AYENTEE / Ayentee Mos Common Thought Mixtape

Hip Hop has not simply changed the music industry—Hip Hop has changed the very definition of “music” and the process of creating music. Back in the late sixties/early seventies (an era some folk consider one of the golden ages of GBM, i.e. Great Black Music) we used to drop a macabre joke: the record companies won’t be happy until they can put out records without dealing with musicians. Well, that day is here. The difference is music is now composed, or assembled, using computers and electronic equipment. This recording is a prime example of how major the shift from the way music used to be assembled with musicians playing live to the what it is often done now with samples and tracks laid down at different times and/or places. The three major voices, i.e. Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def), Common, and Black Thought did not get together in a studio to record their contributions to the album. Indeed their voices were initially recorded for other projects. Producer Ayentee lifted the a capella tracks, cut and paste on a computer, add some original beats and voila—Frankensteined Vol. 1. Some might think this process is sacrilegious but love it or loath it, black youth, the caretakers of our future, have embraced this process and so have music lovers worldwide of diverse ethnicities and origins. Electronically manufacturing music is not the only way to go, but it is now a major path trod by emcees, djs, producers, vocalists and instrumentalists. This approach does not replace what existed back in the day, nor does it negate old ways of making music but this approach does offer a major new musical path that many people are enthusiastically embracing.

Check out Ayentee’s statement of intent and bio.

Here is the first installment in a series of albums I'm calling Frankensteined. The goal of this project is to take a bunch of verses from different artists and try to craft an album as if they were all in the studio working together. I really wanted to create a brand new listening experience and try to redefine the potential of the remix. Volume one focuses in on Mos Def, Common and Black Thought, 3 legendary emcees from Brooklyn, Chicago, and Philadelphia respectively.

Ayentee is a San Francisco Bay Area emcee/producer of 12 years. As an artist that has always tried to think outside of the box, Ayentee has trailblazed the free music movement by making all of his past and future releases free to download starting in 2004. He also spent 11 weeks crafting Curiosity Saved The Mouse, an online evolving album that grew by 1 track each tuesday until its completion in late 2009. His 4 solo albums and 1 group collaboration with Secluded Journalists can be found online at www.ayentee.com free to download.

released 07 March 2012

You can get a free download by going to Ayentee’s bandcamp website.

Of course, the proof is always in the pudding, i.e. the product—how does it sound. I like it this. What do you think?

—Kalamu ya Salaam

Mos Common Thought Mixtape Playlist

Mos Common Thought

01 “Summer All Stars”

02 “Nothin Like Me”

03 “Black Out
”

04 “Beef”

05 “I Am The City”

06 “Adrenaline”

07 “Survival”

08 “
Girls x3”

09 “Act 1”

10 “Hurricane”

   

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 20th, 2012 at 12:52 pm and is filed under Cover. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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