With a new reality show on BET‘s Centric TV, “Master of the Mix“, a new album, Love Machine scheduled to hit early new year (and is sure to spark a baby boom), Muphoric Sounds was able to chat with the incredibly smooth and impassioned Vikter Duplaix!!! The music maestro talks about his independence, the global DJ culture, integrity, and his self-expression through music. Always thinking outside the box, this interview will certainly get you thinking about change.

In the meantime, while Vikter sprinkles the final touches on Love Machine, you can download For Players Only, a mix compiled by DJ Mars, Vikter Duplaix, and DJ Doc, featuring all the tunes we’ve grown to love Duplaix for! “Electric Love” is from the forthcoming album and “Messages” is one of my all-time favourites by Vikter.

“Electric Love”

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“Messages” – Critical Point feat. Vikter Duplaix

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DOWNLOAD: FOR PLAYERS ONLY!

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INTERVIEW WITH VIKTER DUPLAIX

Vikter Duplaix: I don’t have any kids.

Muphoric Sounds: Ok…

Duplaix: And I don’t cheat on women.

MS: Ok… That’s a good thing to know and put out there at the start. [Laughter] So… How would you describe yourself as an artist?

Duplaix: That’s a kind of tough one to describe. I think what I try to convey in my vocal styling is a sense of relaxation, sensuality, subtle confidence, not over the top but definitely an essence of being a very confident man without having to overstate that reality. And sonically, I like to paint pictures in people’s minds where they can transport themselves from where they are at the moment and combine those two philosophies with the urban rhythms that move in my bones which comes from growing up in South West Philly—where it’s edgy, a little dangerous, but at the same time, beautiful. I just jumble all those things together and basically that’s what it sounds like.

MS: What you stated there is basically the essence of Bold and Beautiful. It definitely was a vibe — it was cool, sexy, relaxing, and laid back. I got that vibe from it.

Duplaix: That was more the sensual, laid backside of the spectrum. The International Affairs album is a little bit closer towards the urban experience with a lot more energy, a rock edge and house music, with some hip hop feelings. In terms of those two bodies of work, that was the difference.

MS: What do you prefer to make? The soul, house, broken beat, hip hop sounds. What’s your thing?

Duplaix: I don’t have a preference on a daily basis. Moods change for most people, and definitely with being a Libra, I’m in touch with the balance of life. There are times when I feel the need to be aggressive, respectfully so. There are times when I feel the need to be laid back but not to the point of being timid. It’s always about me being perfectly balanced based on the way the universe is standing at that moment. So I’m opened to a lot of different things at different times.

(more…)

My first reaction to The Barb was, “YES! Broken beat is on the rise again!” For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Broken Beat sound, it started as a small collective of producers based in London called Bugz in the Attic. They created a movement in music which became a staple in the underground dance scene, with a sound that was laced in soul, jazz, funk, and afro-beats, with extraordinary and original vocalists laid over the tracks. To this day, I never understood why this particular genre fizzled out.

So in comes Full Crate, hailing from Amsterdam, who is part of the Dutch music collective of beatmakers; he was responsible for the luscious track “She Was Fly” with Eric Robeson. His latest project, The Barb confirms that broken beat isn’t going anywhere. In fact, Broken Beat is wherever it’s kept alive. The two-song EP, features the beautiful smooth vocals of Mar—Full Crate‘s longstanding musical partner—with great instrumental sequencing, sprinkled with jazz, funk, hip hop, electronica, and soul, set to a tempo to make you move. I want more!!! The good news is, Mar is working on some projects with Full Crate; so stay tuned for more vibes like this from Kilawatt Music.

The Barb is available on the Kilawatt Bandcamp page, at a ridiculously low price, and is also available on vinyl. Only 300 copies have been pressed; so DJ’s better get on it!

“Let’s Funk This Motherf*cker” featuring Mar

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Love this little promo for “Let’s Funk This Motherf*cker” as well…check it out!

Full Crate ‘The Barb’ promo film from Full Crate on Vimeo.

This is the title track from Fela Kuti’s LP Upside Down released in 1976. The first time I heard this song was on Rich Medina’s Jump N’ Funk mix volume 1. Written by Fela and sung by vocalist Sandra Akanke Isidore, the definition of the words upside down is used to identify the late 70’s state of government, education, political, and public infrastructure in Nigeria. After Fela had studied abroad and traveled to the United States and Britain, he began reinterpreting Nigerian High Life music and at the same time proclaiming harsh criticisms of the Nigerian government. The album also contains collaborative songs with jazz musician Roy Ayers who opened up for Fela during a 1979 tour.

The first time I came into contact with Fela’s music was in my home around the late 80’s. My dad loved his music and message. I remember wearing my dad’s “Music as a Weapon” t-shirt to grade school with a big saxophone on it. “Upside Down” is a monster of movement. Just hearing the saxophone, guitar, chekere, drums, bass, and vocals I feel like dancing. And at the same time I think critically about Fela’s message and social observations in the song. In this day and age of robots, I am reminded that what you say is just as important as how you play. Sandra Akanke Isidore, Fela Kuti, and the band deliver both furiously, charged with emotion, on point, and on tempo. As one of Fela’s influences would say, “Get into it! Get involved!”

“Upside Down” – Fela feat. Sandra Akanke

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It’s initiatives like these that make me love the democratic and organic nature of the Internet, and why I work by trade in this environment. Plug Research and Quadron have set the task for producers to remix their single, “Average Fruit” with the prize being studio time with Robin Hannibal and Coco, and their remix to be featured on Quadron‘s forthcoming EP. Submissions are uploaded to this Soundcloud page. The remixes are fantastic and show just how diverse Quadron‘s audience is. Here’s one of my favourites from by UK producer BUG. He houses the tune up a little, then adds a dirty bass groove as the song progresses. Rotation worthy! Check it out below, then head over to Soundcloud to hear other submissions. Leave comments to helps Quadron in their decision making. Deadline is tomorrow, November 22. And kudos to the artist who did the artwork for the BUG Punch Up Remix cover!

Quadron – Average Fruit (BUG’s Punch-Up) by BUGMusic

Jay Electronica has finally gotten himself a major record deal. The façade looks perfect - signed to the label run by one of raps most authentic heavy weights in the business, Jay-Z — who’s not only an exemplary business man, but an outstanding lyricist. Sounds like a win-win situation really. However, when you look at the history of both artists, Jay-Z, notorious for signing artists and not releasing music by them and Jay Electronica‘s sporadic style of releasing music—we could certainly be in for a long wait.

At the advent of signing to Roc Nation, saw the release of the following tunes to get us excited about what’s to come. ”Shiny Suit Theory” featuring Jay-Z and The Dream, in my opinion, is not the strongest out the two tunes, however, Jigga Man’s verse clearly gives him the lyrical edge on the track. Oddly enough, I don’t hear The Dream on the cut (tell me if you do). But “The Announcement” opens with a militaristic style drum sequence as John F. Kennedy‘s Rice University speech about the US Space Effort in 1962 plays over the track. The JFK quote, “We choose to go to the moon!” gives the song an inspirational air as Jay Elect‘s fluid delivery leaves you hanging on every word. I can’t wait for his album!

Listen to the tunes below and take the poll to see what the favored tune is.

“Shiny Suit Theory” feat. Jay-Z, The Dream [Download]

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“The Announcement” feat. John F. Kennedy [Download]

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This is what I call fun rap without the schtick. Brooklyn-based rap group, Das Racist are Queens, New York-born Hiramsu Suri, San Francisco-born Victor Vazquez, and hypeman Ashok Kondabolo a.k.a Dap. They hit the scene in 2008 with their single “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell” and garnered a lot of attention. By March 2010, their debut mixtape Shut Up, Dude and Sit Down, Man was released and received great reviews, and six months later, their second mixtape Sit Down, Man hit to even more critical acclaim.

Coke Machine Glow online magazine summed them up perfectly by saying Das Racist, “attempt to write an impossibly new blueprint for rap: funny without trying to impress; proficient without having anything to prove; relevant without taking any particular scene seriously; imbued with a soulful sense of place—urban, disaffected, ethnic—but more interested in how that serves as fodder for jokes than in any big grab for meaning.” Perfectly put!

Here, they come together in a perfect union with Homeboy Sandman for “I’m Up On That“. What’s so uncanning about the tune, is that it sounds as though they’ve been working together since birth, where each emcee follows their formula of unlikely lyrical pairings—it works seamlessly! And it’s hella fun too! Check out the tune below and oblige in a free download, in courtesy of RCRD.LBL.

I cannot stress how much fine music is coming out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania! Once home to great jazz musicians, now the place where a new wave of rappers and producers are emerging in what seemed a no man’s land. Here we have the duo, Bobby Blunt (Virginia native, who did the creative Petey’s Soapbox EP which was inspired by the shock jock Petey Greene; if you missed it, you can check it out here) and producer Vex, come together to form Huey Nuetron. “I Just Wanna Be” is the first single from their forth coming project Are We There Yet? to be released in January 2011. It’s a taste of slapping beats, soulful vocals, and a hard rap that talks about how confining a world we live in and our inherent struggle to truly be free. We can aptly deem the sound of Huey Nuetron as a new wave in hip hop soul. Check it out below and get your free download on their Bandcamp page.

I’ve been steadily listening to the sounds of Quadron for almost a year now, and have not grown tired of their sound. Just finishing up their US tour, sharing the stage with the likes for Bilal and the boys from New Zealand Electric Wire Hustle, the underground community are all over Quadron.

Here, with the forth video from their self entitled debut album is “Simili“, my favourite track off the album. The video highlights, that despite the odds of things working out, one thing that is certain, you have self. A very redemptive and positive way to move on from a breakup. Check it out below. And if you don’t own the CD, get it here!

FULL SCREEN
The Sounds of VTech / Quadron: Simili Life

Firstly, I need to apologise for taking so long to post this! I unintentionally held out on you. Them Fighting Words: The Anti-Love Theory, produced by Shade Cobain is muphorically sound!! Shade gets a bit darker on this collection of instrumentals, honing in on his interpretation of how love can be equated through music. And as we know, love, at least the shaky kind of love, is far from a bed of roses. The various soundbytes will have you laughing, or feeling waves of sadness and even compassion for a fellow sister or a brother. Even down to nuances within a particular music sample, tap into the level of love Shade wants to convey. He has definitely worked out the theory—Love, any type of love, is part of living.

Pittsburgh native, Shade Cobain is no stranger to us here at Muphoric Sounds, where we featured Shade’s Cassette Theory: Beat EP, this past summer — a fusion of hip hop, soul, jazz but largely capturing the essence of the Golden Era in hop hop. If you missed it, you can check it out here.

So kick back and listen to Them Fighting Works: The Anti-Love Theory by Shade Cobain, and as JillzWorth says in the intro, “Love is Love, Love is Life, Love is an experience.” Enjoy!

Wow! The imagery in this video is outstanding and perfectly suited for Bilal‘s second video from his recently released 3rd album, Airtight’s Revenge. Directed and animated by acclaimed French director, Mikael Colombu, “Robots” is visually compelling, provocative in pushing you to reflect on political and social inferences; our society is in ruin. The Information Age comes with many great advantages; but it also has sever repercussions. As America gets ready to cast their ballots, “Robots” ends with the words in a digital ticker tape form, “Don’t believe everything you hear and see.” Great video. Check it out below.