Ground Zero

After 9/11, like a lot of Americans, O'Neal and I were left wondering what we could do to help. We contacted The Middle East (the venue, and yes, there is some irony there) about doing a benefit concert. A number of other promoters and bands had the same thought, so the venue ended up doing a string of benefits, and donated 200% of the door proceeds to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. We pulled together every known emcee we could find, and I have to say, they were all eager to get involved ---- the event was a huge sold-out success, and we ended up raising over $10,000. It was a proud moment for everyone in that room. GeeSpin was on stage forcing the rappers to empty their pockets into a hat --- everybody gave that night. Pretty sure I have some show audio around here somewhere ... but in the meantime ...

We also got together with Inebriated Rhythm to record a single that would be sold at the event. The song featured EDO.G, Reks, Alius, Akrobatik, Illin' P, Jaysaun, Shuman and T-Max over a really dope Soul Supreme beat. We never did much with the song, but I like to listen to it every now and then, to remember how Boston really pulled it all together that night.

Here is the mp3.

Radio Free Allston

Back in the mid-late 90's there was low-wattage pirate radio station set up in Allston/Boston called "Radio Free Allston." Good people who were trying to do something pretty cool. We had a show on that station for a year or two called (embarrassingly) "Hip-Hop 617." I distinctly remember that we were paranoid that the cops would somehow find out, so we refused to use the name Main Ingredient Productions on-air. Hilarious. At any rate, I'm sure the 3 people who could actually catch a signal thought the show was pretty good ... we certainly had plenty of hot records to play, even if our DJ skills were a bit suspect.

Main Ingredient Productions (& the skullies)

Before we incorporated in January 1999 as MetroConcepts, we did business under the name Main Ingredient Productions, which I think accurately reflected that at the time we were more of an event company than a marketing company. I swear the best shwag item we ever did were the Main Ingredient skullies you see below. We gave out a ton of these to emcees, and would see them popping up in magazine photo shoots years later.

Here is O'Neal with J-Live in New York

Here is Tim & O'Neal with High & Mighty in Providence

Virtuoso performing at The Western Front

Akrobatik - Remind My Soul (Live) - MP3

I consider Akrbatik's Balance album to be one of the best indie hip-hop albums ever --- solid from beginning to end. We were really proud to be part of that project (even did the cover art). "Remind My Soul" was the standout single from this record (did that cover too) --- sonically and topically just a really powerful song.

Here is a live MP3 version of "Remind My Soul," recorded at the 2004 Superbowl MC Battle.

Mr. Lif Freestyle 1997

This is from waaaaaaaay back in the early days at The Western Front. Not 100% sure this is 1996, but no later than 1997. Lif was largely unknown at this time, just getting a little airplay on WERS. He used to come down every week or two and just kill it.

His dreads were tiny then too.

Here is the freestyle joint.

Def Jux Freestyle 2001

Here is a juicy mp3 from the second-to-last Co-Flow show in 2001 before El and Len split. This 5-minute session weaves in and out of freestyles and writtens, and includes El-P, Copywrite, Vast Aire and Aesop Rock. Aesop had just signed with Jux, and I remember him basically walking into the venue at midnight, fresh of the bus, and walked right on stage ... and I'm thinking, "who the hell is this guy?"

Boston Globe feature 1996

Back when we were young and I had a good head of hair. This was the first big exposure for us, and helped open a few doors. Funny to look back at how corny it all is, and how misunderstood hip-hop was by the media at that time ..... "an offspring of rap." LOL. I will say though, the thing it does capture is how much fun we were having back then, no bullshit. It was just a bunch of people listening to music, having some drinks and hanging out .... didn't feel like work, just good times.

Where the hell was O'Neal for the photo shoot? Still at college I guess.

Show Flyers - 1996/1997

Here are 4 flyers from the early days at The Western Front. The flyer on the lower left was the first "real" flyer we ever did. We walked in to Biscuithead Records one day and asked if they wanted to be our sponsor (back when I was doing the hand-drawn flyers seen below). Bruno was down, but politely said, "you need to do better than this," and hooked us up to get his boy Adam/Res-One to design the flyer. Biscuithead was a sponsor off and on for years --- and even though their records were EXPENSIVE, they had the best bootlegs and all the latest underground.

This was also the first flyer that featured Pimpgear as a sponsor. Pimpgear was around before we were even serious about doing anything. I met Rocky at a party (and later married his sister!), and he offered to throw us some t-shirts as an event sponsor. This began a long friendship and partnership ---- nobody repped Pimpgear more than we did.

We also have an EDO.G show --- We were so freakin' gassed to do that show, even though we lost money because the weather was horrendous. The flyer was done by Target from Steelo Magazine. I had to drive to an ATM after the show to pay him. I tried to convince him to just come back for a different show, but he wasn't having it! We became good friends later, and managed his career for a number of years.

Check the God Complex flyer .... Esoteric, 7L & Karma ---- ah the good old days.

The Perceptionists - 2003

Akrobatik, Mr. Lif and DJ Fakts One perform "Show Starter" at Aesop Rock's Bazooka Tooth Release Party (2003).

Akrobatik (2003)

Akro performs "Balance" at The Middle East in Cambridge MA in early 2003. Not sure if this was his release party, but I see some label folks there in the crowd, so it must have been close to release date. Lif is with him on stage, and Fakts One and DJ Sense are on the wheels.

Nerd Rap with Aesop Rock, El-P, Camu (RIP) & Metro

Taken in front of the Paradise Rock Club in Boston before the Bazooka Tooth Release Party.

The Early Days at The Western Front

Back when we were Main Ingredient, The Western Front was voted best hip-hop venue by The Boston Phoenix in 1998.

"Given the international popularity of hip-hop and the fact that so many DJs and rappers operate out of Boston, it seems ludicrous that there is no club devoted exclusively to showcasing local talent or up-and-coming stars from out of town. We are left instead with a handful of clubs that sponsor hip-hop nights -- usually only once a week -- and arenas that bring in huge MTV-sponsored events featuring tepid artists who bankroll the media giant. Oh well. Good things sometimes come in small doses. On the last Sunday of every month at the Western Front, for instance, Main Ingredient Productions hosts a hell of a hip-hop showcase, "All That! Hip-Hop, Poetry & Jazz." Featuring national and local poets, MC's, Boston rap groups like Seven L. & Esoteric, Virtuoso, and Mr. Lif, and live music provided by the All That! band (with members of Down-Low Connection and Superhoney), this once-a-month event is a don't-miss extravaganza for any fan of urban music and hip-hop culture. The long-running club, which has mostly been a hotspot for big-name roots reggae stars -- although it sponsors more adventurous music too, such as experimental jazz -- is doing the city a service by giving Main Ingredient a permanent residency at the space. Don't forget to bring your own rhymes -- open mic's at 8, and it's phat."

Boston Beats & Rhymes - Part 5

Boston Beats & Rhymes - Part 4

Mr. Lif - Return of the B-Boy video

(pardon the completely unnecessary naked chick at the beginning)

This rare video is from Lif's I Phantom album on Def Jux.

Superbowl MC Battle 1999 - Virtuoso vs Big O vs Alius

Here is another clip from the 1999 Superbowl Battle. We had so many emcees in this battle that we did the first round head-to-head-to-head. It was an interesting idea, but didn't work that well as we had to eliminate emcees early on that probably deserved to move ahead. It also turned into more of a freestyle competition in that first round, and less of a face to face battle. This clip is a YOUNG (younger than he looks by a long shot) Virtuoso, Big O (very underrated emcee) and Alius (who walked in off the street for this one, and went on to win the battle two years later).

Superbowl MC Battle 1999 - Mr. Lif vs Reks

Let me just say how much Mr. Lif DID NOT want to do this shit. Have you ever met an emcee less interested in battling than Lif?? Let me also say that Lif and Reks are two of the best freestylers I have ever heard ... both can rhyme for hours at a stretch.

Superbowl MC Battle 1999 - Sage Francis vs Esoteric

The fall of Rawkus Records

I was just getting ready to start a new blog about how incredibly dope it was to be working with Rawkus Records from 1999-mid 2000's. Really, it would be hard to overstate how much I personally enjoyed those first few years, and how critically important it was for our company. Company Flow, Kweli, Mos Def, L Fudge .... every record that came out was groundbreaking, and every 12" sold more than 10,000 copies. We were turning DJ's away at the door to get their promo vinyl. I remember calling my business partner when the Black Star album came in; stunned by how amazing it was. I remember walking my single copy of the advance promo for "Definition" into college radio stations and DJ's would be drooling once they heard it ... and then I'd grab my record and leave. When The Cleaner (a collection of new, radio edit joints) came out, with the KRS, Zach de la Rocha and Last Emp track "C.I.A." I felt like the bartender at a good college bar. "Heeeeeeeey buddy, great to see you, c'mon up the station any time you want."

It was like Christmas once a month. Music, gear, banners, shows, Soundbombing .... there was a stretch there where they could do no wrong.

So, just as I'm getting ready to start this blog entry ... I check out the Rawkus website, oh my. The website is now a pop culture blog with personal ads and a "network news mash-up." Talk about putting the final nail in the coffin of what was absolutely the best indie label of its time, and destroying any shred of brand dignity.

"Whatever your interests are, the Rawkus Network has got you covered. From hoodies, to tees, or a Lil Wayne mp3, Rawkus.com can help you not only stay on the cutting edge of urban and pop culture, but can allow you to influence and shape it. Check it out and become a member today."

So sad .... how the mighty have fallen. Well, I still got love for you Rawkus, but its a nostalgic, remember the good ol' days kind of love. Peace to Danny Seltz.

Boston Beats & Rhymes - Part 3

Review of Company Flow show, April 1998

I mentioned this show below .... the one that split Bigg Jus from the group. Well here is the review of that show, from the one-and-only Brian Coleman (aka The Wedding DJ).

Click to enlarge.

It all started here ....

This little gem ... handwritten, photocopied and passed out hand-to-hand in 1996 ... was the flyer that started it all. DJ Milkmoney (yours truly) and Smooth Unit Sean Love at The Western Front. Notice that extremely wack graffiti-style letters I tried to use. Why that club ever gave us a chance is beyond me. We walked in off the street with nothing but a mixtape, and they gave us a couple of nights each month to basically do whatever we wanted. We had ZERO idea what we were doing at first (lots more stories to follow on that), but in the end those first few years were really my favorite in the Boston scene.

Ladies free? What ladies?

Boston Beats & Rhymes - Part 2

Boston Beats & Rhymes

In 2004 Scott Limanek produced an interesting and thorough documentary about the history of hip-hop in Boston called "Boston Beats & Rhymes." The film includes a lot of footage from concerts we produced, along with interviews from our management clients; EDO.G, Mr. Lif and Akrobatik. I scoured the internet to find some video clips and came up empty, and then remembered that Scott gave me a copy years ago, and actually managed to find the damn thing .... I'll be posting this in 5 chunks, and it's worth a watch.

Here is Part 1

Mr. Lif & Akrobatik "Inhuman Capabilities Live"

This live performance was recorded at the 2004 NEMO Music Showcase at The Middle East. More to come from this show.

You can stream or download here.

Eminem

Whatever you think of Eminem now, there was a time when the indie crowd went nuts for him. When "Just don't give a fuck" hit college radio there was a huge buzz, and it seemed like just a few weeks later we were hearing he was signed to Interscope. We busted our asses to get the Interscope account when we heard this, because we knew that with our reach in the indie/skate market, plus all the work we were doing for commercial labels at that point, that we were uniquely positioned to help break Eminem in Boston. We knew Em's manager, so when another company dropped the ball, we basically got a call from the manager saying "drop what you are doing and come do an in-store for me right now," and we did. I might be mixing up my timeline, but I'm fairly sure we hijacked Newbury Comics on Newbury Street and turned what was supposed to be a "walk-thru" into a full-on signing event, it was a mob scene, and Newbury was really pissed off at us for awhile.

It was interesting hanging out with Eminem at that stage of his career. He wasn't "untouchable" yet, so we got plenty of chances to grab a beer (or twelve) and drive him around places. He was sort of like a cartoon character ... very animated, and loosely sketched.

We worked with Lyricist Lounge to do their tour in Boston which De La Soul headlined. Eminem was on the bill, and even as a mostly unknown people were going nuts. We did an afterparty for this show, and Eminem was completely plastered, and forced me to do several tequila shots with him. We then went with Interscope up to a show/snowboard event in Vermont (Brooklyn Vermont) where Eminem was opening for Black Star ... which when you think of it is funny in a number of ways.

Eminem also did a posse record on Rawkus for Soundbombing II with Shabaam Sahdeeq which cemented his place as one of the best, and certainly the funniest, lyricists of the time.

Eminem blew up so fast that pretty soon we couldn't get within 50 feet of him, but we kept a good relationship with his manager for a while, and got to some events and such over the years. His original DJ, DJ Head, was a really cool guy who we ran into a bunch of times after that.

Here is the video that started it:

Bazooka Tooth WFNX Promo

When Aesop Rock's Bazooka Tooth album dropped, we teamed up with Boston alternative station WFNX to do the release party at the Paradise. It was a great show, El-P was there, Perceptionsits, SA Smash (RIP Camu) and a bunch of others. Sold out with a line of people waiting. As our media sponsor, WFNX ran a radio spot to promote the show (which I have included below). We took the guys to the station to do an interview and on the way back they heard the promo in the car and bugged out because they hadn't ever heard a commercial promo like that for their shit. I have a YouTube video of this show that now has messed up audio, so I'll import some video at some point and post here.

Download the promo.

DJ Revolution "Sonar Vol 1" - 2003

In April 2003 we launched a new program called SONAR, an indie hip-hop mix CD series with Rev at the wheels. The idea was that we were going to produce 10,000-20,000 units per release and distribute through our street teams in 10 major markets on an ongoing basis - 6 CD's per year. Volume 1 was really well received, Rev murdered it, and we pushed out 10,000 units as a pilot program, but it was an expensive campaign that we couldn't keep up with.

Here is the cover with track list, and a link to the full CD is below:

For the full CD, click here.

Mr. Lif EP Release Party Performance w/ Edan

Mr. Lif w/ Edan performing "Get Wise," from his Emergency Rations EP in May 2002.

Boston Phoenix article on street marketing - 1999

Check it.

Superbowl MC Battles

I have a ton of photos and video and such from the six battles we did here in Boston, and will post some of that stuff as and when I find it, or have the time to digitize some video. We loved doing the battle every year, it was always the best show we did I think. Running a battle is an intense experience; things move really quickly, and I'm proud that with few exceptions these shows went off without any real problems.

The last one we did at Avalon in Boston (and I promise some video in the near future on this) was a mixed bag for us. We had 2,000 people in the building and KRS-One as host and guest performer; it should have have been the crown jewel of all the battles, but we made some odd choices in terms of our sponsors, and how that would impact the kind of crowd we brought in. We partnered with JAM'N 94.5 on the event, the local commercial hip-hop/R&B station. They gave us massive media exposure for the event, and I really appreciate their partnership, but it brought in a more mainstream audience that didn't quite get into the indie battle MC's we brought in from around the country. These were dudes who were killing it at Skribble and other regional battles, but they didn't appeal to an audience that was just looking for punch-lines. I will say though, that KRS performing from the middle of the crowd was one of the better live performances I have ever seen, and that is saying something.

Also, it's worth noting that the original battle was a spin-off from an ongoing event series we were doing with Rocky LaMontagne called "All That! Hip-Hop, Poetry & Jazz." He was an important part of these events. We sort of fell out at the end, but this wouldn't have happened at all without the inspiration from his event in NY and his ability to bring fresh talent into Boston every month.

Here is the flyer I just found for the 2nd Annual Superbowl MC Battle in 2000 at The Middle East, I'll get some photos and video up here soon.

And here is a clip from the first one, which went down at the Western Front

And here is another clip from 2003. Dos Noun got Bomshot pretty good in this one, but the judges voted Bom to move ahead. Somehow Bom ended up getting into almost every battle we did ... he'd have dudes stuffing the ballot box, whatever. Lol.

Because They Made it That Way

We shot this video for zero dollars with Ethan Lader as the director. We did two takes, walking through Post Office Square in Boston. We had the music ramped up to play at 150% while filming so that when we slowed the video down to synch with the real track everything would be just a little slow.

DJ Fakts One had to do his DJ bit on the portable turntable and then haul-ass around the corner to get ahead of Lif again. I still think this is a dope video, and the honest response from people walking on the street was pretty funny ... mostly when people walked by like nothing was happening. There is a dreaded dude rapping like a chipmunk walking down the street ... no big deal I guess. I couldn't begin to tell you when we did this. 2000 maybe?

Here is the instrumental for that track.

Here is the video:

Company Flow Live MP3 (2001)

This is a live recording of "Population Control" from what I think was the second-to-last Company Flow show before El-P and Len split. It was recorded at The Middle East in Cambridge MA. The venue was a stinking hot sardine can, packed to the gills with a crowd that knew every word. I know this was part of a Lif/CoFlow twin bill, I think it was for the release party for Lif's "Enters" EP.

Small world, but we also booked CoFlow for a show in Boston a couple of years earlier that marked the split of Bigg Jus from the group.

Here is the mp3.

Also, if you don't own a copy of CoFlow's album Funcrusher Plus (shame on you), you can cop the re-release here.

Western Front - 1999

I'm pretty sure this was shot during set-up at The Western Front for the first Superbowl MC Battle in 1999.

I know some of the artists had mixed feeling about participating, but you'll NEVER see a battle line-up like that again. Mr. Lif, Esoteric, Akrobatik, Sage, Virtuoso etc etc.

I have a stack of photos from this event somewhere ... better than the one of me above (who am I kidding anyway?).