Cultural Research
Jimmy Ness
Flow states, Ethnography and Skateboarding As ...
Flow states, Ethnography and Skateboarding As Therapy
Photography, Interview
Jimmy Ness
Finding Zen in Mastery: A Conversation with ...
Finding Zen in Mastery: A Conversation with Photographer Adam Marelli
basketball, Interview, Photography, Sports writing
Jimmy Ness
NBA Photographer Nat. S Butler

Another interview for the books! I spoke to NBA photographer Nat Butler while he was in hotel lockdown at the league’s playoff facility. Nat was generous enough to share some beautiful HD images and had so many good stories. It’s not often you get to have an hour long conversation with a guy who went to Shaq’s college graduation, knows Michael Jordan and has been to Lebron’s house. Nat’s been around so long that he shot the first basketball magazine I ever bought.

Feature, Newspaper Article
Jimmy Ness
Writing about Colour Theory and Masters of Tone
Writing about Colour Theory and Masters of Tone
fashion, Copywriting
Jimmy Ness
North Face Advertorial

Sleepy Brown Interview

Organized Noize emerged from a dirt floor studio with underclass tales that resonate in every neighbourhood from Bankhead to Brisbane. Sleepy Brown, Rico Wade and Ray Murray fused hip-hop, soul and funk to produce records for Outkast and Goodie Mob that are divine rap canon. Proudly Southern at a time when many Atlanta artists mimicked Miami bass for commercial ends, the trio were among the first to shift attention below the Dixie. Dubbing their collective “The Dungeon Family” as a tribute to their dank beginnings, Organized Noize’s run surpasses two decades and their contribution to quality music can’t be overstated. With credits including TLC, Future, Killer Mike, Bubba Sparxxx and Janelle Monáe, it’s fair to assume if you enjoy rap, you’ve heard a Dungeon track.

Characterized by a scintillating grin, oversized sunglasses and Superfly persona, Sleepy Brown is the trio’s retro futurist. The 45 year old’s musical ambitions were inspired by a childhood spent watching his father Jimmy perform in Atlanta funk-staple Brick, and he’s always paid tribute to the 70s. Aside from production and writing, Sleepy sung falsetto on Outkast’s No. 1 hit “The Way You Move, ” their universal player’s theme “So Fresh So Clean” and “Saturday Ooh Ooh” with Ludacris. He also maintains a solo career, which is four albums deep and includes lover’s decree “I Can’t Wait.”

A friendly and open interviewee, Sleepy didn’t exhibit signs of being jaded or arrogant despite his lengthy achievement list. He laughed while describing how Busta Rhymes influenced the conscious side of Organized Noize and shared Future’s nickname when he was still a “knucklehead.” The Isaac Hayes lookalike also described working with Curtis Mayfield as well as Pimp C, why Outkast’s 2014 tour is their last and almost every other Dungeon Fam query I had.

B Bravo - Nights (Feel Like Getting Down)



Just a little one for Passionweiss.

As per usual, modern funk authority B. Bravo combines old and new to form a potent dance elixir that makes involuntary toe-tapping a certainty. The L.A. beat architect appeared on Salva’s Peacemaker project along with partner Teeko last year and welds the vocoder like few other boogie cyborgs can.

“Nights (Feel Like Getting Down)” is a tribute to Billy Ocean’s classic disco floor filler and keeps the vibe going over thirty years after the original. During my interview with B. Bravo last year, he co-opted Dam Funk’s mission to uplift people with funk rather than chase success and this track doesn’t deviate from the game-plan. Synths, talk-box and drums, B. Bravo keeps it simple because when you’ve got interplanetary vibes this strong you don’t dare mess with the groove. A free download to celebrate his upcoming Europe mini-tour, this belongs in your playlist next to Zapp’s finest.

Big L - Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous



I wrote about Big L's titanium debut as part of Passionweiss' Hardest Rap Albums Of All Time. You can read the rest here. 

“So don’t step to this ‘cause I got a live crew / You might be kinda big but they make coffins your size too / I was taught wise / I’m known to extort guys / This ain’t Cali, it’s Harlem nigga, we do walk-by’s.”

Spite incarnate, Big L’s music was forever shadowed by death. Every other line was a blast of threats aimed at enemies, doubters, competitors and anyone who had something to lose. Lamont Coleman was undermining parent’s attempts to raise well-adjusted children, years before Shady gripped a chainsaw. L splattered his bars with an encyclopedia of offensive content and spat them with enough malice to traumatize a Juggalo. Who else would end a song by shouting out murderers, thieves and people with AIDS?

Coleman’s debut was the only full-length album recorded during his short life and he named it in direct opposition to television showLifestyles of the Rich and Famous. As someone who had no time for caviar dreams, Big L was the quintessential disaffected youth. He was too poor to afford a conscience and rarely paused between dome cracking bars to reflect on social issues. Cold angst permeates throughout the record and as a fan of horror films, L relished playing the villain and shocking the listener. While other emcees claimed the means justified the ends, Lamont laughed off constraint and poisoned eardrums with comparisons to the devil.

The power of Lifestylez doesn’t just lie in dark imagery though. Big L was a paradigm of technical ability with internal rhyme schemes and caustic wit. “I got styles you can’t copy bitch, it’s the triple six, In the mix, straight from H-E-double-hockey sticks.” Coleman’s lyrical bloodbath was also backed by D.I.T.C’s production and the album knocks front to back. Unfortunately, Columbia couldn’t predict suburbanites enjoying jokes about killing nuns and found Illmatic’s conscious spin on street-life was easier to market. Big L was dropped a year later and gunned down before he could record a proper follow-up making this project a haunting reminder of the realities of Harlem in 1995.

Hit Boy Interview

Hit Boy went from his mom’s house to working with Lil Wayne, Eminem, Kanye West and Jay-Z in the space of two years. He released the quadruple platinum “Drop the World” and “Niggas In Paris” almost back to back and was on the stage with Watch The Throne when they performed the track 11 times. But, for him, it’s not enough. The 27 year old, real name Chauncey Hollis, spends every day thinking about the producer he’s working to become.

In 2013, Hit Boy left Kanye’s GOOD Music label and broke out on his own. Details on the split are murky and naysayers claim he shouldn’t have left Yeezy’s side, but Hollis doesn’t care. More focused than ever, he’s launched the Hits Since ‘87 imprint and modelled his career after Timbaland’s history of working with hand-picked talent. Hit Boy has since formed a collective including long term friends Audio Push, started a solo rap career and released music with his formerly incarcerated father Big Hit.
While preparing to release new tracks “Automatically” and “Show Me Something,” he talked about producing for Kendrick Lamar, Dr. Dre, and life after GOOD Music.

Was last year your quietest production-wise in some time?

As far as producing for a bunch of people, yes, because I took time to focus on my label. I put out We the Plug and I produced a bunch of songs on there, that if you go listen to those beats, there aren’t really a lot of urban beats that match that. But it’s just that we’re a growing label and we’re a growing situation so not as many people are paying attention to us right now, but we’re on the radar and we’ve been dropping just as much music as everybody else. It’s just that people aren’t paying as much attention because it’s a new situation, you know.

Other than the obvious choices like your squad or Jay/Kanye, is there someone particularly hands-on you’ve worked with?

Honestly, I mean there’s Bey[once] you know. She’s part of the whole Jay-Z/Kanye level, but she definitely knows what she wants when you’re working with her. I might do a drum pattern and she’ll tell me it needs to sound more “futuristic” or it needs to have different textures, so I like working with her a lot too. She knows exactly what she wants.
 

Raekwon Interview

With razor sharp wordplay and luxury slanguage, few rappers in their 40s have enjoyed the same prolonged relevance as Raekwon. In the summer of 1995, Corey Woods released Only Built For Cuban Linx and ushered in a new era of Mafioso rap along with his Wu Tang Clan co-star Ghostface Killah. A masterpiece in criminology, the album heavily influenced the early careers of Jay-Z, Biggie and countless others as well as furthering the Wu Tang’s unparalleled rise.

Raekwon pulled off a rare feat by following it up with a quality sequel in 2009 and has continued to earn a reputation as one of the most consistent and digitally savvy members of the Wu. While the group celebrates their 20th anniversary, Rae remains focused on his solo career and is preparing for the April 28th release of his sixth album Fly International Luxurious Art as well as a documentary about the making of his classic debut.

Let’s talk about your new album Fly International Luxurious Art. You’ve said previously that it’s going to be “for all rap fans.” How do you cater to a wider audience without diluting your individual style?

I just try to be open-minded about creating music and also give them [the fans] an opportunity to see growth as well. Even though I’m a ‘90s artist, I still know every now and then, I have to give it a little shine in certain pieces of the music instead of just giving them that raw ‘90s sound. I just go with the determination – “this is what you do, this is your job, you’re supposed to know how to do this.” I collaborate with the right producers who understand the music that we are going after and we just go into it with a strong will and make it happen.