Rap Music: June 2004 Archives
I think it is obvious that it it unnecessary to write a lot about this band. The pictures speak for themselves in this occassion. These dudes totally rocked it VICTORIAN FUTURISTIC SPACEDUDE style. What more is there to say?? Seriously, these guys were on some whole other thing. They took part of their inspiration from the whole Parliament/Funkadelic spaceship thing, but no one could even come close to the one and only Jonzun Crew.
They were pioneers in the electro funk hip hop world that would be the biggest thing around in 84, 85, 86. They gave the breakers something to keep getting wild too while their culture was being totally over exposed. They had the hottest style of all time. Three brothers originally from the home of all things truly surreal, Florida, moved to Boston and formed The Jonzun Crew in 1981. Two years later they had the first ever album released on the hip hop label that would put out some of the greatest records ever and a giant in the industry, Tommy Boy. The historic LP, Lost in Space, featured three of the greatest electro jams of all time ("We Are The Jonzun Crew," "Space Is The Place," and "Pack Jam"). Long songs allowing for a dark groove to develop featuring minimal wicked robot voices talking mostly about space. Let's just be honest: it may seem goofy and silly in 2004, as it has been copied by dance music for 20 plus years now, but it still feels amazingly cool to listen to The Jonzun Crew.
Michael Johnson (nee Jonzun) continued on in the music industry after The Jonzun Crew stopped putting out hot records. He was behind the careers of New Edition(he wrote and produced their amazing hit single "Candy Girl"), New Kids On The Block, and more. An expert on The Jonzun Crew (with the last name Johnson as well) was telling me that he produced a group (whose name he could not recall) that was like electro with Temptation style vocals. The idea of that freaks me out. Michael Johnson and The Jonzun Crew influenced the direction of music (popular and underground) for years and of course anybody who wears those hot threads are certainly The Greatest Band Of All Time.
Boo Yo! Sorta cliched call, right?? Like avant free hip hop right, very palatable for the white rock'n'roller right? Cool points?? This is totally one of the digs on Antipop Consortium. Whatever. I'm so over it. I'm so over knocking a group for being distinct. These dudes brought everything I loved: super weird beats of their own production, crazy wild vocal styles, super smart lyrics, interesting subject matter. Four distinct dudes bringing their own style to make the raddest rap collective of the early 21st century.
Always more of a consortium of dudes than a true rap group, the Antipop Consortium found each other in 1997 at monthly event called "Rap Meets Poetry." M Sayyid, (High) Priest, Beans, and producer/engineer Earl Blaize were all doing their own thing, but all came together and soon after put out a couple underground singles. Their first LP, Tragic Epilogue, came out in 2000 on Ark 75 (the label responsible for Deltron, other Dan the Automator, and some Prince Paul). The album was a minor key bonanza, and fit in with the Ark 75 vibe as it was reminiscent of Dr. Octagon.
The big shocker hit when the band signed to electronic/idm super label Warp Records (home to Aphex, Squarepusher, Autechre) in 2001. It was was Warp's first move into the Hip Hop World and a bold move for Antipop to break from the underground hip hop mold. They released an EP on Warp in 2001 called The Ends Against The Middle and it definitely brought more of an electronic edge to their sound.
Antipop Consortium reached their pinnacle in 2002 with the release of Arrythmia. Their final proper LP, Arrythmia, was a focused maturation of their already distinct sound. The beats were strange based on blips and things one would never think of like ping pong balls. The songs were unadorned, allowing the raps about soap scum and aliens to be even more present than on previous releases. The had evolved their skills and the voices became instruments used for melodies, and more distinct choruses as well as the usual knowledge drop. The albums beats challenged the listener to move in new directions and get beyond the traditional sounds and beats and realize that you could totally move this style which was both somehow simpler and more complex. It was a near perfect album, which was both a blessing and a bad thing, because, feeling like they had accomplished what they had set out to do as a group, they broke up shortly thereafter to focus on solo projects.
I was fortunate to see Antipop on their final tour in 2002. They brought the most entertaining and varied rap show that I've ever seen. Full of energy and rapping the crap out of their already brilliant songs. In between the raps the dudes would do electro style jams on drum machines, samplers, and synths all playing live and all extremely adept and making awesome jams. It made the show flow so well and brought a whole new Antipop vibe that wasn't really present on the records.
A collaboration with jazz pianist Matthew Shipp was released in 2003, but that will probably be the last Antipop release as though apparently their is some bad blood between the former Consortium. Beans has put out a solo LP and EP that are both really solid. We are still waiting for solo releases from M. Sayyid and Priest with high hopes because both produced some of the best Antipop tracks and have what it takes on the mic. While solo stuff is great we can't help but miss The Greatest Band Of All Time.
