The Nope – Rain All Day (Radio)
In an era where most hip-hop artists claim to ‘break new ground’ or ‘challenge the boundaries’, yet more often than not only deliver on diluted retreads of stale rap clichés, Canadian/American duo The Nope (Psy of the Oddities and Moka Only) offer a different approach: they drop all pretence of treading new waters. As The Nope emcee Psy shares, “We’re exactly the same as every other music group you’ve ever heard before. So, prepare for absolute boredom.” For once, a rapper tells the truth.
The Nope is at best reactionary, their subversiveness a mere academic contrivance. Purported Dadaists, Psy and Moka Only claim to be “anti-everything,” crafting songs about “whatever we feel at the time.” And with tracks like “Mickey D’s”, an opus on eating at the imperialist Golden Arches chain three days in a row while recording, or another entitled “Chant’n'Sing”, where Moka confides that, after airing woman troubles, “I can understand why some of yall want to pee on ‘em man,” the claim of speaking what is on their mind in unguarded fashion is not to be questioned.
Yet, I don’t know if it is to be lauded either, even if it makes troubled RnB crooners sympathetic. Sometimes naked honesty can amount to a case ‘When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong’, rather than a nuanced artistic declaration. Though, in fairness, how a listener views the duo depends on whether he or she takes The Nope serious. The Nope creates feel-good nonsense, mood-music hearkening to a bygone era when acts like Ultra Mag and Y’all So Stupid had a rightful place. And Psy and Moka’s talents shine, regardless of whether their gifts are realised on material of any depth or significance.
Instead, Moka’s soulful off-kilter production and Psy and Moka’s playful lyricism and nimble rhyme-schemes recall the creative lightheartedness of early-to-mid 90s hip hop, except without Jurassic 5 or Ugly Duckling-like anachronism. Written by: Daniel Saad
https://urbnet.box.net/shared/static/uj9b7p6dom.mp3
SWOLLEN MEMBERS “ARMED TO THE TEETH” CANADIAN TOUR
SWOLLEN MEMBERS have their sights firmly set on making a name for themselves in a hip-hop world crowded by gangsters and supermodels. Recovered from drug addiction and revitalized, focused and stronger than ever, SWOLLEN MEMBERS are armed and ready for war and performing all over Canada.
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Queen’s Hotel |
Nanaimo, BC |
9-Nov-09 |
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Moe Joe’s |
Whistler, BC |
11-Nov-09 |
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The Red Room on Richards |
Vancouver, BC |
12-Nov-09 |
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Chrome City Night Club |
Kamloops, BC |
13-Nov-09 |
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Blarney Stone |
Lethbridge, AB |
14-Nov-09 |
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Back Alley |
Calgary, AB |
17-Nov-09 |
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Dinwoodie Lounge (UofA) |
Edmonton, AB |
18-Nov-09 |
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Chef Francisco |
Sylvan Lake, AB |
19-Nov-09 |
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Pyramid Cabaret |
Winnipeg,MB |
21-Nov-09 |
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Couchiching Multi Purpose Building |
Fort Frances, ON |
23-Nov-09 |
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The Roxy |
Thunder Bay, ON |
24-Nov-09 |
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Canadian Nightclub |
Sault Saint Marie, ON |
25-Nov-09 |
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Cobalt Classic Theatre |
Cobalt, ON |
26-Nov-09 |
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TBA |
Ottawa, ON |
28-Nov-09 |
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Lee’s Palace |
Toronto, ON |
2-Dec-09 |
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Starlight Club |
Waterloo, ON |
3-Dec-09 |
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Mikado |
St. Catharines, ON |
4-Dec-09 |
Swollen Members Overcome Drug Addiction, Legal Problems and Labels Collapsing To Record New Album “Armed To The Teeth” Featuring La Coka Nostra, Talib Kweli, and Tech N9NE.
Swollen Members Leak The New Song ‘Warrior’ Online
Swollen Members have leaked the new track “Warrior” online at www.MySpace.com/SwollenMembers from their upcoming new album “Armed To The Teeth” which lands in stores October 13th, 2009 through Suburban Noize/E1 Music Canada and Battle Axe Records.
“It’s been a crazy few years for not only me, but also Swollen. I was in a very bad state for the last three years; drugs and an abusive lifestyle had gotten the best of me. I was severely addicted to Oxycontin, doing just over twenty 80mg pills a day, which equals the strength of about 320 Percocet pills. I became public enemy #1 with the cops due to my association with Hell’s Angels and other clubs and was under constant surveillance with wire taps, etc. There was a time when I couldn’t leave my house without being confronted by the cops. At least 3 or 4 police vehicles would show up every time I left the house,” says Mad Child. “And with a diet of two quarts of ice cream a night, I gained a lot of weight and slipped into a very dark place. I was basically living in my theater room for the last two years and spent over half a million dollars on pills. I wasn’t paying attention to my business affairs either so I lost two million dollars over the course of my addiction. I went from living the high life with girls, money and parties to watching movies in my theatre and being a zombie with only my dogs to keep me company. What I now realize is that I put the lives of many people on hold during my addiction. There are a lot of people that count on me and I know I let them down. Thank God I have a studio in my house and an amazing group who never abandoned me. The only good thing that came out of the last three years is the album we are about to drop.”