Jay-Z
American Angster
The Von Pea Remixes
Brooklyn-based MC and producer Von Pea is 33.333333 percent of the Can You Dig It?-approved group Tanya Morgan, whose debut album, Moonlighting, drew upon the creativity and cleverness of the glory years of the Native Tongues era, and in the process reignited my passion for hip-hop music.
While his fellow Tanya Morganers – Cincinnati MCs Ilyas and Donwill – work on their outside projects, Von Pea is showing off his production skills (he produced many of the Tanya Morgan tracks under the moniker “The Beatmaker”) with a remix of Jay-Z’s American Gangster album, courtesy of the recently released a cappella tracks.
Offering up his vocal tracks is an innovative marketing move J-Hova used with great success following the release of his 2003 comeback CD, The Black Album. It served as an open invitation for every amateur and professional music producer from here to Kraplakistan to work with the best in the business. The move generated a lot of great promotion for Jay-Z and a lot of crap remixes, but some good ones, too.
Fast forward to the magical web of the Internets, where Von Pea stumbles upon Can You Dig It?, the worldwide digital headquarters of the hit analog column, and reads the feature on Tanya Morgan’s show in Asheville, N.C., where I mistakenly draw a line in the sand between Jay-Z and the boys of Brooklynati. (I forgot that the line is muddied because the wildly platinum-selling Jay-Z has an art complex, as well as crazy lyrical skills that attract the admiration of the finest rappers with great songs and no sales.) As an early Christmas gift, Santa Von sends me the pre-release link to his completed Jay-Z remixes, American Angster, and agrees to an exclusive interview about the project.
After a few days of bumping Angster in the funkiest windowless cubicle in all of South Carolina, I’m happy to say Von Pea succeeds in transforming the sometimes flashy original American Gangster into a much grittier piece, still suitable to the subject matter and still funky fresh.
Download it for yourself here:
http://www.zshare.net/download/545364616e09b6/
Now, read the interview, where we discuss everything from Beyonce to Mike Huckabee.
While his fellow Tanya Morganers – Cincinnati MCs Ilyas and Donwill – work on their outside projects, Von Pea is showing off his production skills (he produced many of the Tanya Morgan tracks under the moniker “The Beatmaker”) with a remix of Jay-Z’s American Gangster album, courtesy of the recently released a cappella tracks.
Offering up his vocal tracks is an innovative marketing move J-Hova used with great success following the release of his 2003 comeback CD, The Black Album. It served as an open invitation for every amateur and professional music producer from here to Kraplakistan to work with the best in the business. The move generated a lot of great promotion for Jay-Z and a lot of crap remixes, but some good ones, too.
Fast forward to the magical web of the Internets, where Von Pea stumbles upon Can You Dig It?, the worldwide digital headquarters of the hit analog column, and reads the feature on Tanya Morgan’s show in Asheville, N.C., where I mistakenly draw a line in the sand between Jay-Z and the boys of Brooklynati. (I forgot that the line is muddied because the wildly platinum-selling Jay-Z has an art complex, as well as crazy lyrical skills that attract the admiration of the finest rappers with great songs and no sales.) As an early Christmas gift, Santa Von sends me the pre-release link to his completed Jay-Z remixes, American Angster, and agrees to an exclusive interview about the project.
After a few days of bumping Angster in the funkiest windowless cubicle in all of South Carolina, I’m happy to say Von Pea succeeds in transforming the sometimes flashy original American Gangster into a much grittier piece, still suitable to the subject matter and still funky fresh.
Download it for yourself here:
http://www.zshare.net/download/545364616e09b6/
Now, read the interview, where we discuss everything from Beyonce to Mike Huckabee.
Can You Dig It: What's the inspiration for American Angster?Von Pea: My boy Scott Free from Scratch magazine told me about the a cappellas coming out and the first thing I thought was "Oh no, not again." The Black Album remixes got out of hand and I told myself I’d never jump in that race, but I told myself it would be a fun challenge because not much is against me doing this. Most people probably see it as a waste of time, or don’t consider me a producer, or even know that I’ve been producing a decent amount of Tanya Morgan’s music. I had nothing to lose really.
CYDI: How long did it take you to complete?
Von Pea: I started around Thanksgiving week and finished December 7th.
CYDI: Have you imagined a scenario where Jay-Z is listening to the remixes on his Big Pimpin' yacht as Beyonce is feeding him grapes, then she falls so hard for your tracks that she leaves him, moves in with you in Brooklyn and starts buying you stuff on her American Express?
Von Pea: Who do you think is paying for my studio time for my solo album? Peas Gotta Have It, September 2008!
CYDI: After all that drama, any chance of Jay-Z appearing on the next Tanya Morgan album?
Von Pea: Nothing is surprising anymore. If you would have told Phonte or Pooh in 2004 that Little Brother would put out an album with one 9th beat and a Lil Wayne feature, he would have laughed at you... yet it happened and it worked. So as crazy as it sounds, you never know!
CYDI: What track are you most proud of on Angster?
Von Pea: Probably “Success,” because I actually had that sample arranged like that sitting alone for a long time and never knew what to do with it, but I said if there ever was a "D'evils" a cappella I would finish this beat for that. "Success" is the same thing almost, so I got to achieve that goal.
CYDI: How is the remix process different from creating your own original work? Do you have a different mindset? Is it fun to mess with Jay-Z's flow?
Von Pea: Some people say I'm a Jay-Z biter, so maybe that’s why it was easy ha-ha...To be honest, my own work has been a stressor recently because people are telling me so much is riding on the next Tanya Morgan, and I'm telling myself I have to remind people I was a soloist, so my own endeavors don’t come across like it's some playaround side project solo...That’s where the angst came in. This was a release.
CYDI: You've already given the Von Pea treatment to Kanye on Grand Vonye and now Jay-Z gets Pea-ed on with American Angster. Who's next?
Von Pea: People thought I was going to rap over the original American Gangster beats. I don’t see myself ever doing that again... rapping over someone else’s instrumentals for a whole project. I don’t see myself remixing a whole album again either unless I was getting paid for it by the artist, aka actually commissioned to do it! This was something I had to get out of my system. Angster has gotten me work already, though. I'm actually producing an album now for an MC that people already know and love, but it’s way too early to mention who it is yet.
CYDI: South Carolina is one of the first states to vote in the Presidential primaries. It seems like that's all we can think about here, so here's a two-part question:
1) Who are you going to vote for?
2) Common has shown his ability to rhyme Obama, show off your MC skills and give me three good rhymes for Huckabee.
Von Pea: I’m not sure who I’m voting for yet but I’m definitely voting, I've been voting since I was 20.
Huckabee? Luckily, these rappers can’t fuck with me, the only ones that can I get 'em pregnant so they're stuck with me
CYDI: The men of Tanya Morgan have so much going on right now with all of you kind of doing your own thing. Are there plans for a new album as a group? And if so, is there pressure now that you've gained some notoriety in the hip-hop community?
Von Pea: I can only speak for me on the pressure thing, and part of that pressure is why I stopped and just did this project. But when it’s all said and done, I’m not worried about any of that pressure, good music got us here and that’s going to remain enough for me... good music. I’m not trying to get lost in someone else’s goals for me or the group. That’s what happens to so many artists and that’s why their second album is always the dark and "things aint what they used to be" album. They get lost and caught up. It's happened to the best of them, and it can’t happen to us, so I’m staying away from the pressure. Our next LP is called Brooklynati and it will be out summer '08.
CYDI: Besides Tanya Morgan – which I’ll go on record declaring one of the best group names of all time, what are some of your favorite names in hip-hop history?
Von Pea: My favorite MC names are Jody Breeze or Guilty Simpson. I think those two names are fly as hell. My favorite group name is probably... I think Niggaz With Attitude tells you everything you need to know about them.
CYDI: Besides TM-affiliated work, what are you listening to now inside and outside of hip-hop? What's inspiring? Is there somebody out there you think is pushing things in the right direction?
Von Pea: I’m still playing Blu & Exile, 9th’s album, Busta's Dilla-Gence mixtape, Lupe, I’ve been playing a lot of hip hop for the past few weeks, I haven’t been on my other stuff lately. I don’t think there is a set direction anymore; everyone seems to be doing their own thing for a change.
CYDI: Prince, my musical hero and longtime doubles ping-pong partner, is suing Internet sites for unauthorized "use" of his copyrighted material. This craziness hit home when Youtube deleted a video of my daughter dancing to his new album. As a young artist who has effectively used the Web to promote your work and who relies on the word-of-mouth capabilities of the internet, where do you draw the line? Do you worry about losing revenue through file sharing or are you at the point in your career where you're just happy people are listening? And, can I record and post video of my daughter dancing to your music?
Von Pea: Ha-ha...As long as she’s not dancing to any of my songs with adult lyrics. I don’t have anything against downloading because I do it too. Absolutely. But I also go out and support. If it’s not the first week, I do buy the album eventually, but I support. I have a problem with skimming more than anything. If you’re gonna download my album, at least give it a real listen! Don’t skip through it looking for instant gratification.
CYDI: Prince, my musical hero and longtime doubles ping-pong partner, is suing Internet sites for unauthorized "use" of his copyrighted material. This craziness hit home when Youtube deleted a video of my daughter dancing to his new album. As a young artist who has effectively used the Web to promote your work and who relies on the word-of-mouth capabilities of the internet, where do you draw the line? Do you worry about losing revenue through file sharing or are you at the point in your career where you're just happy people are listening? And, can I record and post video of my daughter dancing to your music?
Von Pea: Ha-ha...As long as she’s not dancing to any of my songs with adult lyrics. I don’t have anything against downloading because I do it too. Absolutely. But I also go out and support. If it’s not the first week, I do buy the album eventually, but I support. I have a problem with skimming more than anything. If you’re gonna download my album, at least give it a real listen! Don’t skip through it looking for instant gratification.
CYDI: Isn't www.gregvandevoorde.blogspot.com the best damn blog on the Internet?
Von Pea: I don’t know. My Myspace blog is pretty good.
Bonus Tracks
CYDI: Favorite American Gangster?
Von Pea: "Success"
CYDI: Favorite American Gangster?
Von Pea: "Success"
CYDI: Favorite American Angster?
Von Pea: "Ignorant Shit"
Von Pea: "Ignorant Shit"
1 comment:
More interviews; that was a blast.
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