Purchase “The Feeling Of Flying” on Bandcamp – HERE

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In an interview with probably two of the most slyly funniest guys ever, we were able to chat with Alchemist and Evidence about this new chapter of their careers, how Lord Steppington really came to be, and their favorite projects of 2013. There’s a lot of sarcasm in this interview, so read closely.

RESPECT: You guys are childhood friends and you’ve worked together many times in the past. How did you guys first meet?

Alchemist: Well Evidence used to work at the Swedish Auto Clinic on Lincoln Boulevard. Ev used to work there, he was a mechanic and it all started from there.

So this being you guys’ first album together, what was it like not really having any creative restriction on Lord Steppington?

Evidence: Well, Brother Ali pretty much told Alchemist how to do the shit.

Alchemist: We owe a lot to Ali. He handed us a manuscript with some mad cadences and Ev transcribed them. He had a whole new cache of rhyme patterns once he came back from Europe.

Evidence: I’m into how the brain correlates with the voice. You can like rap left-footed or left-handed and it can really make a difference on your performance. Like if you rap with your left hand versus your right. Or with your right foot first or your left foot first. It’s basically like, if you use your left hand first you’re sharper, like you’re on the beat more. But if you use your right hand, more emotion comes out. So you gotta choose, do I want to be tighter on the rhythm or do I want to be a little sloppier but have more emotion with the right hand? The same applies to the feet.

So what would you say you guys’ style is then? What to do you tend to do when you’re rapping?

Evidence: I don’t know, like I’ve re-done tapes and been like man, I need to go re-do that left -handed because  it was tight with the emotion, but then I didn’t hit the beat right. On the stage, I switch.

For Lord Steppington, did you both work on the beats or maybe one of you worked more on the lyrics? How did you divide everything up?

Alchemist: Brother Ali did most of it, I just controlled the machine so it was basically his input. He did the beats as well as the rhymes when you break it down.

Evidence: Slug did the hooks.

Alchemist: So the whole family did it, it’s like Rhymesayers across the map.

So when did you two really decide to create the album? Had you been thinking about doing it for a while?

Alchemist: I looked at Brother Ali to the left and he just gave me this nod. It was like a mafia nod. Like you know when they make the nods for a hit? And I just knew it was a sign that we had to make an album.

Do you think your work with say Dilated Peoples or any of your other past projects influenced the sound of Lord Steppington? Did you guys try to go for something totally different?

Evidence: I think it was different. The apartment in Amsterdam, when we did a lot of it there, it just didn’t feel like L.A. The Netherlands is different from L.A. The sun’s not out all day, it gets dark early, we were looking at red light shit everyday. It was just a different vibe.

So you released “Step Masters” as the first single back in November. What made you pick Step Masters as the single?

Evidence: It’s the only track that doesn’t have drums. We just wanted something different. Because everyone’s beats are always crashing, so it was more of check us out and you’ll get to the bangers when you get the record.

Alchemist: The track was co-produced by Twiz the Beat Pro. He’s the human version of a skeleton. He’s crazy skinny but he makes funky beats. He’s ill.            

Evidence: Terrible name, great producer.

Alchemist: Great producer, great guy, on the come-up. Looks malnourished but funky.

Are you planning on releasing another single anytime soon?

Evidence: I think we are going to perform, go to Europe in these next two weeks and perform the album and see which songs react the best. I think we’ll be able to judge it off of that.

Alchemist: Did you hear the album? What should be the single?

“Mums In The Garage” with Action Bronson is an awesome track.

Alchemist: We are going to do incentives with every single from now on. Like this next single comes with a piece of gefilte fish. No ones ever done that. We’re going to make that possible. Free pickled tomatoes with the album.

Where did the title Lord Steppington come from?

Alchemist: He’s Evidence’s old au pair. He’s his old house sitter. You know, Evidence grew up in an English breakfast setting so we just wanted to dedicate it to the guy that used to look out for his house.

This is kind of a difficult question but now that 2013 is over, if you had to pick, what was the best mixtape or album of the year?

Evidence: 2013, my favorite album was Kanye West interviews.

Alchemist: Hmmm, Blue Chips 2, Action Bronson. Best mixtape of the year.

Evidence: And Ready to Die by Biggie Smalls. If you revisit it. Alchemist is a big Yeezus supporter.

Alchemist: Yeezus like shaped me in a way. I was going one direction and when I heard Yeezus, I just had to pump the breaks. Praise Yeezus. It was a brilliant work of art. It was a moment that he captured in all its splendor in electronified brilliance.

So what can listeners expect to see from Step Brothers in the near future? Any tours planned?

Evidence: No, we are doing the no promotion, less is greater thing.

Oh, kind of like the whole Beyonce secret album thing?

Evidence: No we are literally trying to see how many records we can’t sell.

Alchemist: Be completely non-existent. We book the shows we just don’t show up.

Evidence: We were like platinum before we even came out. We’re kind of some ill.

Alchemist: I sold a million props last year. My props went platinum last year. You wouldn’t believe how many prop units I moved. 

The regular and deluxe version with bonus tracks and a digital booklet is available for download on iTunes. Or check out a stream of the entire album below.

The post Step in the Name of Rap: A Comical Interview with Step Brothers (Alchemist & Evidence) appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

As we embark on the War And Peace Tour with my brother, Immortal Technique, I’m excited to release a new musical project. “Left In The Deck” is a collection of 10 raw, grimy recordings made in basements and hotel rooms around the world. This demo-tape style release was produced entirely by Jake One. It hasn’t been polished up for the market or cleaned for the radio. These songs were left in their original demo form and are intended only for my family of direct supporters. The beats are grimy and I feel like this is some of the best rhyming I’ve ever captured on tape. I want to release this directly to you.

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The sophomore jinx is a feared slump both for artists and fans alike. When an album has a certain degree of success, in terms of quality, expectations are raised exponentially for the second go-round. For some artists, this is welcomed pressure in that it forces them to craft an even tighter and more polished sound. For others, it is a recipe for disaster that ultimately results in them falling flat on their faces.

Several factors contribute to the sophomore jinx, from internal to external sources. An artist may become complacent from the positive reception of the debut, the label may rush out a second effort in order to strike while the iron’s hot (word to X), and others may just be unable to handle the pressure to perform. With J. Cole’s sophomore effort just around the corner, and fans all over the world hoping he lives up to the buzz surrounding Born Sinner, we think it might be useful to look at five other albums that were able to avoid the dreaded sophomore slump. Each album differs in context and most of them were not as commercially successful as their predecessors, but they are still triumphs because they show artists rising above the pressure and maintaining their integrity.

Nas – It Was Written (1996)

Nas had released what would go on to be widely-considered one of the greatest albums in hip-hop history with Illmatic two years prior. It Was Written moved away from the raw sound of Nas’ debut in favor of a slightly more mainstream reach. Because of this, the album was initially panned by critics as a departure from what made Nas great. In hindsight, most of those criticisms fell by the wayside and It Was Written went on to be considered one of Nasir’s best efforts.

Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)

Marshall Mathers had taken the rap game by storm in 1999 with the success of the Slim Shady LP. For his sophomore effort, Em decided to forgo much of the cartoonish imagery from his debut in favor of  darker, more introspective lyrical content. Despite the fact that the album’s misogynistic content garnered massive scrutiny by activists, the Marshall Mathers LP proved to be a hit with fans and critics alike and is considered by many to be Eminem’s best.

Brother Ali – The Undisputed Truth (2007)

Following a poorly-circulated album three years earlier with Rites of Passage, Ali delivered his proper Rhymesayers debut in Shadows on the Sun in 2003. Shadows was widely-praised and four years later Ali would follow-up with the Undisputed Truth. Produced entirely by Ant of Atmosphere, the album shifted its focus from the battle raps and introspection found on Ali’s debut to a more global, political view. “Uncle Sam Goddamn” was extremely critical of the US government and ultimately got Ali kicked off a 2007 tour sponsored by Verizon. Ali addressed the situation on “Second Time Around,” saying, “Verizon dissed me too, ‘cause I was too political.”

Outkast – ATLiens (1996)

In 1993, Big Boi and Andre 3000 took a $15,000 advance from LaFace Records and recorded Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik. The album encompassed the southern youth lifestyle at the time and was largely praised by critics. For their sophomore effort, Outkast expanded on their sound, creating much broader, spacier sounds. ATLiens also branched out lyrically, with more introspection from both men. While it didn’t propel them into mainstream fame (that would happen next with Stankonia), the album was more polished and mature and stands out as a pillar in the group’s catalog.

Clipse – Hell Hath No Fury (2006)

It took four years of label hell for Malice and Pusha to capitalize on their platinum-selling Lord Willin album. After a trio of mixtapes under their belt, they returned to the rap game with an angry, laser-focused product. With production handled entirely by the Neptunes, the Thorton brothers unleashed tales of coke, industry frustrations and some occasional stunting just for good measure. While Hell Hath No Fury failed to live up to the commercial success of their debut, it more than made up for with lyricism and consistency. The album is regarded by most — including Pusha T himself — as the Clipse’s masterpiece.

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All creative people go through slumps. J Smooth addressed this is an old vlog of his, calling writer’s block “the little hater.” Recently, he sat down with Brother Ali to see what the Minnesota MC does to combat the problem.

Ali goes pretty in-depth, talking about how Atmosphere deals with it, and addresses the depression that sometimes goes along with the problem.

The post Video: Brother Ali Talks about Dealing with Writer’s Block appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

In typical Rhymesayers fashion, with just over a week to go before Brother Ali’s album hits stores, we get a look at the packaging. Rhymesayers remains one of the few labels dedicated to maintaing high quality physical copy releases, which is becoming more admirable over time as buyers shift to digital.

Take a look at the packaging below, which includes a huge 80-panel fold out booklet of the American flag on one side and the liner notes on the other. Mourning in America and Dreaming in Color hits stores September 18th.

BONUS: Take a look at Ali’s recent visit to Sway in the Morning as he dismantles the 5 Fingers of Death freestyle challenge.

The post Video: Unpackaging Brother Ali’s New Album appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Brother Ali releases the newest single off his upcoming album, Mourning in America and Dreaming in Color. The album hits stores on September 18th and is produced entirely by Jake One. Be on the lookout for the Minnesota rhymer in your city for his upcoming tour.

You can follow along with the lyrics Ali was kind enough to post on his SoundCloud page:

I don’t usually use those big words ‘cause I don’t usually deal with big people.
I find you can get a whole lot of small people and whip hell out of a whole lot of big people.

Murder murder murder kill kill kill
Cannibals walk the earth and get ill blood spill
Eyes sunk deep in their skull their bone chill
Few for survival most for the thrill

Terrorism is the war of the poor
Hold up a mirror so the script get flipped
Cause when it’s in reverse it ain’t wrong no more
Warfare’s the terrorism of the rich

Who’s the true guerilla
When the bomb on your body killing innocent civilians
But a life is a life and a killer is a killer
You’re at a desk chillin’ push a button kill a million

See the anguish of the parents
When they’re carrying the body of the baby that they cherish
When innocent people perish
It’s a very thin line between a soldier and a terrorist

Murder murder kill kill kill
Death and destruction a cap get pealed
Harm or heal destroy and rebuild
Shots still ring out the blood still spill

Overseas we can mutilate and mangle
Let me give you an example what our troops are coming back to
Cold cities where the youth are getting strangled
The community in peril and our future looking narrow

Your school already failed you
The boys in blue will nail you they salute you with a barrel
The streets are a certified dead zone
Decorated with chalk lines and headstones

All the way live and every night the bullets flying
Even if you ain’t dying you a traumatized survivor
When you grow up in a climate of overriding violence
You will never get beyond it it’s always alive inside you

And death just surrounds you
Fallen classmates’ ghosts haunt you
Crime just calls you cause you look at what you walk through
Ain’t certain if you’ll make it ain’t sure you even want to

Murder murder kill kill kill
Death and destruction a cap get pealed
Harm or heal destroy and rebuild
Shots still ring out the blood still spill

Murder murder kill kill kill
Death and destruction a cap get pealed
Harm or heal destroy and rebuild
Shots still ring out the blood still spill

Choir
Tears and sorrow block the sunlight
Head low heart broke eyes closed tongue-tied
Waters raise the tide is climbing
Speeding time the sky is crying
Shots are fired bombs and sirens
War and riots mourning in America

Now that society forgot you
And they locked you in an obstacle course where nothing’s possible
If you slip up and they caught you
They got boxes where they lock you make a million dollars off you

They rule you too rude to school
They screw you in a booth shoot electricity through you
Or inject death into you
On a television set and let it ooze through you

Every time a leader tries to stand up for our freedom
Someone claps them with the heater their brain and back leaking
A shame their family grieving the only way to see them
Is a displaced dream displayed in a museum

They say they built our nation for a reason
Then they stained it with the bleeding of the slaves that never seen it
I ain’t hating I still want to believe it
And I’m not trying to leave it I just call it how I see it

Murder murder kill kill kill
Death and destruction a cap get pealed
Harm or heal destroy and rebuild
Shots still ring out the blood still spill

Murder murder kill kill kill
Death and destruction a cap get pealed
Harm or heal destroy and rebuild
Shots still ring out the blood still spill

They haven’t got anything to lose and they’ve got everything to gain. And they’ll let you know in a minute it takes two to tango. When I go, you go.

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