Tag Archives: Nico the Beast

Official Debut: “No Resolution 2″ Video

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It’s hard to claim exclusivity these days when the streets are SOOOO thirsty, they have already posted the long-awaited video from 5 O’Clock Shadowboxers f/ Has-Lo, Elucid, and Nico the Beast here, here, and yes here.

Bastards.  But by catching the video here, you get the exclusive “Director’s Commentary” and precious “Making Of” anecdotes that I share with any major release upon it’s deliverance to the outside world.

This video is brought to you by Curly Castro, who had the concept in Fall 2009, and the good folks at 5846 Films, who also just released a murderous track with Elucid which you can check out after you digest this piece of dingy opulence.

Quick backstory on the making of “No Resolution 2″:

Elucid was the key to this entire creation which you now see and hear.  I remember Haj of Dumhi and Small Pro talking up Elucid 2 years ago when he put out Smash & Grab. I put it on my list of Things To Download and Catch Up On, but as I’m prone to do, I totally forgot about it.  Fast forward to last year during the promo run for The Slow Twilight.  An Australian blog Straight Outta Kingston did a niece piece on the album, then went back and grabbed my mixtape Bring Me the Head of Zilla Rocca and posted it up alongside….Elucid’s Smash & Grab. The sound Aussie, Nick, who did the piece, he and I got chummy.  He said Elucid and I were the only rappers he was listening to and that I should do a song with the mystery man of Lessondary.  Well now I had simply no excuse not to familiarize myself with the man.

After downloading Smash and Grab and loving it, I reached out to Elucid, sent him the track, and he responded by totally nailing the essence of the original.  His voice was so gripping and fierce, I thought it would be cool to have my homie Has-Lo jump on with his calm, nihilistic tone to balance out the track.  He was a big fan of the LP and wanted to get on something Shadowbox-y.  After a few weeks, he stopped by the studio and laid down his verse, paying homage to Tyler Durden and Fight Club.  My verse was already done at this point, a dystopian flip of Nas’ rhyme on “Get Down” (peep the flow structure).  At that point (this is probably August-September ’09) I figured the track was done in the order of emcees as it is on the song.  Then one day, I realized if “No Resolution 2″ was going to be a full-on posse cut that could upend the original, which was alot of people’s favorite off the LP, then I had to get Nico the Beast to round it out.  He was the only guest on The Slow Twilight.  I told him I wanted him to take it back to 2006-2007 when we were writing the Clean Guns mixtape Living in Harmony, just super lyrical, crazy underground energy, tons of words, etc.  I asked him to deliver a personal and violent verse with wordplay like he did on “Hell’s Winter Freestyle” from that mixtape, not a tall order since it was probably not even a month removed from the tragic death of son Domenic Jr.  And man oh man, did he bring the goods.  Even though we’ve since parted ways, I still get this particular verse of his stuck in my head for days every now and then.  In my mind, this is the best verse he’s ever written and I was lucky enough to capture it for this song.

The following month was October, and Elucid and Shadowboxers were booked to play the Khyber (RIP) in Philadelphia.  We all got a chance to do this song live to close out my set — the energy on-stage for that performance was astounding.  The audience was enthralled.  It was that night that Curly Castro ran up to me, wildly enthusiastic, saying he knew what the video for the song would be: a take-off on 12 Angry Men, one of his favorite movies, where each of us would assume a character from the film.  I ended up reaching out to Lyle Horowitz of 5846 Films after seeing his work with CapricornOne (Elucid x El Carnicero) and their remix of “Skullcrusher”.  Again, Elucid was the key in getting Lyle and myself together.

So here we are, almost a full year since the song was recorded, with the first video from Broken Clocks EP.  I love it when a plan comes together in a completely random and long stretching fashion all centered around the gulliest cat to ever hang with Tanya Morgan.

*****

Here’s the Bandcamp player which leads to our page for the free DL of “No Resolution 2″ off Broken Clocks EP:

5 O’Clock Shadowboxers — Broken Clocks EP

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Artwork by Objektiv One

Artwork by Objektiv One

Artwork by Objektiv One

 

Well..it’s been one helluva trip making this dang EP.  We literally were down to the wire, writing and mixing and mastering this bad boy, right until the last possible minute.  And it’s another piece of music Douglas and I are incredibly proud of and have been itching to share with you for quite some time now.

Unlike other follow-ups to proper albums, the Broken Clocks EP isn’t a dumping ground for all the crap we couldn’t fit on The Slow Twilight, nor is it a butterfly net to scoop up all the odds and ends that might’ve slipped through the digital cracks since last year (that would be The Twilight Spoiler Mix by Son Raw).  Some tracks will look very familiar (“Dirt Naps” and “Bottomfeeders Small Pro Remix)” but sounds have been added, subtracted, and sequenced painfully to give the EP a cohesive feel, a tough order considering we have five, count ‘em, FIVE producers of the 9 tracks compiled.

The EP is also in stark contrast to The Slow Twilight, namely for the fact that we not only remixed a bunch of songs, but the tone and feel is more open thanks to outside collaborators.  Even Douglas Martin let his stocking cap down for a minute on the original track “It’s Always 5 O’Clock Somewhere” chopping up a Fela Kuti record over a familiar break to Dilla heads worldwide.  Philly producer Nex Millen, who I’ve worked with on previous projects, got matched up with Chicago’s answer to Treach & Bootie Brown, emcee Alex Ludovico for “Eric Lindros (Broad Street Bully Remix).  Lessondary’s one-man answer to Def Jux, Elucid, brought the f*cking ruckus alongside HipNOTT Records’ resident headphone murderer Has-Lo and South Philly’s syllabic carnivore Nico the Beast on “No Resolution 2″.  Philadelphia by way of Oakland producer Egon Brainparts of the electro/hip hop/jurassic live production squad Bossasaurus came in at the zero hour with his remix to “Dead Queens” that begged for the Pharoahe Monch/Nate Dogg hook treatment via Jawnzap7 and the lovely Miss Amy.  And Curly Castro got thrown inside my vicious reworking of the live staple “Weak Stomach”.  Suddenly, “5 O’Clock Shadowboxers” wasn’t just this isolated ping pong match between two guys on separate coasts.  Everyone who contributed, from Curly Castro who christened the project with its name, to Objektiv One with the History-Channel-on-acid artwork, just wanted to do something cool because they enjoyed what Douglas and I brought forth last year.

Anyway, it’s now 12:39 am and I’ve been working on this EP since 1:30pm today to ensure its high quality.  Time for the big sleep.  And THANK YOU for giving us your time, your ears, your iPod memory space, your CDR’s, and your recommendations to others!

Stream and/or purchase the EP for $5 at the Shadowboxers Bandcamp page below

Or…

Download the EP FREE for a very limited time via usershare

Cold Metal + Slow Execution = “No Resolution 2″

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One day after anouncing the first date for the upcoming Twilight Spoiler Tour in LA (check the listing to your right–MANY more coming shortly), we decided to drop the lead single from the Broken Clocks EP. Sitting on this song the past 3-4 months has been painfully difficult.  But discipline is good.  Now you’ll understand why.

As always, the incomparable Objektiv One laced the ill cover.

People Treat Me Like Kareem Abdul Jabbar

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Here’s the Rap Pack Show review from last week’s performance at Wordplay: A Hip-Hop Video Game Charity Event.

And if you haven’t noticed in the upper right corner, I added a new box for Instant Rocca, a way for to follow me via Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace.  No news yet on my profile on BlackPlanet.com or Friendster.

New Shows Added

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Still more hip hop than Yung Berg.

A whole gaggle of dates have been added to the itenierary.  Just in October alone, you’ll be able to catch me and Nico playing with Lyrics Born and Keith Murray, who still lets his balls hang out like he’s on the toilet taking a shit.  No homo of course!  (Remember back in ’95 when a rapper could say a lyric like that and not have to worry about being homophobic?  Thanks Cam’ron and Byron Crawford!  It’s so much better this way!)

If you’re in Philly this weekend, I’ll be at the Tacony Pool Hall alongside Firm Tactiqs, Capo and more with Big O hosting.  All my northeast ladies have no excuse not to come by, watch me serenade you with classics by The Flamingos and Peggy Lee, and buy a mixtape or t-shirt. 

Oh yeah…GO DODGERS!!!  LA in 7.