This crate of cassette tapes had been tucked away in the bottom of a storage closet for quite some time. This weekend, I decided to unearth these old gems.
I have hundred of tapes here, many of which are hip-hop mix shows that I recorded straight from the radio.
I decided that I wanted to digitize these tapes for posterity. Tapes tend to wear out after a lot of plays or a long period of time. I also wanted to turn some of them into MP3 files so I could play and share them more easily.
I started out with the first tape I recorded from The Mastermind Street Jam which aired on the now defunct Energy 108 radio station. This was a weekly hip-hop show on commercial radio. Most of the other times, they played dance music but each and every Saturday we got a great hip-hop mix show.
The Mastermind Street Jam was required listening in the 1990's. If I couldn't listen to the show on Saturdays, then I would just put in a tape and let it roll so I could listen to the show later.
It originally was on Saturdays from 5 to 7 p.m. and the first tape I have is one from the October 22, 1994 broadcast.
Mastermind is still deejaying on commercial radio and can be heard on Flow 93.5. He is active on Twitter and I think he appreciated me spinning his old show today.
I know that there are several people who would love to hear these old radio shows. I would take me some time but I could digitize what I have and start up a podcast of these gems. That would be cool.
I've lost some tapes over the years but I've still got a pretty good collection here.
I even have two different versions of Run-DMC's Raising Hell.
Why you ask?
Because the tapes looked different. The one on the left has the old school paper label and the one of the right has the more modern printing done directly on the cassette.
I am such a die hard fan of Run-DMC
and cassette tapes
and mix shows.
It was actually a lot of fun multi-tasking this weekend. I was formatting old cassettes to MP3s while I was writing an article about hip-hop, a couple blog posts, and doing laundry.
Hope you had a good weekend too. Leave a comment below and we'll chat. Thanks!
I really like this variation of the famous Scrabble game. It is especially effective to use for the primary or junior classrooms since it doesn't use a game board and the students don't have to calculate scores.
Each player gets a tile bag with letter tiles of that same colour. Unlike the regular version of Scrabble, these tiles connect to each other and can even be stacked on top of each other.
You nab an opponents' word by placing a letter or letters on top of any word to create a new word. For example, "game" can be turned to "name." The next player could place a "t" on top of the "n" to spell "tame." This allows the students to think of rhyming words as opposed to just new words to add to the famous crossword game.
One of the best things about this game is that each tile back only contains 25 double-sided tiles. Once a player has used up all of his or her tiles, the game is over. A game can literally be played in 15 minutes which is about the perfect time for a Word Study Centre.
2) Scrabble Slam
This is another variation of Scrabble that is even more fast-paced than the one above. The first thing you do is spell a four letter word and place the cards into the tray. You then deal out the cards to each player until you have completely exhausted the deck.
Players then spread out their cards in front of them and get ready to start the game.
The game is played by placing one letter card down on the tray to form a new word. For example, placing a "B" on top of the "C" makes the word "boat" or placing an "L" over the "T" would spell "coal"
Players don't have to take turns in this game. You can play words as quick as possible. You just have to say the word out loud as you play your single card each turn.
Once again, this is a quick-paced game that fits well into a Word Study Centre.
3) Word Ladders
This is a great book with 100 reproducible worksheets. Each work sheet has a word at the bottom of the ladder that is related to the word at the top. The students climb the ladder by changing the word each step of the way. Sometimes they need to change a letter, sometimes they need to rearrange the letters, and sometimes they need to drop a letter.
There are also clues written for each step of the way to help the students figure out the new word.
4) Making Words
There are several books available to buy that use this strategy, or you can make your own quite easily. Along the top of the page are letter tiles that the students can cut out. They then rearrange their tiles to spell words.
I have used this strategy two different ways. Let the students spell as many words as they can in a set amount of time, or instruct them to spell specific words. You can make it more difficult by saying, "I am thinking of something you would wear, instead of asking them to spell "coat."
For an extra challenge there is always one big word that uses all of the letters. The kids always love trying to figure out the "mystery word."
5) Spill and Spell
This is an older game but it is also available in a few different formats. It's a bit like Yahtzee except instead of numbers, you get letters or word parts. The students then arrange the dice so as to spell words.
Have fun and play some word study games in your classroom!
When the nominations for tonight's Juno Awards were announced way back in February, I was very excited to see how well hip-hop had been represented. I looked forward to a great show.
Now that the closing credits have rolled, I feel the need to vent my frustrations. The Junos didn't live up to their incredible potential. They talked the talk but failed to walk the walk.
My biggest frustration was that the rap award was not televized. I have never seen such an impressive list of nominees since the rap category was added back in 1991. D-sisive, Drake, Eternia and Moss, Ghettosocks, and Shad were all up for the award.
I was really pulling for Eternia. I would have loved to see her receive some Juno love. She deserves it! I was tweeting about that yesterday when it was announced that the award had already been handed out.
It's a shame that the rap category was left off of the television broadcast. We should have seen that a woman was actually up for the rap award, whether or not she won. We should have seen D-sisive, who has been dropping amazing records at a breakneck pace for the past few years. We should have seen underground sensation Ghettosocks. We should have seen the amazingly talented Shad. If any of these artists had won, I would have been happy. But it would have been even better to see them all recognized on national television.
It turns out that Shad won but he was given the award at a small gathering the day before the actual award ceremony. Didn't we learn anything from 1998? That was the year the Rascalz refused to accept their award due to the lack of public acknowledgement of rap music and hip-hop culture from the Canadian Academy of Recorded Arts and Sciences.
The show did have a few nods to hip-hop but it really wasn't enough. Drake tried his best to represent hip-hop culture every time he took to the stage for his hosting duties, which was nice to see.
A montage was aired a few times that showed Maestro Fresh Wes, the very first recipient of the rap award. He also introduced a performance with fellow rapper Classified but it was a rock performance and not a rap one. A tiny video clip featured a few seconds of Michie Mee as well.
I was impressed to see K'Naan win single of the year for the great rendition of his song “Waving Flag” that included a who's who of Canadian talent billed as Young Artists for Haiti. The song is absolutely beautiful.
I watch the Juno Awards every single year and I appreciate the celebration of Canadian Music. I always pay special attention to the amazing talent we have in this country.
I also understand that some awards need to be handed out prior to the broadcast, otherwise the show would go on until everyone had to start work in the morning. But I find it completely unacceptable that rap music is often swept aside.
Hip-hop should have received a special tribute on this 40th edition of the Juno Awards. After all hip-hop is nearly that old itself and has a rich history in this country. We should have seen a medley of rap hits like the one put together for the folk and rock songs of the 1970s.
I hope more people will be this vocal about this lack of hip-hop at the Junos. I hope this never happens again.
Remember what my skateboard looked like two weeks ago when I first bought it?
Here it is after some March Break skating.
It's normal for your skateboard to get a bit scratched and banged up after only a few rides.
They are built to take some major punishment.
You can see that I've scraped some of the paint and design off the bottom and put a wheel divot under the top wheel.
But I have no idea how this crack got there.
Well, that's not entirely true. I tried to get some air out of the quarter pipe. That is the ramp in the middle of the above picture.
I don't know why I tried that trick. I don't like this particular ramp. The incline is pretty much vertical. It is way too steep and I rarely use it.
But I was feeling pretty good about my new board and the tricks I was pulling off that day, so I tried it. I entered the ramp with a fair amount of speed, pumped my legs, and did an ollie at the top. However, I lost control and my board went flying into the air. I jumped back and landed on my feet but I did stretch out my back a bit.
I laid down on the concrete for a while and took a bit of a break after that semi-wipe-out.
I started skating again and didn't bother to stop and check out the condition of my board.
I only noticed the crack the next day after I had skated for a while. I think my board went pretty high up in the air and came crashing down the day before.
Skateboards are made in several different plies. This crack only went through the first one. It should hold up to a bit more punishment though. I hope.
My logo now adorns the skate park in glorious colour.
It is also there is stunning red.
And in cool black!
I made this stencil out of cereal box card. I love the way it looks against the blue sky.
I made a few more improvements to the park as well.
I really hated going to the skate park and seeing all of the crudely drawn pictures of male genitalia. So I covered over a large inappropriate piece of graffiti with this,
And another one with this,
I might not be that skilled with the spray paint but I think what I did makes the part look a whole lot better.
Sometimes, it’s hard to be a writer. You get the best and worst of both the “artsy” and “practical” worlds. You use the building blocks of language to communicate with other people, often about very specific thoughts, ideas, emotions, plans, instructions, and many other things.
You also use language to create art, which is a much different process with a product that doesn’t usually fit within the practical realm. Fiction and nonfiction are two very different things, but sometimes, the line between them can start to blur – especially when you’re suffering crises from both worlds.
As you probably know, one thing that bridges the gap between fiction and nonfiction is writer’s block. No matter what you’re working on, it’s easy to get stuck in a situation that seems to rob you of the ability to think clearly and express yourself well in writing.
It’s always stressful to be stuck in the vicious cycle of writer’s block, but the good news is that there are plenty of strategies you can use to get yourself out.The following are ten of my favorite ways to banish writer’s block, so I hope they’ll be useful to you the next time you’re struggling to put words on the page.
1. Free Write
If your brain is swarming with ideas and you feel too addled to decide how to organize them as you write, put them down on paper in a mind map format. Your ideas can be isolated – they don’t have to form a cohesive body of writing in your head. Write them down to help you wrap your mind around the big picture, then devise a strategy for incorporating your “free write” material into a solid piece of writing.
2. Exercise
Go for a run, do some yoga, or simply stretch in your office for a few minutes before you try writing again. The physical act of moving can increase blood flow to the places that need it, and it can also give your mind a much-needed rest from focusing on writing.
3. Work on a Different Piece
When you have a variety of writing projects at the same time, you can switch to a different one while you give your brain time to recover. As you write a different piece (preferably in a different style), your mind will continue to work on the problem you encountered. This gives you the opportunity to keep working while you subconsciously generate more ideas.
4. Work Somewhere Else
Get out of the office for a little visual inspiration. You might try working at a coffee shop, in a park (for as long as your laptop battery lasts), or at the local library. Being somewhere quiet that isn’t your regular work space can help you get past stress and boredom.
5. Motivate Yourself with Time Tricks
There are two time tricks that work for me, and one might work better for you than the other. The first is to tell yourself that you only have to write for five minutes. Once you start writing, it’s easy to keep going, and soon you’ve forgotten all about having writer’s block. The other strategy is to limit yourself to a reasonable period of time, such as thirty minutes, and work hard to finish your piece of writing during that time frame. Doing this can help you write what’s already in your head without having to tease it out slowly.
6. Talk Instead of Writing
If you can’t write, start talking into a voice recorder. You can go back later and type the good parts of what you dictated, which can easily be turned into a solid piece of writing.
7. Work Toward a Reward
Give yourself a treat once you’ve finished the task you’re struggling to complete. You might get yourself a special drink, pick up some ice cream, or even buy yourself an inexpensive reward such as a new book.
8. Take a Nap
Sometimes, the best thing you can do to relieve stress and give your mind a break is to take a nap. Even if you have an important deadline approaching, it can be helpful to invest fifteen or twenty minutes in a power nap. There are times when it’s the only solution.
9. Read Something Great
Most writers are inspired by great authors, so pick up one of your favorite books and read a chapter. Reading a favorite poem or short story can also break you out of writer’s block.
10. Write Another Way
If you’ve been typing, try getting out a pen and paper to help you get past writer’s block. Changing the medium of your writing can help your brain relax and improve your ability to focus. You can also open a blank email and start typing “to a friend” if it helps you get your work done (you can copy and paste your work into a word processor later). By helping your mind relax, you’ll decrease the amount of stress you’re feeling as you regain the ability to write efficiently.
Bio: Lisa Shoreland is currently a resident blogger at Go College, where recently she's been researching art scholarships as well as disability scholarships. In her spare time, she enjoys creative writing, practicing martial arts, and taking weekend trips.
As I started my fifth year of teaching, I felt a confidence I had never felt before.
Something just clicked and I realized that I finally knew what I was doing.
Up until that point, it felt like I had been treading water.
I went in to the classroom early every day, I stayed late, and I often brought work home with me. I put in so many hours those first few years of my career that I barely had any free time. I was quite simply, just getting by.
This weekend I read a blog post on Daily Writing Tips that mentioned the 10,000 Hour Rule. This post was directed at writers but the principle behind this rule holds true to teaching as well. It basically states that "most people who become highly accomplished at one endeavor or another have worked at it for 10,000 hours."
As soon as I read that sentence, I stopped and figured out how many hours I had been teaching before I felt my new found confidence. Here's what I came up with,
There are roughly 200 instructional days each school year. I put in at least 10 hours a day of work. So that makes for about 2,000 hours each year. I know that this number is even probably a little bit low. New teachers live and breathe their job for the first year and usually the next three as well.
So 2,000 hours a year times 5 years = 10,000 hours.
The 10,000 Hour Rule was developed by Malcolm Gladwell in his book "Outliers: The Story of Success" and it should be a comfort to new teachers.
In other words, "Hold on, it gets easier."
I have been proclaiming for a few years now that it took me 5 years to actually figure out what I was doing in the classroom. Now I know why.
Women have been actively involved in hip-hop since its very humble beginnings in the 1970s. That is something that often gets overlooked. It really shouldn't.
We need to hear female voices in this male dominated genre, otherwise we are really only getting half of the story.
I think it is disrespectful to put women rappers in a different category than their male counterparts. This happens all the time. Case in point is the term "femcee" that is now often used. This term combines MC with the word "female" to call attention to gender.
However, an MC is an MC and the sex of that performer does not need to be distinguished with a term. Quite frankly, good music is good music whether it comes from a male or a female. That is why "femcee" is not a term that you will ever hear us use here at Silent Cacophony or at DOPEfm.
Kadyelle had a lot of great things to say on this topic during our exclusive interview with her. She said,
"I also think the general consensus to hold females to a far lower standard than males is also a part of it. Women don’t aspire to be greater that what they possibly could be because they are expected to be bad, I think, to be honest.
It’s a shame that I am constantly being told that if I want to be out there touring and putting out releases that I just have to accept it. It’s the kind of criticism that you get that not a single person will comment on your songs, they’ll comment on the fact that your skirt maybe isn’t short enough, or your top isn’t low-cut enough, or maybe there is another female rapper out there that happens to be skinnier than you or hotter than you. It’s pretty ridiculous.
I don’t know why there’s so much tolerance for that kind of behaviour in hip-hop culture. I don’t know why it exists. It’s a shame and I hope over the next decade or two we see the last of that. It’s a ridiculous, out-dated situation that really needs to end if people want to see more females in the industry be successful.”
Wise words from an amazingly talented artist and songwriter. If you missed the Kadyelle interview, please do yourself a favour and read, stream, or download it now.
The player below will give you a stream of the final mix set that Gamma Krush did for the show last week. He put together over four hours of tracks with each and every song blessed by either a woman deejay, rapper, or producer.
I still have three episodes of Know Your History to bring to you as well, so if you've enjoyed what you have heard so far, please stay tuned to this blog for more over the next few weeks.
You can download this mix set for free or stream it with the player below. And don't forget to go back and download the other three mix sets as well.
Here is the conclusion of DOPEfm's exclusive interview with Kadyelle. You can listen to the interview with the player below, download the podcast for free, or read the transcript from the very beginning.
Thanks for tuning in!
Chase: “It’s pretty amazing how hip-hop is such a global phenomenon now. Here we are talking to you, Kadyelle, an amazing emcee all the way from Australia. I tell you, I am so glad that I found your music online. I know we sometimes get stuck in our regions. There is hip-hop coming out of Hamilton and there is a lot coming out of Toronto and New York and we sometimes get stuck on that.”
Kadyelle: “I know what that’s like.”
Chase: “When I interviewed Eternia last year we talked about that and she said that if you ask people who their favourite MCs are, they will name 20 or even 50 rappers but if you ask them who there favourite female MC is, a lot of people will name 1, because you can only have one. It’s like, “Who’s your Top 20 and who’s you favourite female? (and you can only have one.)
That is really a shame because when I took psychology classes we covered how women have more of a brain for linguistics and I always thought it was strange that if women are more wired for linguistics, why aren’t there more women in hip-hop?”
Kadyelle: “I think a lot of people think that there isn’t any room for females in hip-hop. A lot of males are completely offended by the idea of a female rapping. You see this online a lot because they don’t have the courage to say it to your face. I think that intimidates a lot of women. They lose the courage to get up on stage and put out releases and put themselves in that situation. Getting attacked by people is a worry.
It’s also a fairly new thing for women to get involved. I haven’t heard of women being involved in hip-hop to an extent anywhere near as long as males have. I don’t know why it is the way it is.
I also think the general consensus to hold females to a far lower standard than males is also a part of it. Women don’t aspire to be greater that what they possibly could be because they are expected to be bad, I think, to be honest.”
Chase: “Yeah, I don’t know what happened there because I did some research of hip-hop in the 70’s and right when hip-hop started getting big, there was a female crew called The Mercedes Ladies in 1976. They weren’t sexualized like a lot of the female rappers are nowadays where they seem to sell an image more so than their lyrics.
When hip-hop first started females were seen as equals and something has happened over the years where that has shifted somehow. In the 21st Century, I really want to bring that back. If you look at my Top 10 Albums of 2010, there are 3 female MCs on there. And I didn’t put Top 10 pop albums, Top 10 Country albums, that was my Top 10 albums list.
Number 1, 2 and 10 on my list were female MCs and I don’t think people are thinking like that. There is some amazing rap coming from, as Shad would say, the better halves of dudes.”
Kadyelle: “There is. I’ve been keeping an eye and ear out for a while now and some of my favourite musicians are female emcees and I honestly have no idea why they aren’t respected more or even grouped in the same category as males in the industry.
Considering basic hip-hop culture is about respect and humanitarianism and love and mutual appreciation for each other, and yet when you bring females into the equation, it really brings out the worst in a lot of males in the industry.
It’s a shame that I am constantly being told that if I want to be out there touring and putting out releases that I just have to accept it. It’s the kind of criticism that you get that not a single person will comment on your songs, they’ll comment on the fact that your skirt maybe isn’t short enough, or your top isn’t low-cut enough, or maybe there is another female rapper out there that happens to be skinnier than you or hotter than you. It’s pretty ridiculous.
I don’t know why there’s so much tolerance for that kind of behaviour in hip-hop culture. I don’t know why it exists. It’s a shame and I hope over the next decade or two we see the last of that. It’s a ridiculous, out-dated situation that really needs to end if people want to see more females in the industry be successful.”
Chase: “It certainly does. It’s a shame that we even have to speak of this and spend 15 minutes of the hour we’ve got with you because, for me, it’s a non-issue.
I’m a teacher and when I teach drama to my class, we discuss the terms actor and actress. The –or suffix means “one who” so I call the girls actors in the class because we are all acting, we don’t need that separation there.
I think things are starting to change a little bit. I’ve noticed in the hip-hop community that I circle with, and the blogosphere, and with some of the artists that I interview and talk with all the time, that we are more open and showing more love and respect to the females on the mic. I hope that trickles down to the general audience. That really is my goal here.
I hope our special evening for International Women’s Day helps. An entire evening highlighting the women in hip-hop will hopefully influence a few people.”
Kadyelle: “It’s well past the hour where we need to all put our prejudices behind us. It would be completely unacceptable if these prejudices existed racially. Everyone needs to support the notion that having prejudice against someone’s gender is wrong in society and it’s wrong in music.
I really do think the bar needs to be raised. I think holding females to this lower standard is just silly and detrimental. I think there are so many females out there that are, or could be, as good as any of their male counterparts. It’s time that that got recognized.”
Chase: “Yeah, when I talked to Eternia about the lack of female MCs, she said that there isn’t one. She said, ‘Everywhere I go, I see women involved in hip-hop culture.’ There are tons and they just aren’t getting the exposure. Speaking of exposure, you were nominated for female MC on the Oz hip-hop?”
Kadyelle: “I was nominated in 2009 before I’d released anything and I ended up getting fourth. Keep in mind, that there were only 7 females nominated in the entire country. This year, I ended up getting second so I was slightly happier with that. Next year, I’ll be aiming to be first. That would be nice. It’s a bit of a popularity contest. It definitely pays to be popular for these hip-hop awards.”
Chase: “Were the other artists in your category more commercial because you are an underground artist, so were the others more pop or jiggy?”
Kadyelle: “Not at all. The girl who got first, I had never even heard of her. I checked her out and she is really heavily influenced by the UK grime style. Last year, or the year before that, Class A won it, and she’s a really good friend who was on ‘Earthworthy’ and on my new album too. She’s got that cleaner, more commercial sound, I suppose, but the reality is there are no females that are commercially successful in hip-hop here, they are all underground.”
Chase: “We have commercial radio here and there is a real difference in the sound. We only spin underground here on our show. It’s interesting to see how grime isn’t popular here at all. I thought that was pretty much relegated to UK.”
Kadyelle: “I guess we are influenced by a lot of different places. We are an English Colony so we are influenced by the UK and the underground US. Over here, it is kind of unacceptable to be commercial. It’s more about being raw but doing it in a way that doesn’t sound bad – raw in a quality way, I guess. The acts that have commercial success are the ones that manage to keep to their underground styles the best. There isn’t really much over here that is horribly commercial and poppy that is going to be successful, especially to really staunch hip-hop supporters.”
Chase: “That is really interesting because there are a lot of regular commercial listeners over here and the stuff that gets played on the radio and the stuff that my students listen to, I would never listen to, strictly underground here.”
Kadyelle: “If there is even the vaguest implication that you are going to move on to a big label and basically sell out, then you’ll lose support. That’s just how it is. It’s underground or nothing with Australian hip-hop. It’s got a sense of nationalism and extremely rigid set of rules of what it has to be.
We have national radio over here. If you get played on Triple J, then you’re basically in and then if you move from Triple J onto commercial radio, then you’re out. I’ve never really noticed that anywhere else.”
Chase: “Okay, I think we should play another song. Is there anything you like the Canadians to hear?”
Kadyelle: “Let’s play the first single off my album. It’s called “Safe” featuring the vocals of Brooke Taylor and it’s produced by The Digital Assassin, who is a producer from Melbourne. It’s probably my favourite song off the album so far.”
Chase: “Okay, we’ll spin that one and we’ll be back to wrap up the interview with Kadyelle, all the way from Australia. Daddy J is manning the boards, Chase March on the interview tip, and we’ll be right back.”
Download or stream this interview with the player at the bottom of this post to hear Kadyelle's new track from her forthcoming album. For the blog, I will embed this one from her last album.
Chase: “That was the lead single off Kadyelle’s new album “The Tree That Kept Apart the Stars.” That song was called “Safe” and we are fortunate enough to have Kadyelle, one of my favourite MCs out right now, on the phone. This has been an awesome interview. Thanks a lot for taking the time to be on the phone lines with DOPEfm.”
Kadyelle: “Oh, that’s not a problem. Otherwise I’d just be lying on the couch watching cartoons.”
Chase: “Yeah because it’s the evening for us but it’s only the morning for you over there. Time difference. So tell us where people can find out more about Kadyelle.”
Kadyelle: “I still have a myspace. I’ve got a facebook page as well. That’s the one I update the most so if you look up Kadyelle on facebook I should pop up. I’ve got a Reverb Nation page as well. My bandcamp page for downloads is pretty up to date too. That’s about it.”
Chase: “Well, I hope people take the time to listen to your music and I hope that they enjoy what we’ve spun today because I am totally sold. I am so in love with you and your sound and your music. I hope that you continue to bless us with your music for long time.”
Kadyelle: “That’s the intention. I only hope for bigger and better things. I hope to be doing this for a long time. It’s such an amazing experience to be a part of the scene over here. I really hope to get my music out internationally, digitally, and by coming over there to do shows and sell stuff out of my backpack, old school style.”
Chase: “I really hope you come to Toronto sometime soon. I would love to see you. I am going to champion you music on my blog, Daddy J and Gamma Krush are going to spin you as well. DOPEfm is supporting Kadyelle!
Kadyelle: “That’s awesome. Thanks so much.”
Chase: “It’s been such an honour and privilege to have you on the show.”
Kadyelle: “Thanks so much for having me. It’s been fun.”
Download this podcast for free to hear this entire interview and hear some amazing tracks from Kadyelle. You can also subscribe to the podcast to hear the best in underground hip-hop each and every week. And best of all, it's free!
Chase: "So, we are back with Kadyelle, all the way from Australia. I feel blessed to have stumbled across your album. Most of the stuff I listen to is Canadian or American rap but, from what I understand, there is a huge Australian scene.
Kadyelle: “Australia is insane! Last year were were playing shows to 500 – 600 people per show. The enthusiasm for Australian hip-hop has just exploded over here. Even the international stuff is getting so much support.
But I know how you feel, like 90% of what I listen to is American hip-hop, even though Australia is awesome. I've always had my passion in underground American hip-hop and I sort of can't shake it. It's just some quality stuff coming out of there and from Canada as well.”
Chase: “Awesome. So our stuff makes it to you fairly easily, but I'm not sure how easily the Australian stuff makes it our way.”
Kadyelle: “I think also, it's a relatively new thing, I mean, it has been over here a long time but it has always been an insular thing and it came along with a strange nationalism, I guess, like staunchly Australian type-thing, but now people are starting to look at it internationally.
I don't know if you've heard of Bliss N Eso? They are an Australian group that is nationally popular. They tour US and Canada. So there is some quality stuff coming out of Australia that is starting to make an impact internationally. Hopefully it is gonna trend because there are so many people who don’t even know about the hip-hop thing over here and it is definitely worth checking out. There is an amazing diversity over here of hip-hop and rap.”
Chase: “Do you have any plans to come to North America with the release of your new album?”
Kadyelle: “We have a plan for 2012 to do a US tour. It’s definitely not a cheap thing to do, so it may end up be 2013, but we’re looking into it now; San Francisco, New York, and Connecticut, and lots of names, just basically places we want to go and hopefully hook up some shows while we’re there.”
Chase: “I’m putting my hands together and praying that you add Toronto to that list.”
Kadyelle: “That would be awesome! Australia is just so off-loaded from the rest of the world that it costs an absolute fortune to fly anywhere. It’s definitely high on our list of things to do and put money towards. Hopefully, we’re blessed with not too many debts and we’ll get there soon. That’s the plan.”
Chase: “I hope so. Australia is one of the places I’ve always wanted to visit. It’s on my to-visit list. I don’t know if I’ll ever make it there because I’m kind of broke and I don’t know if I’ll ever make it out there.”
Kadyelle: “I’m in that boat with you.”
Chase: “I wanted to talk to you about some of your imagery because your album “Earthworthy” is spelled all in one word and in your song “Diluted Shadows” you say, “I’m losing ink so I pen this in the dirt.” There is a lot of mention of the earth in your songs and even in your new album “The Tree That Kept Apart The Stars” has a lot of nature and earth theme to it so I was wondering what’s behind that imagery?”
Kadyelle: “The new album title is from a poem by E.E. Cummings and it’s a poem that I refer to quite a lot, if you listen closely. The title track “Earthworthy” actually started as a collaboration with a rapper from Wisconsin called Fathom. We were writing a track together and his project never ended up happening so I used it as an intro to the album. But I do use earth and trees as a theme a lot when I write and I’m not really sure why to be honest with you. I never really thought to deeply about it.
It is inspired a lot by E.E. Cummings, who is very influential in the things I write and the way that I write. I’m the sort of writer that will just sit down with a beat and write the first thing that comes to mind. It’s always stuck to that sort of theme, that I’ve noticed.
At the end of the album when I was compiling all the tracks and really thinking about the direction of the album and how that theme was so prominent. It’s just grown out of lyrics that have come to me, like train of thought when I listen to the beat.”
Chase: “That’s cool. It’s the whole creative process. Who knows where that even comes from? I do a little bit of writing myself and it just comes, like you said, it’s the first thing that comes to your mind. You just start writing it and then you look back at that and are amazed by it.
You have another guest on one of your tracks called Butler Yeats. I think that is interesting since you are influenced by poetry and we have another poetry-type name there.”
Kadyelle: “Butler Yeats is from the U.K. I stumbled across his music on myspace and thought he had such a unique style and flow. I loved his music straight away and was blessed to have him on that track. He’s a dope emcee and I guess we both have a similar style of introspective writing and that’s probably where he draws his name from.”
Chase: “In that song you say, “Bitter taste, the only thing they couldn’t take from me.” Kind of an interesting line right there.”
Kadyelle: “I tend to be a bit melodramatic sometimes. My style of writing is to give myself crap, I think. A little self-loathing is good for everybody.”
Chase: “That’s cool. I think we need to play one of your songs now. (on the podcast we played “The Best Scar" from her forthcoming album - for the blog we will play "End of Days"
Chase: “We are so fortunate to have Kadyelle on the phone all the way from Australia. Thanks for letting us talk to you.”
Kadyelle: “No problem at all. Thanks a lot for having me.”
Chase: “I’d like to point out that we’re you’re first international interview.”
Kadyelle: “It means a lot that you got something out of my album. That’s awesome, considering it’s just a tiny little 300 CD run and then I put it online as a free download.”
DOPEfm is an overnight hip-hop show that can be heard worldwide each and every Saturday night starting at midnight.
Daddy J and Gamma Krush spin the best in underground hip-hop. Chase March produces interviews and history segments for the show and holds down hosting duties as well.
Catch the show live on 93.3 if you live in the Hamilton, Ontario, Canada area. You can also stream it live here - http://cfmu.msumcmaster.ca/
Please tune in Saturday nights 12:00 midnight to 7:00 a.m. and check http://dopefm.ca/ for the podcast feed and more.
Who am I? It's a mystery to me. I am a man who wears many hats. I am a teacher, a skateboarder, a musician, a writer, a hip-hop historian, a blogger, and countless other things. I am Chase March.
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