Mad respect to DJ Bone and all the underground DJ’s who spin underground hip hop and also to all the people who called in to the radio station and tuned in from different states outside of the HI, as well as in the HI. Peace y’all.
-know

AFSB Season 1, Episode 1 from know:juander on Vimeo.

I woke up one morning and the only thing I could see was a grey mist setting over what seemed to had been a radiant, powerful purple night sky. I quietly finished packing up my things neatly; my shirts in show-room-like squares, condenser microphone in case, small number of fitted caps and headwear. I added enough socks, underwear, and tees to feel comfortable. In another bag I placed my Nike Dunks in neat rows where the toes altered; the matching shoe upside down as if it were in a shoe box, sole to the ground. In my carry-on; MPC and some flash cards, audio interface, and notebook.

I walked without interruption to the door after dressing in plain dark clothes, turning the knob. I’m leaving on a jet plane. I don’t know if I want to come back again. In my head I changed the words to add some sort of appeasement. My keys jingled at my side, hanging from my left-side’s belt loop. Venturing to my car, head hung low from the way life had treated me, my thoughts lingered between possible car accident and Madison Square Garden snakes. Various hues of emotion; I’m hooked to this tune and when they aint playing it right I’m the grouchy dude in the corner of a dimly lit bar. Short-story short my keys hit the ignition, turned and the roar from the engine reminded me of the Africa I imagined. Road signs, road signs… slow down. Road signs. Ah, finally; my exit.

I left the car unlocked leaving the keys under the driver’s side floor mat; registration and insurance in the passenger side visor. If somebody stole this car, they’d get pulled over, arrested… and I’d hoped for a high-speed chase or something to add to the home videos. To the terminal, baggage in-hand… this couldn’t be the end of the world…

to be continued…

NOTE:
• Check out the “MEDIA” section under the “PAGES” —> for music downloads, videos, and everything that we’re doing.
• Maybe one day people will stop trying to ‘understand’ me. Just be there for me, stop trying to understand everything. There are people in my life who ‘get’ me, but it’s not for everyone.

So there’s a lot of talk about the scene and what it is or means to be Hip Hop. Personally, and I’m sure many would agree, Hip Hop is a lifestyle and from that lifestyle we, (some of us) get to be able to translate that life into music. For other it’s poetry, graffiti, and even painting. I think that we get so caught up on being labeled that we forget the essence of it all is the actual lives the music comes from. And since I believe that, to know Hip Hop, there has to be some desire to learn its history and from that create its future.

So I’ve decided to at least be the educator on the inhabitants of this scene in Hawaii. Big ups to all of the local artists… support local art (…whatever it takes the form of). Peace. The first look into the Hip Hop scene HI calls home, is my homie Rhyme the Old. Of all the cats I’ve had the honor to know, this brother has the knowledge and the character to carry him.

Rhyme the Old Man…born Raymonte’ Leviticus Britt, in Brooklyn New York, waayyy back in 19?? (got to have some mystery), I was pretty much raised during the early stages of Hip Hop. I cut my teeth during those days but got really focused during the “golden age” of the culture during the 90-95 time-frame, the era of boom-bap. I had an older cousin who was considered the “Q” (like the character from the movie Juice) of East New York and I was his roadie. Since 1984, every block/basement party in the projects of Brooklyn, from 585 Blake Ave to 832 Ocean Ave over in Flatbush, you would find T-Rock and his little cousin “The Great Rockwell”. He would later change my name to Rhyme, which used to be spelled “Ryme” (RaYMontE). He said that “The Great Rockwell” carried a sound of expertise to it that was most definitely beyond my level of then wackness, and that there was room for only one person with the moniker “Rock” in their stage name, besides who was I to argue, as he put it “Ryme” was already built into the name my parents gave me, and here I am today.

“I have dabbled in every aspect of the culture from B-boying, DJing to even graffiti, no aerosol on the trains mind you, just Black Book Battles in the lunch rooms at my school. My true love however was Emceeing. From the first time I picked up a mic at a neighborhood block party to lunch room ciphers and neighborhood talent shows, I have been in love with Moving the Crowd. Early influences (and I will date myself) range from Kool Moe Dee, Slick Rick, Dana Dane, LL, KRS, Rakim and even Fresh Prince. I emulated them and began to pen my own rhyme verses. The style was pretty much lame in comparison to aforementioned talented Emcees, but I forged ahead and eventually created my own 3 minute and 20 second lyrical movies.”

“As I mentioned one of my earlier influences was Slick Rick who really opened my eyes to the art of storytelling. To this day his classic song “A Children’s Story” remains a favorite of mine and still rips up the party when the DJ throws it on. Rick created a very visual and easily understood piece, but provided the basic framework for his style of rhyme and later what mine would evolve into. Emcees like KRS, Rakim and Nasir Jones who brought a more gritty and visual almost movie tone to their lyrics would help me hone my craft and help create joints like “Misery”, “Charlie”, and “Smoggy Eyes” (hey everyone had an ode to the Spliff), as well as prep me for early battle arenas on the streets of East New York in Brooklyn.”

“Determined that my style, story based as it was, pretty much needed it’s own sound to go with it, I ventured to nearby studios (both home and pro) to see if someone could develop the sonic sound-scape I was in search of. Needless to say after countless trips to studios and walking out feeling like no one understood me, and the 25 to 50 dollar an hour blocks of studio time (crooks…this was my mom’s money), I decided to venture into what I considered the next element of the culture of Hip Hop, making my own beats.”

“Wackness abounded but again I was determined. I went from simple 4 bar drum patterns on battery operated store keyboards to using a Casio SK-1 to make loops. I would later graduate to an SP-1200 then a raggedy but potent EPS, which helped me craft what I deemed my “art of noise”. My equipment would grow and shrink over the coming years until I rested on my bread and butter piece the Ensoniq ASR-10.”

“If you listen to the track ‘Matter of Time’ It truthfully describes my coming into the Hip Hop culture. The original beat I made for that song included a banjo chord that I ripped from the ending of Bonnie and Clyde (Warren Beatty version) and Billy Squier’s Big Beat (a classic break), it was real punchy and had that Boom Bap feel to it that I loved, now this was written and produced back in 1994, fast forward to 2007 and well, some say the song is still relevant. Today I have changed the beat and given it a more earthy and bohemian twist plus added the sweet vocals of Goapele in the background for some background filler.”

“I have almost traveled the world thanks to my enlistment in the Air Force and have been in cyphers from Haiti to Seoul, Korea and have witnessed German Emcees breaking each other down. I am currently enjoying a run with the local Hip Hop music scene in Hawaii, the love for the culture is very evident, and I’m blessed to be a part of it.”

We will have more of Rhyme the Old Man on Juanderings soon, music and and interview… so stay tuned kiddos. pce.

-know