Egadz!

Egadz! is an amazing producer/dj/performer as you just saw in the above video (if you watched it). He dwells is San Francisco and his beats are fantastic. He founded Kid Without Radio Records, which is a label that releases only electronic/hip-hop musicians with a live element to there performance. I have been enjoying his music for the past few years, and I thought that you guys might as well. On this video he is playing a beat from top to bottom, inside and out, live on an MPC midi controller. Egadz has excellent coordination, and speed on this device because he has been using the mpc pads for a long time undoubtedly. check him out at www.myspace.com/egadz
       
       

Lafa Taylor

      I am friends with a very innovative musician by the name of Lafa Taylor (above). We met in the 8th grade in Eugene, Oregon after I moved there from the Bay Area to live with my Dad. He has worked on numerous projects since then: producing all of his own records, i.e. Life Music, Hot Winter, and Different. He also has a clothing company called Vibration Clothing, and a record label called Make Music.
       I talked to him recently about the blog and he told me that his primary focus currently is a project featuring him, and Danger Russ called Bounce Brigade, here's a little video of them doing their thing:

I love there sound from what I have heard thus far. It both has grit and pounding bass, which are great things when they are combined. I have a lot of love for Lafa both as an individual and as a musician he has never hesitated to keep it real. He has always stayed true to music and to pursuing that dream. Also his clothing line is pretty damn awesome if I do say so myself. Here is some of that:

definitely pretty fresh. He also recently released A mix tape called Freak Funk Experiment Vol. 1, which on the first track the guitar samples are of none other than myself, Dan Millar playing, check that out right here:

      Also Lafa has released a record called ME.LT which consists of himself and an emcee known as Marv Ellis teaming up for one of the freshest hip-hop records to come out in a long time in my opinion. Furthermore, he produced my rap record almost 2 years ago now, which was a very fun journey to go on, you can hear some of those songs at www.myspace.com/danmillar. Lafa Taylor is a really good dude with a lot of talent, and I suggest you cop some of his music as soon as possible and put it in your i-pod for your next commute, or put it on your play list for the next house party you throw. You can get it at www.lafataylor.com

Homeboy Sandman: Real Emcees Still Exist

    I just went to the Homeboy Sandman concert this last Friday, and was blown away by this guys ability to perform. He did a great set at Southpaw, a venue in Park Slope, Brooklyn. I hadn't been to a hip-hop show for at least a couple of years, and this emcees performing didn't let me down at all to say the least. He was vocal, rhythmic, and energetic as hell. I tried to get video and photos from the show on my phone, but they all turned out pretty bad. Here's one of the severely blurry photos I got:

    He is a musician who clearly takes his craft seriously, and doesn't hide behind anything when he performs. I loved the show, and I hope that anyone who reads this can appreciate him too. Here is a video that was released about him a while ago:

VIMBY - Homeboy Sandman

To me this gentleman is not just a talented emcee, he is someone who is real, and says what is real for him, which is a big deal in a world where being full of shit is the norm. I already had respect for him before I went and saw him play, but when I saw that he was able to do what he does on the record and bring it to life in the way that he did Friday, I realized that real emcees still do exist, and that hip-hop still has the ability to influence me in a positive way.

Drew Wittig's Artwork

     I have a friend named Drew Wittig who is a very talented artist. His work is expressive and abstract, it is gorgeously colorful, and exciting as hell. Drew and I met in San Francisco, through mutual friends, and recently reconnected here in New York City. He's also been helping me figure out how to do this whole blog thing, which is awesome. His work has changed and developed in some amazing ways since we first met in 06' or 07' (I'm not sure which year). Here's some pages from his sketch book, I love the vibrant colors in this first piece contrasted with black, white, and grays.  Also there is an awesome contrast between the real and the abstract, check it out:

        Here's another one:

   Again, I love the contrast between color, and black and white, it makes the colors pop out at the you. I also love the different characters he uses blending into abstract images, it gives the peace a sort of dream like quality. These pieces both really bring me in, and make me wonder like I did as a little kid, which is great. Wittig is a very dynamic artist with a mixture of different talents, i.e. photography, music, drawing, and painting. Here is a wonderful Polaroid photo he took of the Golden Gate Bridge (SF Giants World Series Champs 2010!):

 Here is a beautiful water color on paper, which he did more recently than the other works we have seen:

Krishnain Cosmic Battle

        As you can see Wittig has a very unique style. His works touch on the hidden parts of the human mind, the parts of ourselves that are less obvious to us in our daily lives. He also is someone who is not afraid to express emotion in his work. Wittig is an artist through and through, he is a person who is willing to try different things creatively, and thus to explore the unknown (in other words, Drew Wittig is a beast).