Drake feat. Trey Songz & Hotnixx - Just Wanna Dance

Drake feat. Trey Songz & Hotnixx - Just Wanna Dance (Produced by JR Rotem)

This is Hotnixx's new single, this song will be playing on WAVE as an exclusive track. This track is set to be released under Drake's next mixtape. Peep that shit out! We will post more details on how to vote for this song on the radio! This March, we bringin the heat back to Manila radio!!

ADIDDAS 60th Anniversary commercial!

Dedicated to Quest, who is forever an Adiddas fan! 60 years of Soles and Stripes indeed! Dope video, RUNDMC, Rusell Simmons, KG, David Beckham, Missy, Estelle and more!

SOULFIESTA COUNTDOWN: END OF FEBRUARY 2009

February has been a transition for me, as I've started to work in this foreign land. Music still my first love, have been accompanying me in these trying times. On my way to work and heading home, my days most rewarding times. I put on my Skull Candy earphones, and weave through tracks -- missing the Philippines, my family, my boys, my throne, my crown. Today, Chrizo sent me a rough draft of Beyond, beyond and I'm blown away, these rough edges of music I made. Is enough to carry me forward. Here's my list for February, enjoy it!

SOULFIESTA TOP 20 SONGS I ROC TO:

Nyko Maca feat. Dash - Bittersweet

1. T-Pain feat. Kanye West - Flight School
2. Drake feat. Trey Songs & Hotnixx - Just Wanna Dance
3. Saigon - The Rules (Produced by Statik Selektah)
4. Usher - To The Moon (Produced by Dre & Vidal)
5. Cam'ron - I Used To Get It In Ohio
6. Francsim feat. Loonie - The Light Remix (Produced by Chrizo)
7. Cradle Orchestra feat. Nieve & Jean Curley - Talk It Out (DOWNLOAD)
8. Mos Def - Life Is Good (Produced by DJ Deckstream) (DOWNLOAD)
9. Laidback - France To P.I. (Produced by Laidback)
10. Melanie Fiona - It Kills Me (DOWNLOAD)
11. Mister RP - Diamonds Aren't Enough (Produced by ILL MIND)
12. Quest - Abot Mo Ang Mundo
13. Nyko Maca feat. Dash - Bittersweet (DOWNLOAD)
14. Skarm - Visible Visions (Produced by Protege)
15. T.I. - Pornstar
16. God's Will, Mike Swift, Nimbusnine & Quest - Salamat Sa Yo
17. Lil Wayne - 3 Peat
18. Verse One - Gold Mining (DOWNLOAD)
19. K-Jah - Sige
20. PHD & Mario7SOW - I Rock Right (Produced by Chrizo)

There you go! Enjoy downloading these February classics! More to come as promised!

BEYOND Beyond: Entry 5 "TIPPING' THE SCALES Anniversary"

TIPPIN' THE SCALES (Turbulence Productions 2008)

Last year, after my trip to HongKong -- we launched Tippin' The Scales at 32nd Street! This CD was our first release in 2007. The CD was featured on RX93.1 a month prior to that thru Rico Robles' show and H-Town's 103.5 Max FM program as well! This launching featured performances by God's Will and Hoots, Blue Battallion, LDP, Nimbusnine, Hotnixx, Team Firm, Ron Thug, People's Future and more! There were freestyles happening outside the venue and people politicking. SPECKS came through as well to supply some merchandise! Thank you to all our fans, peers and colleagues who came through to support then. Shoutouts to Butchoy, Madshock, The Beatmathics, Paolo from PULP, Ambito & the rest of his FOF Records Team, Krazykyle, Talek and his team, Kate Oliva, Torre Lorenzo people, Otto Retardo, Cardinal Tank and his team, AMPON, Audible, A.N.E. & Marcus P, Aero and his 3rd World Team and the rest!

God's Will, Hotnixx, B-Roc & A.N.E - Utak, Lapis at Papel (Bagong Tasa Remix) (Produced by Lowkey); this song's instrumental was first used by Madd Poets on the Rekognize Album -- guess what? I have the entire CD's instrumentals. Hehehe!

The CD features tracks "Tilt Your Cap", "Masama Mabuti", "Utak, Lapis at Papel (Bagong Tasa Remix)", "Caught Up (Soulfiesta Remix)", "Watch What You Say", "I Am The Greatest",, "Aking Himig", "Whoa (PINAS Remix)" and the WAVE 89.1 single "If You Were My Baby Girl" by Marquiss, Hotnixx and Nimbusnine produced by Chrizo and a whole lot more! The CD also featured Aero, Blue Batt, LDP, Justin Timberlake, Nathan J, Kim Fabros, Marcus P, Black, Kenjohns, Knowa Lazarus, Peoples Future, A.N.E and Urban Outlaws.

Marquiss, Hotnixx & Nimbusnine -If You Were My Baby Girl (Produced by Chrizo); If you don't have a copy yet, get one at O.F.C. Galleria or hit up our merchandise hotline!

The idea for the title of the CD came from a story from Hotnixx one time we were at Andrew E's house. Andrew then uttered something in the line of "I think Turbulence is too serious with their music." -- this made look at things and although we like thought provoking music, I wanted to display our talents in a manner that some would understand. We're not dumbing it down, we're just Tippin' The Scales a bit, yeah dig? Which explains the last song, these are our peoples and we know what having fun is, hehehe look around when you're around us. Sonically, this album could be the most commerical, if could understand it better using that word. But it has it's moments of brilliance via Marquiss, PHD, GDub, Nimbus, People's Future -- all in all, a cd you won't skip a song when you bump it!

PHD - Aking Himig (Produced by B-Roc); this beat and song was actually made 2 years prior to even the idea of Tippin' The Scales, which shows you that we work on timeless classics all the time, AMP baby!

It was also our first time to come work with graphic artist AJ Salazar, who has done work for the clothing line Analog Soul. Yes some of his designs you're actually wearing already. Hehehe. I wanted an artwork with no picture from any of the artists involved. It was the first time we're working on just an graphic artwork for a cover. Consequently, Kanye put out "Graduation" and AJ being a Kanye fan and I instructed him "parang yun album ni Kanye, but not exactly like that" --- the ressemblance shows. Wouldn't change it if I could.

There were 2 characters created while doing the cover. Me and AJ gave these characters names, Tip and Pin respectively. We haven't really exposed the full potential of these characters. Maybe use them again in future products, projects!

We were supposed to do a video for If You Were My Baby girl via Jerome of WAVE's promotion company during the latter part of the summer but due to the Jaipur incident with Jerome, we never got to jumpstart it. Shoutouts to the DJ's of WAVE for playing it all the time!

"TILT YOUR CAP/TO THE BILLBOARD" photo by Sarah Gonzales

DOWNLOAD: Kim Fabros - After Laughter Comes Tears

Did you know? Turbulence has a knack for creating classic CD covers via errors, some mistakes and some we really put in there to have fans scratching their heads. Hehehe. Every CD of ours have a certain defect on the cover. Tippin' The Scales CD track listing is missing one number. Hehehe. Check em out. And also, we were kinda tired of fixing the sequence of songs, so I decided to just drop it in there alphabetically. Hehehe, when did you ever play a cd with that sequence. I wanted to show how fine tuned we are of our music that we are confident enough to sequence it like that. Thanks for reading and if you don't have a copy of this CD, hope you cop one or at least enjoyed the story behind the release.

BEYOND Beyond: Entry 4 "MOS DEF"

Mos Def - Life Is Good

Mos Def - Life In Marvelous Times

Mos Def is one of my favorite emcees and artist as a whole. He has been able to take hiphop to different levels and was never pigeon holed to just being a hiphop artist. From Black Star to the Italian Job series -- he has propelled hiphop's stature and has exceeded expectations each time. There has been rumors of a possible Black Star reunion album as he shared the stage with Talib Kweli in one of Talib's last show and performed Respiration! Wordy word word! Here's two songs from The Black Dante! "Life is Good" (released in a Japanese album) and "Life in Marvelous Times" (pre released out of Mos' next CD coming out this March); Enjoy both songs as they carry same messages of fun and reality in different sonic scapes!

"Beyond, beyond" is slowly being pieced together, from the studio -- we are working to bring you a campaign like no other! To The Billboard!

DOWNLOAD: Mos Def - Life Is Good
DOWNLOAD: Mos Def - Life In Marvelous Times

Did you know? One of the members of The Seedz monicker is L.I.F.E. which stands for Living In Full Experience and this was also supposed to be Quaizy's CD compilation or debut album title as well, which ended up being "Strip Club". Also Mos Def appears in the poster of Southbound Productions Tipar rap contest last year.

G.R.A.E. Blitz! Hasan Salaam's new video "15 MINUTES"

Hasan Salaam just released this video "15 Minutes" online -- check it out. Perfect American Idol theme to the video! If we haven't told you yet, Hasan Salaam appears in Marquiss's debut CD G.R.A.E. through the song "Break Bread" which also features Verse One. We just wetting your appetite people! AMP Blvd/Aquariuss coming out soon!

CLICK HERE TO JUMP TO THE GRAE AREA, there's a free Marquiss Pre Season Mixtape you could download there!

MUSIC IS LIFE: LAIDBACK

Laidback - Bring Back The 90's (Soulfiesta Shoutout) (Produced by Laidback)

I met Laidback thru Hotnixx, via Myspace. Laidback guested Nixx in a track called "Move To The Beat (Remix)" which appeared on MC Mighty's CD released late last year in some parts of Europe. RESPECT. Anybody making beats and reaching out to Filipinos for a feature is definitely something that catches me in spirit. Since then, Laidback has visited the Philippines for both pleasure and business. Laidback also produced the Shake and Hotnixx "Make It Loud" track, in which the video was made during one of Laidbacks trips to the Philippines. Known for his banging beats and laid back demeanor, we catch up with Laidback ,who is now back in Europe about his music, Manila, making beats, Dr. Dre and more!

SF: First off, thank you for accomodating our request man. I know you're busy with both work and music. Now, as a fan of hiphop music, what made you want to produce beats?

LAIDBACK: I always tried to reproduce melodies of different songs I hear on the radio when I was a kid but it was not serious. I always knew I wanted to do my own creations when I was a teenager also, but money was short, it's only when I got my first serious job at 21 that I could afford to have a laptop and mess around with a couple of gears but once again it was not really serious. Its only 2 years later when I moved out of my country to try to get better cash abroad that I started to take my beats to the next level. It came actually naturally cause I knew no one in the new country I was staying in so it was the only thing I was doing during my free time.

You've seen both the underground scene in France and Manila, what do you think of Manila's hiphop scene?

I actually prefer Manila's underground scene cause people fight more and don't complain. You know the problem in Europe and the USA is people complain about this or this issue but they don't know how much people in Asia or in the Philippines struggle even more to put their music out. The only thing I'm a sad about is contrary to my country the majors in the Philippines don't care too much about Pinoy Hip hop or don't give acts space to express themselves in media or even being signed (with exception for some few acts of course).In France, there is a real market and hundreds of rappers get chances to get heard and majors give them a real budget for their projects, the selection is hard of course but everything is possible for everyone.

My opinion is a little bit wild cause I'm not Filipino and I'm no one to judge the market in the Philippines but for I feel like there is a certain issue there. I think it's time for the majors to start to turn a page in the music history, give chances to the young generation, I mean come on! except our parents and grand parents who want to listen OPM songs or revivals today, same mellow dramas or love songs that haunt industry for 15- 20 years? Pinoys are really creative and talented persons, I don't know why the new R&B singers have to do revivals to get credibility. Make a survey in the street with all the youngsters from 10 to 30 years old, they will tell you they want original tunes, stuff they can dance or vibe to. Pinoy hip hop is tight and so diversified and you have the advantage to flip between Tagalog or English which sounds unique. I hope A&Rs will hear and see soon the huge talent there is in Filipino Hip hop.

That's nice to hear from you man, we're thankful. By the way, what are you busy with right now? Projects lined up to be released?

Right now I'm renewing my beats portfolio to sell and also to work on different collabs. I was more of a West Coast sounding beatmaker before, I like the heavy leads and bass, I also play Talkbox (Vocoder) like Roger Troutman in California Love for example. Now since 2008, I tried to open myself more, I now compose R&B, dancehall, dirty south, east coast kind of beats also. I'm currently working on MC Mighty's second album following his debut album that I fully produced last year. He 's a crazy talented dancehall artist from Zimbabwe, big up to my man. There is also my man Shake from Paris of course we'll have couple of new things also. I also work with an Irish R&B artist Jennifer Hurley on some of her new songs. In Philippines, I work with a team you probably know B-Roc hehe: Turbulence. I have a couple of interesting stuffs comin' in the way with Hotnixx, Nimbus 9, and more. R&B wise in P.I., I'm producing some new materials for an up and comin girl band called Posh. Watch out for some hot songs haha. I also started to produce my own tracks as I sing as well.

Laidback produced the debut CD of MC Mighty which features the track "Move To The Beat (Remix)" which features Hotnixx!

If people in the Philippines could be educated about the hiphop scene in France or Europe, who do you suggest we listen to?

I think my answer will seem very bad as I myself listen to more American, Pinoy or Jamaican stuffs than European acts. I dont really like the beats from Europe, actually it's not too catchy to me. But one thing is sure, French rappers have some crazy lyrics that would bring back Nas or Jay Z to school !!! Im not joking right here my mother tongue is so complex with tight metaphors, symbollisms, allegories and syntaxes that it makes it unique. If you try to translate French rhymes into English it loses all meaning and sense. I think one of the best albums you can buy in France is called "L'ecole du micro d'argent" from the group IAM, it's one of the classics.

Laidback appears in the last few minutes of "Booked Me A Flight"

If you were to produce or work with one of your idols, who would you want to produce?

I would produce Daz Dillinger or DJ Quik who are producers themselves also haha. Also I would love to produce Snoop I would make a banging funky beat !!! I love Warren G. also and Nate Dogg. Then finally I would produce a full dogg pound album actually, I would bring it back to the 90's like the album Dogg Food !!! This is for my classic favorites. Nowadays I would like to produce for T Pain or Akon.

There is a hint of Dr. Dre in most of your beats, what are the your top 3 favorite Dr. Dre beats?

Nice question !!!Okay; 1 - Fuck With Dre Day; 2 - Nothing But A G Thang and; 3 - California Love. The classics !!!

What advice could you impart to people aspiring to be producers?

Don't stop it!!! Whatever happens. Also dont waste your time to know which gears to choose to produce on. The software world has taken over now. Dont waste your money, we are all struggling to earn cash. I read in a magazine "dont spend money in music if music dont give you money back". Deal with that. My advice is: Use Reason 4 to compose, you have all you need inside, get a laptop or desktop and a master midi keyboard, good speakers to monitor and also a soundcard. If you want to record your vocals get Cubase or Pro tools. That's it, with that package you have it all. If your short on money, just get a laptop and Reason 4 and you can make good beats already!!! Personally I wasted cash trying different hardwares from hardwares synths to digital mixers etc. etc. to finally come back to softwares which are easier and I get a quicker work flow using them for equal quality.

Whats your favorite Filipino dish when you were in Manila?

I like a lot of different dishes, the classics like adobo, caldereta, menudo, but what I really love is the seafood from P.I., so fresh and yummy !!!! Cook em as you wish butter, barbeque or garlic I will eat them all haha !!!

If you could have a verse from either Tupac or Biggie, who would you want to put on your beat?

I would put Tupac cause the way he delivers words would match my beats better.

How do you make your beats? Whats the creative process behind it?

It depends, I never work the same way. But mainly what I do is create a basic loop with all the main instruments on it that I give to the artist. Once I get the voices I then enhance the beat, make more variations, change some drums, add more melodies and improve the whole thing. I really work around the voices. But when I compose my loops, I start first with the drums, then the main melody, then bass and then the adds on. There is no real method I really work on feelings, with my man Mighty for example, he has a gift to do vocals with no beat, meaning he creates a harmony with different voices with no help of a beat. It happens that I get his voice first then create the beat from scratch around his voice, mad huh? I also dont sample, I play it all.

Why is making music important to you?

I remember what Warren G said : Rhythm is life and life is Rhythm, as simple as that.

Thank you again bro for your time today. It's always a pleasure hearing another producer's point of view. And thank you for supporting Filipino music as a whole. It means we're on the right track. Goodluck with your projects and I can't wait to see the video we shot! Salamat!

Thanks for your time man !!! Big up to you and all your team you all work hard and you deserve success in your venture. It's a long and crazy journey but we'll all make it if we continue to push our limits!!! I wish more projects with pinoy acts who have a very good mentality in general and always humble, this is a characteristic I like there in Pinas. Also the warm welcoming, but no need to develop that cause its legendary, pinoys are famous for that haha !!! Big up to my brother Anesu a.k.a. MC Mighty, Shake the giant from Senegal (Konvict lol) and France, Hotnixx (thanks for all the collabos man!!!), Chrizo (one of the finest Pinoy Beatmaker), Nimbus, AMP all the Turbulence team. Special shout outs to all the other ones I forgot and struggle everyday trying to make it either in music or in real life!!!2009 we are on the rise !!!

CLICK IMAGE TO GO TO LAIDBACK's MYSPACE PAGE

SONG OF THE WEEK: PHD X MARIO (7SOW) X NAS - It Ain't Hard To Tell (I ROCK RIGHT REMIX)

Nas feat. PHD & Mario - Ain't Hard To Tell (I ROCK RIGHT REMIX)

Check out Chrizo messing with his I ROCK RIGHT beat to remix one of Nas' hottest joints from ILLMATIC! Let us know whatchu think! The original song I ROCK RIGHT by PHD and Mario appears in Thinking Man's Hiphop ---> order now! +639273448717. Check on Chrizo's Myspace and AMP's Myspace page as well while you're at it!

VIDEO OF THE WEEK: Royce the 5'9 - PART OF ME

I'm a big Royce the 5'9 fan -- since Boom by DJ Premier, who will executive produce his album "Street Hop" coming out March 21 in the States. Here's a video from the same album, directed by Rik Cordero who's making a killing directing videos for my idols! And he's Filipino, mind you.

TAKE IT BACK series: CHRIZO MAGNIFICO

The TAKE IT BACK series, is a deeper look on how Turbulence Productions was formed back in the day. This is a 3 dimensional look on the artists and how they're circumstances landed them in what could arguably be the best independent hiphop label in the Philippines ever.

FrancisM feat. Loonie - The Light (2009 Remix) (Produced by Chrizo)

I met Chrizo thru our common friend Joel Ibe. I took Joel to the Rekognize album launch, and he had already told me he's classmates with the brother of one of the rappers of SVC. Joel told me, he wanted to ride with us on the way to the gig. The event was slated to start at 9PM at the Music Museum. I was so anxious and was living in the south of Manila so we decided to have a 730PM call time, to meet up at Toyota Alabang. This dude arrived around 845PM, guess who was a little too anxious that I might end up not seeing the show. Chrizo jumps in my '97 Corolla, we head to Greenhills and well and behold, the show hasn't started yet. This Chrizo dude is a vet, although it didn't seem like it at first. I forgot his brother is ILL-J, which should explain why this dude got late, meaning he's usedta being with the artists and he knows how late they get so he took his time with me too. This was a time where I was just really starting out with making beats. ILL-J even got me and Joel in for free, so that ticket that Hotnixx gave me for the show didn't really do me any good. Hehehe.

Next time I saw this dude, I actually gave him a cd of our first ever recording. And although right now we can admit that that song sucked, he wouldn't say so then. I would hear his name get tossed around when I was with Lee and Lowkey. Dcoy would sort of tease Lowkey about Chrizo's beat sounding like Premier's. Then came Chrizo's 19th birthday in which I was invited to go. Hehehe I stayed late up in that party just to see SVC and have 'em sign my CDs.

I would then visit Chrizo's workstation and man, once he plays me his beats on Acid 2, I would feel bad and would often kick myself back to my studio. I really admired his work ethic and the way he hears a sample. Saw him with PHD and Traumatik at Urge Bar, and they performed Blazin' Mics which turned up the energy in the bar as Chrizo's beat engaged everyone into some authentic boom bap shit. Preemo would be proud.

A.M.P. - Moonlightin' (Produced by Chrizo)

If not for our proximity to each other I wouldn't have pushed myself this hard. I would always try and go up against Chrizo's beats even my head. My entire team then, including PHD and Traumatik was buggin me to bring Chrizo into the team. I couldn't just make that happen, since my loyalty for ILL-J wouldn't let me. It took us a good year to have ILL-J's blessing to hook up with his younger brother. The officiality of it didn't matter to me, as we were all already friends -- but it came from Chrizo himself that he wanted to be part of my then budding team. Only diamonds cut diamonds, I'm famous for saying so. And Chrizo has help shape the diamond that I am, we are. Chrizo is such a student of the game, and I know for a fact that he is a gem around Asia. No one can create the sound that he does. He is a motherfucking national treasure. Word is bond.

Ill-J - One Divine/Once Again Music Video (Produced by Chrizo)

Look at what this boy has accomplished. Since giving beats to Aikee for his debut album, he did ILL-J's The Journey and Logic for Reason, BSides, G.R.A.E., Tippin' The Scales, 3Kings, 2Tay's album, AMP, tracks with Mike Swift, Luzon, Forensic Science, Abby Assistio, Mister RP, Hasan Salam; and being the host and face of the world renowned The Community show. Just look at 2008, with the music climate so stale, he is one of the few OPM artists, signed or unsigned to have 2 singles played on radio via "If You Were My Baby Girl" and "Feel Good" -- he also released "Thinking Man's Hiphop" which ended the year with a bang for the local scene, he is a spokesperson for Specks Clothing and To The Billboard -- his discography of classics have given you videos such as "You Don't Know/MC" from G.R.A.E; "First Wifey:, "One Divine"and he ain't even done yet. And if you don't know, he also's part of the team responsible for ETC's station ID last year! He is responsible for "First Wifey" being song of the year, Turbulence winning indie artist of the year in 2006 and 2008. Some people might feel these are small feats, and you are entitled to that, but remember he did all this with nothing but passion. No managers, no politicks, sheer skills and team play.

I was lucky to be around Chrizo and see his growth as a person. His beats is one thing, but seeing him develop as a man is another. This dude came from being so quiet to pitching his ideas whenever he feels like it. He deserves it, this dude has more class than some vets in the game. Really. But still, he is a student of the game and even production, he is a humble dude that big ups everyone in whatever they do, small or big. Me and him, go way back man --

Chrizo is Philippine hiphop. Ask around. RESPECT. Turbulence X Space Monkey X SVC X Locked Down.

"Chrizo magnifico in the lab we just chillin'" - this is a quote from a song in Thinking Mans Hiphop made my Diggity Dash.

BEYOND Beyond: Entry 3 "BECOME LEGENDARY"

This is the new campaign of the Jordan Brand "Become Legendary". Beyond, beyond as I told you guys earlier is Turbulence's campaign for 2009 -- enjoy this video! Check this out, amazing commercial, amaizng lighting used as well.

COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS: This is a sampling sport (Documentary Trailer)

BEATS BY DR. DRE HEADPHONES

Around August of 2008, Dr. Dre released these headphones which costs around $350 USD. Here's a look at it again. I heard RZA is developing a drum machine with EMU. Just Blaze as well is developing a drum machine with Akai. We see Lebron James rock this baby before games and even in his commercials. So yeah, producers are making bank and redeveloping products. I just bought me Skull Candy earphones in the States, hehehe they have a lifetime warranty!

SNEAKER HUNTING: Gettin' my grown man on..

AIR ROYALS

Slum Village, Nitti & Illa J - HOMAGE TO DILLA (Produced by Focus)

Slum Village, Nitti & Illa J - Homage To Dilla (Produced by Focus)

Here's producer Focus' 2nd offering form his "Pay Homage" series. This is a track in honor of the late J Dilla. Last weekend was J Dilla weekend across the globe and several celebrations happened to commemorate this beat maker. My favorite Dilla track would be "Find A Way" by Tribe Called Quest. What's yours?

DOWNLOAD LINK HERE.

GRAMMY PERFORMANCE: SWAGGER LIKE US

16 OPM HIPHOP ALBUMS THAT WOULD CHANGE YOUR VIEWS ON PINOY HIPHOP (Part 2 of 2)

PART 2 of 2

9. Francis M. "Happy Battle" - Lyrically this has got to be my favorite album off this pioneering milieu. Francis Magalona is a genius doing this album. Lyrically and musically everything was in a balance. Some would argue differently but at the time I was nearing my college years, and the Bulls winning 72 times in a year, this was the album I was bumping for both leisure and reflective purposes. Also, this album saw genuine hiphop contrubutions by Eraserheads into the album. This was my "ILLMATIC" growing up.

Notable tracks: "Girl Be Mine"; "Baliktad And Mundo"; "Sapot"; "Unsung Heroes"

10. Dcoy "Plastic Age" - This album marks the 2nd life of hiphop in the Philippines. DCoy came through with this album right in time to satisfy everyones thirst for a movement, after the Rekognize CD, lead by much younger cats. This album was done from scratch in 2-3 months if I remmeber it right. This album showcased hiphop collaborations with a strong arm of artists from Nathan J, Radio Active Sago, Kyla, Radha, Slapshock, Boom Dayupay, The Rekognize All-Stars, Chill and more. Under the MaddWorld banner, this album showcased the new found love of Filipino hiphop into the intricacies of beat productions. This is Lowkey and Quaizy's best work to date.

Notable tracks: "Sana"; "Rap4Food"; "W.A.K.I.N."; "SB Street"; "Plastic Age"

11. Candy "Assorted Flava" - This is the most slept on CD in the entire of the Philippines. Candy probably was our easiest way into the international scene and the most legit R&B act we could ever have at that time. This was one of the most well rounded album made in the Philippines as far as urban music is concerned. Beats by Dan Gil, Quaizy, Lowkey and penned by Candy herself would've surely gave Kyla and Nina a run for their money. You don't believe me? I dare you to buy this CD and have your doubts erased.

Notable tracks: "Should I Stay"; "Silent Treatment"; “I Don’t Need”

12. DJ Arbi Won "United Freestyle Vol.2" - This CD is one of the most dynamic albums ever made in hiphop. Arbi was a genius of picking the characters surrounding his CD and it came out a classic. Arbi Won showed growth in his production and utilized all he could muster at that time to give us this CD. Props! This CD also gave hiphop's other elements such as interludes, DJ hosting, beatboxing shine in the album, mastering what Rekognize fell short of. Plus whats so ill, is that he wrote personal things about the songs he did in the creidts of the CD. Showing everyone that in an age where everybody copies everybody, hiphop still has room to be brilliant. This CD was introduced fittingly by Banong Bagsik on the first track and with that opening you know you can't go wrong.

Mista Blaze - Knock, Knock (QBeats Remix)

Notable tracks: "Taken In"; "Fruits of Labor"; "Knock, Knock"; "Right Now"

13. Down Earf "Down Earf" - The collective of AceOne, DJ Arbi Won and Caliph8, which scored them a number 8 spot in the famous radio show at Berkeley College in the States and pushed the new underground regime. Soundscapes provided by DJ Arbi Won, this album never saw the light of day in Manila as the group went their separate ways. Even so, the few who heard it has spawned into developing their own movement namely Head On Productions, SUBFLEX, AMPON, Turbulence Productions, Peoples Future, Pamilia Dimagiba, Third Eye Infantry, Urban Flow and Spolarium (DJ Arbi Won and Proof Positive)

Notable tracks: "Quicksand"; "Affirmative Action"; “Krylon Mic Combat”

14. Bomb Azz presents "Foe The Love Of It" - This independently released album gave Manila their first taste of Kristyles, J.O.L.O, FlipJoint, Krazykyle and Proof Positive, Gmoney (GK movement). Playa P from the group Grounded killed the cd as well with a dope ass verse, hahaha, this was my first taste into the whole hiphop independent scene. This CD prompted me to reach what I've reached today.

Notable tracks: Check out the surprise track in the end Krazykyle is singing, I ain't even joking; "Where's dizzy?"; "Bomb Azz Playaz"; "Streets of QC"; "Womanipulator"; "Surgeon A and B"

15. Urban Flow "Test Da Flow" - This offering gives you the innocence of the Gaviola brothers before they hit big! This CD also is a production lesson of all sorts as Arbi Won flips each song. The songs has given birth to rap ballads through "Miss Pakipot", "Lumayo Ka" and the likes. The melodies Sunny and Wilzone G would make up makes them household names and legends till this very date. Urban Flow dared the public with this CD, and really made hiphop something to look forward to. Check out the lyrical brilliance of "Biscocho Masacre" which is really the Vizconde Massacre story, funny? I applaud it!

Notable tracks: "Miss Pakipot"; "Lumayo Ka"; "Biscocho Massacre"

16. Various Artists "Rekognize (Loob @ Labas)" - This venture managed to put hiphop back into the youths hands as DJ Arbi, Lowkey, Quaizy, Artstrong built the sound to support the much contained energy that the budding scene had. This also served as the train that gave new fans the lift they needed to push their faith back into pinoy hiphop. This spearheaded the movement with its diversity now and explored UNITY as an aspect towards success. JOLO's verse put the whole movement into its place with "kami magtataas ng antas ng hiphop sa pinas", check what you're doing and listen to this CD and know that we are ripples of this CD.

Notable tracks: "Loob at Labas"; "Magnificent 7"; "Yezterdayz Leftoverz"; "Make It Hot"; "U Lied To Me"; "Hotter Than Hell"; "It's All You"; "Freak 2Nite"

SOUL BREAK: Rubben Studdard "I'M SORRY 2004"

GOLD MINING: SKARM & P-FLEX "Better Dayz Better Nightz"

Skarm feat. P-Flex - Better Dayz, Better Nightz

"No one knows why I spend my time mining" by Verse One, off his song Gold Mining. This line has been in my head for the past 2 years cause I feel at times I'm mining all these talents in Manila. Not that they need to be found, they're out there. I just feel like I'm polishing gold everytime I hear new music from my collegues, friends and even competition. This track I'm giving you a peek off this through AMPON's Skarm. One of the best MC's in the Philippines, this kid also does his own beats. Watch out for his new group Talk Sic Ways and a few other projects his working on. I have a couple more Skarm tracks but he wouldn't want me to spoil it for you guys, so here's one with his brother on the track as well. Props to AMPON! Shoutouts to everyone there!

16 OPM HIPHOP ALBUMS THAT WOULD CHANGE YOUR VIEWS ON PINOY HIPHOP (Part 1 of 2)

PART ONE OF TWO:

History is an open diagram of what gave us the present. And truth be told, learning your past is the easiest way to excel into the future. Hiphop has grown and blown into proportions that its such a playground today, and these are the CDs that helped built Filipino's love for hiphop. From the start up years of Humanap Ka Nga Panget to FrancisM's Yo to the more obscure acts, this list evaluates the growth of hiphop in the fields of both a peforming artform to an enterprise. My hiphop was never western, it was always adapted to the surroundings of Manila. There are no east coast, west coast turfs here, but we respect that. Some would argue that there is no hiphop in the Philippines, but you'll see how much we have of it. There is an overload of hiphop talent that was centralized in Manila, that made our hiphop mature quicker. The first step into learning is imitation, and these CDS surpassed that stage slowly but surely and helped shape it to progress. If these CD's are indication of where hiphop is headed, then we will dominate and get our recognition locally and internationally within the next 3 years. My word is my bond.

1. Death Threat "Wanted" - This cd has the best drum kits I've heard off the pioneering years of hiphop in the Philippines! The melodies and song topics were fresh at the time and allowed the legendary status of Death Threat to be fulfilled. This CD helped shape how gangs in the Philippines are, and still is the soundtrack of the streets to this very day. After a couple of years of being a student to the production field, this CD blew me away with its drumkits alone. Aiyo Beware, hit me up with some of those kits.

Notable tracks: "Heaven O Hell"; "Mary Jane"; "Bad Boy"; "Inay"

2. Francis M. "Francism" - This album helped hiphop gain full musical attention winning Awit Awards for both Rock Album of The Year and Hiphop Album of the Year. Beating the likes of Eraserheads, Wolfgang, Mastaplann and Kulay. This album is multi faceted and proved that hiphop in the Philippines co-exists with our very strong foundation of Pinoy Rock.

Notable tracks: "Kaleidoscope World"; "Three Stars and a Sun"; "Mahiwagang Kamote"

3. Andrew E. "Wholesome" - This CD could be the only platinum selling hiphop/rap CD at the time of the Asian crisis and the emergence of piracy. Andrew E. proved that his edge is his originality and with sticking to his old rhymes, helped rekindle and open the minds up of the Philippines for his new hits. The best Dongalo beat I've heard in years could be found in this album "Here We Go" is a good platform to introduce the new Dongalo artists. Remember that Andrew E. isn't a novelty act because he invented this lane for himself. He is an original of sorts. Everyone else who copied him are the novelty acts.

Notable tracks: "Here We Go"; "Banyo Queen"; "You Don't Know Me"

4. Mastaplann's "The Way Of The Plann" - With one of the only hiphop CD's to be released in some parts of Asia, Universal records' Mastaplann's fan base grew and the Fil Am hiphop movement was given birth to. With ties around LA, the group moved back to the States to pursue a higher cause. This CD also marks my introduction to South Border's Jay Durias and Brix Ferraris' amazing vocal range on the title track "Way Of The Plann". Rest in peace to one of the most avid fans of hiphop, Bella Tan. Thank you for allowing all your hiphop artists to fulfill their gifts. This CD also gave way to DJ MOD's career in the recording industry giving us SVC and Trilogy.

Notable tracks: "Rollin In The Ride"; "The Way Of The Plann"; "Irie"

5. 7shots of Wisdom "Lifted" - Vibestation's premiere hiphop R&B group 7 Shots of Wisdom's debut CD proved to be worth the wait. After recording 30 songs, the group released this 15 track effort and flawlessly gave them their props as musicians and performers. With Boom Dayupay in the helm of the production, its showcased the strength of the now defunct Vibe Family. This album also introduces us to Kim Fabros' vocals who was coached by non other than Radha Quadrado.

Notable tracks: "Lifted"; "Don't Stare"; "Are You Down With It?", "Trilingual"; "Vibestation Session"

Vibestation Session Vol. 4 (Down Earf, El Latino, Grounded, 7Shots)

6. Legit Misfitz "X Generation" - This musical offerring showed hiphop in a more mature surrounding. Amidst the success of Kulay, this disc came in surprisingly from a group that gave you "Jabongga" and "Air Tsinelas". With more mature song topics and with execution dynamic enough to make the album an experience, this CD showed that hiphop is growing within the individuals and not just a form of having fun and expression. I grew up listening to Legit Misfitz since their days in Boom! and as a kid growing up, it was a good experiencing the artists I look up to mature within the music they do.

Notable tracks: "X Generation"; "Nakabuntis Ako"; "Chamama"; "High School"

7. Kulay "100,000 Pesos Worth of Karma" - This CD is a Philippine treasure with the brilliance portrayed as a Filipino artist. This kept my mind open to the tunes of R&B, Folk Music, Hiphop, Dance and just kept me aware of the life long process of enjoying music amidst catergorizing. The vocals and beats on this album gave me inspiration to push the envlope for Filipino Hiphop. This is the blueprint as well of what 7shots was formed to be. This CD gave me one of the biggest assets of hiphop which is to envision the future through your music. What you can create in your mind can manifest in the world. This CD showed us how to be relevant, full of substance and still have fun with it. The story behind the name as I was told, Kulay named Boom prior to this CD, Kulay paid 100,000 PHP to get out of the contract and to start anew.

Notable tracks: "Satisfyd", "Two Brown And White In The Middle", "Balikbayan"

8. Dongalo Wreckordz "R.A.P (Rap Artists of the Philippines)" - This CD made hiphop a movement, this is the father of Rekognize, United Freestyles and Tippin' The Scale! With Andrew E. at the helm of this CD and him dispatching new breed of emcees from his camp. This CD showcased and debuted the likes of Syke, I.P.K., Madd Poets, Chinese Mafia, BB Clan and more. The rest, they say is history.

Notable tracks: "Bo Lan Chaw", “Siya Ay Kadiri”; “Kapkapan”

Stay tuned for PART 2, coming very soon!

SOULFIESTA EXCLUSIVE: THE LIGHT (2009 REMIX)

FrancisM. & Loonie - The Light (2009 Remix) (Produced by Chrizo)

Sooner than you think! Just got off the phone with Chrizo and got a go signal to put this baby up! We get it a day before he puts it up on his page! They were at the Konektado Magazine launch at Denmarks spot! I can tell shit was popping, I couldn't even hear the guys clearly. Shoutouts to Mike Sweezy, Kane, JHon, DJ Excaliber, Hotnixx, GDub and my peoples at the event. Will post pictures soon! Mike told me there are To The Billboard shirts! Hehehe. But for now, enjoy this remix by Chrizo. Big ups to everyone, Soul Sonic, Loonie, Ron Henley, Francism -- keep on fighting!

CHRiZO's MYSPACE LINK HERE.

BLOGSITE CROSS OVER: SSONICTV.BLOGSPOT.COM

Its funny how people would push this issue. When really I am not in competition with SOULSONICTV. I've always supported they're site and as you may all know I'm very active in answering queries in they're tag board. I'm well linked into the site as some of you can see. Some dude who's trying to make the wrong point got some facts twisted. I've worked with SoulSonic with everything, every event, CD that I have. It's tiring how people act up on tagboards and would expect explanations there. Props to Arbi Won and his staff, I know them personally. Soul Sonic is only one of of the many blogs in this world. I just hate false accusations when they can't even put they real names on it. Anyways, hate is the new love in 2009. I've always been a fan of Soul Sonic, but should it limit me to the things I wanna write? Am I saying I am way better than Soul Sonic? NO. Plain and simple, that site and this site works well together. Out of all the blog sites intended for Pinoy Hiphop, some hater wants to pull this stunt on me. We need hate to fuel responses but shit, lets be about substance too at some point. How am I supposed to be in competition with them, I'm not even in the Philippines? This site and Soul Sonic takes on different views and complements each other. I think some people are too one sided that they can only read one site. Broaden your horizons fellas. Did you ever hear about a person who just read The Philippine Star his/her entire life? I don't think so. I need y'all to hate, but don't be stupidly hating. It's not helping your cause at all. Again, if any, this site is a mere extension of what Soul Sonic started. RESPECT.

SONG OF THE WEEK: "5 MICS" from the BSides CD

League of Paul, Ron Henley, One3D, Loonie & Prolifik - 5 Mics (Produced by Chrizo)

This song appeared in BSIDES last 2005 in a project between Space Monkey and Turbulence Productions. This CD was launch Nov 29, 2005 at Absinth that had performance by Los Indios Bravoz, The Expansion Team, Syke, God's Will and Stick Figgas. This posse cut was one of the last songs to be recorded. One3D set through his verse through email. Chrizo had to pick up and bring back Stick Figgas for the day. And League of Paul also was recorded in a different time. All in all, an underground classic that still remains underrated. Here's a peek into BSIDES. More to come, but enjoy this one for the weekend.

DOWNLOAD LINK HERE.

BEYOND Beyond: Entry 2 "CRADLE ORCHESTRA"

Cradle Orchestra feat. Nieve & Jean Curley - Talk It Out

Cradle Orchestra is a group from Japan, Arkane found this and shared this with me early on this year. The album "Velvet Ballads" has just been released and we looked far and wide until today, we have the album and its a classic. Don't take my word for it, just look at the video. This is hiphop instrumentation taken to another level. Cradle Orchestra actually is an orchestra that touches on hiphop grooves, its not a new idea but they manage to take it a step further everytime. Cradle Orchestra places itself in the middle of our campaign, and we take them with us -- Enjoy this one. I just might put up the album here, hmmm maybe in the future. I wanna selfishly enjoy this one first. Hehehe.

Cradle Orchestra feat. Black Thought - Live Forever
Cradle Orchestra feat. CL Smooth - All I Want In This World

MOM DUKES SHIRT for J DILLA'S MOM

This shirt was just released this week, as JDilla's mom is suffering from the same illness that took the legendary producer's life, Lupus. Proceeds of this shirt will go to JDilla's mom to help her fight the disease.

CHECK THIS SHIT OUT!! LEGENDARY!!

LEBRON JAMES X STATE FARM Commercial

TAKE IT BACK series: MIND OF A REBEL

The TAKE IT BACK series, is a deeper look on how Turbulence Productions was formed back in the day. This is a 3 dimensional look on the artists and how they're circumstances landed them in what could arguably be the best independent hiphop label in the Philippines ever.

Marquiss - Robin Hood Theory (Produced by Chrizo)

Marquiss and I met through Hotnixx's 21st birthday celebration at his house in LP. Nixx has already told me about this cat who sounded like and idolized Nas and ILL-J. We get introduced and I see a very shy dude. We would exchange glances and thats about it. Nixx turned it up, made Mark bust a few rhymes in front of me. I was impressed. Certain people are just equipped with the right bravado at the right time. I didn't have any artists to work with at that time that it made me feel like I wanted to part of they growth. Since having Ryan and Arkane was automatic, Nimbus wasn't in the picture yet and Nixx was already Hotnixx. So I told him I would want him in my team, no expectations. And this dude out right showed me that he plays for a team. Thats when I decided to put his then group into Turbulence.

Mark would showcase a big deficit as far as rhymes and subject matter from his groupmate that we toyed with the idea of doing solo songs. I would always tell my artists to do songs they wanna do. Cause there are things you can't show or talk about once the group decides to go another route. This was freeing Marquiss of a burden and actually carve his growth into his own identity. Mark has always impressed me. The first solo song we recorded "The Blackhole" (this came out on the First Heard CD) debuted and ended up being number 7 on the daily countdown of Barangay Fliphop at Power 108. We voted like a motherfucker up in there just to be heard! Turbulence was even called SouthBreeze Productions at that time! Marquiss was even given the chance to guest on the El Latino "Naku Buhay" ALBUM on the posse cut "Vatos Gettin Down". I would always give him beats to take home and after a week and a half he would kill every beat. Marquiss even has a song entitled "Masterpiece" featuring Bunnygyal of the reggae band Hemp Republic. Marquiss is also integral in forming AMPON as you guys might not know, he is part of the pioneering batch of this hiphop supergroup.

2005, I was working on a beat for the supposedly "SOUL IMPRESSIONS" CD I was trying to develop. I gave Mark a beat that ended up being "Wishing On A Star" -- if y'all don't know that song, y'all aren't following Marquiss right! Hehehe. That song got the attention of older cats who would see us and ask who he is, where he is, is he from the States, when is he performing? That same year, ILL-J put him in his "Journey" CD via two tracks, "Embrace The God" and "Sick Wid It".

College got in the way, and I started taking my production game to another level. Me and Marquiss would stay intouch. I would have concepts and beats I would throw for him, sometimes its a marriage sometimes it just wasn't clicking. "The More Things Change" has gotta be my favorite Marquiss track, he was always ahead of his time but this time he nailed it just where it was. Maybe where he was too. This song speaks in volumes, even Mike Swift would break down almost in tears on the 2nd verse, look for it around. I was getting too busy, and I wasn't looking or he wasn't showing me the assertiveness that I wanted that made me make decisions for him at times. Clearly, this was the mistake -- and this was the best mistake -- as I saw Mark assert himself to do G.R.A.E. This allowed me more time to focus on other things, as Chrizo and Marquiss got to work. I didn't wanna taint the concept of that album and offered little as far as production. And you know what, the album is dope 5 times over than I would expect. Marquiss would show the class and craftmanship of a veteran on that album. I heard it only when it was 80% done. Helped them hear things they didn't and fine tune certain things. Over all, THEY DID IT. The Greatest Rap Album Ever.

Marquiss is his own man at the end of the day. You will hear his verses and say "yeah, that makes sense -- why didn't I think of that" This dude isn't out there all the time with us grinding but surely it isn't questioned when his pen hits the ink! Even rebels sometimes get lost, but when they find their way back -- you better know they come to crash the party. Who else has a single that features Mastaplann, a song with Hasan Salam, not to mention Loonie, Verse One, Quest, Labo, Abby Assistio, Forensic Science and the likes.

Happy birthday bro! Our story is greater that the one I put up here. You and I have been through alot these years. I'm proud to see you walk through the life that you chose. The best is yet to come! I learned alot from you last 2008. Stay on the grind! Pencils down! Aquarians are tough for the Sags!

GRAE BLOGSPOT LINK HERE.

TO THE BILLBOARD NEWS: SWEEZY MANIA

It's still To The motherfucking Billboard Mike! I miss y'all! Sunny and J-Hon! Rocked this shit! Galing! Sinulog will never be the same again. Enjoy this one y'all! We work hard and we go hard for ours! See you guys soon!