Wor(L)D Connects Vol.1

58Beats & Urban Vibes present: Global HipHop-Album Release Party - Wor(L)D Connects Vol.1 am 30.03.2012 im Ampere München!

Der Münchner Produzent Glam (Main Concept) stellt sein erstes Global HipHop-Album (58beats/ groove attack) mit zahlreichen Feature-Gästen aus verschiedenen Kontinenten vor: Mit David Pe (Main Concept/München), Boshi San (München), Roger Rekless (München), Xuman (Pee Froiss/ Dakar), Randy Acosta (Havanna), Omar Musa (Melbourne), Get Open (NYC), Daara J Family (Dakar)

DJ: Roger Rekless (München)

When the soundtrack of your life mixes pure beats and funky grooves with conscious wor(l)ds and global vibes, when your playground is an independent scene which has escaped the greedy clutches of the mainstream, and when you finally cross the path of artists sharing the same hopes of cultural and social emancipation, then it's time to get something going together and to shake up the biz......so let's briefly introduce who we are:

Wor(l)d Connects Vol.1 is a collaborative project between hiphop producer Glam a.k.a. Glammerlicious and his Munich-based label 58Beats with Urban Vibes, an urban music series being initiated and realized by the Department of Arts and Culture of the City of Munich and brought to life with the aid of our partners Matthias Knapp, Freez (a.k.a.Fritz Voggenreiter from F&F Activities) and Die Färberei, a facility run by Kreisjugendring München-Stadt (the association of youth organizations in Munich).

From Pee Froiss (Gunman Xuman and Kok 6) and Daara J Family (Ndongo D and Faada Freddy), the pioneers of Senerap from West Africa, where the art of emceeing is said to be born, to Australia's poetry slam champion Omar Musa, who was touring as support for Gil Scott-Heron, from Palestine's Sugar Hill Gang DAM (Da Arabian MCs) to America's most controversial hiphop duo Dead Prez and their „Revolutionary but Gangsta“ Fam bro Umi (P.O.W.), from the award-winning alto-saxophonist and versatile MC Soweto Kinch, who – relating to The New York Times – demonstrates what „England has to teach about narrative hiphop“ to Havana's old school icon Ulises, who was introduced to us by Pablo Herrera, one of Cuba's most influential hiphop producers, from Munich's talented hiphop prince Boshi San and Germany's unbeatable freestyle king David Pe (Main Concept) to Saian Supa Crew's bass-baritone rapper Vicelow - various hiphop artists from Munich, New York, Lod/Al-Lyd, Dakar, Havana, Sydney, London, Kinshasa, Paris etc. have been invited to participate in the Urban Vibes program and to work with producer Glam. Finally the 58Beats-man put all the pieces together and turned everything into a groovy fusion. And thus the idea of releasing a global hiphop compilation was born and paved the way for Wor(l)d Connects Vol. 1.

Glam underlined the MCs lyrics in English, French, Wolof, Patois, Spanish, Arabic, and German with his distinguished and soulful beats, mixed quick-paced lyrics over weird, chunky instrumentals and spoken wor(l)ds over twisted avantgardistic vibes like in de ja vu and heat it up. His electro-funky approach in the track unity and the cuts of DJ Gee Bayss, Senegal's leader and pioneer of turntablism, correspond perfectly with Xuman's and Kok6's praise of the good old times, recalling a bit of the 1980s block parties atmosphere. The chilly vibes of keep it 100 take us back to the year 2000, when Dead Prez were showing their soft side in mind sex. And the ragga-like raps of Ulises, one half of the Cuban hiphop duo Ogguere, a Yoruba word that translates as „soul of the earth“, fully harmonize with Glam's Afrobeat rhythm and pays homage to the West African ancestors......

Further transnational cooperations beyond the above-mentioned Urban Vibes-project additionally enrich the album. Being based on the same idea of gathering at Glam's studio, checking out cool beats and start working on it, four additional „bonus“ tracks feat. Get Open, David P, Marie Martin, Problemz, Raptile, DV Khryst, Retsam and Germany's hiphop icon Samy Deluxe found their way into the compilation. The songs were originally released on vinyl and are now – newly mixed – available on Wor(l)d Connects Vol. 1. Last but not least Roger Rekless, the multifaceted DJ/ turntablist, producer and rapper from Munich, added his final cuts and scratches and morphed the 13 tracks into a fine piece of global hiphop.

Glam is a real icon of urban music in Germany. Listening to hiphop since 1983, he began to create beats in 1987 on an AMIGA 1000 and an ATARI sequencer. He has always been open towards various musical influences – from electrofunk of the 1980s via Miami-Bass stuff to the vibe of the Native Toung Movement (Tribe Called Quest, Jungle Brothers, DeLa Soul etc.) of the 1990s, utilizing all his inspiration to create his own specific style. In 1990 he formed the hiphop crew Main Concept (Glam, David Pe, DJ Explizit) – and since then they started rocking through Germany, Switzerland and Austria – and hopefully in the near future through the rest of the world. Through all that time, Glam worked with (inter)national artists such as Get Open, Beginner, Samy Deluxe, Fettes Brot, Dendeman (Eins Zwo), Spax, Denyo, Blumentopf, Loop Troop, Black Quaterbacks and many more. Wor(l)d Connects is also a pulsating piece of 'edutainment'. It maps that despite all clichés reducing hiphop to a mere 'blingbling'-style pop, conscious and independent scenes between Africa, the Arab World, Europe, the US, the Caribbeans, and Downunder have been transforming hiphop into an international creative syntax and integrative force.

With his edgy lyrics Cuban MC Ulises has managed to resist the temptation to slide into the potentially lucrative reggaeton niche, as many other Cuban rappers had done before and Australian hiphop's confident new voice Omar Musa, who has run creative workshops in Aboriginal communities, remarks : „.I'm a Malaysian Australian guy with a Muslim background. No matter what I say, even if I'm writing a love song, or a club song, it is inherently political, because it's being seen through that lens ..There comes a time where the party songs are well and good, but you've got to make a stand.“

Following the credo of being „on a misson“ hiphop artists sometimes break certain taboos. Stic.man and M1 from Dead Prez are well known as purveyors of social causes through their music and their extensive contributions as community activists and their Senegalese bro Gunman Xuman assure: „It's not a question of money, weapons, sport cars, or beautiful women. Rap, it's the street speaking. We are journalists, reporters of everyday life. We are teachers and educators“..... It's hardly a surprise that hiphop found its way (back) to Senegal, as the art of emceeing is said to trace back to the West African tradition of the so-called griots, chroniclers of history, guardians of the knowledge of their ancestors and musicians using their vocal and poetic expertise not just in the sense of „praise-singers“, but also for political comment. Senerap, has thus become a powerful vocal medium, the voice of the voiceless ...

In this sense DAM, the first-ever Palestinian rap group uses hiphop to convey frustrations and hopes of a dispossessed people. They resume: „We say political stuff on the mic and we back it up in our daily life. We don't just rap against imperialism, we boycott McDonald's. We live exactly as we say in our songs“...... Well put - .“It's not about getting rich, it's about keeping it real“ So let's the wor(l)d connect and keep it 100!!

Quelle: Muffathalle Betriebs GmbH