Eternia‘s getting her Shad on right now and popping up all over the place as she grinds out the promo for At Last (which is out now). Here’s a review of the album courtesy of Urb.com.
The first thing you notice when you hear Eternia’s music is the raw power in her voice. Three years ago, MoSS noticed the same thing, and the two Canadian artists began work on their very first collaborative project — drawing from Eternia’s greatest asset for the sonic backbone of At Last. According to MoSS, the goal was to capture her live stage-presence inside the recording booth. Just listening to the first handful of tracks makes it perfectly clear that the experiment was a success.
While her previous recordings came off as more subdued and calculating, here the MC born Silk-Kaya tears into MoSS’ sample-heavy production with a vengeance, all while maintaining the honesty and openess that attracted so many fans to her music in the first place. Even when she’s firing off battle raps, she manages to boost their authenticity by weaving in some stunningly personal confessions. On “It’s Funny” she holds her own with Slaughterhouse lyrical-heavyweight Joell Ortiz by combining standard MC braggadocio with personal confession:
“they cats try to see on the low / they tell they chicks they going to check a show, but it’s me that they checkin’ fo / then they tell me that they don’t want a wife / they want a life with a rapper chick, grass-is-greener shit, that’s why I’m celibate”
E‘s on her promo grind for sure! At Last is in stores now!!! Also, click here for a review of the album by Exclaim! Magazine.
Most of Canada’s best-known rappers have become successful by bucking hip-hop conventions. Drake tempers his hip-hop braggadocio with introspection; K’naan puts American gangsta rap in stark perspective with his tales of Somalian violence, and k-os is as likely to collaborate with an orchestra as with a DJ. But the Ottawa-born Eternia is taking on the deepest-rooted conventions of them all.
“She’s a white, female Canadian — not exactly the easiest sell when it comes to hip-hop,” acknowledges her producer, MoSS, who has provided beats for the major-label likes of Ghostface Killah and Raekwon. Nonetheless, the first time the self-described “hippie record nerd” with a penchant for obscure prog-rock flute solos met the powerfully outspoken rapper, he had an epiphany.
It was 2007, at a gig in Winnipeg where the number of performers matched the number of audience members, and Eternia was prowling the small stage as if she were in a packed arena. MoSS recalls, “I saw, first and foremost, an unbelievable performer. I’m like, ‘I think I can make [music] with her and we can actually turn heads.’” Three years after that fateful meeting, the duo’s aptly-named album-length collaboration, At Last, featuring Eternia’s raw rhymes — both intense and close to the bone — and MoSS’s acid-drenched, multi-layered production, is in stores.
I love this woman. It’s ok for me to post that because she knows I do (I think…well, she does now! lol)! Shouts to Ivana for real though for not only being a pioneer/living legend in this whole Toronto music movement but for dropping her latest album Santilli (available now)! Here’s the official press release as well as track listing for the album. More under the cut. And check for Ivana live this Friday at HMV 333 and this Saturday at Yonge/Wellesley!
Toronto, ON – June 2010 – Toronto native Ivana Santilli, CP Records’ first lady of R&B and Pop, is excited to announce the release of her new record, Santilli, out June 29th. Aptly taking her last name, the album is a gorgeous musical cocktail that is much like Ivana’s heritage. It blends history with present day, a true picture of what makes Ivana… Ivana. Ivana will kick off the album with a performance on the Wellesley Stage at Pride on July 3rd. The second single, Letting Go, is at radio now.
Santilli is a collection of twelve songs that Ivana felt strongly belonged together. Six tracks and three remixes from her 2008 release, TO.NY, and three new songs. “I felt like I wasn’t done with the songs that were on TO.NY, and I really believed that they belonged with the new songs I had written,” describes Ivana, “so I just went with what I felt good about, and that was a blend of the past and new. I’m very proud of what this album represents to me.”
It is with great sadness that I make this blog post. Last night, Anthony “Durty Keyz” James, from the production duo Burd & Keyz, passed away at the age of 23. Cause of death is still not %100 confirmed but I do know that he was feeling sick as of late last week but when he got to the hospital yesterday it was apparently too late. Some type of infection or something. His passing is completely unexpected and is yet another reminder to us all, as cliche as it may sound, that anything can happen in life and that we should cherish each moment we have alive on this Earth. I really don’t know what else to say here other than I would like to believe that he is in a better place. I feel honored to have had a close professional (and budding personal) relationship with Keyz. He was truly a genuine and nice guy with great talent and even greater potential. For those not familiar with his work, here are a couple of tracks he produced as part of Burd & Keyz. And check the beat demo below to get an idea of the musical direction the duo was headed in. Condolences, respect, thoughts and prayers to his family during this hard time. RIP KEYZ.
Huge shouts to Eternia and MoSS for releasing their album At Last today! All I can really say at this point is CONGRATS. It’s been a pleasure to watch Eternia grind in this music biz the way she does. Her story/blueprint is one that should not be overlooked by all you MCs who are trying to “make it”. Yes, Drake is where most artists want to be, but his path to success was specific to his exceptional situation. Artists like Eternia, Shad and even Melanie Fiona have stories and paths to success that are way more realistic for new artists to follow. But I digress…At Last is available now!
Tues. June 29, 2010: No More “Road to Release” Episodes, the album is available AT LAST!! Eternia & MoSS have been waiting for this day for years (quite literally) so on the day of release Eternia speaks to the world directly about the ‘leaked’ album, her Fat Beats in-store appearance, and those who were instrumental in making this album a success.
This video also features a sneak peek of the unreleased Music Video “GOODBYE”, directed by Mark Carrenceja of Noisemaker Media.
Montreal’s (and Kanye’s) Dj A-Trak tells the story of how he ended up doing the cuts on “Show Me A Good Time” off TML.
For those of you who checked out Drake’s album you may have noticed I’m scratching on song #5, “Show Me A Good Time”. Here’s the story of how that came about.
You could think that there was some sort of Canadian connection, or even a Kanye connection for that matter. But there wasn’t. When So Far Gone came out last year and Drizzy’s buzz went through the roof of the stratosphere of the ceiling of the galaxy, I remember thinking “wow, this is interesting, this is the first time there’s a Canadian rapper that I know absolutely nothing about.” Canada, while being a huge country on the atlas, has a very small music biz. Having been active in it for over a decade, I can tell you that usually everyone knows everyone. But the truth is, I left Montreal 4 years ago and Drake is pretty young, so in my view he just came out of nowhere.
“Alyssa is my 6 year old daughter and she is suffering from Cerebral Palsy.
I love her so much and it’s hard to see my child grow up not being able enjoy the life of a normal child. She’s not walking and is barely talking so you can imagine all the frustration it causes for her and our family. Although we are blessed that we live in Ontario and there’s a lot of helpful programs for Alyssa, after 5 years me and her mother feel that what we’re doing is simply not enough.
We’ve done a lot of research on it and although there is no cure there are treatments that can help Cerebral Palsy be reduced significantly. Such as a Glutten-Free diet, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy & Stem Cell Treatment.
Problem is, these treatments are not covered under OHIP so we’ve decided to ask all our friends and extended family to join us for a fundraiser that will help bring awareness and the financial support needed to help Alyssa and other children like her get through this disability.
So come out on June 30th for not only a great time, a great show and a great cause
It would truly mean the world to me.
btw if you’re not available to come out for whatever reason you can still donate to WWW.HELPALYSSAWALK.COM which will be launching on June 30th”
Dope feature on Marco Polo in this week’s Eye Magazine! The Great Hall tonight is the spot! See below for details…
Becoming a respected hip-hop producer is like being a basketball player whose team is trying to make jump shots in near darkness: it takes ages to taste even a hint of success and, when you finally do, most spectators won’t know who did it. Ask a hip-hop listener to list 10 famous tracks they’ve listened to recently, and then ask them who produced them; aside from the genre’s biggest names — Marley Marl, The Bomb Squad, Dr. Dre, DJ Premier, The Neptunes, Timbaland, J Dilla, Organized Noize — odds are that even serious fans won’t be able to name more than a handful.
Drake is moving and moving fast. He’s in Los Angeles and tried to squeeze an interview in prior to taping the “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” on NBC. Didn’t work. A few hours later, he emerges en route to the “Jimmy Kimmel Live” show- still moving – but equipped with more time. AllHipHop talked to Drake in a surprisingly revealing interview. Why does he feel as if he could have done better with Thank Me Later, even after nearly going Gold in one week? How does he intend to appease his highly critical base and his broader mainstream audience? Does he really want to marry Nicki Minaj? Did he make an error addressing Lil’ Kim? And then there is the Rihanna question, where Drake is completely caught off guard. Through all the questions, Drake has answers, but he really wants to answer the queries about his legitimacy as a contender for greatness. He plans to answer that though his music, which he’ll address in Part 2 of this dialogue.
