(AllHipHop News) Toronto rapper Kardinal Offishall’s recent trip to the Horn of Africa is being chronicled on Canada’s CTV all this week.
The rapper took a humanitarian trip to the war and famine ravaged region last month with reps from World Vision, an organization working in the region.
“This trip changed my life,” Kardinal Offishall told AllHipHop.com in a statement. “I saw kids along the Kenya/Somalia border, five years and under, with nothing to eat, no water and not even a place to live.”
Kardinal and World Vision CEO took the trip to bring light to the famine declared areas in Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Tanzania and Kenya.
In total, the areas make up the world’s largest refugee camp numbering 450,000 refugees.
The three remaining segments will run on CTV’s etalk at 7 p.m. ET until November 17.
Dave Toycen, World Vision Canada President, Kardinal Offishall, rapper and producer.
“Kardinal Offishall visited the Horn of Africa with World Vision staff. He was able to speak with a group of Kenyan children in a World Vision sponsored camp near the Kenya/Somalia border
Austin, Texas’ League of Extraordinatry G’z might not have a city to boast as the roughest city or with the richest hip-hop scene, but when SXSW hits their small Texas town, a plethora of industry professionals descend upon their scene. In what has turned out to be golden opportunity for them to network and get their music out to the some of the industry’s most influential tastemakers, the self proclaimed ambassadors to the city of Austin have embraced SXSW and made it work for them in best ways possible.
Comprised of three groups Da C.O.D., Southbound and Dred Skott, this nine member collective describes themselves as one big family. Having performed at AllHipHop’s Best of Texas Showcase amidst Paul Wall & Chamillionaire’s reunion show, “The League” is primed for greater exposure as they are welcomed to AllHipHop.com’s Breeding Ground
AllHipHop: Explain the make up of the group.
Greezo:The League is comprised of 3 separate groups: Da C.O.D. (Greezo , Tuk-da-Gat, Lil J, S.Dot), the twin brothers that make up Southbound (Lowkey, Sandman) and Dred Skott (Reggie Coby, Esbe Da 6th Street Bully) We all came together in April 2009 shortly after SXSW. Prior to that, Dred Skott and Southbound had a relationship and we had done a couple of mixtape joints with Southbound. We were all highly regarded as Austin’s new talent and figured it would be a good look to come together and put out a mixtape. The more we started f###### with each other though, the more we realized that the League was something bigger than just a mixtape and eventually blossomed to what we are today – a big family. This was ever more apparent when we had to deal with the recent and unexpected loss of our brother, Esbe Da 6th Street Bully. Although he is no longer with us, he left each of us with a part of him and is riding with us in spirit. He left a behind a legacy which you’ll see and hear.
AllHipHop: How does SXSW influence your music?
Lowkey: It doesnt. I mean it doesn’t influence our music so much but instead has more of an impact on it. Austin is our hometown and SXSW is literally in our backyard. Real talk, its like down the street from us. But yeah, it gives us the access to network with artists, industry people, and music lovers from around the world. The livest thing about it is that you never know who you’re gonna bump into.
Reggie Coby: SXSW is the s###! Austin is our home and we are like ambassadors to the city. Like Low said you never know who you are going to bump into. Like in ’08, we met a bunch of cats from Norway after they had asked the Bully to use his lighter. After we start chopping it up, come to find out they were rappers and had been given a government grant to come out to SXSW. So we end up kicking it with them and s### and they came back to our studio smoked a couple blunts and we ended up making some music with them. We still keep in touch till this day. Shout out to Lar Vaular, Leo, and the rest of the camp.
Greezo: We’re also fortunate to have Matt Sonzala who does most of the booking at SXSW to be one our biggest supporters. Matt’s a big reason for a lot of the exposure The League has received from SXSW. Our first official showcase in 2010 was actually AllHipHop’s Best of Texas showcase with the Paul Wall & Chamillionaire’s reunion show.
S.Dot: Ohh yea, we gets it in at SXSW.
AllHipHop: Who are you currently working with, and who would you like to work with?
Tuk-da-Gat: Man, we have been blessed with some great opportunities. So far we have gotten a chance to make music with Dead Prez, Devin the Dude, Killa Kyleon, Killer Mike, Jackie Chain, Shane Eli, Question, K-Rino, Bavu Blakes, Big Rube of the Dungeon Family. This has also led to a couple tours we have done this past year. After having Jackie featured on our “2 Much” track he gave us the invite to open up for him on his west coast tour back in May. Later on in August the brothers Dead Prez had us come along with them after working with Dred Skott. Man I love to f### with Yelawolf, Kendrick, LEP Bogus Boys, and even people that dont even do hip hop all day like Danger Mouse, Fishbone, Damien Marley, and all types of other different artists.
Greezo: We are also are collaborating with Swisha House on a mixtape project that will be released in the near future. So be on the lookout for that.
Lil J: Jon Connor, Rittz, Freddie Gibbs, K.R.I.T., Action Bronson
AllHipHop: What are your plans for 2012?
Reggie Coby: Continuing to focus on increasing our exposure and footprint in this game which we plan to do by releasing a number of projects as well as get on the road and do some more touring. We are also planning to make our 2012 SXSW showcase to be one those that will be talked about.
Lil J: Yea, after going on these past two tours across the US we definitely learned how important it is to get out your local scene and jump on the road. It opened up our eyes to see the response we got from cities like Lexington, Boise, Portland, Santa Barbara, El Paso, ATL, and Seattle.
AllHipHop: How has the DJBooth posting helped you guys?
Lowkey: Man, having released our Concealed Weapons 3 mixtape exclusively on DJBooth has most definitely helped us broadcast our music to a much wider audience online. This is the same site that has given a lot of today’s hottest artists their break into the game like Yelawolf, Freddie Gibbs, and Big K.R.I.T. So it was an honor to have been able to do that.
Greezo: Yeah, I actually met Nate at the beginning of the year when I was helping him find a venue for a DJBooth SXSW showcase this past year. He eventually had got handed one of our CDs at SXSW and reached out to us to do an exclusive project which we released in April. Building that relationship with DJBooth was key because 6 months later we were invited to perform at last months A3C festival in Atlanta on the DJBooth stage with Big K.R.I.T., Jean Grae, Saigon, Pill, Shane Eli, Aleon Kraft, Yonas, JNics, and Jon Hope.
AllHipHop: You guys had a few Jake One beats on the last project, talk to me about some of your favorite producers.
Tuk-da-Gat: We f### real heavy with a producer out here in Austin named Matt Schad. Matt first produced SouthBound’s Seasons Change album. Since then he produced League favorites “We Gon Make It” and “Yes He Is” and a number of tracks on our upcoming projects. Also, Reggie Coby is a beast on the production tip. A lot the artists we have relationships were introduced through Reggie’s production. He produced the Devin single “What I Be On” and has worked with both Killer Mike and Dead Prez.
S.Dot: They don’t nickname him the “Genius” for nothing.
Greezo: We are also working with a producer out of Toronto named Frank Dukes who has produced for 50, Danny Brown, LEP Bogus Boys, Ghostface, and many others. The kid is dope. Be expecting to hear from him on a major level.
Reggie Coby: S1, Kanye, Dre, Quick, Organized Noize, Timbaland, No I.D., Just Blaze
AllHipHop: Explain the Austin, TX hip-hop scene and some of the other acts to look for out there.
Greezo: Austin is a melting pot of artists. Like most metropolitan cities, there is a local hip hop scene out here in Austin and its filled with a lot of talent. They brand Austin as a the live music capital of the world because of all the music options that are available every night and while there are local hip hop events in Austin it still lacks the casual hip hop listener looking for local hip hop. I think this in large part has to with Austin not having its own identity in the national hip hop game. We are hoping to change to that. I’m sure artists in similar cities experience the same thing. Some dope acts from Austin to look for are: Crew54, M.i, Phranchyze.
Reggie Coby: Yeah I also think it has to do with a lot of trash that’s out there on the local scene. Just because you’re a poet doesn’t mean you a rapper. Some acts I recommend check out are Kydd and Poison Boys.
Lil J: Ya’ll definitely check out my DIE SLO family. Also, if you onine you need to check the Texas Battle League which hosts freestyle battle throughout the state. Go on youtube and check some of those classic battles like Gutta vs. Phranchyze. AllHipHop: What’s the next project called?
Greezo: Our next major release will be our first official album entitled #LeagueShit which is currently getting mastered by Mike Mo and set to be released sometime in the first half this upcoming year. In the meantime, we are working on 2 new projects. One with DJ Michael “5000” Watts of the Swisha House and the other with Frank Dukes. Fans can stayed tuned by following us at www.LOEGz.com.
AllHipHop: Will you all release solo projects or is there any possibility that the 3 groups within the group LOEGz will drop projects separately?
Reggie Coby: Oh yeah, without out a doubt we have a number of projects coming out of the League umbrella. I am producing an EP project with Bavu Blakes. Also, prior to my brother passing away we were working on a Dred Skott project I produced entitled W420 that was partially completed. I plan to finish that project. Also, eventually will follow up with my own solo album. Also, we have enough material to release a posthumous Esbe Da 6th Street Bully solo album.
S.Dot: Yeah Tuk-da-Gat and I are working on a follow up to the WhiteBoy Mixtape that we released last year. Lil J is also working on a project with DIE SLO’s Sertified and then we got Da C.O.D. album.
Lowkey: I finishing my solo SouthBound & Down project and then there is a Southbound album that is going to follow.
Reggie Coby: Yea, as you can see there is whole lot music that ya’ll are gonna be hit with.
He says there is a “White rapper” scene in the UK, but that no one puts him in that category or categorizes rappers that way much in the UK. So, look past Professor Green’s milky exterior to the MC that he is – passionate, honest, eclectic even. As one of the UK’s most popular lyricists of the past five to 10 years, Professor Green has built his name on strong tracks and smart marketing, and not necessarily the way he looks or where he comes from.
Admittedly, had Professor Green been 14 years old this year, he says he would have been one of the young rioters who helped destroy parts of London. And, when he spoke up, which isn’t common for the rapper who’d rather focus on music, many people spoke back, and they weren’t all happy with his views. His aptly named track, “Read All About It” goes far deeper than politics, though, and it has helped catapult him up the charts in the last month.
Read ahead as AllHipHop.com is taught some interesting facts about rap and revolution from a thoughtful UK rapper named Professor Green:
AllHipHop.com: First off, I want to tell you that we’re celebrating “UK Week” on AllHipHop.com, and when I asked around about who I should profile, everyone across the board insisted that I had to talk to Professor Green. So, why are you like “the man” over in the UK right now?
Professor Green: I don’t know. I haven’t got a clue! I haven’t been over [to the U.S.]. Things are going pretty well here!
AllHipHop.com: Where are you located right now?
Professor Green: I’m in East London.
AllHipHop.com: As we focus on UK Week, what are some of the important things that our global audience show know about the Hip-Hop scene over there right now?
Professor Green: I suppose that what was kind of like the early 90s for the States – you know, what was happening on your side of the water in the early 90s – is happening for us here now. You know, we’ve really found our voice, and the music’s beginning to cross over, but it’s still maintaining its edge. It hasn’t gotten to a point where it’s suffering yet. It’s in a really good place…it’s healthy!
AllHipHop.com: Okay, so what would you say are some of the differences between the American rap scene and the UK rap scene?
Professor Green: Yeah, we’re a much more a territory. I think musically we have a different sound because we have slightly different musical influences. Especially people of my age, we came up around jungle and drummer bass and garage, and what came from garage was grime. [There’s] a lot of break beat and a lot of rock influence as well.
Obviously, we took a lot of influences from you. But I think one of the main reasons we’ve become more successful is that people have stopped trying to imitate. It’s happened before. That I’ve never understood. How could you expect to compete if you’re entertaining with something that isn’t true to you. It doesn’t make sense to me. But a lot of people here used to rap with American accents.
AllHipHop.com: Hmmm!?! Interesting…
Professor Green: Yeah! For me , that was always crazy. That was like…I couldn’t understand it! How can you put on an American accent? I think a lot of that comes from people not really knowing about the UK rap. I didn’t know about UK rap for ages. My first introduction to UK rap was a guy called Skinny Man, who for me, made my favorite UK rap album of all time called Council Estate of Mind.
AllHipHop.com: Okay, so tell me about some of your American rap influences. Who did loved when you first discovered it?
Professor Green: I was about 12 years old, I think, when I first heard…there used to be a place near where I grew up that we used to go to called Roller City and cause trouble and do whatever we did. And they played music – it was a skating rink – and they played Biggie’s “One More Chance,” the remix. That was kind of my first introduction to rap, and Biggie’s still my favorite rap artist today. After that, I got into Westwood over here, and I got it on cassette, which is showing my age more! [laughter] I’ve always preferred more East Coast rap than West Coast.
AllHipHop.com: Hmmm, why do you think that is?
Professor Green: I don’t know. The main thing is…what are they called? Ones? That sound was always in West Coast production. I never really got it, and I think it was more to do with the production than anything. I always had an ear for East Coast production.
AllHipHop.com: It may have something to do with the distance between us as well. On the East Coast, we’re a lot closer, and there’s still a lot of English and European influence on the East Coast, especially in New York and the New England states. That’s really interesting to ponder. I want to ask you about the change in the music industry. Over here in America, CDs aren’t selling anymore. Everything’s pretty much all digital downloads now. Is that one of the obstacles that you face trying to market yourself in the UK?
Professor Green: Entirely! We didn’t even…my first single “Read All About It,” which is the first single off of my second album, is #1 here, but we didn’t make any physical copies. We didn’t sell any CD singles. It was all just digital downloads. We’ve still done amazing numbers, but if you think about it, it’s kind of upsetting to think of how well it would have done if the industry was like it used to be 20 years ago. We got 153,000 in our first week.
AllHipHop.com: That’s amazing, and I bet that’s one of those reasons that everyone said I needed to talk to you! You mentioned “Read All About It,” which I’ve listened to, and it’s a pretty emotional and soulful song. That’s how I would describe it. So, is that personal for you, or are those just lyrics you wrote?
Professor Green: No, no, no. My father committed suicide a couple of years ago, and we had a turbulent relationship anyway. I hadn’t seen him for six years, and then when he passed, I kind of decided to try and talk my life out a little bit. It helped me turn things around. It was either going to bury me further, or I was going to support myself up.
But when I gained my success – you know, my first album only came out last year – and when that happened, his widow…I wouldn’t call her my stepmum, but she came into the press and said I was trying to capitalize off of my father’s death. I had spoken about his death in an interview and how it had affected me. I’ve never spoken about that women in any way, and that was kind of where the “Read All About It” comes from.
AllHipHop.com: Wow. That’s pretty deep. The album is called At Your Convenience. Is the flavor sort of that personal, deep stuff throughout the album? How would you describe it?
Professor Green: Those are loads of different shades. I’m not into making 15 of the same songs. It’s getting harder to sell albums because people are picking off one or two songs that they hear and they like. But I still approach it as an album, so it’s not all deep and all personal. Everything comes from things that have influenced me and things that I’ve been through. There’s upbeat and fun stuff as well as the serious stuff. As a rapper, you can’t always be serious.
AllHipHop.com: Well, I’m looking forward to letting more people in America know about the album, because I think you’ve got a real eclectic style…like you said, it’s really diverse, a lot of variety. So I want to shift and ask you about some current events kind of stuff. Over here, we watched the riots go on in London earlier this year, and we saw a lot of anger, especially among the young people. Do you think your music can be therapeutic? You talked about using the story of your dad to work through that in song. Can that help with what’s happening over there right now?
Professor Green: Well, it’s hard. I’m not one to preach. I grew up in the same place. If I was 14, I would have been taken part in the riots myself. I’m just fortunate enough to be older and to have…I think when I learned to communicate was when I became a lot less angry. And a lot of people don’t have a voice here. They’re not even sure exactly why it is they’re angry. Now when it all happened, I knew that if I didn’t say anything, I would be called a coward. But if I did, I was gonna be attacked for what I said.
I never tried to justify it, but what I said was, ‘You have to look at why people think it’s okay to behave like this.’ And as soon as I said that, the amount of people I got saying, ‘Now how can you justify this?’ I never tried to justify it, nor did I condone it, but there is a reason for things that need to be looked at. Politicians over here were saying it was the fault of what they call “urban music.” And I really don’t think it was about putting blame on anyone. But there are problems that get highlighted that people just ignore.
AllHipHop.com: Yeah, and now you see all of these “Occupy” movements happening all over the world right now, so people are speaking up and demanding their voice now. As an artist, it’s risky to go there…
Professor Green: If I didn’t say what I thought, I’d be another contrived artist. I can’t tell people I’m honest and not speak truths if I feel something, so…I’m kind of willing to take the backlash for it.
AllHipHop.com: Good for you! Another top I’d like to ask you about…recently, I’d say in the past two weeks, we’ve had somewarring going on between some of the White rappers, particularly Yelawolf and Machine Gun Kelly who was just signed with Diddy. And there’s a White female MC named Kreayshawn who a lot of people have negative things to say about. So is there the same notion going on there? I know most of the MCs there are “Black” if that’s a term you use…
Professor Green: Yes, Black, that’s the same way we’d address it. But no. There’s no “White-on-White crime” going on! [laughter] It’s weird. Here…I don’t know about America…I think you all still suffer from segregration. Here, every square mile there has to be a certain percentage of, I think you call them “tenament” buildings. There’s a certain percentage of those per sqaure mile in London, so even with a class divide, everyone is still here on top of each other. So the whole color thing, it doesn’t really exist here. At least in London anyway.
AllHipHop.com: Well, why do you think they’re fighting here?
Professor Green: I think everyone is caught at the moment, and we’re just at a space where we’re actually getting somewhere. So everyone’s kind of [mutually] happy about that. In the underground, there’s always people taking shots at people or whatever, but that’s part of the sport. It’s nothing major, just rap bullsh*t. We’re nowhere near a Biggie and Tupac thing here. Or even a Yelawolf and Machine Gun Kelly! [laughter]
AllHipHop.com: [laughter] Ha! Okay, I’m thinking about the year 2011, and I’ve been asking people lately what their biggest Hip-Hop moment of the year was. Can you think of one? Or yours personally?
Professor Green: There’s probably been a whole heap, and I’m struggling to think of one off the top of my head. For me personally this year, probably the release of that first single. At one point, it didn’t even feel like I would ever have a first album, so to release the first single off the second album…for me, that was my moment.
AllHipHop.com: Congrats. So, is there anything else you want to share with the audience about the UK or what’s coming next for you?
Professor Green: I’d just like people to listen to it and give it a chance, really. It’s always going to be hard, but I think we really have found our own voice now. What I used to find interesting about American rap is that I didn’t quite understand all of it, and that intrigued me. That’s why I got so deep into it. And hopefully, the same thing can happen vice versa.
AllHipHop.com: Well, hopefully we’ll help make some new fans of the UK from this interview. I’ll embed some music so people can listen to it, but where can they purchase it? Professor Green: I haven’t released in Americ a yet! So for now, they’ll have to check for stuff on YouTube. I have a meeting about that soon. I think I’m coming over to New York in January ata EMI. Fingers crossed, that will be the beginning of it. AllHipHop.com: Do you have a website they can check out?
Professor Green: Yes, www.professorgreen.com/uk.
AllHipHop.com: I’ll be sure to include that. Thank you for taking a few minutes with AllHipHop.com. Best of luck.
Professor Green: Oh, thank you for reaching out. It was lovely talking to you.
Learn more about Professor Green and his new album “At Your Convenience” at www.professorgreen.com/uk.
