"THE BRITT-ISH IS HERE!" INTERVIEW WITH WARREN S. BRITT

Warren S. Britt is an artist from NYC. I recently got put on to his dope music from his fellow crew mate Truth Now of Fam!LL... This kat's styles are not to be slept on!  A behind the scenes chat with hard working MC: Making albums, doing live shows, and of course the occasional "Spittin' in the Whip" episode. We take you now into the music and mind of Warren Britt as he shares his insights on the state of Hip Hop, trading the corporate hustle for the true passion of creating music, and more... Hold on tight, Fam!LL is in the house!

        

JP:  So first I'm glad I got connected to your music... You have some real talent bro, respect! Tell us who are you, and where are you from?

Warren: Thank you very much Mindcontrol... My Name is Warren S. Britt.    The "S" stands for Samuel and I'm from BROOKLYN!!! WHAT?

JP:  So who you crew with if any? And how long you been in the rap game?

Warren:  I represent Fam!LL with my homie BS, Albert Rhymestein, The MC Faceman, Grey Matter, and Truth Now. I also represent a group called the Underdogz with a goodfella by the name of OTiS CLaPP. I've been rapping since 1996, professionally since 2002 and loving it!

JP:  That's the FAm!LL connection... Of course I got put on to your music through Truth Now... Who I've recently collabed with... Y'all have a great talent set in your crew, man for real... Big thangs! How old are you?

Warren:  Thank you very much sir... Fam!LL has such a creative group of minds that contribute to the Oracle in different ways.I'm very proud to be a part of such a dynamic force in Hip Hop today. As for my Age I'm 26.

JP:  The album "The Britt ISH is Coming"... Can you talk a bit about this project? Was this a first release?

Warren:  Actually The Britt ISH Is Coming is my second professional release.

JP:  What was your first release... Let's start from there. Who's on it, etc.?

Warren:  My first release was a 28 minute EP titled @TheMethLab and I named it after a line in one of my favorite Gym Class Heroes songs "Taxi Driver". There's only one other person on it, my homeboy First Class who I used to be in a group with by the name of Absolute Truth. He left the group, and we did like five songs, I put four on there. I miss the dude for the record and I wish him nothing but the best wherever he is. He left due to personal reasons.

JP:  So I see in your bio that you had an epiphany about the "everyday job hustle" that brought ya back to the MC status. Can you tell us a bit about that, and was this after that release of @TheMethLab?

Warren: This was a bit before @TheMethLab. I had fell back from rapping in 2006 when I got a job working for a banking & investment firm I will not name. It really was killing my spirit. I would go to work and feel like a drone. Just a robot. Plus I felt a certain way about Hip Hop and the direction I percieved it to be going and that wasn't helping my life line anymore either. I was shot at what the media was putting in our music and I was tired of what the corporation was doing to my mind. But I was still a fan of MUSIC. I picked up The Foreign Exchange record Leave It All Behind and it was a moving project. It had a Bonus Instrumental Disc and I pretty much started vibing to that and next thing I knew I was writing a song about my then girlfriend. Sooner or later, I got sick and called out of work right after Thanksgiving vacation. The next thing I know I came back and they let me go. I felt empty for literally 5 minutes, then I realized, this is the best thing to ever happen to me. I'm FREE! My boy First was like YO! We gotta do this group thing now man, this is our time. And that's when I decided to come along for the ride and get back into Music for real. No turn arounds. I'm forever connected to Music.

JP:  That's whats up bro. I'm glad to hear you using that experience to make something so positive like music and give back to the listeners a piece of that lesson in life. Big ups. Let's get to the new album, The Britt ISH is Coming... How'd you develop this album and who's involved?

Warren:  I was in the studio with The MC Faceman, I think we were talking about his project Up From The Ashes which is like one of my top 3 favorite joints of the year. And I was just like I'd love to be able to get this type of mindset to help me direct this EP because man... I just really dig that project a lot. It was intimate and detailed a lot of emotion, and lyrically ill. So I asked him if he could help me and he accepted. It was an experience that I'll never forget. On the record we have my little brothers BS, YC the Cynic, J.Monopoly, Jose Nova, Texas RnB singer Jovanna Lopez lends her super steller vocals and DJ Dyllemma does cuts on a joint. Production was handled by Spills, Don Willi, KO Beatz, Gabe Starrc, Ron Solero, and Manny Faces. All contribute greatly to this effort and I am very thankful for their assistance.

JP:  Definitely a dope album I must say! Who are your main influences in the hip-hop scene or just in general... What pushes Warren S. Britt?

Warren:  P.O.S - Optimist. "We Are Not For Them" All Day! Besides him I've been bumping a lot of Willie Green, El-P, Aesop Rock, Jesse Abraham, A.M Breakups, The MC Faceman, Doomtree, Dollar Coffee, Truth Now and BS, and Premonition lately. Major influences have been Blink-182, Redman, Green Day, Keith Murray, Rakim, Kurupt, Black Moon, Motion City Soundtrack, Dump Body, Fall Out Boy, SET YOUR GOALS, The Honorary Title, Sing It Loud, NaS, Jay-Z, Notorious B.I.G and of course Tupac. Tupac is my favorite artist of all times. And Motion City Soundtrack is my Favorite Band of All Time. And Christopher Gutierrez is also a Poet who has influenced everything that I am.

JP:  Dope to see ya have some of my hometown on there... Doomtree definitely reps, my favorite being Sims. Cat goes hard! What do you feel about the current state of hip-hop both in your scene and nationally?

Warren:  Hip Hop in my scene has restored my faith about Hip Hop nationally. I don't think we're going to "save" music. I think there are too many evil people out there that are trying real hard to eliminate any progress being made so I don't attack it from that standpoint. But I do believe that the more we reach out and understand the problems that are running rampant in the music community the more we can at least see eye to eye. But I'm all for just doing us, and not bending over for any corporation that's looking to destroy our quality of life. And since a lot of us LIVE music, it's all about survival. I'm trying to find a means where we can celebrate through the trials. It's going to get worse before it gets better. We gotta lot of cleaning up to do within ourselves. But I'm happy for where Hip Hop is going. You see a lot of our faces getting some prime slots on TV and Radio and all you smile... And just think one day, it'll all be better. One day it will all come together. Not for any sole individual, but for Hip Hop.

JP: Most definitely, inspiring words..! What do you have coming in the future and what can we expect from Warren S. Britt in 2011?

Warren:  Well you can expect The Underdogz LP with my homeboy OTiS CLaPP coming soon, and then I've just started working on a joint with Producer Willie Green who is my favorite producer right now. I'm also working on an EP with producer A.M Breakups who's definitely in my top 3 list of composers as well. There's a project I'm also working, The Brothers Piff EP with The MC Faceman and Precise of Illicit Visionaries that's actually another group I'm apart of. Then maybe we'll be able to see my "official" debut LP The Art Of Warren somewhere in the mix for 2011. We'll see I suppose. Plus I wanna fit skydiving in there somewhere. All of my friends got to go skydiving this year without me and I'm kinda mad I missed out. So we'll see if we could get on that pony as well.

JP: Alright, well thank you very much for this opportunity to reach into you and your music, I appreciate the time. You definitely got some real raw underground flavor, I'll be sending you beats soon... You got any last words or shout outs?

Warren:  Shout out to you DJ Mindcontrol and Truth Now for this opportunity to speak. Shout out to those who support my homies. And shout out to those with Good Intentions. From Brooklyn, NY to Minnesota... We Are Not For Them!!!

TEAM SHELLS REVOLUTION! THE INSIDE SCOOP!

"INSIDE THE MIND OF SHELLS"

AN INTERVIEW CONDUCTED BY DJ MINDCONTROL

It's that time of the year again! Time to drop mix-tapes and seasonal releases.

For those who know I have been hard at work myself recently on two albums, both collaborative efforts which have given me a great insight into many more new artists.

Along with great talent comes those who live, eat, sleep their craft, always fine-tuning and ever engaging along the musical journey.

This year has been a great year for many. One fine artist I'd like to introduce to you, or rather for some re-introduce...

Shells of Team Shells Productions!  

One of the hardest working B-girls in the industry bar none! 

Welcome to "Inquiring Minds" to Shells! I'd like to first say I've recently joined forces with Shells on some things, and also with crewmate Inseyet of Kozmoknots.

JP- For those who are inquiring, who are you and where do you rep?

I am Shells Head Producer/Engineer/Instrumentalist/DJ & founder of "Team Shells Productions" which is a group of artists (producers/DJs/emcees/singers & graphic designers) Even my manager is part of the team. There is nothing better than knowing you are part of a group of trustworthy individuals.

I recently had to make some changes as a business professional to the Team however it was for the better as the past half a year has shown the success of the new setup and few people that come together to bring something unique and complementary to the team.

2011 will be the official debut of the Team and it's permanent members.

JP- So can you tell us in short some releases you've done in the past and some of the artists you have collaborated with?

Shells- 2010 was a good year for me. I released tracks with Prof, Sab The Artist, Orikal Uno, Anonimust, The Continental Duo... And the list goes on.




   What to do by Shells
   Tomorrow by Shells





Also I have done some exclusive Team releases (just with the mates). I also do some mainstream work, mixing and starting to produce for big mainstream artists but my love is always in the underground.

Many more artists are piling up so 2011 is going to be a big year. I have gotten a lot of recognition this past year and have worked mostly with artists from the Twin Cities, where my personal fav. hip-hop comes out of.

JP- Sweet, I definitely enjoy the different styles you hold down, and the collaboration aspect strikes home as well as I'm huge on collaborative efforts. Where did this come from for you as far as reaching out to so many artists?

Shells- I have always loved to work with others... "Team" is in my blood. Inspiration for me comes a lot with just the presence of another creative mind... I started reaching out to unsigned artists years ago that I hand selected to make music with. The people I pick are my biggest fans.

All the different genres I make are a result of starting early with the steel drums on the islands then onto the guitar (90's alternative rock mostly). Then straight to DJing at clubs in NYC at 15-16 years old, all rave-style music.

It wasn't until years later when I got into hip-hop majorly again and it now serves as my base if you will. 

JP- You have an overwhelming amount of tracks/beats and then final songs online...

I can see you spend a lot of time in the studio. What does a regular day for Shells look like?

   Actors by Shells
   This time tomorrow by Shells

Shells- Honestly most songs online to me are still a work in progress. I will even touch up an album release if needed... Whats final to me is a master. However I have released a lot of music this year with pretty good mixes I think for everyone to enjoy, with loads of different artists.

Well, a regular day: When it's studio/work time... Wake up, do some online promotion and usually speak with my manager to get the week/day rollin'. I take a few puffs on the green and get to work! I have just recently updated my entire studio as a result of the enormous amount of work mixing that came in a few months ago.

Also every beat I put out is a rough outline. I finalize the mixes as much as possible when I get vocals back and mix the entire track together. I am a POST Freeeak. And a true engineer as well.

JP- Talk a little bit about working with Orikal Uno.

Shells- I first heard of him, then saw him freestyling in a video on a radio show with Analyrical... After that I followed his stuff for years hearing just a little here and there but loving him more and more. He is one of the most talented emcees to come out and also one of my personal favorites of all time. We put out a bunch of leak tracks this year... I also just put out a huge tribute album with a 15 minute track just for him (an EP within itself), all snippets from when he came down to my studio in Chicago. We had a 4 day binge. That track is called "Uno Snacks"... It is a little prelude of what's to come in the future.

JP- What's next for Team Shells future releases...?

Well we have the seasonal "Round The Track Series", The 2nd release will be out in the Spring. I am also working on a bunch of production/DJ collaborations, always working with random artists and I have a few solo projects to finish mixing and to start some new stuff on. Expect a monster drop from "ECLIPS3" this year, "Kids Like Us", "The Continental Duo" and then I will be working as a featured producer on many other albums in 2011/2012 including reggae/pop/straight up club to acoustic live indie rock etc. I do it all. I also work with film and had the opportunity to score an entire indie film trailer and will be starting another one around early spring of 2011.

Also the "Xmas Tapes" was something I have been meaning to put out every year, this is the 1st! Last year I put a prelude track to this years EP. This year features you (DJ Mindcontrol) on cuts with all production by me. All downtempo, dubstep. It is seasonal! Also this first installment was the big one. In my head it was being worked on for over 6 years... The other will only be 5-8 tracks tops.

 

JP- EVERYONE NEEDS TO DEFINITELY CHECK OUT THE X-MAS TAPES!

THANK YOU SHELLS FOR THE INSIGHT INTO YOUR MUSIC AND WE WILL SEE MORE OF YOU SOON!

LAST WORDS OF WISDOM?

Team Shells- It's as simple as that!  

http://teamshells.com/album/the-xmas-tapes-2010

 

MERRY X-MAS FROM TEAM SHELLS!

DJ MINDCONTROL @ KONKRETE JUNGLE playing "MK ULTRA"

    DJ MINDCONTROL
DJ MINDCONTROL@BANDCAMP.COM

DJ MINDCONTROL @ KONKRETE JUNGLE LIVE 1ST AVE.

"EVERYONE LOVES YELLOWCAKE!"

   EVERYONE LOVES YELLOWCAKE!

INTERVIEW BY: DJ MINDCONTROL

KOZMOKNOTS CREW MINNEAPOLIS, MN                                                    

                                                                                                                       

DJ- Word... So let's start at the beginning. I'm involved with a group of cats in the scene putting emphasis back in team. You cats really have a team thing going on at Yellow Cake. Who are you and let us know how you got into doing a college radio show?

Tone- Okay, I'm Antonio McGee, homies call me Tone. I'm a young dude with ambition and drive to do his thing in this thing they call "the music industry". I'm originally from the 916 but right now I'm out here in the Bay Area. I dig it, shit is way different then Sac-town. So the show on college radio, I started that with the homie Taste Nater about 3 or 4 months back. I go to San Francisco State and I'm a broadcast & communications major, one of the classes you can take is this radio class. You sign up and you get to get down and rock with your own radio show. It's something I've been wanting to do since I first got to this school. And ever since we've been on air we just been doin' our thing.

DJ- You cats been getting a lot of the hype, the great video promos (hilarious)... Your camp has a lot of talent. Are you involved in hip-hop yourself? Or in a group? And can you tell us who all is part of Yellow Cake Radio?

Tone- I was in a group a while back, Northen Cali Rainjaz NCR. You know how THAT go, one of the homies got locked up and when that happens things kinda was on pause. The group thing was fun, it gave me a understanding of what it took to write a song and collab without loosing ya'self in it. YELLOW CAKE RADIO consist of me, the homie Nate (Taste Nater) and DJ B-hold. Really anybody that supports us is down, feel me. Like one of my homeboys Dalton from back home calls in every show, he hits me with records to play, dope records and he just go hard in the paint for the show... It feels good to have homies that ride like that.

DJ- Yeah it sounds like the Yellow Cake fever hit fast, got my homies here in Minneapolis checking y'all out so you can see the impact you cats have had in just these few months. Respect. 

Tone- No doubt, the homie told me you're out there bumpin' the show,         that's what's up bra.                                                                                       

DJ- Bless for sure. Taste Nater is some talent unlike I've seen out here, real energy. So how and who came up with the name "Yellow Cake"? Shit cracks me up, didn't even know the reference at first...

Tone- Bra, I knew that I wanted to name the radio show Yellow Cake ever   since I started going to STATE. I thought the name was hella dope for a      radio show. In my head I'm like, radio, or anything really that's about            attracting eyes to what you do is ALL about branding. So I said Yellow         Cake. That's a name that people will remember. Plus, I figure who don't      like yellow cake? Some people like pumpkin pie, some don't. But                 everybody likes YELLOW CAKE. Name me one person that don't like         yellow cake. And on top of all that yellow cake is classic and that's what      we're aiming to be over here at Yellow Cake Radio. YCR.                            

 DJ- Word that's classic! I dig that me and my friends started making parallels between making beats and baking... Lots o' ingredients. OK, on the Yellow Cake line-up, you cats bring something real refreshing to the forefront by dissecting the music of past present and future... How did y'all get the idea to play the record used for the track you would bring in? I personally never heard another show do that. Can you tell us a little about that structure?

Tone- Well we both kinda wanted to try and bring something new to the       table. We both thought it would be dope to play soul records and the rap     joints that sample them. Truthfully I listen to old school and jazz way more  than I do rap and when I do listen to rap I'm bumpin cats that do a lot of      sampling old soul and r&b. I remember comin up listenin to whatever my pops played and he would throw on the Dells, the Stylistics, James Brown  and Sly & the Family Stone. So as I got older I would hear these older records that I used to hear at the crib, being sampled by rappers. So I think that's why I really wanted to have this format for the show.                   DJ- That says a lot just right there about why cats are diggin your show and also staying ahead of the current as well. I myself as a producer am constantly on the hunt for old soul records and so forth, so to hear this format is like a kid in a candy store. One of the things about producers that's taboo is letting each other NOT know where they got the sample, like some hidden gem or some shit. Kinda comical how we are. But you break that mold and opened up Pandora's Box of goodies. I think it's real refreshing for cats to know where the music came from. So I commend y'all on that move. What do you see for the future of Yellow Cake as far as guests and other things? Let us know what we are going to be seeing from Yellow in the near future.

Tone- Well one thing we want to do is really get out there even more. We're currently workin on a mixtape that'll consist of exclusive tracks from artists that we've had on the show. This way people who haven't heard the show can get a taste of what Yellow Cake is all about. Soul, old school r&b and hip-hop will play the star of the mixtape. We hope to have that out sooner than later. Shout out to the homie Taster Nater for comin' up with the name Cake-Mix, for the mixtape. We're gonna keep it goin' next semester and we're trying get other radio stations to holler at us. It would be ideal to go from college radio to a commercial radio station or better yet a satellite radio station. It will be hard given we don't play bullsh!t hip-hop on our show but we're gonna give it a shot. But we most definitely plan on continuin' this thang.                                                                         
DJ- That's word, I can definitely respect the moves the station is making     which leads us to radio in general, and the state of internet-status radio      shows... How has this affected the commercial and more popular stations?

Tone- It hasn't. Commercial radio for the most part lacks a spine. Cats that should be on radio ain't, point blank. The internet is the smart alternative.    There is a huge selection out there of dope radio stations and shows          online. Crack Distributor radio is one of the stations online I check out. I will say though that there are cats at commercial radio tryin' to make a        difference. I think Ebro over at Hot97 is makin an effort to correct things      over there. Ebro was a cat that started off as a radio personality in              Sacramento and has since worked his way to Program Director at New      York's Hot97. I don't think things are gonna change because of radio          personalities or DJ's, I think it's gonna take program directors like Ebro to   take chances on cats like me and Nate who are tryin' to bring something     new to radio. I know this format can work at a commercial station, we just   gotta build the brand and the following.                                                         

DJ- Like you said, "everyone loves yellow cake" ...Haha!

Tone- Yep, that's what I'm sayin'.

DJ- Okay, I wanna thank you for your time and this in-depth interview...       Best of luck with the station I'll keep rooting for y'all cuz the music is sick     and you cats are funny as well... You wanna give some shouts out?           

Tone- Yeah man, shout out to the homie Taste Nater, peace to the fam        back at the crib, shout out to all the listeners of Yellow Cake Radio. Peace  to the homeboy Dalton, Big Money James, he ill with that camera. And        shout out to you homie for doing this write up on the show... And look out    for YellowCakeRadio presents Cake Mix.                                                     

   YCR PROMO NATE by YELLOW CAKE RADIO

YELLOWCAKE FROM 11/6

   YCR 11 6 2010 by YELLOW CAKE RADIO

THANKS TO THE WHOLE YELLOWCAKE TEAM! TUNE IN EVERY SAT. FROM Yellow Cake radio
2-3:30pm pst time. Saturdays @ http://ksfs-sfsu-edu.blogspot.com/ (415) 338-2428 hotline

INQURING MINDS NOVEMBER HYPE!

Welcome to Inquiring Minds!

Thanks for tuning back in!

First I'd like to start by pointing out the new banner! Thanks to Shye Three AKA "my girlfriend" (don't need to look to far for a design artist).

The month of October came and went with many releases and fast paced leaks that I will in this segment highlight and slow it down for a second to pay dues to the artists involved.

THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING
                  ARTISTS!!
TASTE NATER  INSEYET  KURENT FLOW   TRUTH NOW 

First up is the new "KOZMOKNOTS" single "SOUND IS MORE" this is a first draft but a highly anticipated track from "INSEYET" who by the way alongside DJ Mindcontrol headed up "Sound Odyssey" a hip-hop experimental group doing shows (with Timmon Mason as the second m.c. in the crew).

Since that time Inseyet and Mindcontrol have combined once again as a  DJ/MC duo called "Kozmoknots" ...a bump in the road early on to their reunion did not hold back the pure energy that would unveil in the lyrics of one INSEYET.

so check out this new release and await Kozmoknots... "SHAMANS DROPPING COSMIC THOUGHTS"

   "SOUND IS MORE" INSEYET by DJ MINDCONTROL

http://soundcloud.com/dj-mindcontrol/sound-is-more-inseyet for your free download!!!!

 Next up is... TASTE NATER'S NEW TRACK:
                                "THE BACK ROADS"

CHECK OUT THIS BAY AREA NATIVE! YOU ALL KNOW HIM BY NOW TO RIP SOME MEAN LYRICS ON ANY KIND OF BEAT. HE DOES IT ALL!

"YOU CAN FOLLOW IN OUR FOOTSTEPS, OR PAVE YOUR OWN WAY. ...FAREWELL!"

http://djmindcontrol.bandcamp.com/track/the-back-roads-taste-nater-dj-mindcontrol

THE DUO TASTE NATER AND INSEYET WASTED NO TIME AT ALL TO GET THE POINT ACROSS IN "EPISCOPALIEN" AN UPBEAT SARCASTIC RHYME SCHEME ON THE MESHING OF CURRENT RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE. WITH TWO HEAVY TOPICS AND A UNIQUE WAY TO GET THEIR MESSAGE ACROSS THE TWO ARMED THEMSELVES WITH VOICE-OVERS OF FELLOW ALIENS WHO WERE ALSO IN THE STUDIO FROM THEIR UNDISCLOSED PLANET TO DROP THIS NEW SINGLE...THEY DID NOT MENTION THEIR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS WHILE HERE...

MAYBE NEXT TIME.

http://djmindcontrol.bandcamp.com/track/episcopalien-taste-nater-inseyet

WE BRING YOU RAZORSHARP!!! A LONG ANTICIPATED TRACK SINCE THE RELEASE OF "WAR 4 YOUR MIND" OF SAME NAME SELF TITLED LP OUT SOON!

TRUTH NOW HAILING FROM N.Y. WASTED NO TIME GETTING BACK IN THE STUDIO. THIS PARTICULAR TRACK WAS A MUSIC PROJECT FOR CLASS THAT I HAD ON THE MUSICAL ELEMENTS AND BASIC SONG STRUCTURE. WHILE ALONGSIDE A VIDEO I MADE, THIS TRACK QUICKLY GOT THE EAR OF TRUTH NOW... WHICH AFTER A FEW ADJUSTMENTS  A NEW MIX WAS SENT OFF QUICKLY. THE UNVEILING OF THIS TRACK LEFT ME MUCH LIKE THE LAST TRACK, FEELING THIS M.C. IS QUALIFIED TO SPIT WITH THE HARDEST OF THEM. THE CHANGE CAME AS NO SURPRISE TO BE VERY UPLIFTING WITH A BEAUTIFUL MESSAGE AND LYRICAL SKILL.THIS NEW YORK NATIVE IS WELL VERSED AND IS DEFINITELY AN UP-AND-COMING FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH.

http://djmindcontrol.bandcamp.com/track/razorsharp-truth-now

WHO IS READY FOR SOME "MK ULTRA"?

I AM! BEEN WAITING FOR A LONG TIME FOR SOME M.C.S TO GET A CHANCE TO PUT LYRICS TO THIS TRACK. AFTER MUCH WAITING AND MANY M.C.S PASSING UP THIS BEAT (IT'S OK IT'S NOT FOR EVERYONE)

TASTE NATER AND KURENT FLOW COME IN AND RIP EVERY SECOND OF THIS TRACK! THIS ROLLING THUNDER WITH MELODIC BETH ORTON SAMPLES IS SCREAMING FOR SOME EARS!!

NO NEED TO SAY MORE... BEHOLD A PALE HORSE HORSEMEN...!

http://djmindcontrol.bandcamp.com/track/mk-ultra-f-taste-nater-kurent-flow