Soul: In religion and philosophy, the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being, that which confers individuality and humanity, often considered to be synonymous with the mind or the self. In theology, the soul is further defined as that part of the individual that partakes of divinity and often is considered to survive the death of the body.
Assassins: Arabic, plural HASHSHASHIN, in Middle Eastern and history,any member of the Nizari Isma'ilities, a religio-political Islamic sect dating from the 11th century and known, in its early years, for murdering its enemies as a religious duty. The Arabic name means "hashish moker,referring to the Assassinsalleged practice of taking hashish to induce ecstatic visions of paradise before setting out to face martyrdom.
While the heart of the game beats heavily on wordplay, it's production that tends to cut deep into the soul. Without it, we'd be succumbed to enjoy poetic rhyme flows with no emotion. Picture that. Hip-hop music without"music.For the past decade, Killa Cali's own DJ Muggs has been a catalyst in the elevation of hip-hop music. Since making his mark on Cypress Hill's multi-platinum debut Cypress Hill, DJ Muggs, along with the Soul Assassins camp, has contributed to a culture that has surpassed its life expectancy of 5 years. At the beginning of the new milli, the Hill's head orchestrater once again revs up a crew of assassins to bring forth a hip-hop opus entitled Muggs Presents匱he Soul Assassins Chapter 2.
The year was 1984. While most adolescents were transforming toy robots or watching the A-Team spray up a storm, Queens-born Lawrence Muggerud was preparing for a move to the other side of the country. Leaving behind the concrete jungles of New York City, Muggs relocated to California where his hip-hop beginnings manifested into the art of Djing. A year into his chosen craft, Muggs was befriended by Cuban-born resident, Sen-Dog, and his vato B-Real. Before the idea of Cypress Hill came about, Muggs had made his mark on the Colors Soundtrack, with a local rap group called 7A3.
A year later, the young B-Boy picked up on Djing. For the next 4 years he'd master his chosen craft to a point where access to the annual DMC's Djing competition was inevitable. He entered the competition in 1989 and in the process took the West Coast championship. It was during this period that Muggs toyed with the idea of making beats. "I'd go to the studio and got to see muthafuckas make music and I had ideas that I would give them,recalls Muggs. "And they was producing my ideas. I was like 慺uck that I can do this shit.So I got my little money and copped me a drum machine and said this is how I wanted the music to sound. And started making beats.
After about a year, shit just started to sound like records.Unlike today, there were no "how-tobooks on music production, so Muggs was forced to learn on his own. Having been influenced by the likes of EPMD, Marley Marl, Public Enemy and UltraMagnetic MC's, Muggs would develop a much harder, sample-heavy sound as opposed to the melodic, laid back vibe of his West Coast counter parts. The sound was perfect for his co-di's, B-Real and Sen-Dog, with whom he'd later form Cypress Hill. In 1991, Cypress Hill made their mark with the self-titled debut album Cypress Hill. The results made them overnight rap elite and hip-hop's official spokespeople for Ganja lovers worldwide. It was also the first sign of what was to come from the Soul Assassins camp. Next up? Muggs later returned to his NYC roots by producing a rowdy Irish trio calling themselves House of Pain. It was H.O.P.'s "Jump Aroundthat Muggs would be seen as a producer going beyond the limits of hip-hop.
Within the next couple of years Muggshaunting production would play background for Xzibit, Ice Cube, KRS-One, Supercat, Goodie Mob, as well as superstars such as U2, Van Halen, Beastie Boys, Pearl Jam, Sonic Youth, George Michael, Simply Red, Janet Jackson, Salt-n-Pepa, Me'shell Ndege'Ocello, Goldie, Tricky, and many more. "I could fuck with all kinds of music,admits Muggs. "I like to tap into that. I take a Rock song and flip it to a hip-hop song or hip-hop song into a rock mix. I could tap into Jungle, Dub. I don't like just doing the same shit that's been done. It's redundant. I like tryinto invent new styles of music, invent a whole new genre, and bring a whole new sound and styles. Instead of doing the same thing over and over again.
Evidence of this took place during the mid-nineties when Cypress Hill fused their shows with live guitars and drums, before Hip-Rock became a trend. But his first love is, and will always be hip-hop. In 1997, during the midst of an over-hyped East Coast/West Coast feud, Muggs decided to unite some of his peers for a bi-coastal gala that featured Dr. Dre, Wu-Tang's own RZA and GZA, MC Eight, KRS-One, Goodie Mobb, Wyclef Jean and Mobb Deep all on one record. Muggs Presents匱he Soul Assassins Chapter1. The album went on to receive critical acclaim and became a classic among hip-hop afficiados. In the process, it propelled Muggs back into the spotlight as one of hip-hop's illest and most consistent beatsmiths. Fast forward to the year 2000.
For the second time in his career, DJ Muggs has rounded up a slew of respected hip-hop artists to run amok over an array of beats that attempt to break the sound barrier on Muggs Presents匱he Soul Assassins Chapter 2. "I tried to tap into the way I felt in 4 with this Soul Assassins record. I'ma take it there,says determined Muggs. "It's like 慜.K. I'm not gonna conform to radio, conform to the trends, conform to what they wanna play in the clubs or conform to what DJ's wanna play. I'ma make a straight dusted record that reminds me of going to the basement making beats, lights dimmed with blunt smoke all over. And that's what this record sounds like.
A murky, smoked out record.While Muggs could've easily made an album filled with chart toppinsuperstars, he chose to align with some of underground hip-hop's most respected wordsmiths to create a mix of new-school underground classics. "It's about chemistry,says Muggs about his chosen few. "You can't just throw anybody with anybody. If you have a team that has all the best players in the league, they can't win. They got the illest cats, but they got no chemistry. That's very important. I have to be able to tap into the artist. It just can't be my vibe all the time. I have to be able to tap into your world and bring my shit into your world.The results of that chemistry brings forth another chapter in good olfashion underground style.
Hip-hop Godfather, Kool G. Rap, let's off a couple on the sinister "Real Life,while drinkinbuddies, Xzibit, along with King Tee, tear bars apart on "You Better Believe.Returning for an encore from the 1st chapter are Wu-Tang's GZA with the album's first single "When The Fat Lady Singsand Atlanta's own Goodie Mob. If ever a monumental moment on the 13-cut LP, then it would be on "Razor to Your Throat,as original Soul Assassin, Everlast, spits razors over Muggsgroundbreaking way of beating. "I took a lot of good New York underground acts and underground L.A. acts on this album. Even the major acts I have are still underground. GZA's underground yet he's gold.
Xzibit is large, yet he's still underground. G-Rap's large, but he still underground. Goodie Mob is large and still underground. So everybody on here is all underground artist.Other acts include The Dogg Pound's own Kurupt, Rass Kass, Hostyle of Screwball, Infamous Mobb's G.O.D. Pt. III and Dilated Peoples. "I've seen them kids [Dilated] get signed, get dropped, put they shit out for four years and come up again and I respect that. That's why I put 慹m on my album, cause I've seen them go through that shit and I respect them for that.The Soul Assassin roster has gone through a unique expansion since their introduction in 2.
While House of Pain's Everlast has gone on to become a pioneer in the art of Rap-n-roll Blues, DJ Lethal has made his mark DJing for Limp Bizkit. Funk Doobiest's own Sun Doobie is currently the host of one of the most popular shows at L.A.'s Power 106FM, while current king of underground production, The Alchemist, along with actor Scott Kahn (Gone in 60 Seconds, Boiler Room, Varsity Blues) once known as The Wholigans have gone on to establish themselves in their respective fields. "Everybody from the crew has gone to do their thing in big ways,says a proud Muggs. "Everyone in the family is out there excelling in whatever the fuck they do.The saga continues Aside from production, The Soul Assassins family has respectively tapped into other markets of the hip-hop artform.
Due to their successful run of Soul Assassins Radio --a mainstay of Los Angeles Radio's 92.3 The Beat KBBT for the past three years-- both B-Real and Bobo have another deal to develop a new nationally syndicated program with NPG Broadcasting. They've also expanded in the realm of video filming through up-and-coming lenseman, Estevan "ScandalousOriole (Cypress Hill, D-12, Psycho Realm) as well as provide urban exhibitions throughout various states and countries with the art of internationally renowned tattoo artist, Mr. Cartoon (Method Man, Cypress Hill, Goodie Mob, Erick Sermon, Eminem and many more). "We've got every angle of music covered and every dimension artistically covered. And everybody excels at what they do and everybody brings something to the game.
With the state hip-hop constantly expanding into new boundaries, Muggs continuously challenges himself unto breaking the traditional rap barrier. At this pace, Muggs will no doubt continue to make his mark on a game indesperate need of a revise. "I'm about to do some ill shit this year,predicts a determined Muggs. "Right now I feel like I'm starting to come into my own. I've been doing music for a long time, but I think my best work is coming this year. I'm just gonna start doing some way out shit. My mind is open to it right now.With upcoming work on albums from Snoop Dogg, Kurupt and Infamous Mobb and a Soul Assassins movie in the works, Muggsmission to enhance the state of hip-hop production seems to be detonating at the push of a button.
"If nigga is dope, they'll be around for ten years, if not then⌦㈲㬴"
The End.
Source: http://www.planetmeridian.com
