True hip-hop legend Lord Finesse has just dropped his long awaited new album The Awakening, on . The Awakening features guest appearances from Finesse supporters such as: KRS One, OC, MC Lyte, Grand Puba, Large Professor, Sadat X, Akinyele, Showbiz, AG, Diamond, Kid Capri and more. The record includes the #1 Rap Radio hit "Hip 2 Da Game" b/w "No Gimmicks", as well the new single/video "Actual Facts" with Grand Puba, Large Professor and Sadat X.
According to Lord Finesse, "The Awakening is pure Finesse, raw and uncut. This is just me, and it's a universal album meaning that everything is not the same. It's like different directions. If people expect one style or one flavor, they're in for some ol' new type shit. It's melodic, melodic for the simple fact that I want something you can pop in your tape deck and listen to damn near all day."
Finesse was born and raised in the cradle of hip-hop culture, the 'Boogie Down' South Bronx, and he was inspired by seminal artists such as Grand Master Flash, The Treacherous Three and The Cold Crush Brothers. Finesse says, "I'm living hip-hop. I've lived the culture since I was ten or eleven, all the way up to where I am now. In hip-hop, you're down when you know the culture, you're down when you can represent the culture."
After making a name for himself by rocking house parties, outdoor shows and MC Battles, Lord Finesse signed with Wild Pitch Records. He released his debut album Funky Technician in 1989, and it featured the hit "Strictly For The Ladies". From there, Finesse went on to sign with Giant Records, releasing the album Return Of The Funky Man in 1992. This project included hits such as "Party Over Here", "That's How Smooth I Am" and the title track.
Since then, Lord Finesse has been adding to his lyrical gifts by developing his skills as a producer and entrepreneur. Finesse formed his own production company, Funky Man Productions, and achieved quick success due to the tracks he created for hip-hop and R&B luminaries such as: Notorious B.I.G., SWV, Big L, Fat Joe, Jeff Redd and Caron Wheeler. Finesse says, "I started doing production, and it was like a resurrection. Only a few people I know can rap, DJ and produce. It's amazing to have all three talents, it's real unique. If you have a feel for all three directions, it helps you understand different aspects of hip-hop music."
On the EP The Awakening, Lord Finesse's personal growth and maturity are evident as a writer, performer and producer. "For me, this project is about a better flow, something different than before. I consider this tighter and more me. More musically put together. More hip-hop conscious. This album is just me expanding whatever I did before. I think I'm expanding on everything 100 percent," explains Finesse, "I feel with this album, for the first time in my life, I'm getting control. Control creativity wise."
Finesse continues, "I'm best at similes and metaphors. Admirers of my kind of art is what keeps me going. It's all about entertaining, that's what rap music is to me. It's you entertaining the person with your lyrical type flow. It's all about having straight hip-hop with the concepts and everything as raw as it can be. In hip-hop, your mind has to be expanded to the fullest."
"Anybody can rap," Finesse adds, "but only those who understand hip-hop as a culture can set up a strategic system to make and sell records successfully. Understand that 'rap' is show business and 'hip-hop' is culture. Hip Hop's gift to popular culture is that it is being heard throughout the universe. The downside is that hip-hop culture is being mass merchandised by people who are not part of the culture."
When it comes to his future goals in hip-hop, Finesse lays it out plainly, "I want to be the best artist and entrepreneur I can, because that's what 'keepin' it real' is all about. I also want to set up this 'Diggin' In The Crates' tour with me, S enough heads as rap artists to start our own tour. If we can do it, it would be phat."
Now, with the release of The Awakening, Lord Finesse is poised to reach a new level of success in an already legendary career. Finesse says, "The first album will always be a classic, I can't take nothing away from that. But with The Awakening, I'm topping that second album with ease."
