Tag: Drake

Ep. #203: Elaquent

Post author By vish
Post date July 23, 2015

Elaquent is a hip-hop artist and producer based in Guelph, Ontario. An underground hero among beatmakers and rabid fans, Elaquent is renowned for his infectious, soulful but off-kilter compositions that recall aspects of Dilla and DJ Premier but are still wholly unique. Endlessly prolific, Elaquent’s brand new album is called Good Karma, it’s out now via Huh, What & Where, and it’s prompted him to play live, including solo and collaborative sets in his hometown at the Hillside Festival between July 24 and 26. Here, Elaquent and I discuss being rusty, making up your skillset on your own, plant pathology, Spanish and French, the Spanish student becomes the computer teacher, Meek Mill and Drake and ghostwriting/producing in hip-hop, Dr. Dre is a heartbreaker, Nicki Minaj and Taylor Swift, Action Bronson and Ghostface Killah, pro wrestling, Good Karma and positive vibes, living in a town like Guelph, playing the Hillside Festival for the first time, jamming with Daniel Lanois, Nels Cline Singers, BADBADNOTGOOD, Lee Reed, and Jason Wilson & Pee Wee Ellis, the song “You’ve Changed,” and that was that.

Related links: elaquent.com hillsidefestival.ca vishkhanna.com

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Tags Action Bronson, BADBADNOTGOOD, Daniel Lanois, Dr. Dre, Drake, Elaquent, Ghostface Killah, Good Karma, Guelph Ontario, Hillside Festival, Huh What & Where, Jason Wilson & Pee Wee Ellis, Lee Reed, Meek Mill, Nels Cline SIngers, Nicki Minaj, Taylor Swift

News Podcast

Ep. #186: Socalled

Post author By vish
Post date May 12, 2015

Socalled is the moniker of a talented musical mastermind named Josh Dolgin who calls Montreal home. As someone who truly embraces the open-ended and multi-faceted aspects of hip-hop culture, Socalled’s music reflects virtually every kind of noise and genre touchstone that world has yielded to date. His fifth album is a joyous and star-studded but ultimately all Socalled affair called Peoplewatching, it’s out now via Dare to Care Records, and here, Josh and I discuss talking to Socalled, the musical The Season, Seattle pals, asserting himself on Peoplewatching, rapping and joking, hip-hop culture, Off the Hook Radio, conservatism in the production and reception of hip-hop, the weirdly right-wing-y materialistic part of hip-hop that has replaced much of its aspirational bent, rap heroes and being stuck in the 90s, Drake talk, dropping Chilly Gonzales’ name, hearing A Tribe Called Quest when you’re 16 years old, the people of Peoplewatching, Chinese-Indian fusion cooking, the sad story of Amar Singh Chamkila, Katie Moore, Oliver Jones, Fred Wesley is for the people, quoting Genghis Khan, a terrible philosophy, the song “Fire on Hutchison Street,” growing up in Chelsea, Quebec but going to school in Montreal and how Socalled became a musician, the weird assignment of re-fashioning the theme song for the show As It Happens and the CBC listener backlash, getting Moe Koffman’s widow’s blessing, no love in Toronto, never getting covered by Exclaim!, the awesome Socalled band, figuring out which song we want to play right now, the song “Never See You Again,” @peeplewatching on instagram, and then we’re dreamin.’

Related links: socalledmusic.com vishkhanna.com

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listen to ‘Socalled on hip-hop conservatism, As It Happens, & more’ on audioBoom

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Tags A Tribe Called Quest, Amar Singh Chamkila, As It Happens, Chilly Gonzales, Drake, Fred Wesley, Genghis Khan, hip-hop, Josh Dolgin, Katie Moore, Moe Koffman, Oliver Jones, Peoplewatching, Socalled

News Podcast

Ep. #153: Jasmyn Burke of Weaves

Post author By vish
Post date December 9, 2014

Jasmyn Burke is the lead singer and co-founder of a great young band from Toronto called Weaves. If electronic, synthesizer-driven bands might be called computer music, Weaves make Internet rock—an open-minded, all-encompassing pop music that’s infused with all of the sounds and information that is currently available. They have received accolades from Canadian and U.S. media outlets and released their first EP this past April 1. On December 12, Weaves are playing Stay Out of the Mall XIII with METZ and Badminton Racquet at the Ebar in Guelph and here, Jasmyn and I discuss hanging out at her parents’ house in Ancaster Ontario, actually being raised in Toronto, making music the way you listen to music, being difficult to pigeonhole artistically, working with Morgan Waters who’s the Rosetta Stone of musical collaborators and translates her ideas into more of a pop framework, Dr. Ew, when bands like Alvvays and Weaves do well, playing in Rattail, Jasmyn’s nerves and overcoming performance anxiety rituals, introverts who become front people, no one’s going to die, growing up in Weston, the boring ‘burbs, a penny-farthing tattoo, suburban hunger, seeing someone play a Neil Young song and loving Bob Dylan, Hot Monogamy, having a passion for creating strong vocal melodies and lyrics, discovering your own voice, always loving Toronto and believing in its supportive underground music community, Drake, the city of Toronto’s notoriety of late, we do need another hero, insidious search history ads, Toronto pet peeves, avoiding condescending ghettoization, sometimes the less we talk about a problem, the more quickly it goes away, feeding off the tension about the differences between us, why Weaves release singles every few months rather than a full LP, batch versus incremental recording, writing and recording all of the time, the album will be dead, the Weaves album will be deadly, opening for tUnE-yArDs at Massey Hall, Merrill Garbus is super nice, not working much, not complaining, travel and recording plans, seeing Bob Dylan live, the song “Shithole,” finding alien song ideas in your iPhone Voice Memos, and that’s it.

Related links: weavesband.com buzzrecords.ca vishkhanna.com

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