:: RAT RIOT :: A World Full Of Noise

So recently, yours truly had an opportunity to interview Mister Gordon Voidwell. We featured him about two months ago, and since then, many of our readers have asked for more. So I felt compelled to hit him up, and what do you know, he found the time to give a brutha a break. :) haha. So here you go!

:: THE QUESTIONS ::

RR: So who is Gordon Voidwell? How would you describe your sound and your movement?

GV: Gordon Voidwell is the alter-ego of Will Johnson. He’s still a character in development - but in short he’s an 80s baby from the South Bronx. He’s desperately in love with the music/culture he grew up around. Gordon is glamorous, but gritty. He’s ghetto, but scholarly. He’s retro, but futuristic. The idea behind Gordon Voidwell is to take various concepts/ideas that presume to be binary opposites and deconstruct them, proving them to be more alike than different. That is the idea behind both the sound and the general movement I align myself with. We are all complex people - each and every one of us. I’m championing complexity rather than simplicity.

RR: Many of your songs have references to problems in society, do you consider your music political?

GV: I think all music is political. Even if it isn’t speaking on direct issues or problems, it serves as a commentary on our progress. I personally can’t avoid making blatant references to political & social issues. I’m from the Bronx-like the hood part of the Bronx-and I got a goodass education…I feel it’s my vocation to speak on those issues. But, it’s also my vocation to make people laugh and dance. My aim/challenge is to speak on real things that occupy my mind and do it in a way that makes people feel united rather than alienated.

Read the rest of this entry »

So, as to be expected, going to jail pays off when your famous, and T.I. is no exception. I think his album is insanely good. He’s one of the more talented Rap artists that are major right now. So I figure why not show him some love on the blog. I just can’t get over the fact that he had an interview on CNN… Like.. thats crazy! I would never have thought their viewers were at all interested in Hip Hop, other than their inconsistent coverage of the latest Kanye news. haha. Peep some of the interview after the jump as well with TJ Holmes :) :)

Read the rest of this entry »

Ok. So I know alot of you are probably like ENOUGH WITH THE DAMN CUDDER posts, but I can’t help it! I dig ol’ boy, plus he’s constantly doing something worth talking about. lol. Anyways, he recently sat down with Complex Magazine and had a pretty dope interview with Joe La Puma. It’s kinda long, but if you find cudi dope, you’ll sift through.

Complex: Obviously there was a little push back from the blog post we did about the new rapper retail deals…

Kid Cudi: Even in my post I said I have no problem with Complex. It’s been my favorite magazine. On one of my songs, “Cleveland is the Reason,” I actually shouted you guys out and I recorded that song in 2006. So when I say “I want my closet Complex like the magazine,” I was really dreaming of getting fresh. And I remember always looking in Complex and looking for the fresh shit. But when I saw that, it was kind of brought to my attention…like, I’m all good with jokes, I like cracking jokes, I’m a silly dude, we all know that, but I didn’t feel too roasted. I was like, that was an attempt to be funny but it just wasn’t funny. I was just standing up for my homies that were on the list. It wasn’t really like I was standing up for myself, and I wasn’t really attacking the magazine. I was just attacking this kid that thought he was being witty. But I wasn’t shitting on him. I was just like [silly voice] mannn you know…that’s not right man, that’s not cool.

Read the rest of this entry »

I love this dudes music and all the tracks he produced for Santigold (she changed her name… don’t ask me why!). I think they are the coolest musical couple since John Lennon and Yoko Ono, expect both of them are talented in this scenario haha. I want to be invited to the wedding… (cough cough). Anyways, I was excited to see an interview that Nell Alk of Format Mag did with him this past week. I’m waiting for a new project from him, hopefully sometime soon he’ll be releasing something. Check out the one on one below.

World Cup-winning Olympic medallist Trevor AKA Trouble Andrew made a name for himself on slopes the globe over. Since high school, Trevor’s been letting loose on the mountain, snowboarding his way to some sort of stardom, akin to king of the hill. Now this Canadian wunderkind aims to make records rather than break them. While he once left tracks in the snow, Trevor’s out to create tracks of a different type; the kind that don’t disappear when the sun shines a little too bright.

That’s right, this visionary has his sights set on performing sold out shows to fun-loving fans with an ear for amazing music, a cross between crunk rock, hip-hop and punk, among other mix-ins. Together with his indispensable band mates – drummer Ian Longwell, guitarist Joao Salamao and bassist Masaru Takaku – better known as the Trouble Gang, Trevor’s making waves in a whole new way. And, take our word for it, you won’t want to miss this ship.

Read the rest of this entry »

The coolest dudes out of Canada, Chromeo, recently sat down with Andrew Rennie of Format Magazine. I dig these two. They’re music brings out my fancy footwork hahah. :) . Check out the one on one after the jump.

Since their 2006 debut album, She’s In Control, Montreal-based Chromeo have finessed their way into almost every facet of the public realm; a strange but fitting extension of their charming and idiosyncratic music. Coincidentally, the group is no stranger to serendipity. From their almost premature signing, to their surprise celebrity endorsements, it seems like Dave 1 and P-Thugg were fated to make a massive impact on the music industry.

With cited influences like Zapp and Hall and Oates, musical intricacies reminiscent of Prince and Giorgio Moroder, and a long line of club producers and DJs behind them, it is damn-near impossible to classify Chromeo’s music. This is the type of prototypical greatness that you will be telling your kids about one day. Format caught up with Chromeo’s Dave 1 on a snowy New York afternoon, to figure out how it all came together.

Read the rest of this entry »