STV SLV and ABX, better known as The Hood Internet, recently compiled their fourth mixtape.  Given any opportunity, Killahbeez gladly promotes and supports The Hood Internet.  Check out the stream below and download the continual mix here.  Or for those in need of the individual tracks, here is the mediafire link.

On a side note, I commend the duo for collaborating with fellow Chicago artists.  In the past, The Hood Internet have linked up with Chuck Anderson of NO PATTERN. The fourth volume mixtape’s cover art is courtesy of Karen Tisel.

The Mixtape Volume Four:
1. Intro
2. David Banner vs Fujiya & Miyagi - Get Like Pterodactyls
3. The Beastie Boys vs Matt And Kim – Good Ol’ Fashion Rump Shaker
4. Kanye West vs Cage & Aviary – Touch The Television
5. Lil Wayne (feat. Babyface) vs Royksopp – Comfortable Up Here
6. Passion Pit vs Juvenile – Back That Sleepyhead Up
7. DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince vs Daft Punk – Summer Circuit
8. Public Enemy vs HEALTH vs Nosaj Thing – Bring The Tabloid Sores
9. AZ (feat. Ghostface) vs The Golden Filter – Solid Gold From New York
10. Modest Mouse vs Kanye West – Floating Paranoia
11. Clipse vs Yuksek – Kinda Like A Big Break
12. Weezer vs Glass Candy – Buddy Holly’s Imagination
13. Bangers & Cash vs Bag Raiders – Bang Raiders
14. Amanda Blank vs VEGA – No Reasons To Like You Better
15. Michael Jackson vs Ratatat – Billie “Wildcat” Jean
16. Kid Sister (feat. Pitbull) vs Phonat – Free Control Ocho
17. Twista (feat. Erika Shevon) vs Boys Noize – Wetter And Jeffer
18. Flo Rida (feat. Ke$ha) vs MSTRKRFT – 1000 Times Right Round
19. R. Kelly (feat. Keri Hilson) vs Sally Shapiro – Number One Christmas
20. Drake vs The Rapture – Best Jealous Lover I Ever Had
21. Bon Iver vs Friendly Fires vs Aeroplane – Lump Sum Of Paris
22. Jeremih vs Handsome Furs – Birthday Furs
23. Yung LA vs Solid Gold – Who Ain’t I Gonna Run To?
24. Major Lazer (feat. Santigold) vs Dirty Projectors – Hold The Stillness
25. Dead Prez vs Grizzly Bear – Two Weeks Of Hip Hop
26. Soulja Boy vs Joe Jackson – Swaggin’ Out
27. OJ Da Juiceman (feat. Gucci Mane) vs Discovery – Make The Loop Aye
28. Glasses Malone vs Chromatics – A Moment To Remember Haterz
29. Paper Route Gangstaz vs Animal Collective – Animals Collecting Money
30. B-Hamp vs Little Boots – Ricky Bobby Boots
31. Ghostface Killah vs Beirut – Save Me Concubine
32. Keri Hilson vs The Glitch Mob/TVOTR – Red Dress Turnin Me On
33. Dorrough vs Bibio – Fire Ant Paint Job
34. Outro

Source: The Hood Internet

Video from Kid Sister for her single “Right Hand Hi”, which was directed by Sarah Chatfield (director of “Alfie” video by Lily Allen). The song is on the forthcoming album, Ultraviolet and available in the next wee or so. Not a super huge fan of the song, but I think the video is pretty cool, with the kid painting on the images and Kid Sis rolling through the frames through the painted walls.

Click on link to download.

Bag Raiders Mini-Mix

Tracklist:
1. The Eternals – Wrath Of Zeus
2. Bay City Rollers – Saturday Night
3. Vernon Butch – Get Up
4. Royksopp – Happy Up Here (Breakbot Remix)
5. Beni – Fringe Element
6. DJ Swoosh – Swoosh
7. Solo – Congaloid (Minimow Remix)
8. Felix da Housecat – Like Something For Porno
9. DJ Swoosh – Swoosh (Swooshapella)
10. Classixx – I’ll Get You feat. Jeppe
11. Bag Raiders – Shooting Stars (Kris Menace Remix)
12. The C90s – 10:01 DM
13. Kid Sister – Right Hand Hi (Kingdom Remix)
14. DJ Swoosh – The Swoosherman (reprise)
15. Nicholas – Goldelectric
16. DJ Swoosh – Swoosh (Mr Swooshy’s Nothing But Net Re-rub)
17. Phoenix – Fences (Friendly Fires Remix)

A-Trak grew up with being labeled a child DJ prodigy by many, but despite that heavy label, he’s been able to deliver above and beyond anybody’s expectations. Constantly coming up dopness to give us eargasms on projects like Sunglasses is a Must, to Dirty South Dance and now Infinity + 1 and his Fabriclive mix. Expanding beyond his own music he co-founded record label Fool’s Gold Records with friend and fellow DJ, Nick Catchdubs and discovering KiD CuDi. He’s currently on his 10,000lb Hamburger Tour which features Fool’s Gold DJ, Treasure Fingers and Theophilus London, which is stopping throughout various cities in North America.

Killahbeez: A-Trak, thanks for taking the time to do this interview.

A-Trak: All good…

KB: Lets’ talk Infinity +1, how does this project differ from Dirty South Dance, which was a personal favorite on repeat for a straight year.

A-Trak: Thanks man. This mix CD is completely different. The whole concept of Dirty South Dance was based on bootlegs that I was making with rap acapellas and electro tracks. That was a new sound in 2007 but I can’t do that anymore. Infinity +1 is much more based on the montage of songs itself, rather than the individual songs. And musically it’s in another vein.

KB: It seems that this new release features more of an electro/disco/house vibe to it. Is that reflective of your personal taste has evolved over the years?

A-Trak: Yeah that’s correct , it’s got a sort of spacey vibe to it. Of course my taste and my selections evolve with time. Up until 5 years ago I was mostly playing hip hop. Around the time that I put out my DVD (Sunglasses Is A Must) and did that tour with The Rub I started playing more party sets. When I made the Dirty South Dance CD I was getting interested in electronic music. I’ve dug deeper into that since then and now I think I pick and choose from all those areas and pick my selections depending on the context.

KB: In an interview that our writer, AJK, did with your brother, Dave 1, they touched on how Chromeos’ sound and your sound are starting to fall in line. Growing up how much of an influence did your older brother play in the music that you listened to? Do you two still bounce material off of one another?

A-Trak: Dave played a huge influence on me when we were growing up, in terms of listening to music. Basically I would listen to whatever he and his friends were listening to. Now we share a lot of music. Yes he’s definitely the first person to hear my demos and give me feedback, and vice versa for Chromeo.

KB: Switching topics to fashion. It’s clear that you have an appreciation for fashion, you’ve modeled for Sixpack’s lookbook, what was that experience like and are you doing more stuff down the road?

A-Trak: Doing the Sixpack lookbook was fun, I’ve collaborated with that brand many times over the years so I’m always happy to do more stuff with them. I’ve been asked by more brands but I turn down a lot of things. I actually wear Sixpack tees so it made sense for me to do that shoot.

KB: Staying on the topic of fashion, you hit up Paris for fashion week. Which shows were you able to take in and were there any pieces that stood out in your mind?

A-Trak: Yeah I went to Paris fashion week with Kanye. It was women’s fashion week though I can’t really recall specific pieces, it was more about taking in all the creativity. I saw Givenchy, YSL, Hussein Chalayan, Viktor & Rolf and Sonia Rykiel.

KB: Going back to music, I’ve heard that you and Solange Knowles are working on some music and a record between yourself and Armand Van Helden. Are there any other collaborations or remixes that you have planned next?

A-Trak: Yes I worked on a track with Solange and I’m sure we’ll do more. She’s a great writer and has a very open mind. Sure there are more collaborations planned but I won’t tell you everything! I will tell you that I just completed an EP with Armand Van Helden which is coming out on Fool’s Gold.

KB: What else is on the agenda for A-Trak?

A-Trak: Wrapping up a few remixes and I’m going to start on an A-Trak record soon.

KB: Any departing words for the readers out there? Thanks again for taking the time.

A-Trak: Support Fool’s Gold! Kid Sister album coming soon. Thanks for the support.

Photo: Matt Barnes

Click on link to download.

Kid Sister “Right Hand Hi”
Amanda Blank ft. Santigold “A Love Song”
Holy Ghost! “I Will Come Back” DJ Mehdi Remix

Here is a minimix by Deviant Punkies over at Neonized Magazine.  I don’t know what the occasion for this well selected mix is, but its definitely worth a listen.  Best track hands down is Kid Sister’s take on The Jungle Brother’s ‘I’ll house you.’ Listen to the stream below with download link and track list to follow.

Download the mix here.

Empire Of The Sun – We Are The People (The Golden Filter Remix)
The Gossip – Heavy Cross (Fred Falke Remix)
Chromeo – 100% [Nacho Lovers’ B-LIVE Pemberton Mix
Xinobi – Diamonds And Rings
Cut Copy – Far Away (Bag Raiders Remix)
Kid Sister – I’ll House You (Reebok Classic ‘09)
Filthy Dukes – Tupac Robot Club Rock (L-Vis 1990 Remix)
Don Diablo – Hooligans (A1 Bassline Remix)*****
Rico Tubbs – Boom Riddim (Sharkslayer Remix)
Armand Van Helden feat. Christian Rich – Ski Hard
Burial – Etched Headplate (Kissy sell out remix)

Today we have a remake from Kid Sister. Taking on a classic jam from Jungle Brothers and making it her own with the help of Treasure Fingers on the production tip. Next is a remix that I’ve been waiting for since we did our interview with The Golden Filter. They’ve taken on remixing Empire of The Sun’s “We Are The People” and I can say this is one of my favourite remixes of this song. Such a different approach compared to all the other remixes out there. The sad news is that on their Twitter, they’ve tweeted that this is the last remix they’ll be doing for a minute as they finish up their album. I’ve heard a preview of the album and can say it doesn’t disappoint. The third jam we have for you today are from a couple of Vancouver DJs, Hedspin (Eh Team) and Marvel, as they remix a remix of Lykke Li.

Click to download.
Kid Sister “I’ll House You” Produced by Treasure Fingers
Empire of the Sun “We Are The People” The Golden Filter Remix
Lykke Li ft. Drake “Little Bit Lotta Bit” Hedspin and Marvel Remix

It’s been a hot minute since we’ve shared music from our friends in the Netherlands.  Vettig & Morsig’s frontman, Milan Caspers, hits us up with the 22nd volume of their mixtapes.  Its not uncommon nowadays to see baile funk and baltimore club incorporated into any indie dance music set, but Milez pulls it off easily.  Up until recently, I developed a liking for dubstep.  Luckily, familiar dj/producers Skream, Rusko and Chase & Status have spots in this mix.  Enjoy.

Download the mix here.

tracklist:
01. Blackjack – Dead Prez
02. Dj Tittsworth ft. Kid Sister & Pase Rock – WTF
03. Britney Spears – Circus (Diplo remix)
04. Sunship – Almighty Father (Solid Groove Underground Souljah mix)
05. Mr. Oizo – Lambs Anger (Noise Floor Crew’s Tribute To Flat Eric remix)
06. Ghislain Poirier ft. MC Zulu – Go Ballistic
07. Young MC – Bust A Move (Diplo remix)
08. James Brown – Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag (Dj Eli re-dit)
09. Plump DJs – Shifting Gears (Stanton Warriors remix)
10. Dance With White Girls – Everyones Got To Make A Living
11. Lil Bo Tweak – K Rizzle
12. The BPA ft. David Byrne & Dizzee Rascal – Toe Jam (Stanton Warriors remix)
13. R.Kelly ft. T.I. & T-Pain – I’m A Flirt (Harrison Schaaf remix)
14. Cassius – 99 (Elroy Vanderley’s Baldi edit)
15. Yo Majesty – Club Action (Stanton Warriors remix)
16. Heather – I’m Dry (Dolby Anol Hard Knocks mix)
17. Jack Beats & MC Dynamite – What (Boy 8 Bit mix)
18. Chris James & Lee Dearn – Panic At The Bar Mitzvah
19. Fake Blood – Mars vs Blaqstar (Andy George Mash’s It Up Innit)
20. Tittsworth – Tear The Club Up 2008
21. Sharkslayer – Fleshlighter
22. Kazey & Bulldog – For Da Real G’s (French Fries remix)
23. La Roux – In For The Kill (Hostage remix)
24. Audio Bullys – Flickery Vision (Rusko’s Staying Awake remix)
25. Shy Child – Noise Won’t Stop (Buraka Som Sistema remix)
26. Lorcan Mak – Gypsybum
27. Hostage – Bring The Music
28. Proxy – Tha Raven (Kazey & Bulldog MPC Reverse mix)
29. The Bloody Beetroots ft. Steve Aoki – Warp
30. Bird Peterson – Zutopong
31. The Scarlet Harlots – Backslash (Raffertie remix)
32. Bar 9 – Malicious Tactics
33. Skream – Fick
34. Shinichi Osawa – Push (Tronik Youth remix)
35. Guns ‘N Bombs – Riddle Of Steel
36. Chase & Status – Eastern Jam (High Rankin remix)

Source: Vettig & Morsig

Nothing super super new, but I recently received the Downtown Music label sampler and thought I’d share with you all some of the dopness that is set to drop from this label. If you’re not totally familiar with the label, you will be familiar with their stacked stable of artists, which includes Amanda Blank, Cold War Kids, Gnarls Barkley, Justice, Kid Sister, Mos Def, Santigold and Spank Rock to name a few.

Amanda Blank “Might Like You Better” Dirty
Miike Snow “Animal”
Asa “Jailer”

More on Downtown Music
Website: www.downtownmusic.com
MySpace: www.myspace.com/downtownmusic

What were you up to this Valentine’s Day? Dinner, Drinks and a movie? Lame.

If you were in Vancouver then you’ve could’ve been enjoying some craaaazy parties. This weekend hosted the LG Mountain Festival, which a few of us attended the Saturday session as it had Kid Sister, DJ A-Trak and Team Canada Djing. I actually missed on A-Trak’s set as well as Team Canada’s set, but I would be redeeming myself later that night. I did happen to catch Kid Sister and have to say, she’s pretty dope live, great charisma and stage presence, plus her songs are straight up party music.

Later that night a few of us popped down to Pop Opera to catch Team Canada doing their set and getting the people shaking their asses. From there we quickly bounced to where DJ A-Trak was throwing down the party. The crowd was hype and A-Trak played a variety of jams across multiple genres.

Of course getting into some of these things couldn’t have happened to a few people. So big shout outs to AJK, Jeff from The Hastings Set crew and Dana D from Nordic Trax and Red Bull for showing some love.

Enjoy some of the pictures below. The rest can be found on our Flickr page, www.flickr.com/photos/killahbeez/.

Kid Sister

DJ A-Trak

Team Canada

Checked out this new mix from Treasure Fingers. He’s definitely one of my, and other writers on Killahbeez, favorite DJs. Lately I’ve been listening to 40 mins in the Champagne room, yes this mix is old and in fact my cousin posted it here, but its just so dope and great to work out to that its been on repeat for me. Well this new Winter Mix that he just dropped continues the disco goodness. The mix features a bunch of new remixes and some unreleased jams. Give it a stream or download for your mp3 player. If you haven’t checked out our Treasure Fingers interview then have a read here.

Download Treasure Fingers Winter 08 Mix

01. peaceFIRE – Sapphire (GRUM edit)
02. Alex Gopher – Aurora (Riot in Belgium & Knightlife remix)
03. SymbolOne – Love Juice (Moulinex remix)
04. Manyus & Dario Guida – Stardust
05. Sean Biddle – Times Gets Tough (Matt Soda remix)
06. The Bucketheads – The Bomb (John Mazella Bistro mix)
07. Alex Herrera – Disco Steppin
08. Favretto feat. Naan – Whats Your Name (Treasure Fingers remix)
09. Big Gipp – Hot (Treasure Fingers remix)
10. Agent Stereo – Fast Lane
11. D’stephanie – Rock the Disco
12. DJ Funkso – A Disco Kid Song
13. The Young Punx – Dance with Someone Else (Phunk Investigation remix)
14. Empire of the Sun – Walking on a Dream (Treasure Fingers remix)
15. Disco Rockets – Highschool (Treasure Fingers Edit)
16. Alan Parsons Project – I Wouldn’t Want to be Like You (The Twelves Remix)
17. The Presets – This Boy’s in Love (Lifelike remix)
18. Munk – Down in LA (Shazam remix)
19. Demon – Happy Therapy (Lifelike remix)
20. JR Disco – What Cha Going to do
21. DJ KIttles – Disco Bones
22. The Presets – Talk Like That (Miami Horror Remix)
23. Disco Rockets – Be My Lady
24. Matt Hughes – Can’t Talk Now
25. Alex Metric – Caller
26. Treasure Fingers – Cross the Dancefloor (Chromeo remix)
27. The American Dream Team feat. Lily – My Boo
28. Mini Viva – Tokyo (Treasure Fingers remix)
29. Kid Sister – Family Reunion (Treasure Fingers southern fried mix)
30. Plemo vs Rampue feat Jessica Drosten – Excess Express (Bastian Heerhorst Mellow mix)
31. Kavinsky – 1986
32. Sneaky Sound System – When We Were Young (Shazam remix)
33. Chromeo – 100% (Treasure Fingers remix)
34. Vega – All Too Vivid (Kill the Noise remix)

A stunning Kid Sister models the newest collection for female street brand Married to the MOB.  By far, this is one of my favorite lookbooks from MTTM.  Kid Sister is a perfect spokesmodel for MOB’s latest line.  From her sneaker game, “pro” nails to her rhymes, she is the complete package of a female with mad steez.  Oh, did I mention that her brother is half of Flosstradamus and she is boyfriend is DJ A-Trak?  It must be great being Kid Sister!

The complete collection is located here.

I love the “Obama 9 Dollar” bill.

Source: MTTM

Ahhhhh snap. Everybody’s favorite Kid Sister is back with a new track called “Get Fresh”, which is produced by XXXChange and DJ A-Trak. Anybody else wondering when she’s gonna bless us with a full album???

Kid Sister “Get Fresh” Produced by XXXChange & DJ A-Trak

Mehdi Faveris-Essadi, better known simply as DJ Mehdi, is a hip-hop electro DJ outta Paris, France. Since getting started in the mid ‘90s, Mehdi has knocked down some collabos with Daft Punk, MC Solaar, Chromeo and Busy P, among others. Signed onto French label Ed Banger Records, Mehdi has brought some of the freshest mixes to all corners of the globe. And despite his current touring schedule, Mehdi recently gave some time to Killahbeez to answer some questions we’d been wondering.

You’re mad touring all over Europe right now. How’s that going?

DJ Mehdi: Going very good, thank you. I love touring here in Europe. It’s my home. I never get tired of it. France, U.K., Germany plus Scandinavia and the Mediterranean, so much things to see, so many good people, and the food is usually great. What more could I ask for?

You’re playing both festivals and smaller club venues. Do you have a preference?

DJM: I do prefer club venues because I think it suits the music I play better, and also because it’s always hard to compete when Iggy Pop, Arcade Fire or Wu-Tang Clan is playing on the main stage at the same time as you.

What’s been your favorite place to play? And why?

DJM: I have no absolute preference. There will always be a special thrill when playing for a packed club crowd, anywhere in the world, I guess.

How’d you hook up with Busy P?

DJM: I became enamored with Busy P when I saw him play the Volstein Sonate on the piano, not because I saw him on MySpace.

How has working with other Ed Banger artists affected your sound, which is more hip-hop based?

DJM: One of the misconceptions about Ed Banger is that there is this sound that we supposedly all share, I guess because of Justice or Sebastian’s success. That’s one of the reasons Busy P came up with the idea of having the Ed Rec compilations, to showcase everyone’s style and also show how much we do influence each other.

Who are some of your influences in hip-hop and other genres?

DJM: DJ Premier, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Futura 2000, Mode2, Os Gemeos, Chris Ware, Justice, Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld and my wife, Fafi.

What have been some of your favorite remixes?

DJM: I very much like “La Gasolina” by Daddy Yankee.

Who do you see as the next big artist?

DJM: Sebastian, Kavinsky, Surkin, Proxy, Math Head, I could go on and on…

It’s been a few years since you released Lucky Boy. Planning on putting together another album anytime soon?

DJM: I’ve just started to gather some ideas and tracks, I’m working on it, so next year promised!

Saw you last year when you toured with A-Trak and Kid Sister at the Fool’s Gold tour. Planning on heading over to North America again sometime soon?

DJM: I will tour America this fall, yes, and with quite a big surprise around late October/early November, so you will definitely be invited to some more Ed Banger fun near you soon.

Anything you want to say to your fans?

DJM: In Mariah Carey’s wise words, “I love my fans.”

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to link up for lunch with Dave 1 whom I’m sure many of you know is 1/2 of Chromeo, the beloved and infectiously dope electro-funk duo pictured above.

I ordered the grilled chicken panini and a diet Coke, he ordered the smoked turkey wrap and an orange juice – Then I pressed record and the following conversation spanning everything from the beginnings of the band to the current state of hip-hop is what transpired…

You used to be a part of the Audio Research record label back in the early/mid ‘90s – When and how did the expansion from hip-hop focused production to the variety of elements we currently see in Chromeo begin?

Um I kinda felt like… it was weird, like different things at once. The audio research thing was a vehicle for some of the stuff I was producing and my brother was cutting on. I guess like maybe in 2000, I kinda wasn’t as prolific in my hip-hop production as much. It was the beginning of keyboard beats and I didn’t know how to make them – and I didn’t really like them…haha. I remember like Jay-Z’s Blueprint coming out and those tracks had samples in them, but they also had tonnes of keyboards and I was like, “Man, should I buy a [Korg] Triton and try and do a Just Blaze kinda thing?” I wasn’t really into it ‘cause my shit was always from the more hip-hop production school of the Pete Rock’s and SP1200’s. Even if you look at the last obscure disorder single, which was our marquis group at Audio Research – I didn’t even produce it. My brother produced it, I was doing less and less and you know, right at that same time the Chromeo deal came about and P-Thugg and I were working on that and I just felt more fulfilled working on that.

It sort of just happened – I moved here [New York], I was getting into different kinds of music. I wasn’t as stimulated by the idea of producing hip-hop as much as the Chromeo stuff. We did one show here that went really crazy and got offered record deals and stuff – so it kinda naturally transitioned. The Chromeo stuff was just more stimulating for me at that point. I mean, at first I had no idea it was going to become my main thing but now I can’t even see myself producing a hip-hop track – even though I still listen to it as much as before. It’s just that the style of production that I know how to do is way too throwback and I wouldn’t really want to try any of the new stuff.

The two of you have been friends since childhood, but when did you start working together musically? What are your particular musical backgrounds?

Our friendship was built around music. We became friends because we played in the same high school band. Ours has been a musically bred friendship. We’ve always been doing stuff. When I was producing hip-hop, P taught me how to use the [Akai] S-950. He taught me how to use a sequencer. He taught me how to use all my samplers. He’d come to all the mixes and stuff too. I mean, even though he didn’t really co-produce anything with me, he was always there in the background and behind the scenes getting involved. So when we started doing Chromeo, it was my idea of like, “Let’s co-produce music together.” It was that simple.

My musical background was more growing up listening to rock and learning guitar and then discovering funk and soul music with P with our high school band. At the same time, we were getting heavy into hip-hop and producing hip-hop. P was more into hip-hop back in the Kid N Play days. He stopped fuckin’ with it around 92 and he got into funk then. Contrary to what people think, P doesn’t really listen to hip-hop.

Yeah, image-wise everyone would probably assume…

Yeah, I’m the hip-hop dude!!…He doesn’t listen to hip-hop.

Alright, so that being said, who usually does what in terms of the production and songwriting process, programming the drums, synths, bass etc?

We both do a lot of that, but it really varies from track to track ‘cause we both can program drums, we both can play synths and bass. We can pretty much play any instrument in our studio. The only thing that stays the same is that I’m more of the songwriting, melody, chorus, song structure kinda guy and he’s more the sound engineer kinda guy.

Like I could play a line, but I don’t really know how to get a good sound on any keyboard so that’s really what he does. All the keyboards are at his house and I’ll be like, “Alright, give me a bass sound like ‘Billy Jean,’” and he’ll do it. And whether he plays the bass or I do, it doesn’t matter. He’s the sound crafter and I’m more of the song writing, lyrics, melody – but everything else we split. It really depends from song to song. Some songs he does almost all the music, some songs I’ll do almost all the music – it really depends.

This is somewhat of a tangent, but I guess since we’re having lunch out here by Columbia University Campus, maybe you can inform those that don’t know why you’re somewhat of a modern day renaissance man?

I’m finishing a PhD here at Columbia – and yeah…haha…you know, studying to become a professor – so hopefully that’ll happen. For the first time, just this year, music has become something that say, if I wanted to not go to school, I could probably just do – but I’ve never wanted to just do music, so school is still my main thing.

Do you lecture at all and have students recognize you or anything like that?

Yeah, I mean, they’re discrete enough to not make a big deal out of it. After class they’ll be like, “Hey! I like this, I like that.” You know, it happens, but it’s never really awkward. Students have always been very discrete and very delicate about it, and so am I.

With you and P living in different cities (P-Thugg resides in Montreal), does it get difficult staying sharp for shows and being in creation mode? Do you go back to Montreal to work on stuff?

Yeah, that’s what I do. Montreal is good ‘cause there are no distractions – you can kinda get into the vortex and just work on music all the time. But yeah, I go up there; we email stuff to each other. It’s been working. It’s a little bit slow, but at the same time it’s kinda become our way of working. So as long as I can go up there and we can block off a couple of weeks to bang out some stuff, we’ll be fine – and that’s what we’ve done.

One of my best memories in music… in my entire life, was December 2006, January 2007. I came up to Montreal and P and I basically were on deadline to finish the Fancy Footwork record. I was living in France at the time and you know everyone around me in France was doing music… really good music. I came home hungry and we just blocked off two weeks and did the Feist remix, “Momma’s Boy,” “Bonafied Lovin’,” “Outta Sight,” “Call Me Up” and the intro. It was wonderful and we were getting along great! I mean, we always do, but we were just really in a great creative state. I’d come home and play the stuff for my brother, play the stuff for my girl – we had no idea what to expect of the record cause we were just anxious. We were like, “Man, we don’t have another ‘Needy Girl!’” But if you look at now when we play shows, “Needy Girl” isn’t even the biggest song anymore!

So with initially being behind the boards for hip-hop production, how big of a leap was it to go from that to singing and performing live? Do you still remember your guys’ first show?

Yeah, I do. Our first show was Labour Day weekend in Montreal at a big rave in 2002… haha. It was pretty awkward. My brother went up and did the cuts on ”Needy Girl.” It was a big transition; I never really wanted to sing. I never considered myself a singer. I mean, we thought other people were gonna sing. We thought it [Chromeo] was gonna be more of a project, like we’d get other vocalists. We got a couple of vocalists and I wrote the songs, but it was never quite right and then we did “Mercury Tears” and I sang that on the vocoder and P was like, “That’s perfect!” Then we did ”Needy Girl” and that was really the first time I sang… in my life. And we just kept it like that, ya know? But it was a big transition – like the first shows you know, they were awkward and we’re still a little bit… no we’re not haha… but I mean, I don’t know, it was a big transition. For years, I hated touring; I’ve only started to kinda enjoy it now. For the first few years I hated it.

You mean it was physically draining or you just weren’t into it?

Well ya, we just weren’t into playing the same songs over and over. Keep in mind, this is at first – we’re playing mostly crowds who weren’t so into us – things only started changing with this one [Fancy Footwork]. It was always a bit of a struggle at first, like a long uphill climb.

The first show we did in New York was one of my craziest memories.

It went off really well?

Yeah, it was crazy – like no one knew us, but they got all the references. It was at the Bowery Ballroom. We weren’t the headliner or anything. We were opening for that guy, The Streets. It was crazy.

You guys played Coachella this year and it seems like you guys have quite a few other large festival performances locked down. Compared to the more intimate shows full of solidified fans, how different is it playing to a crowd that could consist of some people who may not be completely familiar with your stuff?

It’s like that at festivals. You come and you play to people who are there sometimes to see you, sometimes not. Its good, ‘cause you know, we don’t want to get spoiled by hard-ticket shows like the Commodore in Vancouver, where everybody is there to see us already. But at a festival it’s like some of them just stepped in and some are there for us. You can’t really tell in the whole tent who’s really a hater or not – but its good. It keeps you on your toes and forces you to really step your game up. At a festival, you never get to sound check and there are other bands, so it’s competitive. It’s good. It’s a healthy way to put what you have to the test.

Coachella went really amazing. What’s crazy is that we had huge sound problems for three songs and people didn’t notice! The next day, we kept getting comments and comments on how amazing it was. But like, the first three songs, I fuckin’ had a hernia cause the sound problems! Luckily, it got fixed!

When it comes to your guys’ music videos, along with a lot of other electronic-ish artists, you seem to constantly set the bar in terms of creativity – How active are you in the actual creative direction and production of them?

I stay very active, I mean, in the band we split duties. P does all the accounting, business managing and tour managing himself!

Wow!

Yeah, he’s very hands-on like that. He’s got formal training as an accountant, so I trust him more than anyone. I’ll take care of a lot of meetings with the record labels and being my manager’s sidekick a little bit. The videos are a lot of what I do as well. I stay involved, but I also know how to delegate to directors and trust them. The problem is, we always have such small budgets…

Well, from a completely objective perspective, they’re all done really well, regardless of budget constraints.

Yeah, but it’s always a struggle. It’s always a fuckin struggle. And looking back, it’s really… they’re always a nightmare. It’s hard, man! There are not that many videos I see from other bands that are, you know, phenomenal. So it’s hard to kinda fight for that spot all the time.

I don’t know… there are some, but they’re few and far between, ya know? We should be getting the “Momma’s Boy” video next week. It’s all hand drawn animation, black and white -very different for us.

So you have the “Needy Girl,” “Tenderoni,” “Bonafied Lovin’,” “Fancy Footwork” and now “Momma’s Boy,” but there are quite a few amateur ones on YouTube that fans have done too.

Yeah, but we’re really into that.

People interpreting your music?

Yeah, whenever we get emails like, “Can we use a song for a school project or video?” we always say yes. Another thing we do is, we gave out a bunch of acapellas, and that’s why there’s like hundreds of remixes, unofficial ones. But some of them are great! Some of them are better than ones we paid money for.

I remember as a hip-hop producer, how happy I was when I’d buy a 12-inch and there’d be an acapella cause I could put it over my beats, ya know? And I wish things were as interactive back when I was producing hip-hop like they are now. So I just try to encourage any kid that’s on the come up. We’ll give ‘em our parts and be like, “Have fun, go crazy.”

How did the relationship with Surface to Air come about?

Well, the relationship with them came about when I lived in Paris. When I moved to Paris last year, I was going to help them launch Vice [magazine] in France ‘cause, you know, I’ve been working for Vice… Well, I stopped this year, but I was working for Vice for like 10 years almost. So I was gonna help them launch it and the publisher for Vice France at the time was the boss/owner over at Surface to Air. On top of that, he was also an old friend of my boy Willo who used to be my art director and business partner at Audio Research. So I kinda knew him and we clicked and I was like, “I’d love for you to do the album artwork.” He was really into the idea and it was a phenomenal thing. He’s one of the only guys whom I’ll let dictate a concept. It’s the first time we weren’t really hands on for a project with that cover [Fancy Footwork] and we were thrilled with how it came out. It actually felt great to be able to delegate and get results that we love. Then we did the “Tenderoni” video, and now, we’re actually doing a clothing project with them.

Other than the “Tenderoni” video and Fancy Footwork album artwork, what else is in the works?

I don’t know if you saw, but they just did the leather jackets for Justice…

Yeah, those turned out dope.

Yeah, we’re doing the same.

Your younger brother A-Trak (who is also Kanye’s Dj) is now quite heavily into production and really building a following for himself and the Fool’s Gold camp in that aspect. How much overlap do you see in your fans now that you’re a bit closer in terms of the style of music you guys are both producing?

That’s a good question. A lot now, I feel like… man… It’s hard to evaluate, but I feel like most of his fans now are into us as well. I mean, my brother is constantly switching and constantly building.

It kinda reflects back to his ability to go from playing a show with Kanye and then the next night rocking a big ass electro crowd.

He does both! Real talk, my brother is the only guy in the world that Kool Herc is gonna see and give props to, and the next week, he’ll be chilling with Steve Angello in Ibiza, or the Ed Banger dudes and then the following week, he’ll be with Jay-Z. That’s his life. The pictures on his blog prove it all. He’s really the only kid that can do that.

Yeah man, he’s been credited with introducing Kanye to a lot of shit.

Yeah, that’s true! You can tell… everyone can tell, but not taking anything away from Kanye because Kanye is open. But yeah, that’s what my bro does. He bridges the gap. That’s what his label does. It bridges the gap between dance music and hip-hop music.

And by the way, that’s nothing new!! Because if you look back at AV8… I remember when I had a record store I thought AV8 was wack. Remember those party records?

Yeah, the party break records, right?

Yeah, that label was founded by Armand Van Helden, that’s the “AV.” I thought that label was wack ‘cause I was such a hip-hop purist, but they were really like dance meets hip-hop. And even that label Nervous put out dance records too back then.

And they were doing all the Boot Camp Clik stuff at the time too.

Yeah, it’s nothing new but you just gotta stay in touch and reintroduce it to the new generation.

Do you and your brother ever holler at each other to get opinions on what each of you are working on?

My bro? He’s like the third member of Chromeo. He’s the first to hear absolutely everything we do. We’re extremely closely involved. I speak to my brother five times a day – everyday, and I’m also the first to hear anything he does.

Have your parents had the chance to see you two rock shows together?

Not together, but there’ll be a show with Kid Sister and us, for example, and my brother is involved, etc.

One thing that was cool in January is that my brother and Kid Sister played a show here at the Natural History Museum and then two days later, we had our headline shows at the Bowery Ballroom two nights in a row. My parents flew down. They went to the Natural History Museum and saw my brother and Kid Sister and then Kanye came out!! And then, they came to our shows too!

Any potential for a Chromeo/Kid Sister collaboration in the future?

Well, I’m involved in her record but more on the behind-the-scenes tip.

Kinda like exec producing the album?

My brother is doing that but I’m helping him. I helped him pick a lot of the beats. It’s actually gonna be a really good record. She’s good, she’s a real rapper and she can spit. And that’s important now, man.

I’ve been listening to hip-hop as my main thing since ‘92 or ‘93 – since the Pharcyde’s first record, or Tribe. And now is the first time I’ve seen, more than ever, that there is a real fuckin’ generational crisis! A generational turnover in hip-hop. All the guys I grew up listening to feel old, left out and disconnected and they can’t connect with a new generation. And there’s a new generation that doesn’t give a shit about them. I mean, you saw on YouTube – that’s really what was at the root of the whole Soldier Boy and Ice-T thing, ya know?

Well yeah, its one of the only genre’s of music that doesn’t always hold all the artists of the past in high regard. Like the Rolling Stones get a lot more love than any act of relative significance in hip-hop.

I know, yeah, but at the same time, I think part of what defines hip-hop is that it’s this sort of youthful thing. Like punk music, I don’t know punk well aside a few more commercial bands, but for example, bands like Green Day were really cool when they were really young and then they kinda became older and more…you know, corny. In hip-hop, it’s gotta stay young!!

I remember being like 19 and Nas was 24-25 maybe, and he was like the older brother I never had. Nas, Q-tip and Buckshot: They were like the older brothers I looked up to. I admired them. But if you’re a kid who’s 15 now, 50 cent is like 35! You can’t relate to him! Like who is he, your step-dad? You can’t relate to that dude.

Haha… Yeah, no doubt.

So what’s happening now is, you have 100,000 kids that related to fuckin’ G-Unit ‘cause they look like a bunch of bodyguards, but there’s a 1,000,000 kids that related to Weezy cause he’s like your fucked up older brother if you’re 16!! You know, he’s 25 and you love him!

I think that’s a really interesting thing that’s going on in rap music right now – this generational crisis – and it fascinates me. On the Ice-T and Soulja Boy thing, I was riding with Soulja Boy all the way… and I grew up on Ice-T! I don’t even like his music but Soulja Boy is so much smarter.

The kid’s definitely got some hustle.

It’s not even about hustle, though! He made it work for himself using the technology that all these old fuckin’ has-beens don’t even know how to work! And he connected with all these shorty’s and he’s the man for that. And you know, Kanye’s still connecting and Weezy too. That’s why Weezy’s album sold like that. The kids picked it up.

The only dude who’s been around – and that’s why Kanye said he’s the greatest of all time, which I’m really starting to believe now, is Nas, man. He’s got the secret to eternal youth.

Yeah man, he’s still so dope and relevant!

Yeah, but it’s not only that. I know it’s a superficial thing to say, but he still looks fresh. Like Jay kinda looks corny now, but Nas looks as fresh as when he first came out… He looks 21! And what’s dope about Nas is that he does his own weird thing every time, and it’s so hit and miss – but it doesn’t even matter anymore. He kinda invented his own genre of music and now whenever there’s a new Nas album, I’m like, “Oh cool! New Nas album!!” I always buy it ‘cause there is always weird shit on there. He’s like a fringe artist now, but that’s longevity. Nas is the greatest.

Ah man, I can’t even count how many times I’ve had this debate! But yeah, agreed. I know a lot of people who would definitely choose Hov between the two – but not me. Nas has had his questionable moments but never supremely wack or anything. Stillmatic was crazy to me.

Yeah!! Stillmatic was incredible. I was thinking about it, and like, Stillmatic was crazy, but Lost Tapes… remember that? Insane!

Yeah man! some amazing shit on there.

The only wack album was the double one.

Street’s Disciple? Yup, too much filler.

Yeah, but it had “Just a Moment,” that joint with Quan, and dude’s got some classics… “Made You Look” is a fuckin classic!

On his last record, I didn’t really like “Hip-Hop is Dead,” but I loved that song about the old school, “Where are They Now.”

Did you hear the remix he did with everyone on it?

Yeah, but they were so wack…haha.

Yo, but you gotta give it up for him putting that together! He went and got dudes like Positive K and Das Efx…

Ya! Like where does one find Positive K nowadays?

Haha! This is true!

When he mentioned Red Head Kingpin, for someone like me, that’s like the best feeling ‘cause I know.

And I love his new joint, “Hero.” He’s spitting hot shit on there, and the “Sly Fox” one too. I love him. I’m a Nas fan, man.

Alright alright… haha, back to the questions. Your hometown of Montreal is considered somewhat of a creative breeding ground for music and has spawned some of the most progressive and successful acts out of Canada and North America for that matter. What’s your explanation for that?

To me, it’s good karma; I don’t really know what happened. But to be fair, a lot of those dudes you’re probably referring to are not originally from Montreal, like Win Butler from Arcade Fire. He’s not from Montreal he’s from Texas. But still, it’s a gorgeous city with cheap rent. It’s easy to live and blossom in, and you can get the government grants and stuff.

Yeah, it’s an environment conducive to a developing artist’s lifestyle. You can work on your stuff and still live relatively comfortably.

Yeah, straight up and down, it’s like Berlin.

I did an interview with your Modular label mates Cut Copy and asked them the same inevitable question to wrap the interview up: What’s your take on the current state of the music industry?

Cut Copy? Those are my boys, man. I like those dudes.

But yeah, I think it’s great. I think it’s the best. I’ve never been more proud to be part of the music industry. I’ve been doing music my whole life and I mean, it’s a bit of a cliché, but now all the labels that used to bully and jerk artists, they’re all getting jerked and they’re all getting bankrupt and everybody is getting fired! They’re all going under and losing their jobs, and I can just sit back and laugh and make money off shows.

That’s always how artists signed to labels have really made their money.

Yeah, it’s all from touring, it’s not from record sales. I don’t know anyone that makes money from record sales, but it’s better that way, it’s becoming increasingly artist controlled, and there’s a shift in media. I really can’t wait to be older in 20-30 years from now and tell people that I lived through such an important paradigm shift. It’s fascinating… It’s fuckin’ fascinating!

Its like, I’ll be at my lawyer’s office and we’ll talk about certain deals, and I’ll be like, “Well, why don’t we do this?” And for the first time, the lawyer will be like, “Yeah, why don’t we?” There’s no precedent anymore. We can do whatever we want; there are no rules anymore.

No doubt, the Cut Copy guys mentioned it’s like the Wild West now, but if you can hold your own and push your own stuff…

Yeah, or even work with the label in a very cooperative kinda way.

Yeah, like, still own your masters and let them do the distribution.

Yeah, exactly. That’s a great idea.

Alright my man, I think we got some good stuff here.

Was that good?

Yes sir.

Cool

For More on Chromeo see:

Chromeo Official Website

Chromeo Myspace Page

And be sure not to sleep on the Chromeo’s jam session with Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates to be aired August 15th. Go *here* for more.

New video from the Converse x N.E.R.D. x Santogold x Julian Casablancas collaboration, which we previously posted about back in June. This was a campaign that was done as part of the Converse’s Century celebration. The song will be promoted, in part through Converse print, outdoor and online advertising tagged Three Artists, One Song. The advertising features the three artists as well as a range of emerging musical talent from across the globe, including MGMT, Bradford Cox of Deerhunter and Atlas Sound, YACHT, Kid Sister, Eleanor Friedberger of the Fiery Furnaces, Frank Carter of Gallows

Kid Sister performs her infectious hit “Pro-Nails”

Vampire Weekend brings their Graceland-inspired Afro-pop

Added to My Events [X]

A bunch of new songs and a remix or two. Yes by now you’ve already heard Kid Sister’s “Pro Nails”, but this Tepr remix is fuckin’ ill. Oh and Jadakiss is baaaaack! Pretty smokin’ joint, keeps it real gritty. As well we gots a new N.E.R.D. joint called “Anti-Matter’ and I have to say this song is hot, if half the album comes at us like this, well then I’ma definitely have to go out and cop this.

Kid Sister “Pro Nails” Tepr Remix

N.E.R.D. “Anti-Matter”

Jadakiss ft. Rashad “Bang Bang”

Young Jeezy & T.I. ft. Fabolous, Kanye West, Jadakiss, Lil Wayne & Juelz Santana “The Mix Up”

Usher ft. R. Lovette, Michael Jackson & T-Pain “Stop Playin’”

The RIPOFF’s sophomore party may only be a few days away. But one half of THE RIPOFF, Chris Houston, dropped this spring time mixtape for all to download. Mixtapes are a tried and true method of brand marketing and promoting. And everybody loves music. Listen to the Imeem stream below and download it here. As for the party, arrive early. The Ripoff’s new home at the Geisha lounge has premium spacing. See you all there this Wednesday.

Tracklisting
Black Eyes – Snowden (Le Castle Vanis remix)
Arcade Robot – Boys Noise
Interzone to Golden Skans – Klaxons (So Me Remix)
Bizzarre Love Triangle – New Order (Computer Club remix)
Heaven – Hail Social ( Designer Drugs remix)
D.V.N.O. – Justice (La Riots bootleg remix)
It’s like that – Run DMC ( Matt Nordstrom remix)
Fancy Footwork – Chromeo (Guns & Bombs remix)
Twerk it – RRRump!
Beeper – The Count and Sinden ft Kid Sister (A Trak remix)
Hey You – Kill The Noise ( Le Castle Vania Remix)
Paris – Mstrkrft
Tigertron – Le Castle Vania
My Moon My Man – Fiest ( Boys Noize remix)

Awwwwwww gyeah. Rock The Bells line-up has been announced for this year. Headlining this year will be A Tribe Called Quest, NAS, Mos Def and a grip of other artists as you can see from the flyer above. I had the pleasure of attending last year’s Rock The Bells in New York with Wu-Tang Clan and Rage Against The Machine being the main headliners and I have to say it was easily one of the best concerts I’ve ever attended. Off course alot of it had to do with the fact that it was in New York and a lot of these artists were killing it on stage for fam and friends. I’m hoping for Santogold, Kid Sister and Dead Prez for the leg of the tour that hits my city. For more info visit www.guerillaunion.com.