Born in Brazil, Camila Soares, A.K.A CAMZ, has from a very young age showed a great interest in arts, playing several instruments and taking singing, dancing and theatre classes. Her teenage aunt was the one who introduced her to dance music, funk and rock ânâ roll. Back in 1995, her family gifted her first vinyl, a compilation featuring her new favorite song: The Bucketheads (Kenny Dope) – The Bomb, which the 7-year-old became obsessed about.
Renowned British artist Aluna (of AlunaGeorge) has announced a new experience in partnership with leading technology company Pollen Presents. Taking place May 27-30, 2022 in New Orleans, Alunaâs Noir Fever will bring together a diverse group of artists to celebrate the Black and LGTBQ+ origins of dance music in a city renowned for Black and brown musical excellence.
Originally from the provincial town of Pervomaisk, Russia- Roni Rix was part of the local hip hop scene. After a small musical break and a move to St. Petersburg, techno became the focal point for Roni Rix. However, he does not believe in adhering to genres but focuses on experiment, futurism and sentimentality. In 2019, he began hosting an internet radio show on Radio Record Techno, called “Line Machine”. In St. Petersburg, Roni Rix organized nightly events, both techno parties and a series of drum and bass parties. His newest EP, Angst, is now available on MĂ„inmise Records.
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“If everybody runs away, who sticks around to change it?” By “it” DJ E-Clyps means the dance music community. The house and techno culture isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. DJ E-Clyps is an artist giving the music business a dose of reality that it needs. With roots in hip-hop, the DJ and producer ventured into the world of electronic music thinking the grass was greener on the other side. However, he quickly realized the dance music community had its own set of challenges to overcome. He’s used his artistic platform to give voice to issues within the dance music community and is calling for others to swim against the current to help push underground culture forward. Read more
Rising techno artist WBR debuts EP called A Child’s Story. Influenced by the likes of Hadone, Schacke and Emmanuel, Berlin-based DJ and producer WBR also looks to genres outside of electronic music. Hip-hop plays a role in his musical upbringing and now is ready to release music that rings true to him.
Re-imagining. Blending. Testing. Innovating. VRV‘s latest outing does all that, and more, Â with its latest tape release.
Continuing to push the boundaries of diversity, the Los Angeles techno label veers off into somewhat uncharted territory thanks to a five-track release available for free listening and downloading via the label’s Bandcamp page and soon to be available via tape also.
Lean Trax is the alter-ego of a well-known techno act from the urban techno warehouse scene that has put Los Angeles on the map for well over a decade. Volume 1 fulfills the artist’s need for urban techno edits ready for the dance floor, keeping techno as a root genre and blending with it the adverse energy of hip-hop to produce enthralling and captivating results that have so far been mostly unexplored.
While Lean Trax isn’t the first act to look at both techno and hip-hop as interesting ingredients for a new musical concoction, see Sian’s latest album or Heroes x Villains for example, Volume 1 takes some of hip-hop and rap’s most known tracks and reimagines them their swagger and bravado within a techno context, all songs manipulated and assembled by Lean Trax but containing elements of their originals.
From “Percocet” to “Jumpman” and from “Drippin” to “Not Nice, without forgetting “Like Dat,” Lean Trax’s Volume 1 is a release that provides new weapons for any techno DJ’s arsenal, allowing for artists to go in directions they couldn’t before.
Track Listing:
1. Percocet
2. Jumpman
3. Drippin
4. Not Nice
5. Not Nice (Soca Mix)
6. Like Dat
Stream all the tracks and download through VRV’s Bandcamp page
Connect with VRV: Online |Â Bandcamp
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When N.W.A.’s biopic Straight Outta Compton came out in 2015, the movie received widespread criticism for the key omission of Dre’s 1991 physical assault on journalist Dee Barnes, as well as his abuse of ex girlfriend Michelâle. The fact that the film was produced by Ice Cube and Dr. Dre themselves added fuel to the attacks, who saw the omission as willful.
However things were different during the second episode of HBO’s The Defiant Ones, a four-episode documentary that chronicles the personal, business and intersecting stories of Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine. In that episode Dr. Dre tackles the incident head-on, and more importantly addresses violence on women more broadly.
“Any man that puts his hands on a female is a fucking idiot. He’s out of his fucking mind, and I was out of my fucking mind at the time. I fucked up, I paid for it, I’m sorry for it, I apologize for it.
Classic modern techno, that’s likely to be the sound you think of whenever you hear of Sian and his Octopus Recordings imprint. The Los Angeles-based label owner, producer and DJ has made a name for himself running one of the strongest techno labels in the world, with releases coming from respected artists the likes of Jay Lumen, Oliver Koletski, Julian Jeweil, Enrico Sangiuliano, Gregor Tresher, Noir and many more.
To this day, Sian’s own productions have been to this day a further testament to the quality of Octopus’ output. Intelligent leftfield techno that strives to walk away from generic big-room sounds while remaining palatable to those in the midst of crossing the bridge to the “underground.”
Sian’s latest project, however, is very different from what you may be used to from him. On Monday April 10th the Irish-born artist is releasing Capital Crimewave, fearlessly transcending those invisible boundaries between warehouse techno, urban hip-hop, mind-bending acid, dubbed-out electronics and countless other future genres in between. The massive 20 track LP sees Sian bring together his love for hip-hop and techno, binding together his diverse catalogue of machine-made sounds into one cohesive audio experience that is unlike anything previously released on Octopus. For the project, he is joined by guest vocalists such as AG Fernandez, bringing together artistic minds for the creation of this brand-new atmospheric and murky late-night journey.
6AM had the chance to sit down with Graham and AG before Miami Music Week, taking the opportunity to discuss the album and the bridge that they hope will bring techno and hip-hop closer together. Capital Crimewave is available for pre-order via Beatport.
Photo by Jacob Khrist
On Saturday, 4th of June 2016, Robert Hood played a specially curated hip-hop set as Floorplan for the crowd at Weather Festival in Paris.
The live recording, which contains music from Nas, Gangstarr, Mobb Deep, Wu Tang Clan and many others, has been made available by the Detroit artist via his SoundCloud.
Listen to it below:
Connect with Robert Hood/Floorplan: Resident Advisor | Facebook | Twitter | SoundCloud
The world of music lost an important rap icon as we learned that that Malik Taylor, known as A Tribe Called Quest’s Phife Dawg, has passed away aged 45.
Rolling Stone reports that the artist died Tuesday following complications that resulted from his already-known diabetes condition. Taylor had undergone a kidney transplant in 2008 to deal with the same battle, admitting in 2011 in Beats, Rhymes & Life, Michael Rapaport’s documentary on the group. “It’s really a sickness. Like straight-up drugs. I’m just addicted to sugar.”
“Malik was our loving husband, father, brother and friend,” a statement from the family reads. “We love him dearly. How he impacted all our lives will never be forgotten. His love for music and sports was only surpassed by his love of God and family.”
Although the group broke up and reunited on several occasions following the release of their last album, 1998’s the Love Movement, Taylor appeared on all five of the group’s albums, most notably with 1991’s The Low End Theory. While the group did get back together for some sporadic live shows, they never produced together again following their reunions.
A Tribe Called Quest in downtown Manhattan, 1989 – picture by Janette Beckman
Sadly, declining health problems meant that Taylor couldn’t shine as a solo artist as he may have wanted. He did release his only solo album Ventilation: Da LP in 2000 and when speaking to Rolling Stone last November, he remained somewhat optimistic about both his health and future plans to release music.
“Even though I knew I had [diabetes], I was in denial,” Taylor said in the documentary. “I had to have my sugar. You have to accept it. If you don’t accept it, it’s going to kick your ass.” He continued to reunite with the band for live shows in part to help with the medical costs needed to battle the illness. His contributions to rap and music overall remain as relevant and timeless as ever.
There is no question that A Tribe Called Quest remains one of the most influential rap groups of all time, their role in the shaping of 90s rap music as important today as it was twenty-five years ago. Today, more than ever, people are looking up to the sky and asking, “Can I Kick It?”
The band’s chemistry was undoubtedly one of their strongest traits. The first single of their second album The Low End Theory, entitled “Check The Rhime” is the perfect example of this special synergy. The outcome is a seamless exchange between all of Tribe members.
With “Jazz (We’ve Got) Buggin’ Out”, A Tribe Called Quest explore their deep jazz roots with Taylor contributing verses about urban life as the song touches upon Caribbean wisdom, their personal life, Zulu Nation and more.
