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Back in 2004 when we were working on “Mike on the Fatman” and after Musiq Soulchild dropped the “Soulstar” album with the “forthenight” song I kept telling Chum I wanted to do a disco track. Now in the Cool-Aide era I finally pulled the right record off the wall and I got my disco track.

I had just gotten back from seeing that girl from Marked by Melody and I was in a real somber mood but I sat down with the track and worked out what was going on in my head. I started with “Who really knows what the future holds?” and ended up with an “Everything’s gonna be alright” song.

At this point we had started to realize what our “sound” was. And all our friends were saying how it could be a hit.

I envisioned a video for this with a prologue where me and my love interest have a fight and she throws me out the house and then as the song starts I wake up in a parking lot in my car. The song starts I drive back to Philly go to my uncle’s house cut my hair (I had dreads until 3 months ago if you’re new to me) and this is my moment of clarity and I show up at my party which is at a skating rink where everyone is waiting for me not sure if I was gonna show up cuz they knew what had happened but I show up all brand new and we’re all smiling and roller skating and Chum is DJing. At the end of the song she shows up in the doorway of the skating rink and we hug. The end.

Other than selecting the record and suggesting that he add something at the end I didn’t have much input on this track.

The instrument on the bridge is Chum making sounds with his mouth. He was very proud of that.

If this is any indication it woulda been a hit.

This was a track Chum made while I fell asleep on the couch and was just like hey use this.
I’ve been called all types of synonyms for arrogant and asshole and the hook said “I’m just being being myyyyyself I’m just being being me – nobody but me.” So I just took the time out to explain why I am the way I am and that everyone else should be too.
My parents playfully argue about who gets more love because of the order in which their names appear in the first verse. I love those guys — well mostly just my mom.
I wanted Chum to do some drum tricks on the list in the third verse. I thought that really woulda set that part off. He didn’t do it. He also was waiting on someone to come do a bassline for this and after a while I think he did finally lay one but I don’t have that version.

Something happened with the “relationship” I was in at the time and everything came crashing down. This song was one of the many ways of me getting that out. I’d always wanted to sing and the girl in question had inspired me to incorporate melodies into my rapping style so in a way that will always be a constant reminder of her hence “Marked by Melody” has the metaphor to explain it. That’s why the first half of the first verse is very sing-songy or melodic.

I’m not really the type of person to front about a song I made and who I wrote it for. So I’m not gonna be like “this is for all the girls I ever broke up with” or some bullshit like that. When I wrote this I was very much in love with this person and as such I was writing around how I truly felt about the situation and taking accountability for things that were truly just not things I’d created — at least not on my own.

So this song was me working through those issues. We’d made another song that’s similar to this one the following night. It was called “Piece by Piece” I didn’t want to use it though because listening to it made my stomach hurt. Yeah I can’t really explain it. Yeah I don’t know either. I’d wondered if it was something alchemical.

I think Chum made this from a sample he’d already had lined up. He was aware that Black Panther had already used it but he was vocal about not caring about that and that he could make a better beat. That’s generally his stance on samples other people have used that’s why a lot of the time you’ll hear a track of his and think to yourself “this sounds familiar…I just can’t quite place it.” My only real input on the beat was that he extend the hook to include that extra part. He had this cat Ed come in and play live bass on it and Ed also sings the “Marked by Melody” at the end of the hook because when I did it it sounded like shit HAHA!.

“Man of the Year”

This was the first album song we did. I was on top of the world and the beat was big and commanding. I’d just come off a European tour and I’d played with the Foreign Beggars in Bristol. I liked how they started their show with a song that just had everybody’s hands in the air. Just straight instant rowdy shit. Before this track I always started my shows with a recognizable instrumental. “Man of the Year” put an end to that.

It’s very much a “we’re back! meet the new us” song and I remind you we’re still better than your favorite rap group.
It’s the only punchline-based song on the record. Granted I do have a few similes threaded here and there but this is the only one where I’m straight up showing off like I’m sorta known to do.

Originally I’d wanted Chum to render the a capella and scratch my second verse in different places so the song could a “new” aspect to it. He never did it.

Chum played live trumpet on this beat. He was very proud of that.

I think this is the first time I said “I’m so good at this!” That’s my catch phrase and also a track I did with my homey Picnic Tyme.

-MK

MiC K!NG & Chum WERE Cool-Aide

Chum and I no longer work together but we did an amazing album and it’s my birthday so I’m giving it to you for free. Well not totally. It’s gonna cost you a tweet or facebook post. Get your copy of MiC K!NG & Chum WERE Cool-Aide now.

These were exciting times, I’d went up to Chum’s and played him some of the stuff I’d been working on for the Robots with Hearts project and I’d say like a year before I’d described the “Cool-Aide” idea to him. It was a skeleton vision where I imagined us making music people could relate to more. I’d always been big on other genres like Disco, Soul, etc and I wanted to incorporate those. I wanted to write in such a way that I split the difference between being overly dense and being relatable. I wanted to have fun but not have to sacrifice my ability to rap too much. I also wanted to sing a little bit and I wanted to have Blue Raspberry in the group. I wanted to do a record about being cool through adversity. Literal “Cool” “Aid” if you will. We’d kicked around the ideas for awhile but never really acted on it. Read more…

Streaming live video by Ustream

Be a part of Chum’s birthday party live on Ustream tonight at 10pm!

Platform8470.com Flavor Ade interview

MiC K!NG & Chum sit down and talk with the good folks at Platform8470.com.

Check out the interview and find out why Mike and the Fatman didn’t have a disco record and why Flavor Ade isn’t a history lesson but a future lesson.

Ask Chum on Formspring

The people at Formspring seem to the think the already anonymous internet needs to be even moreso.

Chum has joined Formspring thus making the  “Ask Chum” segment a 24/7 (anonymous) enterprise.

Ask away!

Sunday Night Sound Session

Hours before MiC K!NG would hop a plane back east after touring Canada for most of January he stopped by Sunday Night Sound Session to rock out with DJ Hyphen and J-Moore on KUBE 93.

If KUBE 93 is Seattle’s Hot 97 then Sunday Night Sound Session is the Stretch & Bobbito show. They play all the new flavors and this past Sunday they got an cup of “Flavor Ade”

Here it is if you missed it:

Link to download the mp3 – http://www.mediafire.com/?njnzzmd41dm
back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/72028745997b199e/
One more backup link – http://usershare.net/z7oehsvhgskz

Check out DJ Hyphen’s website:  The Audacity of Dope