2007


Quite possibly my longest-marinating effort, The Tortoise Hustle is a topical work spanning my thoughts on life. El Keter (who produced all but four cuts) more succinctly calls it my "Atmosphere album." I doubt the call of my work to the amorous, but it would be dope if the music resonated with listeners. The Tortoise Hustle is my M.O. I'm not consumed by visions of larger recognition and whatever perceptions define success, I just want to enjoy making music. After running the proper route of one-sheeters, near limitless postal expenditures, college radio mailings and all the proper routes for 2005's "Still Means Something", I regrouped with my philosophy of small. Thus 250 individually stamped and numbered tins with Cracker Jack type goodies were born. All sonic duties (recording, mixing down, mastering) were handled by Gillespie at Monastic Chambers. Some friends consider it to be my final release. Jenn thinks that's nonsense. Shout out to EDS for helping with the discface layout.


The Bottom Line- I was driving home, bumping the local "Hip-Hop & RnB" station for comedic value and heard a promo where the cookie cutter on air personalities were selling another carrot. It was at this point I reached into my pocket, put my cell on record mode and rapped "you don't exist to play music, you live to make a profit / selling advertising space and I know it's never thought of." The promo continued and I again reached for my cell. "I wish you best of luck in all your demographic research / but when you follow trends, you'll end up leaving feet first." I got home, went upstairs and kept writing. I ended up with two 20 bar verses which fit nicely over a beat Keter sent me. The instrumental's on some fighter's entrance music and is straight up nasty. Originally, I'd recorded a different song over the beat (one with lyrics I've been sitting on for about 5 years), but my radio themed lyrics worked better. A year passed and I redid the hook and second verse.


Speaking in Tongues- Originally slated for Still Means Something, my song about shoes got left off because I didn't feel it fit within that album's context. I played this track for RhymeWise37 and his response of incredulity pretty much guaranteed this track would go on my next album. FANGFACE produced the cut and it was a minute and twenty second snippet. I recorded to it three times (each snippet covering a verse) and left it for FANGFACE to patch together during SMS's mixdown and mastering period. Needless to say, FANGFACE's honing didn't occur as he quit rap and put all his stuff on ebay a couple months after I'd sent him the SMS acapellas.


They All Die- This song came about thanks to Cadence Weapon, who mentioned my name to Tod Lippy at ESOPUS magazine. Now that I think about it, this track might have been the spark to start my collaborative process with Keter for The Tortoise Hustle. I was commissioned to create a song inspired by a visual work (photograph, painting, or sculpture) and chose Execution of a Viet Cong Guerrilla 1968. I tried to envision the various factors at play which were frozen in that moment, from the person being shot to its context within the war. After getting Tod's e-mail, I hit up Keter on AIM and asked if he had any beats handy. He sent one over and the song was born. Let it be noted, he felt iffy about that beat and I gave him the Manic Depressive spiel (Before you throw out a beat a beat you're not sure about, let me hear it.). The song was included on ESOPUS4 (Spring 2005 for those keeping track at home).


Tale of a Cartoon Snake- A case of a song writing itself. The instrumental marks my final collaboration with ognihs (SA-2, White Collar Criminals, The Rosetta Stone) and was originally the beat change-up for our track Heirloom. I asked if it would be possible for ognihs to make an entire beat from the outro and he came through with a new recipe with a few new ingredients. The track was inspired by one person in particular but utilizes snippets of various individuals I've encountered who share the same manipulative characteristics.


And It Goes- I suppose the lyrics on here could be considered the bookend to Boxscores. I've always been fascinated by the mostly unseen pieces which make the whole and this track was an opportunity for me to excercise that realm. Listening to the song now, I realize how much the Beach Boys' fingerprints are all over the hookwork.


Hoping- Keter sent me this beat a long time ago, back when it was entitled "Keter Is Stephen Religious?" as either Nick Sweepah or Aux One had asked the Rod Laver enthusiast that very question. When I first heard the track, I didn't feel it. After I told Keter I didn't think I could work the beat, it floated around. About a year later, I had an idea and ended up asking Keter if it was still available. EVer since RDB, I've wanted to make a song about mom and this is as close as I'll get.


Sharper Than Knives- This track covers my thoughts about the local scene. I went through a lot of titles until coming up with a reference to an INXS lyric from Devil Inside.


The Tortoise Hustle- A track about convenient revolutionaries who find causes cause for expanding their wardrobe. Hippies begat Yuppies begat trustafarians while continuing the cycle of sheep wearing overpriced and undersized hepster shirts on mommy's dime.


32106- Commonly referred to as the "I went soft" song, this track details how Jenn and I came to be. Another case of knowing exactly what the song was about as soon as the instrumental played. Oddly enough, the intro part of the beat makes me think of Madonna before she found 5 different religions on her way to Guy Ritchie. The tracklisting sticker lists 32016 but the proper title is 32106. I named the song after the date we got engaged (March 21, 2006).


Shiny- Shiny's my song about the objectification of young girls for profit. For all that gymnastics and figure skating contributed to my early take on this subject, it's surprising that neither makes an appearance. Keter came through with a banger he made with two records I bought at Convolution records for about 3 bucks. Kids become disposable commodities in a never ending assembly line of sugarcoated pedophilia. Insert strung out starlet's name here.


Needful Things- I wrote a long verse on the back of an envelope, recorded it acapella then played one random object at a time along to the vocals. The more I think about this track, the more I see it as this album's equivalent of Velcro Sneakers-an exploration of language's musicality in a non-traditional format. Brenn from Left Lane Cruiser came over and banged on a storage shelf and I spent the next day sequencing the pieces. I can't remember all noisemakers, but the list included a pill bottle, a whisk, a knife, a flashlight, a shoe, a phone book, and a fork. I can't say for sure, but the Pabst Blue Ribbon reference might have prompted Brenn's participation.


Taken- Taken is this album's Burn Unit. I spent so much time writing verses and recorded so many different versions, I can't find the original on my computer. Fortunately, I was able to locate the lyrics and hit up the studio to properly lay them. After experimenting with various approaches, I opted to go for the throat. As much as I dig this beat, it was not easy to write to. One of the many versions featured verses about people I met in California who gave great lessons about selfishness and duplicity.


Sing it Backwards- Featuring Sub-Surface's RhymeWise37 (hand seen above). The original hook for this sounded dope, but my attempts to rerecord said hook in the studio sounded like I was giving birth to a dinosaur. Hook #2 was concocted on the spot and does a much better job of not only maintaining energy, but also avoiding sounding incredibly stupid. I'd hoped to have Clever on this track, but his pen wasn't working.


The Zoom Zip- Keter crafted this beat with the thought of my doing my best Big Daddy Kane tribute and then pressing up a run of 7"s. The way the bassline rumbles along and the minimalist organs fill just enough space while the drums clap is dope as hell to me. I can't help but think of the days when Kane was owning beats like this. Some lyrics were intended for use on a notably slower Still Means Something track, but they work much better here. Long live the Kane.


Section8- I've been rapping a while now and figured this album would be a good chance for me to call upon cats I've met through rap to build on a song. I pictured my friends going back to back to back with 8 bars over Mic.Dagger's menacing beat. JON?DOE starts it off, I roll next, AthenA kills it, Ryan Officer puts in a Chi-town drop, iCON the Mic King holds Philly down, Nick Sweepah brings the pain from Melbourne, ADRU THE MISPHIT does Kansas City proud, and Fort Wayne's RhymeWise37 seals the deal.


Creasy- Written after I'd gotten second place in 2006's Whatzup Battle of the Bands, Creasy was an opportunity for me to take stock. I was humbled by having gone so far and wanted to capture that sense of disbelief. Shortly after the Battle of the Bands, I used my advertising credit to run a thank you print ad, a section of which is above. It only seemed fitting to flip Cause I said So's "this is for the people I began with who gave up" to "this is for the people who believed in me more than I." I still can't believe how Keter was able to take both vocal samples and twist them around at the end. The song's name is in reference to Denzel Washington's character in Man on Fire.