Overly produced Hip Hop has become
obnoxious. It feels like a race to the old classics bin
to see who can exploit the hell out of a Shirley Bassey
hook first. The only problem is when you turn on your local
classic R&B station, and low and behold, there is the
original. Lyrics are even similar, just without the "crunk".
My cynicism has been brought to a halt though. I can throw
out these general statements all I want and usually, they
hold up. That is untill the Crown City Rockers come into
play. Five friends, five musicians, and Hip Hop, no wait,
music that gets the crowd jumpin' like no other.
Currently residing in Oakland, Raashan (MC), Kat (Keys),
Max (Precussion), Woodstock (Beats), and Headnodic
(Bass) grew up with different
musical backgrounds that lend themselves to their diverse
taste in music. Taste that fuses Jazz, Rock, Funk, Soul,
Classical, and Hip Hop into their performance. A performance
that shouldn't be missed.
Over/Under was able to sit down
with the Crown City Rockers to find out what makes them
"pop, lock, rock, freeze":
OU: Well then, let’s
go back to the beginning…your chemistry, how you got
together, how it all happened…
K: It all started in Boston.
Me, Max, Ethan; we all went to music college together in
Boston and we played together while going to school there.
Ethan knew Raashan who knew Woodstock, but they both lived
out in Cali. Then Raashan came and lived out in Boston and
that’s how we formed.
OU:
And you knew it work right away?
H: Before the group existed, I had
recorded and lived in Wisconsin. I was going back to work there
for the summer and two days before I was going back, I met Raashan
and Moe and recorded and did a demo with them. I listened to that
demo all summer and I was into that demo that I just knew I had
to track that guy down. I just had to work with those guys because
it was dope and the chemistry was fresh.
R: For me, we all moved from Boston
to California and on the trip out there my house burned down,
me and Kat got thrown in jail together, and we had many obstacles.
After we got to San Francisco, we were homeless for the first
few months. Once we finally got our house, I felt like we had
already been through so much that hey, we could do it (form the
group). It’s just all good people to be around.
OU: Any part of your childhoods come
in daily to your art?
M: My dad is a musician.
K: My mom. I grew up with four older
brothers so it help me deal with testosterone overload…
R: Yeah, Kat can hang!
M: I can remember Dad picking me
up from little league playing Public Enemy and other hip hop.
KRS-One, Queen Latifah, stuff like that. So family had a big influence
on all of us.
OU: What are your influences outside
of Hip Hop?
W:Oh man…
R: Food
H: Ashton Kutcher
R: As far as music? Are you ready
for this?
H: That can go on for a while.
R: Coltrain, Miles.
H: Cheesy 80’s synth bands.
M: hey, those are not cheesy.
H: for me personally, groups I can
hear once and then forget about.
R: Keith Sweat
(back and forth between the members):
Bob Marley, David Axelrod, Jimmy Hendrix, Bjork, Lenny Williams,
Gangstarr…Wait that’s hip Hop. Take that one back.
Does that mean we can do trip-hop. Jazzanova, Joe Zalono, Doc
Martin, the Weather Report, the Shoe…(band chuckles)…yeah,
led Zeppelin, Fela, the Beatles,the Brown Felini’s, umm,
Mya, Peter tosh, Joe Gibbs…
OU: What 5 CD’s are in your
players right now?
R: Crown City Rockers, since we just
got. Im digging the new Ghost Face. The new Casual, the Funky
President, Strange Food Project, the Percussions, De la Soul…Organized
Confusions, the Roots album…
OU:
What do you want people to know about you when they come to a
show, when they’re in the records store looking at your
cd?
W: We put effort into it!
OU: Anything more specific, like
what do you think they should feel coming away from a show?
R: I want them to say, “Damn
Joey, or whoever there friend is, missed out.” I want them
to bring there friends back the next time. I want them to have
had an experience. I want them to have not just been entertained,
but have them learn something.
Like, we love the old, rustic hip hop show. The ones where the
speakers are busted. Love it. But one thing we try to do different
is that we also like to have a big show. I mean, we love Earth,
Wind, and Fire, and the big production. We want people to remember
their experience.
OU: What do you think about P2P music
piracy?
R: It’s like a love-hate relationship.
Say for instance the story of Phoenix Arizona. This cat told me,
“I picked up your CD in the bay.” It was the first
CD we’d ever done. And he burned a copy of it for all his
friends. It spread throughout Phoenix and that’s how everybody
heard of us. So when the current album came out, we had a scene
to go there. So I don’t think it would have worked had this
person not spread the CD. But also, when you burning it, you’re
taking money out of pockets. So it’s both, a promotional
tool and its not.
H: It’s like the radio and
all the stuff you hear on there. I mean it’s free and this
(P2P sharing) is the way for lesser known groups to be heard.
K: And hopefully if they hear us,
they’ll like it so much that they will come out and see
us do a show.
M: But also it makes it hard for
us to get signed with someone who can get some real money behind
us because they’ll look at the soundscans and say, “Only
this many people bought the record” even though a million
people downloaded it. So it hurts us in way.
W: Yet if every 3rd person who downloaded
the album bought it, it would make such a huge difference. I’ve
done that before—downloaded an album and liked it so much
I bought it to support the artist.
