Austin Brown: Highway 85 mixtape review

From J Dilla to Sly Stone: Austin Brown's album Highway 85

Austin Brown has been making a name for himself over the last four years. Nephew to the legends Michael and Janet Jackson, and the son of Rebbie Jackson, he released a free mixtape "Highway 85", on his website www.austinbrown.com last week.

  

It is an especially good career move for Brown; releasing free mixtapes has worked wonders for Frank Ocean, The Weeknd and Azealia Banks.

 

Brown's influences include Miles Davis, Sly and the Family Stone and the Beatles; he has said in interviews he wants his listeners to dig deep and discover the artists he's referencing in his music.

 

The black and white video for the single "Ménage à Trois"  showcases he has a band behind him and demonstrates in true Jackson style, that his music is dance music.

 

The song’s intro is a reminder of the stomping feet at the beginning of "Where Did Our Love Go" by The Supremes; and sounds like classic Motown with a twist. Brown has described the process of creating “Ménage” with his producers as an attempt at marrying the hard drums of a Dilla beat with a James Jamerson vibe bass.

 

Brown has been mentored by Q-Tip, Rodney Jerkins and Jermaine Dupri and has been ghost-writing for a while. He and his group, The Backpackkids, recently produced JoJo's mixtape Agápē and wrote four records on it.

 

Austin Brown is a singer, writer, producer and dancer

 

So “Highway 85” - the title referring to his musical journey since birth - is a delicious collection of funk grooves and infectious hooks.

The opening track, "Highway to the Sky", is a stomper with a touch of Beatles influence. Brown instantly makes his mark with his mellifluous voice soaring over the marching beat.

 

"Where Were You" has 90s house influence stamped all over it; and then there are more sublime moments, like “What Did I Lose To Love You", which could give Bruno Mars some healthy competition.

 

Within the melting pot of influences that can be recognised; it is "City of Angels" that solidifies Brown to his musical family. This track is showered in a multilayer of Jacksonified falsetto notes and is a wonderful mid-tempo groove.

 

“F'd With My Mind” is when you know for sure, Brown is putting his heart into his music. He opens the song by telling the girl it's dedicated to: "I know you think that you're the shit," as he pleads "I still want you" over and over.

 

The record has blazing funk-groove moments, such as “Stargazer” which has elements reminiscent of Isaac Hayes’s Walk On By; to 90s hip hop. “Groove 92”; an easy going summery track to simmer down to after all the funk, is chock- full of early 90s references and winds-down to more slower tracks.

 

The standout track for me is "Volcano"; Brown’s voice catches onto a pulsating beat which builds up into a frenzy of chord changes which you can’t help but dance to.

The closing track, "All I Need" has a bubbling bass and crashing brass section which his voice effortlessly shines over –making it a good song to end on –because, you're tempted to press play again right away and put this record on a loop.

 

Twitter: @austinbrown

 

Listen/Download Highway 85 on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/austinbrownhighway85/sets/austin-brown-highway-85

 

 

 

Watch the Music video here:

 

 

 

 

Soulcial Consciousness - Get to know: Imani Hekima

Imani Hekima's singles Shame and Robots Rebellion are available to buy on his itunes page.
Lyrically and melodically haunting, I decided I wanted to get to know more about this Soulcial Conscious one.

Imani Hekima. Check his Myspace for tour dates http://www.myspace.com/imanihekima

Tell me all about the current single

I wrote ‘The Robots’ Rebellion’ in 2004 and it appeared as a ‘promo’ on a compilation album in 2007. It was released as a single in December 2010, available on iTunes and Amazon.  The song takes its title from a book by David Icke, published in 1994. The promo video (which you can find on Youtube) pays homage to John Carpenter’s film ‘They Live’.    

What did changing your name mean for you?

Coming from a British/Jamaican background, changing my name was a way of identifying with my African cultural heritage and history.  Six years previously, I’d begun reading up on it.   I was originally Andrew Mitchell and I changed it by deed poll to Imani Hekima in 1994.  Imani means ‘faith’, Hekima means ‘wisdom’ in Swahili.

What is your earliest musical memory?

My earliest musical memory, which is also my earliest memory, was hearing Tamla Motown. I can’t have been much older than one year old because I was in a cot.  That’s probably why I love Motown.

What was the first song you bought?

For my “sins”, the first record I bought was Rat Trap by The Boomtown Rats, Bob Geldof’s band.

Whose concerts have you attended, and which was your first gig you attended?

I’ve seen a variety of people.  The Specials was my first gig, back in 1980.  I saw all the 2 tone bands and British reggae artists such as UB40, Aswad and Steel Pulse.  I’ve seen Public Enemy (back in 1990), The Pharcyde and the great jazz drummer Max Roach.

What instruments do you play?

Piano/keyboards, singing, bass guitar, 6 string guitar and drums (drum kit).

How do you write your songs?

Usually either the music comes first or I’ll get the lyrics.  Occasionally, they’ll both arrive at the same time. The ideas drift in at any time.  I don’t sit down and try to force myself but I do lots of practise and research to get ideas.

Have you ever wanted to give up and how do you overcome that?

Yes, on some occasions.  It happens to most people.  You have to keep going and if you love what you do enough, you will persevere. 

What drives you, and what inspires you?

I’m inspired by my own passion and by the examples of others who also keep going regardless.  I’m inspired by the whole journey, the trials, errors and successes. 

What’s your favourite city/country to play in and why?

I’ve only really played in the UK with my own music, though I’ve gigged in Holland and Spain with covers bands.  Favourite city?  None really – if people are feeling your work, it doesn’t matter where. 

What do you like about being in the studio and what do you enjoy about being on stage?

On stage it’s obviously more immediate and direct communication with the audience.  I also enjoy recording and seeing the music take shape and the general banter when it’s going well.

Do you think politics and music work together well?

Politics and music does go together but there’s an art in getting the balance right.  The music has to be good enough on its own to make someone listen or dance.  It has to be remembered that many people who happen to love political songs may not be attuned to the lyrics.  Saying that, the message alone, no matter how worthy, will not be heard if it isn’t given an effective musical setting.

How important is the visual aspect of your music?

It’s important in some ways.  I’d like to develop that side of things for live performances.  The video for Robots Rebellion obviously had a lot of thought put into its visuals.  It was done by a guy called Ian Geddes, who had the idea of blending footage from the film ‘They Live’ with my song.

You perform interpretations of Bollywood music, how did that come about?

In 2008, I saw a job advert for a pianist to perform Bollywood at an Asian wedding.  A little light went off in my head and I instantly knew I wanted to apply.  This is despite me knowing no Bollywood songs at all at the time.  I’ve since played at Asian weddings all over England, all faith groups.  I played a support slot to Raghav in 2009.  That’s the short of it.  People can visit http://www.myspace.com/bollywoodpiano to find out the full story.

What music do you listen to and when, to relax, in the car etc?

It varies.  At home I listen to all kinds of stuff.  I listen to lots of dub, Miles Davis and just about anything else in between and related.

Do you have an ipod or ipad?

I don’t own one.  My brain is my iPod.  I always have songs going on up there.

Any thoughts on technology and music?

With the exception of a few ‘neo soul/progressive soul’ artists, I think black music over the past 20 years specifically has suffered through not enough instrumentalists.  

However, you can still make great music via computer technology.  In that respect, hip hop (REAL hip hop, not ‘bling pop’) has led the way.   

Have social networking sites helped you?

Myspace and Facebook are good means of showcasing what I do.  There are a lot of people who are against them but I say it’s what you make of them.

What are you working on?

I’m working towards the release of an album in 2011.  Rather than put it out in 2010, I decided to put out two singles this year to test the waters and raise a bit of awareness.  I’m also working on new material intended for the second album.  I’m supported live by Philippe Clegg on bass and my sibling Stuart Mitchell on drums.  All being well, I’ll be recording new stuff with them.

What does the future hold for you?

Hopefully I’ll continue to grow as a musician and reach more people with my work.  

Links to check out Imani Hekima:-

Imani Hekima Facebook Group 

Imani Hekima's Myspace
imanihekima.co.uk/ 

Back to the Future I thought I had. [Bio part 2]

I don’t know when I realised I wanted to write, I just remember always getting pens and pads for presents...so I would just write whatever came to me as I hung around my parents clothes stores. I was such a nerd I used to date my work too, some of them date back to ’91 which means I’ll have been 8.

First issue of Vibe I bought in 1996. Fugees cover - with a free casette featuring demos by D'Angelo and Erykah Badu

I used to buy all the magazines I could when I was younger, mainly Smash Hits, BIG, Top of the Pops, Vibe, Blues & Soul, Off The Wall, the odd copy of anything else with someone I really liked on the cover. A lot of times I thought "I could ask better questions than these people."

Many years later, in my Sixth Form book I wrote I wanted to be a music journalist.

When we studied a module on media at school I became really interested in becoming a journalist and writing books because I thought nobody was representing my opinions and I wanted to share my voice.

I was always inspired by my family and friends faith in my talents, but I had a lot of opportunites and setbacks which shouldn't have been hard to recover from if I had believed in myself.

I remember for my GCSE coursework we had write a story and a poem, I loved that assignment based on a jazz musician. When I got my work back my poem was missing. When I asked my teacher what happened she told me she entered it in a competition.

I didn't back my work up...I tried to recreate the poem but I never could re-write it. I don't know which competition she entered it into or if she won - I'd like to think it was that good that she did!

When I was 17 I saw a flyer in the library to be part of a BBC Talent workshop to create a pilot soap set in Bradford which ended up being called Khidaaar! [which apparently means what’s up in urdu – I think]

It was the most fun thing I had ever done in my life at that point, I loved working in a team creating a character, my group selected me to pitch our characters storyline

I won the first and last scene for my team's character which was a massive achievement. I thought this would be where my future lies. The show was directed by Kate Rowland who was head of BBC Radio. I ended up storyboarding for the episode and script editing and loved every minute of it.

My BA [Hons] degree was in Media Studies at Sheffield Hallam Uni.  I got my experience in journalism, pr, writing for film and writing for TV and learnt about media around the world and its history.

As soon as it was all ending I got a call, from someone who I’d worked with on the BBC Talent soap, saying he remembered how hard I worked and asked me if I would help him with a new company he set up.

I ended up being a band liaison manager – looking after the music artists he signed up. I’d accompany them on festivals and take care of their backing tracks.

After a while I ended up as company secretary – just because the role was available, I guess! I threw myself into the work, without getting paid as I was living off my student loan [I was very good –  non drinker here!].

I loved that we hosted workshops for people of any age. We ended up writing a theatre piece and performing it in 2 cities for Black History Month 2004. I designed the flyer [with 1 or 2 mistakes on it]. It was great, conceiving the play with the CEO and the participants who were encouraged to develop their characters.

We also made a film documentary called “When Something Ruled The World” which got screened alongside our theatre piece .

I was also responsible for a member of staff under the job centre scheme and speaking to the local press, Huddersfield Examiner in which we were featured quite a lot.

It was an amazing role, I left it not because I wasn’t getting paid properly, I would still be there but I could never stick up for myself and I would get blamed for everything going wrong. It still makes me emotional thinking about it, because I lost a job I loved so much. I never found anything like it since.

My confidence was knocked, my self esteem was shattered and  I couldn’t get a job like that again and thought I would fail at it anyway. I ended up at a call centre for just over 2 years listening to people who were in debt. I’d go home and cry about their day as well as mine. It was awful hearing their stories. The only thing that kept me there so long was the fact I really loved my team.

It got to the point where I thought if I can’t get a job doing what I want, maybe I should run my own theatre workshop group, which I found hard to get off the ground, I didn't want to do it the way I learnt from my previous boss, I wanted to start small scale and with funding, so while trying to set that up I thought I'd get a job at least using my IT skills.

I got a job in admin that was different from the call centre, I liked a couple of people but otherwise I was surrounded by mostly miserable people who’d worked there a long time, and I didn’t want to become one of them, so after almost 2 years I managed to get another admin job at Bradford Council.

Admin, although I could do it well, I began to sink. Saving me though -  my stifled creativity was bursting to come back out with the theatre project, some free lance articles and I ended up on a music album...

Finding Dory in the Land Before Time [Bio part 1]

I decided to rename my blog 'Car Can't Catch Me' after a famous family tale.


When I was young I believed I could do anything - I was also really naughty, which unfortunately meant my parents sent me to nursery younger than they sent my older sister. I have a younger sister too, so I have my tantrums which my family call my 'middle child issues', but that's another blog and a half!

Homer's overlooked middle child

Back to the original story, my mum or little sister probably tell the story better:

You know the phrase "running before you can walk?" Well, I actually did, and the famous incident I think is on a trip to Madame Tussauds [I'm sure my sisters will correct me if I'm wrong, my memory is not perfect].

Hi, I'm Dory, what's your name?

Ok my lil sis actually corrected me...

My grandad had picked me up from nursery, he went to close the car door and I had already run across the road and into the shop where my parents worked, then he came in huffing and puffing telling me I could have been run over and I said to him in reply "car can't catch me!"

I'm sure I really believed it too, I remember feeling confident when I was younger, not scared of spiders or rules -  until somebody told me I can't do something, those thoughts never entered my head.

By the time I was 16 I loved English and was intrigued by the power of the media and wanted to be a part of that world. I had plans, and opportunities which excited me and at that time I was very sure I'd end up writing for Blues & Soul or Vibe Magazine or work for MTV.

Then things changed....

Song from those good old innocent days: