After the well received debut of Hollywood Recordings and the construction of a production catalogue as deep and obscure as the analog bass slaps that reside in their music, the trinity of fresh is back! As rumors of a breakup began to circulate, Sa-Ra (Om’Mas Keith, Taz Arnold, and Shafiq Husayn) was away in the studio producing hit after hit for artists such as Erykah Badu, John Legend, and Fonzworth Bentley among others. With a wider fan base and time to relax to put their all into each strike of the Moog “The Source” synthesizer, Sa-Ra has returned to the surface to deliver their sophomore album, Nuclear Evolution: The Age of Love. With a strong body of work ready to present to the masses and a college tour in the works, Sa-Ra sat down with Vapors to discuss how they continue to produce quality music, working with Dilla in his last days, and why sex is the key to their success.
JP: How do you guys manage to stay consistent through the years? Sa-Ra: We listen to that good shit! Steely Dan, Roy Ayers, Bob James, Michael, and David Bowie. Thank God for David Bowie! What would the world have done without David Bowie? The only thing we can do is display what’s inside. Most people don’t get it initially because, most people cannot put content as extensive as the repertoire we keep into their stream and know first how to aggregate it and then deliver it. So if it sounds crazy, that’s cuz nigga, we crazy! We are crazy dudes. We hang with billionaires and we hang with your favorite drug dealer on 54th and Crenshaw. That’s the diversity of our lifestyle. White trash in a trailer park, that’s our fans. Billionaires that own fuckin’ Facebook, that’s our fans. Niggas on Crenshaw, those are our fans.
JP: What is your most memorable studio session? Sa-Ra: Herbie Hancock by far! Were so in the world that getting Herbie Hancock ultimately wound up not being a problem, but we had no idea homeboy was gonna roll up in the brand new yellow corvette that the Grammys had lent him for two weeks cuz he’s a fuckin’ God! He showed up to our house at like 9 o’clock at night and was like “Hey, it’s Herbie!” To our House! There he was by himself. No crew, No entourage, just Herbie Hancock at our lavish studio house in Silver Lake. He was like “I’m ready to do what y’all want me to do”, and that was a night where we spent six hours producing and recording, talking with and learning from Herbie Hancock. The song that we did with him, called “Fantastic Vampire,” is gonna be on our next record “Black Fuzz.” Sa-Ra featuring Herbie Hancock and Erykah Badu. That was probably the most memorable session cause you’re talking about somebody who is just a true Master Teacher. The second most memorable one is Bambaataa. He passed us the torch and made us all Zulu Kings. READ MORE…
Our friends at Cultureshoq team got together with Ronnie Fieg of David Z. to collaborate on the Asics Gel Lyte iii, a sneaker that has made a major impact on sneaker heads across the globe. Ronnie chose to work with 3 of his favorite blogs including Cultureshoq, Highsnobiety, and Nicekicks which happened to be 3 of our favorite blogs too. The first to be released from the “Trilogy Project” will be the Cultureshoq Gel’s. Check back at cultureshoq for more info.
With the unfortunate sudden loss of the King of Pop, founder, Shaun Neff of Neff Headwear decided to dish out a very limited tribute t-shirt to massive Michael Jackson fan base. “The Long Live the King” tee is set for release today to all who wish to preserve the life and love for MJ, as his legacy of lives on.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again–Pac Div is my favorite hip-hop group…period. Instead of following the norm of today’s cookie cutter rap n bullshit, these three young brothers have channeled the ’80s and ’90s while creating a sound that is truly theirs. Plainly said, Pac Div is the shit! Check out their new video. It’s good.
You think he would have learned his lesson from the first piece of shit but apparently Michael Bay loves making fun of black people, but its ok because they’re robots, right?
For those of you attending the Dwell On Design convention starting Friday thru Sunday at the LA Convention Center, be sure to stop by our friends at Ford&Ching showroom for the official after party Saturday night. If its like their other events its sure to be a blast. Hurry up and RSVP, we heard they are almost at capacity. Check out the flyer for all the info.
Tanya Morgan gets busy. Don’t get it twisted. Tanya Morgan is not some loose chick from a dive bar that ya boy has some morning after story about. Tanya Morgan is a rap group. They are hip hop personified – an emcee trio that taps into the essence of the culture and executes it as eloquently as the emcees and producers that navigated this business before them; before broadband connections were a reality for the average computer user.
In fact, Tanya Morgan got so busy that they attacked the internet with such voracity that it allowed them to satiate a hungry & download savvy generation with solid mixtape offerings and an EP [The Bridge EP] that raised the eyebrows of hip hop purists yearning for something fresh with a made to order aesthetic. With the recent release of their second independent offering Brooklynatithat recently hit shelves, its been almost three years and a month to the exact day of their 2006, ?uestlove co-signed debut Moonlighting. READ MORE…
The Survival Kit was created in collaboration with Los Angeles-based record label Dim Mak, and renowned Italian tent manufacturer Ferrino and will consist of one ultra cool tent, a limited edition 55DSL t-shirt, and an exclusive Dim Mak compilation CD that will keep you rocking through this summer’s music festivals and beyond.
The 55DSL x Dim Mak x Ferrino Survival Kit will launching worldwide and will be at the center of all in-store promotions and musical events this summer!
Also, you and your readers win one of these Survival Kits AND two tickets to camp at the Festival Internacional in Spain which will feature superstar headliners like the Kings of Leon, Oasis, the Killer, Franz Ferdinand and more!
Find out how to win here:
http://www.spin.com/articles/enter-here-win-trip-benicassim-ultimate-international-festival
