Brother Ali discusses his approach to music with his focus on the “feel.”  He also discusses how he got into hip hop and more!  The video is worth waiting through the advertisement video, even the “army strong” one.

Check it out here 

“Ali, who grew up in Madison, Wisconsin listening to Melle Mel and KRS-One, knows you don’t rake in respect by just rapping about being stuck on the bus or looking notably different. What makes his flow decisively special is the commanding, effortless way he pulls the listeners into his perspective and makes them feel exactly what he’s feeling as he muses on the unglamorous realities of life and the beautiful moments spattered in between.”

Production from midwest guru Ant also did not hurt his new album The Undisuputed Truth. 

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“I mean, here they are throwing Kool Herc, Grandmaster Caz and Flash into the mix. Shit…give them all a show and let them evaluate the new breed of hiphoppers.“

The defhiphop staff has been discussing the White Rapper Show a lot lately. We have continually been saying, “I want to see someone like Sage Francis go on that show and just BLOW them away and everyone in America watching VH1 all day will be completely amazed. The recent interview with Sage Francis regarding the WRS is really interesting and emphasizes “the talent that is bubbling in the underground.” READ THE INTERVIEW NOW

The defhiphop staff recently found a couple segments from an interview/performance byAtmosphere on MPR (Minnesota Public Radio). It took place on October 3, 2005 around the time of the release of Atmosphere’s album You Can’t Imagine How Much Fun We’re Having. In the interview, Slug talks about panic attacks, self-medicating, his troubles with alcohol, and touring. Download the mp3s below.

Slug on MPR ~Part 1~

Slug on MPR ~Part 2~

Or…

Listen to the whole performance streamed here.

DPlanet, a hiphop artist in Cape Town, South Africa, has a style of his own, which caught the attention of the defhiphop staff for its innovation. Dp describes his style: “We’re also at the forefront of a style of Hip Hop we call ‘Spaza’. A spaza shop is a small informal shop usually found in the hood, often made out of corrugated iron container. It’s a place where you can buy bits and pieces of everything. Likewise, Spaza Hip Hop is music where artists rap in bits and pieces of different languages. However, the style goes beyond simple linguistics, Spaza artists strive to represents ‘kasi’ (hood) life in South Africa through the content of their lyrics, slang and fashion. Spaza isn’t a style of music, it’s an expression of a way of life.” You can read an interview with Dp and download one of his tracks for free here. DPlanet also runs an independent record label called Pioneer Unit which also has a wordpress blog here.

The A.V. Club, the entertainment newspaper published by The Onion, interviewed Slug from Atmosphere on January 9, 2007. In the interview, Slug reveals that “I think that I fell for the concept that drinking kills the pain. And so I made up the pain so I could kill it. I look back at the pains that I thought I was trying to kill. Those weren’t real pains. You go through your 20s, and drama’s a big deal, man. I wanted my life to be like it was right out of a movie, so I surrounded myself with dramatic people. All of my friendships, all of my relationships, they were all really fueled by drama, except for my business.” Read more

*Article courtesy of Mark Olschesky.