"Listen to my song before I strong arm the industry, blow up like a bomb, don't even forewarn the enemy..."-Myth #strangeFruitProject

Maybe it's just the Texas in me, but I love me some Strange Fruit Project. Which makes it all the more shocking to me that I totally missed A Dreamer's Journey when it came out in the fall of 2011. Totally...

#BavuTube- Strange Fruit Project "Take It Slow"

Hope your day's going well... Here's some YouTubery: Take It Slow by Strange Fruit Project featuring the mighty Bavu Blakes. From their 2007 record The Lost Documents.

Start the Day off RIGHT!

Soul Clap by Strange Fruit Project, off their third album, The Healing. 

#BavuTube...

One of my favorite rappers ever, TX native Bavu (pronounced 'bah voo') Blakes, recently moved out to Long Beach, CA but he'll be in Dallas next month to drop a limited edition ceedee with this artwork by me on the cover. It was an honor to work with someone whose work I admire so much, and to be paid well for it. Anyways, when I get more info about what's on the ceedee, I'll let you know... for now, let's celebrate the occasion with a bunch of youTube videos i found last night and embedded below

Start the Day off RIGHT!

here's some Soulful TX Hip Hop for your speaker. this is garland globetrotter Bavu Blakes' joint Smiley Faces featuring Dallas' own Pikahsso Of AwkQuarius Prod. by S1 of Strange Fruit Project Off The Bavu Blakes Extra Plair E.P. the video was directed by Tahiti, so it's a DFW party, right?
 holla!

samax.

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Start the Day Off Right------->

Crash - Strange Fruit Project feat. Thesis from S1/ S.K.P. Film and Photo on Vimeo.

Hip Hop's in Good Hands...

VohnBeatz and M-Pak presents Peer Pressure (The Mixtape Trailer) from symbolyc on Vimeo.

11 year old VohnBeatz teams with 15 year old emcee M-Pak to create Peer Pressure: The Mixtape Album. If that dude S-1 of Strange Fruit Project says they're tight, they pro'lly are...

when DJ Jamad takes risks, he Wins!

North Carolina radio jock DJ Jamad recently hooked up with the design monsters at Jungle45 to craft the aptly titled Afro Forty-Five mixtape. now we all know how much i love mixtapes (well, we should, anyways), so needless to say i was pleased as punch to get this joint in the P.O. Box!

for the record, once you get past the extra-fly Jungle45 cover, Jamad jumps it off the way any smart deejay would: a fresh sample that cleverly weaves an old beer commercial into a Jungle45 promo! Like previous Jungle45 mixtapes, AfroForty-Five bounces around the hip hop nation, blending hipster cuts, southern flossery and pop-gangster remixes in a way that serves to keep a hermit like me up to date with what the cool kids are listening to, while also educating them on what they SHOULD be listening to. that's how he chose, for example to preface Li'l Wayne's A Milli (Cookin' Soul RMX) with Asher Roth's Chillionaire Freestyle (Asher Milli). and did i mention he has two tracks with Rah Digga? yeah...
where was i? so Jamad is at his best when he makes risky moves, like that Born Silly, Hallz and Oatmeal, and that Funky Enough RMX (yeah, he hollas at the D.O.C.). I mean, he slices lotsa CRAZY choices in between tracks with Killer Mike, S1 from Strange Fruit Project, Skillz and other certified dope cats...
anyways cop that joint here.
uno.
-gM

the Healing...

in case you're new around here, i've been crowing about this group from waco, tx called The Strange Fruit Project for some time now. part Blackstar, part Outcast, and very, very Texas, this southern fried soul-clappin' rap crew is poised to be the next big thing (or maybe the next medium thing... this is INDIE hipHop after all...). they have the lyrics, the steez, and the best producer this side of 9th Wonder (i think s-1's better than 9th Wonder, but that's just me...). with the recent release of their third record The Healing, it looks like some pretty important people are starting to share my enthusiasm:

"Most of my iPod is just a random 9000 song trip and occasionally I have to walk up to it/pull it out of pocket and see who it is. The artist I did that the most to was Strange Fruit Project..."
-Ahmir ?uestLove Thompson of The Roots

the hard-working/hard-touring Trio of s-1, myth and myone ("my own") are kicking out some imaginative, sexy, soulful music... and these days they're getting a little help from their friends. s1's excellent beats recieve support from Jake One, illMind, nicolay, Vitamin D, and the aforementioned 9th Wonder. on the mic they get love from Thesis, Darrien Brockington, Little Brother, and the REAL Queen of Texas hipHop, Erykah muthaF%^$in' Badu (reckanize!)
anyways, props to my girl Syma, who hipped me to the SFP myspace profile. go peep some fresh music, pictures, videos, an' alladat... or just cop some music! all three platters (From Devine, Soul Travellin', The Healing) get the thumbs up from ya boy, so you can't go wrong fam!
holla!
samax.

Hydro Anyone..?

i had a really good weekend... for starters, i went to the realease party for Hydroponic Soundsytem's Mixtape Mentality. it was easily the best show i've been to all year (yep. better than blackalicious...). everybody knows i have just come to admit i have a serious mixtape addiction (if you don't know what a mixtape is, lemme know and i'll do an educational blog...); even though i am chronicly broke, i have copped maybe 6 mixtapes over the past couple months, and this one is a banger!

MM has multiple appearences by the inimitable Bavu Blakes (including a collabo with Myone of the StrangeFruit Project that is worth the price of the disk all by itself!), Headkrack, Keynote, MYK and a slew of other fresh lyricists you never heard of!

the beats, which were described by celebrity shout-outer [can't do a mixtape without celebrity shout-outters...]Erykah Badu as "Jeep Jazz", are to DIE for.
go to the Hydro myspace page and sample the natural belnd of hip hop goodness...

peace!
samax.

hooooooWEEEEE!

strangeFruit was the BOMB! due to too many artists ahead of them, the SFP set was too short, but MAN... it sure was fresh...

also, i found out that Blackalicious, LifeSavas, and Pidgeon John (in case you didn't know, all three are DOPE!)are coming to town in march! shaping up to be a great month, and it ain't even started yet!!!

holla!
samax.
www.ghettoManga.com

Strange Fruit Project @the Gypsy Tea Room

:for all you Dallas area hip hoppers, come out to FINAL FRIDAY tonite at the Gypsy Tea Room in deep ellum and peep the Strange Fruit Project. I'll vouch for these cats! they are the real deal, in my opinion. i first heard of 'em a few years ago... they are the reason i didn't think Little Brother was that big a deal. Strong Words, i know. they are THAT good. and guess what else? they're from Waco, TX. can you believe it?!?! their beatsmith S-1 did a remix for austin emcee Bavu Blakes (the song was "Black Gold"), that was totally off the meter. get that track by any means necessary...
groups like this, emcees like Bavu and other promising local talent shows me it's still okay to be a hip hopper in Texas...

peace, love, etc.
samax