HUSTLE. THIS MAN CAME OUT WITH OUTKAST AND WON A GRAMMY ON HIS FIRST TIME OUT. THEN WENT UNDERGROUND AND BUILT A LARGE MOVEMENT THAT IS GROWING EVERYDAY. HOPEFULLY THIS WILL ADD TO THAT MOVEMENT. GTRG BANG BANG BANG

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

SXSW 2011 THE MADNESS

I WAS EVERYWHERE WITH MY CAMERA DURING THIS YEARS SXSW 2011 HERE IN MY TOWN AUSTIN TEXAS. HERE IS SOME VIDEO FROM THE FESTIVITIES.


THE COOL KIDS


BIG BOI of OUTKAST #1


BIG BOI of OUTKAST #2


LEP BOGUS BOYS

A SHORT CONVERSATION WITH KAZANOVA

I BEEN DOWN WITH MY GUY KAZANOVA FOR THE BETTER PART OF ABOUT 5 YEARS. HAS HIS OWN COMPANY AND HE IS A PART OF THE DIRTY POLITIC FAMILY WHICH IS THE BRAIN CHILD OF MY COMRADE YOUNG NICK. KAZANOVA IS A HUSTLER FIRST THEN A RAPPER, HE IS GONNA GET IT DONE REGARDLESS. SO I SAT DOWN TO TALK WITH HIM ABOUT HIS MOVEMENT AND HOPEFULLY TO SHED SOME LIGHT ON WHAT HE IS DOING


Friday, March 11, 2011

Class Is In Session With Bun B



AN INTERVIEW
By Mikaila Johnson
TAKEN FROM ALLHIPHOP.COM

Bun B, the Trill OG, has entered in a brand new environment as a professor at the prestigious Rice University in Houston, TX. Professor Freeman is part of a revolutionary movement of real-life intellectuals, mentors, and musical geniuses alike who are stepping into the classroom scene. We saw Jim Jones teaching Music Business 101, 9th Wonder teaching Hip Hop Sampling Soul, and now our remaining half of UGK is co-teaching a Religion and Hip Hop Culture course alongside Religious Studies professor Dr. Anthony Pinn at Rice. The course has been successful thus far, and the numbers of enrollment and those interested in enrolling in the course have snowballed in size. Listen up, class is now in session.

AllHipHop.com: How were you approached to do the course?

Bun B: It was a course I was a guest speaker at about a year ago and had a great time speaking at the course, had a great connection with the professor of the course, Dr. Anthony Pinn. Over the next couple months, I was invited out to a couple of functions at Rice University and his assistant, Aundrea brought up the notion of bringing me on to teaching the course. So when they brought it to us, we were a little hesitant and really tried to make sure we could bring justice to the course. Eventually we realized it was something that we could make happen, we went forward and the rest is history in the making.

AllHipHop.com: What should a student in your course expect to learn and explore this semester?

Bun B: Without giving too much away about the course… I think the thing is people hear religion and hip hop they think that I’m in there talking about what Hip-Hop has in common with Christianity, what it has in common with Catholicism. You know most people think that religion and Hip-Hop have nothing to do with each other. Religion has to do with everything that happens in life, either you’re embracing or your rejection of religion comes into play with every decision that you make, and that’s no different in the culture of Hip-Hop. But also the fact that when we speak of religion, we talk about the questions that religion asks of the individual: the who, what, where, and whys of the world. Hip-hop poses these same questions, it asks the individual to express himself in his own way and that’s kind of what religion is about. Different religions may vary, but it’s all about you basically. You choose religion or you choose your fate based on the way you personally feel about things and situations. And you kind of choose your music and your Hip-Hop in the same way.


AllHipHop.com: How do the students interact with you? Being a professor and being Bun B.

Bun B: In the context of the course? Yea, I’m the Professor, they’re not allowed to have that kind of situation with me in the course, and that’s just the respect of the situation you know what I’m sayin. I’m the professor in this course, I’m the educator, and college classes in general are not that kind of thing, this isn’t public school. It’s a structured course. And when I speak, I speak from the viewpoint of the educator, a professor and not necessarily from Bun B, the Hip-Hop artist. I can incorporate some of the experiences of Bun B the Hip -Hop artist, but I’m not in class rappin’ and s**t. (Smiles)

AllHipHop.com: Is the course what you expected? Do you enjoy it?

Bun B: I love it, it’s even greater than I ever thought it would be. The experience itself is humbling to be able to speak into these children’s lives.

AllHipHop.com: What does the connection between religion and Hip-Hop mean to you?

Bun B: Well people keep asking about the connection between Hip-Hop and religion, and I think that’s the wrong way to look at it. You have to look at what you identify as Hip-Hop, and I think the majority of people identify a rap video with Hip-Hop, and Hip-Hop as a culture is much more than just a music video. And all rap music isn’t apart of Hip-Hop. As far as I’m concerned religion comes into play with all decisions that I make. Keep in mind there is no perfect person on this planet, so even though I may make a wrong decision every now and then, I’m no different than anyone else in the world. That doesn’t make me any less connected to my faith or my higher power than anyone else. Sitting in front of the church don’t get you closer to God, that’s just the reality of that.

AllHipHop.com: What do you tell your students about the notion there are satanic forces in rap music?

Bun B: I don’t know what you mean by satanic forces. There are devilish messages in the world period. I’ve never seen where Hip-Hop is just telling people, ‘Don’t embrace God!’ I’ve never seen an instance where Hip-Hop tells people ‘Your church is wrong, walk out of your church, forget about religion.’ To limit yourself based on the perception of something is the absolute wrong way to approach things. For every artist that sends a “satanic” message, there are people who express positivity. But the reality is, the media doesn’t choose to exploit that, record companies don’t choose to exploit that, even most Hip-Hop blogs don’t choose to concentrate on that kind of thing. They tend to promote what people are talkin about. If I go to jail today, the conversation will just switch from what positive I’ve done, into basically just me going to jail and the negatives. But the reality of it is that the positive messages in Hip-Hop far outweigh than the negative messages, we just don’t choose to exploit those messages.

AllHipHop.com: And why do you think Hip-Hop tradition has embraced Islamic religion most openly?

Bun B: I think that has to do with the proximity of Hip-Hop. Hip-Hop was created in New York, in the Bronx. At that time, there was a spiritual awakening of the Islam faith, particularly the tenets of the Five Percent Nation, founded by Clarence 13X. Because this evolution happened in NY around the same time that Hip-Hop evolving as well, both of these different cultures, The Five Percent Nation as well as Hip-Hop became so melded together that you couldn’t even separate it, such as the cypher itself. The original cyphers were young black men building about the tenets of Islam and mathematics, according to the Five Percent Nation. Because so many people in the Five Percent Nation were also rapping and vice versa, the cypher transferred from religious expression into lyrical expression, but the idea of a circle and the inside of the circle being a place to express yourself has been around since slave times.

AllHipHop.com: So in your opinion, if Christianity is the number one religion in this country, why aren’t there more popular Christian rappers?

Bun B: The reality of Christian rap as far as rap music goes is not the message in the music, but I think the environment. The reason we have more secular music is because there are more places in the world where secular music is entertained. Most people are only used to listening to gospel music within the church. Outside of Christian rap there isn’t a lot of gospel activity as much as you see with secular music. Yes, there are gospel artists for religious acts in the shows, but it’s not always promoted in the same context and through the same places as a hip-hop show.

AllHipHop.com: I’m glad I’m taking notes! What projects are you working on outside the classroom?

Bun B: I’m still working, writin, recording. I had a show last week, have a show next week, and I’ll be at SXSW in Austin. You know what it is, RIP to the Pimp… UGK fa life.
-

ALONG WITH BEING ONE OF THE COLDEST TO EVER SPIT, THE TRILL OG IS A VERY INTELLEGENT MAN, TAKE IT FROM SOMEONE WHO HAS FACE TO FACE CONTACT WITH THIS GUY. HE HAS A VERY DEEP MIND. BEING THAT HE IS FROM TEXAS LIKE ME, HAD A CHANCE TO GO TO COLLEGE ON A SCHOLARSHIP BUT CHOSE TO PURSUE MUSIC IS A GREAT THING FOR US THAT GOT TO WITNESS THIS ART. IF YOU PAY ATTENTION YOU CAN SEE HOW HIS INTELLEGENCE REALLY PLAYS INTO THE WAY THAT HE SPITS, YOU CANT BE A DUMB DUDE AND AND SPIT THE SHIT THAT BUN SPITS. ALL WHILE KEEPING THE MEMORY OF HIS FALLEN COMRADE THE LATE GREAT PIMP C. NOW THATS TRILL

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

A SHORT CONVERSATION WITH KAIZEN

EPISODE 5 OF THE SHORT COVERSATION SERIES FEATURES MY MAN KAIZEN OF THE WORDPOWER LIFE MOVEMENT. I FIRST MET ZEN WHEN HE GOT HERE IN 2003 AND HELPED HIM GET CONNECTED HERE IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN TEXAS AND HE HAS BEEN ON THE GRIND EVER SINCE. HERE HE BREAKS DOWN SOME OF HIS PAST PROJECTS AND SOME OF THE NEW THINGS HE HAS COMING UP IN THE NEAR FUTURE, OBSERVE.



A SHORT CONVERSATION WITH MIRAGE

YOU EVER TALK TO YOURSELF?



Friday, February 25, 2011

THE AUSTIN CHRONICLE REVIEW FOR THE SAVANT ALBUM




Mirage
The Savant Album (MelodicScience Recordings)

When Mirage posits "I don't get bitter, I get better," it's no empty boast. The fourth album from the local '23 griot is a marked leap from 2007's M.I.R.A.G.E. Buoyed by less-is-more beats that prove a perfect pairing for the MC's conversational flow, this chronicle of daily grind comes with lots of help from the Austin underground. Handling most of the production on his own, Mirage reps for grown folks on the silky syllables of "Linen" and gets so fresh and so clean on "Smell Good," trading personal hygiene tips with Pimpin Pen. Rochelle Terrell lends hazy floetry to "Luv," while Mirage street preaches with fellow members of the Guud (Trashman, Young Nick, Blacc Goliath) on "I Hustle." Simmering with Cee Lo soul food, "So Tired" whips up another tasty treat that helps make The Savant Album Mirage's most consistent and satisfying offering yet.


By Thomas Fawcett, Fri., Feb. 25, 2011

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

FOUNDING FATHER OF HIP HOP: DJ KOOL HERC NEEDS OUR HELP










DJ Kool Herc, the father of Hip-Hop, is in need of surgery and is seeking financial help due to a lack of health insurance. DJ Premier announced Herc’s hospitalization and financial woes on his Live From HeadQcourterz SIRIUS satellite radio show this weekend and the news quickly spread via Twitter, Hip-Hop sites and blogs.

Herc, born Clive Campbell, came to prominence in the late 70’s DJ’ing parties throughout the South Bronx. Herc’s deep crates and eclectic mix of records (Funk, Latin, Jazz, etc.) are credited for sparking what we know as Hip-Hop today. Taking two of the same record, Herc would isolate and extend popular segments of recordings, which became known as “breaks.” A party he threw for his sister Cindy Campbell on August 11, 1973 at 1520 Sedgwick Ave in the Bronx is credited as the day Hip-Hop was born.

Along with Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa, the trio is considered the creators of Hip-Hop music and culture. However, unlike his two aforementioned peers, Herc never went on to record music as an artist. In 1977, Herc was stabbed at a party and fell back from the Hip-Hop scene. In ensuing years he also developed a drub habit.

In more recent years, a drug free Herc has rekindled his presence—he’s a fixture at major Hip-Hop shows in NYC—but unfortunately, unlike the millionaires that Hip-Hop has spawned, he never reaped the financial rewards of his creation. Though plenty of artists pay homage to Herc, props don’t pay medical bills.

Although DJ Premier stated that Herc was very sick and is in need of surgery, the exact nature of the Hip-Hop founder’s illness has yet to be revealed. DJ Tony Touch revealed via Twitter that he had spoken to Herc and plans to host a benefit on for him on Tuesday (February 1) at Sutra in New York City.

Donations to Kool Herc can be sent to: Kool Herc Productions PO Box 20472 Huntington Station, NY 11746 or paypal cindycampbell1@aol.com.

Send your well wishes to the godfather of rap here or tweet us at @MTVRapFix.