MeltFace

Yep. Welp, Shit. Last Night MY GROUP Melt Banana came back through town forcing me to miss Rapid Ric at Venue and Special Ed and YZ at the Engine Room. Hoping both went off smashngly, but I can't miss Melt Banana when they come around. Seriously, Melt Banana trumps pretty much everything for me. Don't know bout 'em? Better ask somebody. They are like rock and roll mad scientists. Here's a few flicks.


















RAW POWER!

Also for some reason I didn't put the flicks from Ghostface up yet. Below please to find them. They're not the best representation of the show cuz I was feeling lazy on said night and wasn't feeling like shooting much. Nor did I want to fight the crowd to get to the front. But yeah man, word to DJ Ayres that shit was off the chain!
(SLICK RICK DEC. 18TH SEE FLYER BELOW!)


DJ Ayres in full effect!


Squincy saved the damn night. One of the turntables would not work and everyone was sent into a panic for 5 minutes until the man magically pulled one out of his hat. I mean trunk.


Carlos Garza aka DJ Styles and The ARE (who just produced the latest Lil Kim single and is now a Trackmaster) - Two legendary Houston producers.


LADIES IN THE HOUSE SAY WHOOOA!




See, I was feeling lazy...


Didn't get too close but suffice it to say, the show was GREAT! Man, I had low expectations for it to be real with you. I'm a Ghostface fan and all that, but was a lil leary as to how he would deal with the band. Like, a lot of rappers can't get over the set track mentality that comes wiht performing to a CD so often. Man, Ghost actually led the band, improvised a bit, went with the flow, let things go in weird directions, it was dope man. He was fully immersed in the sound and brought forth a great show. Dude really is top notch.

And rappers should just have bands. It's 2007. Get a band.


Ayres contemplates the meaning of "Back Like That"








FATAL FLYING GUILLOTINES (I thik Ghost gave them a shout out, word to Roy)


Photographer Jordan Graber - see his work on Chron.com


THE FLY!












Maurice Bobb and Karton Zawalo!


Rob Quest in the haze


Rob Quest and Lin YEEEEE THIS IS A BIG PHOTO FOR MEEEEE!


Fly and Khalief


TH' FUCKIN' TRANSMISSIONS!


Photographer Brandon Holley and Head

Already then young soldiers, do not miss out on the next big free Scion event coming to our area. SLICK RICK WITH PERCEE P!!!!!




GO TO www.scion.com/livemetro to RSVP NOW!!!!!!

Rapid Ric on BBC 1Xtra!

CLICK THIS LINK HERE TO HEAR RAPID RIC AND DJ SKULLY GO HEAD TO HEAD ON 1XTRA!!

WORD TO DJ SEMTEX!



1Xtra brings you a brand new show featuring the world's biggest DJs, alongside stars of the future.

This week's mix is a transatlantic face-off featuring heavyweight hip hop from two of the most slept-on DJs either side of the pond.

In the red corner, hailing from Northampton, UK is former UK DMC champion & Klashnekoff's selector, DJ Skully weighing in with an explosive mix of UK and US joints.

In the blue corner, direct from Houston, USA, weighing in with a bag of dirty stanking southern bangers is Rapid Ric aka the Mixtape Mechanic and Chamillionaire's DJ.

Seconds out, round one!

Tracklistings
DJ Skully in the mix

Big Pun Feat Fat Joe - Twinz (Loud)
Jay Dee - Pause (BBE)
Keith Murray - The Most Beautiful (Jive)
A Tribe Called Quest - Once Again (Jive)
Little Brother - Light It Up (ABB)
Nas - Halftime (Columbia)
Tragedy Khadafi - True Confessions (White)
Method Man Feat Mary J Blige - You're All I Need (Def Jam)
Helta Skelta - Lefleur Leflaur (Priority)
Nas - Nas Is Like (Columbia)
Lowkey - Freestyle (White)
Roots Manuva - Witness (Big Dada)
Task Force - Graph Da Bus Up (Lowlife)
Klashnekoff - Murder (Skully Special) (Kemet Ent)
Verb T & The Last Skeptik - Heaven (Silent Soundz)
Kyza - Lights Out (Kemet Ent)
Jehst - Alcoholic Author/Skully Special (YNR/Lowlife)
Dj Mentat Ft Skinnyman - When I Give My Heart To You (Beat Asylum)
Skriblah - Angels Beside Me (White)
Scorzayzee - Final Destination (White)
M9 - Freestyle (White)
Beat Butcha & Skully - Skratch Skit (White)
Fallacy - Scream Back (White)
Terror Squad – Lean Back (Instrumental)

Rapid Ric in the mix

DJ Drama feat T.I, Yung Joc, Young Jeezy & Twista – 5000 1’s (Grand Hustle (Atlantic)
Scarface - Girl You Know (Def Jam)
Gorilla Zoe - Hood Figga (White)
Jay Z - Blue Magic (Def Jam)
Hot Dollar feat Rick Ross - Streets On Lock (White)
Webbie feat Lil Boosie - Independent (Trill/Asylm)
Lil Wayne – Gossip (Cash Money/Universal)
Twista feat T-Pain - Creep Fast (Atlantic)
DJ Khaled feat Trick Daddy, T Pain, Rick Ross, & Plies - I'm So Hood (Koch)
Gucci Mane feat. Ludacris - Freaky Gurrl (Asylum/Atlantic)
Big Kuntry feat T.I - That's Right (Grand Hustle/Atlantic)
Yung Joc feat Gorilla Zoe - Bottle Poppin (Bad Boy)
Lil Keke feat Chalie Boy - I'm a G (White)
Devin Tha Dude feat Snoop & Andre 3000 - What a Job (Rap-A-Lot)
Hurricane Chris - Playaz Rock (White)
Kanye West Feat Lil Wayne - Barry Bonds (Mercury)
Playaz Circle feat Lil Wayne - Duffle Bag Boy (D.T.P/Def Jam)
Boss Hogg Outlawz feat Slim Thug – Ridin’ On 4's (White)
Al Fatz - Came Down (White)

It's Like This and Like That

There's a lot of ways to do this music thang thang, here's two of the ways I like to see it get done. The Cosmo Baker way and the Rapid Ric way.

TWO NEW TAPES!

Both different but still the way things should be done.

Cosmo Baker "... I'd Rather Marry Oprah..."



1. Brand Nubian “Allah Hu Akbar”
2. Dark Sun Riders “Time To Build”
3. Rakim “Shades Of Black”
4. Common “Ressurection (Large Professor Remix)”
5. Yomo & Maulkie “Black Folks Watch Out”
6. Poor Righteous Teachers “Easy Star”
7. Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth “Mecca And The Soul Brother”
8. X-Clan “Grand Verbalizer What Time Is It”
9. Big Daddy Kane “Word To The Mother (Land)”
10. Lakim Shabazz “No Justice No Peace”
11. Latee “This Cut’s Got Flavor”
12. Poor Righteous Teachers “Shakiyla (Jrh)”
13. Brand Nubian “Wake Up (Stimulated Dummies Remix)
14. X-Clan “Fire & Earth (100% Natural)”
15. Divine Styler feat. The Scheme Team “It’s A Black Thing”
16. Gang Starr “Step In The Arena”
17. YZ “Thinking Of A Master Plan”
18. Chill Rob G “Court Is Now In Session”
19. Eric B. & Rakim “The R”
20. Boogie Down Productions “Blackman In Effect”
21. Zhigge “Born Black”
22. Boogie Down Productions “Jack Of Spades”
23. The Stop The Violence Movement “Self Destruction”
24. KMD “Nitty Gritty feat. Brand Nubian”
25. The Jungle Brothers “Acknowledge Your Own History”
26. Public Enemy “Show ‘Em What You Got”
27. Public Enemy “Bring The Noise”
28. Hard Knocks “Thoughts Of A Negro”
29. 360 Degrees “Pelon”
30. Intelligent Hoodlum “Black And Proud”
31. Lakim Shabazz “When You See The Devil Smash Him”

CLICK HERE TO STREAM
CLICK HERE FOR PODCAST

And that boy Rapid Ric is back with WHUT IT DEW RADIO!



I don't have a download link for you as of yet, but look for it in the streets and other secret places.

1- Whut It Dew Radio Intro- Rapid Ric
2- David Banner Cosigns
3- Paper Planes- MIA/ Bun B
4- Chamillionaire Cosigns
5- Never- Scarface
6- Sleeping Giant Freestyle- Gerald G
7- Callin Em Out Interview- Pimp C
8- Talkin Smart- Project Pat/ Pimp C
9- La LA LA- Lil Wayne
10- Dope Boi Dime- 4IZE/ Killer Mike/ Marc DeCoca
11- We Still Here Flow- Chalie Boy/ Gerald G
12- Gettin High- Trae (Life Goes On In Stores Now)
13- I Know Why- Gucci Mane, Pimp C, Rich Boy
14- Down In Da Dirty- Ludacris/ RIck Ross/ Bun B
15- Mr 512 Flow- Gerald G
16- Model- Archie Lee/ Slim Thug
17- Umma Do Me- Rocko
18- Pimp Mode- Chamillionaire/ Bun B
19- Same Shit- Killa Kyleon/ Mistah FAB (Prod. By Young Samm)
20- Way It Goes Flow- Gerald G
21- Paper Chaser- Playaz Circle/ Phonte of Little Brother
22- Hello Brooklyn 2.0- Jay Z/ Lil Wayne
23- Beat Da Trunk Up- GT/ Slim Thug/ Killa Kyleon
24- Ball With Me- David Banner/ Chamillionaire
25- Trill Nigg*s Don't Die- UGK/ Z-RO
26- We Doin It- Big Mike/ BG
G TRACKS
27- I Got Money- Stix/ Young Buck/ Sparkdawg
28- Fresh Out Da Box- Greg G and King Mike
29- What U Say- Powerbroker ENT's Young Mabooda
30- Ridin Dirty- Kyle Lee/ Fade Dogg (Prod. By Dolla Bill)
31- Dress Code- S.O.S.A. So San Antone (Cocked & Locked)
32- How U Love Dat- J Kapone/ Tomar Williams of Carnival Beats
33- Mississippi Freestyle- Donnie Cross

Another classic.

YZ AND SPECIAL ED IN HOUSTON THIS WEEK!

IT'S GOIN' DOWN! Legends in the city!





Thanks to everyone who came out to Ghostface last night. Show was off the chain, photos coming soonish.

TONIGHT FREE GHOSTFACE AND DJ AYRES SHOW IN HOUSTON!

See the flyer below and go RSVP right now if you haven't already. Come have a drink with me at Warehouse Live and see GHOSTFACE WITH THE RHYTHM ROOTS ALL STARS BACKING HIM, alongside one of my favorite DJ's -- DJ AYRES! --. YOU KNOW HOW WE DO!

Sayanora Houston?

Yeah man I been waiting to say anything official, but it's about to go down. Me and the family are moving to Austin. SXSW offered me a real gig and I took it, so there ya have it. I go to Austin literally once a week anyway, so I will come back to Houston quite often and am even keeping a room here at my friends apartment so I can still come here and do what I do when I need to do it. Events and such.

My going away party is Dec. 8th at The Proletariat and GRIMY STYLES finna come back and rock that ass.



Click the flyer to see it full size.

I haven't talked about this much to people, cuz I don't like to discuss things a lot, I just like to do things, hence, the move will commence as soon as this house is sold and I'm quite excited for this.

I kind of see it like this anyway, I couldn't live in Houston if there was no Austin and I couldn't live in Austin if there was no Houston. Both cities have their qualities, and their problems, but in my eyes, they work hand in hand with each other.

Living in Houston, we found ourselves driving out there quite often not only cuz most of our family is in Central Texas (Mom, get down here please) but because Houston can get a lil crazy, sticky, loud, and such. Austin has beautiful lakes and Barton Springs and a job with benefits staffed by a lot of people who I really like a lot. Soooooooo... it's about to go down.

That being said when I lived in Austin in 1995 I literally came to Houston EVERY WEEKEND (I'm not a 6th Street kind of guy). Like seriously, I stayed in Austin like 10 weekends that year. Of course I was single and on a lot of drugs at the time and didn't have much in the way of responsibilities, now I'm married with children and looking forward to living in a quiet Austin neighborhood, riding my bicycle to work in some cut off shorts and never cutting my hair again... (last part is a joke, I ain't no fuckin' hippy. I mean, I am a fuckin' hippy, but with a proper haircut).

Also I'ma go vegan, have a solar powered house, make jewelry out of oatmeal and hemp rope, buy a lot of 7" vinyl and possibly start a 'zine.

Actually I'm not gonna do any of that shit (except the solar powered house). As much as I wanna go vegan, them chickens keep calling and nachos suck without cheese, so yeah, I mean, I don't know. I hope I don't get lynched. I heard that in Austin the vegans chase you in the night.

I hope it's not true. I also heard they can smell the pork fat in your sweat. IT WAS TOFURONI I SWEAR!

Alright, enough of the Austin inside jokes. I actually love that town. I love Houston too. Not much is gonna change except that tomorrow is gonna be my last Damage Control. I'll come thru and host with Chill and Golden Child every now and again, but lately I've had a hard time getting off my couch in Houston on a Wednesday night and making it down to the station, probably won't be driving in from Austin on too many Wednesdays. Some, but not all.

I mean real talk, I am sure that my regular listeners have noticed that I have not only missed a lot of shows lately due to travel, but when I have been there, my hearts just not in it man. I hate to say it, but the way we do things down there worked for a while, but um, in 2007, we may need a bit more filtering.

The whole reason for Damage Control was to give everyone a chance. If you're making rap music independently and have no in's to commercial radio or any of that shit, you could always come down to DC and get a spin. Let the world know you are out here. I love that concept, it's the best, it's in my heart, but today man... it's just not worth it.

There's always been great rap music and there's always been shitty rap music. I honestly never cared if it was good or bad, I was more than happy to support real people trying to do real things. Real people making art, that's what I love. But nowadays man, 99% of you people who are trying to rap are weak minded and in the wrong place. I hate to say it, but literally 99% of the people out there rapping are copy cats who lack vision and passion. I hate to be so blunt, but it's true.

I can't listen to the copy cat shit any more, and real talk, the stuff people call conscious and progressive half the time is some bullshit that sounds like 1992 and still calls women bitches and hoes and is fairly worthless cuz no one but the deepest hip hop nerds will ever want to hear it, if them.

Feel me? I'm going off a bit right now, but please understand my position. It's hard to sit at KPFT and smile anymore when people give me their discs. I have a lot of respect for a lot of the people I've met over these past 5.5 years and have discovered a lot of great music and art during my time at DC, but man, these days I get so much shit that sounds like so much other shit. We are 6 years into our war with Iraq. Shit is crazy ugly from sea to shining sea and all so many people can think to rap about is their cars and some bitches ass shaking. Look here fools, it's been done. Open your eyes, there's more out there. I like cars and ass too,but not so much that I want my entire CD collection populated with songs about such things.

And a lot of our "conscious" rappers don't know what the fuck they are talking about. I'm sorry but it's true. Bun B should teach a class.

Anyway I'm goin goff on a tangent here and i need to stop. Hip Hop Ain't Dead but it sure seems like a lot of motherfuckers are working very hard to smother it out of existence.

And no Mr. Banner, I'm not talking about Al Sharpton and Oprah. I'm talking about the lost minions who think that getting on TV will save their lives. Hip Hop is eating itself alive from the inside out and that's some real talk right there.

I recycle cans and paper, not art.

So with that, get ready for the new jump off. HoustonSoReal will still exist and I will still post to it when I have things explicitly Houston to report, but the new jumpoff is AustinSurreal.com. No link yet cuz it's not up, I just started building it. AustinSurreal will be the new site and HoustonSoReal will be a subsection. Until I can get on the radio in Austin I'ma do a weekly podcast or two. One will be all new music from all genres. All sorts of shit. The other will be more Damage Control like cuz people still need to know about the real shit, however skint the selection may be.

I'll still do events in Houston and Austin. I'd like to get some more jump offs popping in New York again. I'll still book my people in Europe is the opportunity is worth it and will put money in my pocket rather than take it out and I'ma still be MattSoReal. Unless they really do put LSD in the water in Austin on Fridays. Then I'ma go all MattSurreal on y'all, but don't worry I won't become a raver. I swear. I like the French and all, but I'm no raver. (TAKE THAT HOW YOU WANT IT!)

So yeah, ain't nothing changed but the address, and my phone number. WHich is a good thng. So good for my soul. Apologies to all who's calls I have missed. I really really hate the phone. I'm a writer, not a talker. So it is what it is.

Anyway, the hip-hop portion of SXSW is gonna be bigger and better than ever next year. I'ma get all the good ones in one place at one time and we gone ride on the enemy. I'm working to bring some serious international flavors that you need in your life and a lot of our favorite DJs and such will be there as well. Seriously SXSW 2008 is gonna be ridiculous. Get your passes now.

So yes, I have a real job now and am about to move to Austin. Come celebrate this fact and see my favorite band in the world on Saturday December 8th at the Proletariat. More info coming soon.

Word to K-Rino (and Snapp)

Man, I didn't even know this video existed, and YouTube says it's been up for four months, shit. Anyway it's my man Snapp featuring K-Rino. Snapp waaaaay back in the day was one half of the Poetic Souls along with GT (from 97.9 the Boxx and you probably have a couple of his solo discs). Their 12" went on ebay recently for like $200,000 or some shit. Naw, but it was way high. Anyway here's a video with Snapp and K-Rino called "Deth Season." I know a lot of people out there don't cut for rappers who really rap anymore, but this shit right here is coming real.



Then as I was looking at this one (Thanks to FWMJ at RappersIKnow.com for the heads up!) I noticed that there's a gang of K-Rino stuff on YouTube. Check it out...


Doin' Bad


Live in Adelaide Australia. GO GET THE FULL DVD AT SOUTHPARKCOALITION.COM along with the Finland one. It's so dope to watch man.


The One


On my Side


Ryno from Austin meets K-Rino (FREE RYNO)

And Free MC Fatal too.

LITTLE BROTHER AND EVIDENCE LIVE IN HOUSTON WITH DJ COSMOS!

This is not a paid advertisement, I ride for my homeys and the homey BOBBY PHATS is jumping into the concert promo biz big time. It's goin' down man. Bobby Phats finna bring some real love to this promo game mayne, please support him as he has almost definitely supported you over time.



O.K. So maybe he hasn't supported everyone from around the world reading this, but he supports this music like a true soldier. He comes on KPFT right after Damage Control and is my DUDE! Very important that we all support this show real talk come down and come thru.

BIG MOE TRIBUTE: Damage Control 11/18/07Plus a Bonus - Last Weeks Damage Control

Finally got the files and the servers and the thangs and the whoozits to all work together and got these up online. From the KPFT Archive so the show is split into three, one hour parts. Burn 'em on CD and jam 'em in your ride and never forget the Big Maaaaann.

BIG MOE TRIBUTE: Damage Control 11/18/07 Part 1

BIG MOE TRIBUTE: Damage Control 11/18/07 Part 2

BIG MOE TRIBUTE: Damage Control 11/18/07 Part 3

Also check out the first two hours of last weeks Damage Control, the Halloween edition. I only did one interview and the rest is all music.

11-01-07 Part 1

11-01-07 Part 2

This past week I was out in Los Angeles, so Chill and Golden Child held down the show. Bobo Luchiano, Bun B and Z-Ro were all in the house. I'm quite jealous, but I'll try to get the audio for you. Supposedly Z-RO played 5 new tracks.

YES!

http://www.houstonpress.com/2007-11-08/music/racket

GHOSTFACE & RHYTHM ROOT ALL STARS!DJ AYRES IN THAT H-TOWN!NOV. 25TH!FREE!

It's Goin' Down Once Again!





CLICK HERE TO RSVP AND GET IN FREE!

Also, I have mp3 archives of the last radio show and the Big Moe Tribute but for some reason they won't upload properly, I keep getting errors. Not sure why, but I'll get it figured out and get those up pronto.