![The RZA - Try Ya Ya Ya [ABLUM VERSION] Featuring Monk & Thea van Seijen](http://web.archive.org./web/20110623032551im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/WCPK50UU0QY/0.jpg "The RZA - Try Ya Ya Ya [ABLUM VERSION] Featuring Monk & Thea van Seijen")
| Coordinates | 22°34′0″N95°42′0″N |
|---|---|
| Name | RZA |
| Background | solo_singer |
| Birth name | Robert Fitzgerald Diggs |
| Alias | Bobby Digital, Prince Rakeem, The Abbot (during Tommy Boy Records days) , Rzarector (as a member of Gravediggaz) |
| Born | July 05, 1969Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York |
| Origin | Staten Island, New York, United States |
| Instrument | Rapping, guitar, piano, keyboards, zither, sampler |
| Genre | Hip hop |
| Occupation | Rapper, CEO, record producer, actor, screenwriter, author, director |
| Years active | 1989–present |
| Label | Tommy Boy/Warner Bros. RecordsWu-Tang Records/Razor Sharp/Epic/36 Chambers Records/Wu Music Group/Wu-Tang International/SME RecordsVirgin/EMI RecordsKoch Records |
| Associated acts | Wu-Tang Clan, Gravediggaz, Easy Mo Bee, Kanye West |
| Notable instruments | E-mu SP-1200Roland MC-909Roland MV-8000Roland MV-8800Ensoniq-16 plus |
He has also released solo albums under the alter-ego Bobby Digital. In addition to the Wu-Tang Clan and his solo releases, RZA was also a founding member of the horrorcore rap group Gravediggaz where he used the name The Rzarector.
He has also acted in several movies including Coffee and Cigarettes, American Gangster, Gospel Hill, Life Is Hot in Cracktown, Ghost Dog, Funny People, Derailed, Due Date and Repo Men.
In 2008, RZA was ranked number four on About.com's best hip hop producers of all time list.
Once this local band dissolved, both he and the GZA attempted to kick start solo careers. With the help of GZA's friend (then owner of Jamaica Records) they both secured single deals with album options at successful labels, GZA going to Cold Chillin and RZA to Tommy Boy. GZA ultimately released the Words from the Genius album, but RZA's stint at Tommy Boy ended with only the EP Ooh I Love You Rakeem to show for it when he went to jail soon after its release. GZA's album flopped, and the two cousins became determined to conquer the hip hop industry on their own terms. Throughout most of his youth he enjoyed watching various kung-fu movies and purchasing countless albums which he would later sample in most of his music.
After the single "Protect Ya Neck," which was driven by a raucous RZA-produced beat, made the group into underground sensations, the group released their debut LP Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). The album, which only cost $36K to produce, eventually went platinum, and was heralded by hip-hop fans as a classic. Enter the Wu-Tang revolutionized hip hop and helped bring the East Coast back into the spotlight after Dr. Dre's G-funk had come to dominate the rap scene, the resurgence in large part thanks to RZA's lean, gritty and very distinctive production style.
His sound was to develop from the raw, minimalist sounds of Method Man's Tical and Ol' Dirty Bastard's Return to the 36 Chambers to more cinematic and expansive soundscapes driven by string sections or thick layers of synthesizer on Ghostface Killah's Ironman, GZA's Liquid Swords, and Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx....
During this time, RZA also took part in the creation of a hip hop subgenre called horrorcore with the Gravediggaz, an off-and-on hip-hop supergroup including Frukwan of Stetsasonic, Too Poetic of The Brothers Grym, and Prince Paul who released the album 6 Feet Deep in 1994. As part of the Gravediggaz, he went by the name The RZArecta. In reference to RZA's start with the group he mentions:
After Forever's success, RZA ceased to oversee all aspects of Wu-Tang product as he had previously, delegating much of his existing role to associates such as Oli "Power" Grant and his brother Mitchell "Divine" Diggs, and giving each Clan member more individual control. This move was designed to enable the Wu-Tang empire to expand further and further into the fabric of the hip hop industry, and in accordance with this an extremely large amount of Wu-Tang music was to be released over the next two years.
This had already to some extent begun on Wu-Tang Forever, which for the first time featured RZA delegating a small number of beatmaking duties to other producers in the Wu-Tang camp, such as his proteges True Master and 4th Disciple who are known as the Wu-Elements, and Clan member Inspectah Deck.
RZA as Bobby Digital in Stereo was an experimental concept album featuring him rapping as his hedonistic, fun-loving alter-ego Bobby Digital and showcasing a unique keyboard-driven sound RZA called "digital orchestra", receiving mixed reviews at best.
The Cure album currently remains unreleased and incomplete, due to further work and development being continued into the new millennium. It is now said to be RZA's final solo album. Within the same year, a mixtape known as Formula For The Cure was compiled and released by Dreddy Kruger, without RZA's approval and consent. The mixtape was meant to be as a prequel of some sorts to the final solo album.
The critical success of the led to further work. RZA created and produced the original music for Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill series, as well as , and Soul Plane. RZA was nominated for four different awards for the work he did on the Kill Bill vol. 1 and 2 soundtracks, winning one.
In the beginning of 2003 he also produced a few tracks for The Mindscape of Alan Moore.
His third solo album is titled, Birth of a Prince, which was released in 2003 under the name RZA, and spawned the single "We Pop". The album itself featured a mix of lighthearted Bobby Digital tracks and more lyrically highbrow RZA tracks. In 2003 he also released an album of collaborations with international rap and R&B; musicians (including the UK's Skinnyman, France's Saïan Supa Crew, Germany's Xavier Naidoo and Italy's Frankie Hi-NRG MC) entitled The World According to RZA.
In late January 2007 he announced that he was working on a fourth album titled, Digi Snacks, which continues the further adventures of Bobby Digital. The album was released on June 24, 2008. The albums first single, "You Can't Stop Me Now", featuring Inspectah Deck, was released in March 2008 in preparation for a planned release in Summer 2008.
He has also stated that the long-delayed The Cure album will now be his final solo album, for he will end his career as MC and move on with his movie directing career. The album will feature deeper lyrics and guests ranging from Zack de la Rocha to Isaac Hayes.
Before signing with SRC Records in early 2007, RZA was flooded with offers from Bad Boy Records, Aftermath Records, Interscope and Def Jam among others for the Wu-Tang Clan super-group.
In 2007, he did the of the Japanese anime Afro Samurai starring Samuel L. Jackson. He recently and quietly released an instrumental album entitled, The RZA-Instrumental Experience, and worked with Raekwon on his highly anticipated Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II. Talks are on between System of a Down bassist Shavo Odadjian and RZA regarding a collaboration between the two artists called Achozen. RZA has stated in an interview that he is involved in the project. A self-titled album, Achozen, was set to be finished in mid-January of 2009 but as of late 2010 had not yet been released. The first single is "Dueces".
RZA announced on September 10, 2008 that a partnership with global digital music group The Orchard will market Wu's extensive catalogue worldwide in digital and physical formats. The deal includes new material and 13 previous Clan releases that have been unavailable digitally from the Wu-Tang Clan, Killarmy, Wu-Syndicate, Shyheim, U-God, Black Knights, and West Coast Killa Beez. Wu-Tang's viral marketing began as a study of promoting an artist online globally. RZA explained that the deal was a natural progression needed to make sure that fans will have continued access to Wu's catalogue in the ever-changing music industry. Also being launched is the online video channel Wu Music Tube, a forum focused on allowing the artists to speak directly with their fans. In the ensuing months, Wu’s music and video catalogue will also be featured by various brands and ad agencies in marketing and promotion programs around the world. Wu Music Group’s catalogue will be available worldwide for downloads on September 23. RZA told AllHipHop.com:
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He has also confirmed that he will be solely-producing Liquid Swords II with GZA, which is tentatively due in Fall 2010. Also, it has been reported that RZA has been in Hawaii working with Kanye West on the latter's fifth album, Dark Twisted Fantasy.
Other record labels were later founded in the early 2000s, and are still active in the present. Very little is known about these labels, other that the fact that RZA produces music on them. It is unknown if RZA is CEO, or has high position within these labels, considering that he was never known to have a CEO position of any recording label.
As each of the group's members embarked on solo careers, RZA continued to produce nearly everything Wu-Tang released during the period 1994–1996. He was in control of producing composing, arranging, overseeing, directing, and possibly naming songs. He oversaw the creative process as well as devising song concepts and structure, in addition to being responsible for a recording’s final sound. All of this was the majority of his "dictatorship". He began doing this on a reduced extent around the time that he relinquished his dictatorship, thus taking complete control of fewer solo projects between group releases.
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He has stated in several interviews that the challenges of maintaining the group are not egos, but rather timing and scheduling due to the fact that the members have families and side projects.
Unlike the average hip hop musician, he has shown little or no concern about illegal downloading, for he feels that it has little impact on the music industry:
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In several interviews, in response to the phrase "hip hop is dead", he said, "How can hip hop be dead if Wu-Tang is forever?" In regards of the southern dominance, rather than criticize the music, he instead spoke on the look and image of the southern artists themselves. He went on to say:
In the 1990s, the Wu-Tang Clan was one of the first hip hop acts to have a clothing line. However, throughout the following years to the 2000s, nearly every hip hop act has followed suit and created their own clothing line. In response, RZA spoke on his views on the oversaturation of the hip hop clothing market:
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His acting career began to rise in the mid 2000s alongside fellow Wu-Tang member and cousin GZA in one segment of Jim Jarmusch's Coffee and Cigarettes opposite Bill Murray. He and GZA have also made appearances on Chappelle's Show and Upright Citizens Brigade.
He followed up with a big role in the hit 2005 film Derailed. The same year, he served as the Artist in Residence for the Los Angeles Film Festival.
Rza was also given the duties of producing the soundtrack to the Afro Samurai series and movie.
Originally, he was offered the role of "Brown" in The Departed (2006), but turned it down because of scheduling conflicts.
His biggest acting role to date, is in American Gangster by Ridley Scott, as "Moses Jones" whose real-life name is "Edward V. Jones."
He performed cameo roles in Funny People, Gospel Hill, and Life Is Hot in Cracktown. He was also said to be attached to friend Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill project in one way or another, featuring as a solo artist on the soundtrack to Kill Bill 1 and selecting some other songs for the soundtrack too. In 2010, RZA appeared in the science fiction action film Repo Men.
In 2010, he appeared in the comedy film Due Date alongside Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx, and directed by Todd Phillips.
RZA appeared as a wrongly convicted felon in the pilot episode of NBC's Outlaw.
He was once asked about directing:
Man with the Iron Fist. Directors Quentin Tarantino and Eli Roth are involved, according to several movie Web sites. In regards to the movie, Eli said:
He is also co-producing a movie remake of The Last Dragon, with Samuel L. Jackson assuming the role of Sho'nuff. John Davis of Davis Entertainment and Gordy's son Kerry Gordy, along with RZA are set to produce. Penning the screenplay as well as producing is Dallas Jackson, who heads up the urban family label DJ Classicz with Davis. Rihanna is rumored to appear in the movie as Laura Charles.
Along with a number of members in the Wu-Tang Clan, RZA is vegetarian.
Caruso was subsequently fired from all duties regarding The Wu-Tang Clan's business when these allegations came to light. RZA forced Cappadonna to fire him as his manager, however Caruso still works with Ghostface and is on his new poker team. The report rules out the majority of Wu-Tang affiliated performers and focuses on those running the business aspect of the Wu empire, Oli "Power" Grant and Mitchell "Divine" Diggs (RZA's brother) and RZA himself.
Fox News reported that in mid-2007 RZA attended one of Hillary Clinton's parties and donated money to her 2008 campaign. Fox News criticized the fact that Clinton took money from RZA, claiming it was contradictory due to RZA's felony record, FBI investigation, ties to the Gambino family and his music lyrics. RZA referred to the investigation in one of his lyrics, "Plus, feds had one ad saying I gun traff' / I sold 20 million records bitch, some laugh."
In a recent interview with MTV he stated, in response to the beliefs that the group would dissolve:
Recently he was accused by several members that he mishandled money. While in the UK, when questioned by radio DJ Tim Westwood, concerning the group situation, RZA said, "It's really all good, it's just different directions... Everything is back peace already". RZA also rebutted claims that he owes group members any money. He yelled:
In a June 2008 interview with L.A. Record, RZA elaborated on the $20,000 bullet-proof suit, car and briefcase he mentions in the Wu-Tang Manual.
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RZA has stated Ennio Morricone, Mark E. Smith, Syl Johnson, Marley Marl, Augustus Pablo and Danny Elfman as musicians he is fond of and has taken influence from. During the Enter the Wu-Tang period, RZA's production consisted mainly of stripped-down, frenetic piano loops and finger-snaps with heavy bass and drums, though he experimented with more melodic sounds on the album's "Method Man" and "C.R.E.A.M." He also began incorporating skits consisting of clips of old kung fu movies.
The next two solo albums from the Wu, Method Man's Tical and Ol' Dirty Bastard's Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version, featured versions of the same style of production from the RZA; the former delved somewhat into old soul records and became somewhat bouncy rather than quite as gritty, while the latter was at times even more simplistic than the group's debut.
On Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx and GZA's Liquid Swords, RZA would immerse his beats in dark, sinister soul sampling, pioneering the technique of speeding up or slowing down samples to fit the beat. He also fully realized the potential of the skit, using samples from John Woo's film The Killer to string the Cuban Linx album together into a loose storyline.
In 1997, Icelandic avant-pop star Björk commissioned RZA a remix for her "Bachelorette song". In addition, RZA was later featured on a TV biography about Björk called Inside Björk.
RZA's production technique, specifically the manner of chopping up and/or speeding or slowing soul samples to fit his beats, has been picked up by currently popular producers — most notably Kanye West and Just Blaze, the two main producers behind Roc-A-Fella Records. West's own take on RZA's style briefly flooded the rap market with what was dubbed "chipmunk soul," the speeding of a vocal sample to where it sounded as though the singer had inhaled helium. Several producers at the time copied the style, creating other offshoots. West has admitted that his style was distinctly influenced by the RZA's production,
Said by Kanye West:
In response, RZA himself has spoken quite positively of the comparisons:
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Subsequent Wu group albums saw RZA become even more experimental, usually with soul samples as well as the layers added his beats. Around 1997 he began tutoring 4th Disciple, True Master and Mathematics in production. The early-mid 2000's have seen him move more toward smoother and more tightly-assembled productions, where the melody, drums, bass and other elements play more off each other than they previously had in his beats.
His Bobby Digital albums introduced tweaked-out new age elements to his sound; these have incorporated themselves more fully into his beats on newer albums such as Method Man's .
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The Beatles song being covered is "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" for the album 8 Diagrams. It was titled "The Heart Gently Weeps" and features Erykah Badu, John Frusciante, Dhani Harrison, Ghostface Killah, Method Man and Raekwon.
In a recent 2010 radio interview with UK hip hop station Conspiracy Worldwide Radio, RZA spoke in great detail about the homemade, candid ethos of much of his classic work, including the organic creation process behind ODB's debut album.
Category:1969 births Category:Living people Category:African American rappers Category:American vegetarians Category:American writers Category:American hip hop record producers Category:Members of the Nation of Gods and Earths Category:Converts to Buddhism Category:American Buddhists Category:American film directors Category:American film actors Category:American screenwriters Category:Musicians from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Category:Rappers from New York City Category:People from Brooklyn Category:Wu-Tang Clan members
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| Coordinates | 22°34′0″N95°42′0″N |
|---|---|
| Name | Travis Barker |
| Background | non_vocal_instrumentalist |
| Birth name | Travis Landon Barker |
| Alias | The Baron von Tito (when with the Aquabats) |
| Born | November 14, 1975 |
| wife | Audreyanna Mariyah Ortiz |
| Origin | Fontana, California, United States |
| Instrument | Drums, percussion, keyboards, synthesizers, piano, electronics, guitar, vocals |
| Genre | Punk rock, pop punk, hip hop, rap metal, alternative rock, rap rock, Post-hardcore, electronic rock, drum and bass. ska |
| Occupation | Drummer, musician, songwriter, producer |
| Years active | 1993–present |
| Label | Interscope, LaSalle/Atlantic, Geffen, Hellcat, MCA, Golden Voice Records, Goliath Artists |
| Associated acts | Blink-182, +44, Game, Eminem, Box Car Racer, Transplants, TRV$DJAM, The Aquabats, Expensive Taste, Lil Wayne, Asher Roth |
| Url | TravisBarker.com |
| Notable instruments | Orange County Drum and PercussionRemo DrumheadsZildjian |
After the split of his first band, Feeble, Barker began playing for The Aquabats in 1996 as The Baron Von Tito. He recorded one album with them, The Fury of the Aquabats!, in 1997. His career took off when he joined up with pop punk band, Blink-182 in 1998. Barker became known for his mohawk and his tendency to perform shirtless, revealing a multitude of tattoos. Barker has since established himself as a versatile drummer, producing and making guest appearances in music projects of numerous music genres including hip-hop, alternative rock, pop and country. He has gained significant acceptance within the hip-hop community in particular and often collaborates with artists to compose rock-tinged remixes to their songs.
He founded clothing company Famous Stars and Straps in 1999 and LaSalle Records in 2004. Companies such as DC Shoes and Zildjian cymbals have co-designed products in his name.
Barker is also currently in the studio preparing to record with several artists like Game, Tom Morello, Raekwon, Slash, RZA for his upcoming solo debut album, "Give the Drummer Some".
His mother, who had been diagnosed with cancer three months earlier, died the day before he started high school. She told him to keep playing music and to follow his dreams. Barker attended Fontana High School, where he played in the jazz ensemble and marching band. He gained a lot of experience performing at regional competitions and festivals. During his senior year, he passed up drum corps tryouts to tour with a rock band. Barker gained a lot of experience performing with a few early rock bands. After Barker graduated from high school in 1993 he became a member of The Aquabats. He was nicknamed "Baron Von Tito." Barker did go back to drum corps for his age out year in 1996, to audition with the Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps, but was ultimately cut and did not march.
Blink-182 released their breakthrough album Enema of the State in June 1999 to commercial success, fueled by successful singles "What's My Age Again", "All the Small Things", and "Adam's Song". After releasing live album The Mark, Tom, and Travis Show (The Enema Strikes Back!) in November 2000, the band entered the studio and recorded their fourth studio album Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, released in June 2001. The album continued the band's commercial success and popularity. with the band infusing experimentalist elements into their usual pop punk sound, inspired by lifestyle changes (the band members all became fathers before the album was released) and side-projects (Box Car Racer and Transplants).
Tensions arose between the band members as DeLonge expressed his desire to cancel the tour and enter a half-year respite from touring in late 2004, and the band officially announced an "indefinite hiatus" in February 2005. DeLonge formed Angels & Airwaves while Hoppus and Barker continued playing music together in +44. In August 2008, the band's frequent producer Jerry Finn died of a cerebral hemorrhage, and Barker barely survived a plane crash, sustaining second and third degree burns on his lower body and torso. Both events would be catalysts for the band reuniting; in 2010, DeLonge reflected, "If that accident hadn't happened, we wouldn't be a band. Plain and simple. That was fate."
The band announced their reunion in February 2009 at the 51st Grammy Awards ceremony. A well-received reunion tour took place in mid-2009, with a European leg performed in summer 2010. Currently, the band is recording their sixth studio album which is planned to be released in April or May 2011.
Box Car Racer is a side project begun with Tom DeLonge of Blink-182 in 2002. This project resulted in one self-titled album which was released that year. DeLonge said he asked Barker to play drums so that he wouldn't have to find and pay a session drummer to come in.
Transplants is a hip hop-induced punk band for which Barker partnered with Tim Armstrong of Rancid and Rob Aston (former roadie for Rancid). Transplants released two studio records as well as a remixed version of their second album which was chopped and screwed by rapper and hip-hop artist, Paul Wall. The first album released by Transplants was their self-titled album in 2002. The second Transplants record, Haunted Cities, was released by LaSalle Records in June 2005. After the Vans Warped Tour of 2005, the members decided to disband. This was confirmed by vocalist Rob Aston in January 2006 during an interview. In January 2010, Barker announced that the Transplants would reform for new material.
He was best friends with the late DJ AM, Adam Goldstein. Some of his first forays into other genres was on Bad Boy 4 Life by P Diddy and Back In The Mudd by Bubba Sparxxx (who also toured with blink). Barker has produced or worked on albums with the Black Eyed Peas, Pink and Pharrell. He appears on Bun B's album, Trill (2005) with Skinhead Rob for the bonus track, "Late Night Creepin'". In 2006 he was a producer on T.I.'s fourth album, King. Also in 2006 he played drums for several songs on Avril Lavigne's third album, "The Best Damn Thing". He also dueted with Rihanna on a remix of her hit "Umbrella", he also appeared in her video. Barker also had a remix with Eminem, on the song 3 A.M.
In late 2005 Barker started a new band, +44, with fellow Blink-182 member Mark Hoppus. +44 only released one studio album, When Your Heart Stops Beating. They played several tour dates with Fall Out Boy, Taking Back Sunday, and Cobra Starship.
In 2006, he and Rob Aston joined Paul Wall in forming a new hip hop group called Expensive Taste.
Barker made a very well received remix of Soulja Boy's "Crank That". In a similar fashion to the Soulja Boy remix, he has also remixed Flo Rida's single "Low" that was later included within the deluxe version of Flo Rida's debut album. Barker is a playable character in and his remix of "Low" is available as downloadable content. Barker is also featured on The Game's latest album, L.A.X., drumming on the song "Dope Boys".
He was the drummer for all of the performers at the MTV Video Music Awards of 2008, including Kid Cudi and LL Cool J.
In August 2009, Matt Sorum revealed that Barker will appear on Slash, Slash's upcoming solo album.
In June 2009, he played drums in the BET Awards for Jamie Foxx's performance of "Blame It".
In November 2009, Barker made a remix with hip-hop artist Drake's song "Forever", featuring Eminem, Lil Wayne and Kanye West.
In January 2010, Barker announced a new TRVS BRKR remix of Snoop Dogg's new single, "I Wanna Rock", via his Twitter account.
In February 2010, Steve Vai mentioned in his newsletter and website that now he's working on a version of "Stairway to Heaven" for Mary J. Blige with Travis Barker on drums, Orianthi on guitar, and Randy Jackson on bass. The song appears on the UK version of Blige's album Stronger with Each Tear.
On February 17, 2010, it was announced that Travis Barker will work with A-Trak for club shows such as he did with DJ AM. The first shows will take place on March 9 and 10 at The Roxy in West Hollywood. It is yet to be announced whether the two will release a mix tape.
On February 2, 2010, Lil Wayne's rock debut album Rebirth was released. It features a track entitled "One Way Trip" which is featuring Kevin Rudolf that shows the friendship between Travis and Lil Wayne, with one of the lyrics being "... And T. Barker is my muthafuckin' drummer..."
On April 22, 2010, Barker performed "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin on American Idol along with Mary J. Blige, Orianthi, Steve Vai and Randy Jackson.
On May 1, 2010, Barker and rapper T.I. both confirmed they will be collaborating on a track on the rapper's upcoming album entitled King Uncaged.
On July 9, 2010, the blink-182 drummer announced on his Twitter account that he would be dropping his new remix of rapper Waka Flocka's "Hard in The Paint". The track later, was made available for streaming on music site RapRadar.
On Aug 5, 2010, it was announced via RapRadar that the drummer himself & DJ Toomp are working on a remix of T.I.'s hit-single Yeah Ya Know (Takers) of the upcoming album King Uncaged.
On June 18, 2010, a private MTV interview with Barker exclaiming that, "Several other acts and collaborations on the record would be announced in August, so some other jackasses wouldn't be setting up rumors or hoax 'bout it." The blink-182 drummer also added, "Trust me, this record's gonna rock you guys out. I'm especially stoked to show you guys."
On July 4, 2010, Barker stated in his Twitter account that "he would be working with his favorite artists, to create every artwork for each track on his solo album". The drummer would also be shooting music videos for every track on the album with its designated artists. On top of that, Barker also confirmed that the videos would be going along with the release of his upcoming solo album in September. Barker has also confirmed that blink-182's upcoming single "Up All Night" would not be included in his LP, stating that "No, 'Up All Night' will have its own home, and it won't be on my record. That will continue to be part of a new Blink record or will be released through Blink182.com or something, it's going to be a surprise." Also, he added on "The new song that we record for my record is just going to be something from scratch, and just us doing our thing."
On July 5, 2010, American rapper Rick Ross announced that he would be collaborating with Barker on a single to be included on the yet-untitled project.
On July 9, 2010, the blink-182 drummer confirmed that he would be adding several other artists like Slaughterhouse, Raekwon & Kurupt to the untitled project. Barker has reportedly told The BoomBox that, "he would be producing and making all the music and then getting all his favorite rappers and vocalists to be a part of it so it's been a dream come true."
On July 14, 2010, Barker announced that he would be dropping Stone Sour off his upcoming solo album due to "faults". Instead, Barker added on that he would be replacing the alternative metal act with American rap rock band, Rage Against The Machine maestro Tom Morello instead.
On July 20, 2010, Travis announced via his Twitter account that he would be shooting the music video for the track "Carry It" along with Tom Morello, RZA and Raekwon of the Wu-Tang Clan. The blink-182 drummer has also confirmed that his upcoming debut solo album would be titled "Give the Drummer Some", and every of the ten tracks to be featuring different artists.
On July 22, 2010, Barker posted several pictures of the drummer himself, Raekwon & RZA on his Twitter account, and that, were confirmed to be snapshots of the upcoming music videos, one of which was a scene of the "Carry It" music video. The track, "Carry It" was also claimed by the MTV News to be the potential first single from his oft-delayed solo album.
As of July 31, 2010, Barker had confirmed several other track titles off Give the Drummer Some, two of which are "Saturday Night" & "Jumpdown".
On Sep 10, 2010, Barker announced the first official track off Give the Drummer Some, titled "Jump Down". The song sets to feature The Cool Kids, and was later made available for free download via "travisbarker.com". The music video for the track would also be release on October 8, and that the video to be of 3-D features. Free 3-D glasses would also be sent over to every users who downloaded the song over at the drummer's official site.
On Oct 8, 2010, the blink-182 drummer released the official music video for "Jump Down" in 3-D format on his official site. Limited editions of "Jump Down" t-shirts were made available for purchase along with the single itself, and a download link for the track "Carry It", which sets to feature RZA, Tom Morello & Raekwon. The track, however can only be made available for download on Nov 9.
On Nov 5, 2010, the full audio track of "Carry It" was leaked onto the internet, and was later claimed by Barker that the leaked media is of the "yet-to-be-mixed/unmastered" version of the track. The official track, along with the artwork was later made available for streaming on the blink-182 drummer's site, which was five days earlier than the official release date of the track, as announced. The music video for the track was later released via Barker's site on Nov 16.
On Nov 19, 2010, Barker mentioned via his tweets stating that "Blink-182 has just had a photoshoot" and that "November is shaping up nice".
On Dec 6, 2010, the blink-182 drummer announced on his Twitter account, that he was in the studio finishing up a track off Give the Drummer Some, alongside with American rappers Kid Cudi and Tech N9ne on verses.
On Dec 24, 2010, Barker mentioned in a tweet reply, stating that the official release date of his upcoming solo album "Give the Drummer Some", has been confirmed to be set on February 22, 2011.
On January 2, 2011, Barker announced on his official Twitter account that the first official single off "Give the Drummer Some" would be released in January 2011. Barker has also confirmed that there will be a Transplants track to be included in the album, and that to feature American hard rock band Guns N' Roses former lead guitarist, Slash. Another track titled "Devil's Got a Hold Of Me" which sets to feature hip hop supergroup Slaughterhouse has been confirmed.
On January 9, 2011, the drummer has confirmed that there also would be collaborations with Linkin Park frontman "Chester", Slash, "Kanye West's touring DJ" A-Trak, heavy metal group Slipknot's "Corey Taylor" & American rapper Bobby Ray aka B.o.B. "Give the Drummer Some" will also set to feature various mixes of genres including electro, hip hop, punk rock and many more.
He co-founded LaSalle Records, a record company to which his band, Transplants, are signed. He has dabbled in the restaurant industry, opening a Wahoo's Fish Taco restaurant in Norco, California.
Barker has developed a shoe for DC Shoe Company called the "Alias Remix" and is endorsed by Orange County Drum and Percussion and Zildjian. He also has his own line of drumming products, sponsored by Zildjian.
Much of his body art is devoted to his love of music such as the phrase "Can I Say" (the title of an album by Dag Nasty released when he was growing up). Barker also has the word "HOPE" on his back because of the Descendents' song and something positive after his mother's death. He has another tribute to the Descendents on his leg – the cover art to the album, I Don't Want to Grow Up, drumsticks and musical notes on his right arm.
Barker also makes several tributes to his family with the phrase "familia" on his arm, Japanese flowers on the back of his neck with a heart that says "Mom", and another heart with "SHANNA" on the banner.
Barker married actress and Miss USA 1995, Shanna Moakler, on October 30, 2004. The couple had a Gothic-style ceremony inspired by the Tim Burton film, The Nightmare Before Christmas, which was held on the eve of Halloween. Barker and Moakler have two children together, Landon Asher (born October 9, 2003) and Alabama Luella (born December 24, 2005). Atiana Cecilia de la Hoya (born March 29, 1999) is Moakler's daughter with former boyfriend Oscar de la Hoya. The family appeared in a reality television series, Meet the Barkers, which aired on MTV from 2005–2006.
On August 8, 2006, Barker filed for divorce from Moakler after nearly two years of marriage. The couple's divorce was made public as each used their MySpace pages to air their feelings on the matter. During their separation, Barker had a brief fling with Paris Hilton in September, 2006.
Despite their pending divorce, reports surfaced in early 2007 that Barker and Moakler were "quietly trying to give it another go" as they were reportedly seen autographing a fan's book, with a heart around their names.
In March 2007, Moakler revealed to People magazine that she and Barker (still married) were back together, but denied that she was pregnant. This admission came after the couple were publicly affectionate at a surprise birthday Barker threw for his wife in Miami.
Barker and Moakler were together during a DJ set Barker was playing with DJ AM in Las Vegas on January 7, 2009. The couple attempted to rekindle their relationship in early 2009 but announced that they were no longer together on April 1, 2009, amid reports that police had been called to their home after a fight; no charges were filed against either party.
Barker survived the incident, enabling him to return to the recording studio in November 2008 with long time friend and Keys to the Cadillac drummer Mike Barbalaci. On his first television interview since the crash, he said to MTV, "I'm already playing my drums again, and I'm already back in the studio". Elaborating by stating that the return to the studio "was like riding a bike. It was really exciting to know I still have my chops. It still felt good... I still can make it around the kit. Everything felt right, so I'm thankful to be able to play."
Barker sued the plane's owners, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., and an airplane maintenance company on November 21, 2008. He sought more than $25,000 in damages "for pain and suffering, disfigurement, loss of earnings, and medical and legal expenses", claiming that the companies had "improperly operated and maintained the Learjet". The lawsuit claims the Learjet's pilots were "improperly trained and should have tried to take off rather than continue down the runway." The mother of Barker's bodyguard, Charles Monroe Still Jr., who was killed in the crash, joined the lawsuit. She sued the companies for "damages including grief and sorrow, funeral expenses and loss of earnings." The court case was settled in December 2009, with lawyer William L. Robinson, who represented some of the companies, saying the terms of the settlement are confidential.
On December 1, 2008, TV Guide reported that Barker would make his first appearance with DJ AM (Adam Goldstein) since the two survived the plane crash. The duo performed at New Year's Nation's Los Angeles New Year's Eve Party at The Wiltern. Their performance was streamed live on the Internet via New Year's Nation's official site, and broadcast at other New Year's Nation parties across the US. Of the gig, Barker told press, "I'm ready to get back onstage with AM and continue to rock the house. I'm very excited to bring in the New Year in my hometown of L.A." DJ AM died on August 28, 2009 of an accidental drug overdose in his New York City apartment.
Latest drum kit (2009–2010)
Barker also uses Roland electronics.
; With Blink-182
; With Transplants
; With +44
; With TRV$DJAM
; With The Aquabats
; With Expensive Taste
In 2006 Barker starred in a Boost Mobile commercial, which was detailed in an episode of Meet the Barkers. He's also played a few guest starring roles such as a rapper on the popular crime drama, . In 2001, he appeared with Tom Delonge and Mark Hoppus in the skit "Leave it to Blink-182", a parody of "Leave It to Beaver", on the late night TV show MADtv.
In a slight departure from his usual genres, he made an appearance on the 41st annual CMA Awards in 2006, performing a medley of songs by country icon Buck Owens with a group of artists including Dwight Yoakam, ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons, and former Byrds bass player Chris Hillman.
; Filmography
He was featured in the opening sequence of the Dem Franchise Boys music video, "Ridin Rims," in 2006. Travis appeared in Xzibit's music video "Hey Now (Mean Muggin)", T.I.'s video "What You Know", Ice Cube's "Go to Church", New Found Glory's "My Friends Over You", Three 6 Mafia's "Side 2 Side (Remix)" and "Doe Boy Fresh" videos. He was also featured on the Outkast music video "Morris Brown" and can be seen playing drums in The Game's AOL Session.
; Videography
Category:1975 births Category:American punk rock drummers Category:Blink-182 members Category:Car collectors Category:Living people Category:Musicians from California Category:Participants in American reality television series Category:People from Corona, California Category:People from Fontana, California Category:Survivors of aviation accidents or incidents Category:The Aquabats members
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
| Coordinates | 22°34′0″N95°42′0″N |
|---|---|
| Name | Tom Morello |
| Background | solo_singer |
| Birth name | Thomas Baptiste Morello |
| Born | May 30, 1964 Harlem, New York |
| Alias | The Nightwatchman |
| Genre | Rap metal, alternative metal, funk metal, alternative rock, hard rock |
| Occupation | Musician, songwriter, activist, actor |
| Instrument | Guitar, vocals, harmonica, mandolin, bass guitar, drums |
| Voice type | Baritone |
| Associated acts | Electric Sheep, Lock Up, Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, The Nightwatchman, Street Sweeper Social Club, Cypress Hill,Travis Barker |
| Label | SonyBMG, Epic, Interscope |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Notable instruments | "Arm the Homeless" - Custom guitar with a Kramer neck and custom performance body."Soul Power" - Custom Fender Stratocaster"Sendero Luminoso" - Fender Telecaster "Burnt Budweiser" - Gibson Les Paul "Whatever It Takes" - Ibanez classical acoustic. |
When Morello was 16 months old, Njoroge returned to his native Kenya, and denied his paternity of his son. Morello was raised solely by his mother in Libertyville, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. There he attended Libertyville High School, where his mother was a U.S. history teacher. She was the homeroom teacher for Tom's classmate and fellow guitarist Adam Jones, of the band Tool, while teaching at Libertyville. Tom sang in the school choir and was active in speech and drama club; a prominent role was Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Morello developed leftist political leanings early, and has described himself as having been "the only anarchist in a conservative high school", and has since identified as a nonsectarian socialist. In the 1980 mock elections at Libertyville, he campaigned for a fictitious anarchist "candidate" named Hubie Maxwell, who came in fourth place in the election. He also wrote a piece headlined "South Africa: Racist Fascism That We Support" for the school alternative newspaper The Student Pulse.
Morello graduated from high school with honors in June 1982, and enrolled at Harvard University as a political science student that autumn. He was the first student at his high school to be accepted at Harvard, and was in fact the first person from Libertyville, Illinois ever to enroll there.
"When I graduated from Harvard and moved to Hollywood, I was unemployable. I was literally starving, so I had to work menial labour and, at one point, I even worked as an exotic dancer. 'Brick House' (by The Commodores) was my jam! I did bachlorette parties and I'd go down to my boxer shorts. Would I go further? All I can say is thank God it was in the time before YouTube! You could make decent money doing that job – people do what they have to do.
Musical influences
At age 13, Morello joined his first band; a Led Zeppelin cover band as the lead singer. At this same age, Morello purchased his first guitar. Around 1984, Morello first started studying the guitar seriously. He had formed a band in the same year called the Electric Sheep which featured future Tool guitarist Adam Jones on bass. After several audience members began to throw rocks, the Los Angeles Police Department turned off the power and ordered the audience to disperse, firing rubber bullets and pepper spray into the crowd. at the 2008 Reading Festival]]In late 2000, after Commerford's stunt at the VMA's, the disgruntled de la Rocha quit the band. On September 13, 2000, Rage Against the Machine performed their last concert at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles. After the band disbanded, their fourth studio album, Renegades, became a collection of cover songs from artists such as Bob Dylan, MC5, Bruce Springsteen and Cypress Hill. 2003 saw the release of their last album, titled Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium, an edited recording of the band's final two concerts on September 12 and 13, 2000 at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles. It was accompanied by an expanded DVD release of the last show and included a previously unreleased music video for "Bombtrack".
After disbanding, Morello, Wilk and Commerford went on to form Audioslave with former Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell, and released three albums as well as a DVD from the band's concert in Cuba. De la Rocha started working on a solo album collaboration with DJ Shadow, Company Flow, and The Roots' Questlove, but the project was dropped in favor of working with Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor. Recording was completed, but the album will probably never be released. So far, only one track has been released: "We Want It All" was featured on "Songs and Artists that Inspired Fahrenheit 9/11".
On April 29, 2007, Rage Against the Machine reunited at the Coachella Music Festival. The band played in front of an EZLN backdrop to the largest crowds of the festival. The performance was initially thought to be a one-off, but this turned out not to be the case. The band played 7 more shows in the United States in 2007 (including their first non-festival concert in 7 years at the Alpine Valley Music Theater in East Troy, Wisconsin), and in January 2008, they played their first shows outside the US since re-forming as part of the Big Day Out Festival in Australia and New Zealand. In August 2008 they headlined nights at the Reading and Leeds festivals.
The band has since continued to tour around the world, headlining many large festivals in Europe and the United States, including Lollapalooza in Chicago. In 2008 the band also played shows in Denver, Colorado and Minneapolis, Minnesota to coincide with the Democratic National Convention and Republican National Convention, respectively. Though they played together for these events, they do not play together regularly.
Audioslave (2001-2007)
After de la Rocha left Rage Against the Machine, the remaining band mates began collaborating with former Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell at the suggestion of producer Rick Rubin. The new group was first rumored to be called The Civilian Project, but the name Audioslave was confirmed before their first album was released.The band released their eponymous debut album on November 19, 2002. It was a critical and commercial success, attaining triple-platinum status.
The band released their second album, Out of Exile, on May 24, 2005. It debuted at number 1 on the Billboard charts and attained platinum status. In the same year, they released a DVD documenting their trip as the first American rock band to play a free show in Cuba. The band's third album, Revelations, was released in the fall of 2006. As of February 15, 2007, Audioslave have broken up as a result of frontman Cornell's departure due to "irresolvable personality conflicts". The band reunited with Zack de la Rocha and resumed their previous band, Rage Against the Machine.
The Nightwatchman (2003-present)
Morello is less known for his folk music, which he plays under the alias The Nightwatchman. He has explained:
In November 2003 The Nightwatchman joined artists Billy Bragg, Lester Chambers of The Chambers Brothers, Steve Earle, Jill Sobule, Boots Riley of The Coup and Mike Mills of R.E.M. on the Tell Us the Truth Tour. The thirteen-city tour was supported by unions, environmental and media reform groups including Common Cause, Free Press and A.F.L.-C.I.O. with the ultimate goal of "informing music fans, and exposing and challenging the failures of the major media outlets in the United States." Tom Morello explained:
"Media consolidation needs smashing and globalization needs unmasking. When presidents and politicians lie, it is the job of the press to expose those lies. When the press fails, the gangstas come out from hiding. The lie becomes the law. The point of the Tell Us the Truth Tour is to help others make connections, and to show them that activism can change the policies of this country."
One of his many songs, "No One Left", which compares the aftermath of September 11 to that of a U.S. attack on Iraq, appears on the album Songs and Artists that Inspired Fahrenheit 9/11.
The Nightwatchman also appeared on the album/DVD , contributing the songs "Until the End", "The Road I Must Travel", and "Union Song".
Morello, as The Nightwatchman, released his debut solo album, One Man Revolution, on April 24, 2007.
The Nightwatchman joined the Dave Matthews Band for its short European tour in May 2007. As well as opening for the Dave Matthews Band, he was invited to guest on a couple of songs each night. The last night of this Morello/DMB arrangement was May 30, 2007 at Wembley Arena in London, on Tom's birthday.
The Nightwatchman is currently supporting Ben Harper on tour. During this tour, Morello has been joining Harper onstage for a cover of Bob Dylan's "Masters of War", on which he plays the electric guitar in the style for which he's best known.
Morello has presided over a Hotel Café residency in L.A. since November 2007, which has featured many of his musical cohorts, including Serj Tankian, Perry Farrell, Jon Foreman of Switchfoot, Shooter Jennings, Nuno Bettencourt, Sen Dog of Cypress Hill, Jill Sobule, Boots Riley, Alexi Murdoch, Wayne Kramer of MC5 and others.
On October 10, 2008, The Nightwatchman appeared on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson as a musical guest, promoting his new album The Fabled City.
Street Sweeper Social Club (2006-present)
Following Audioslave's breakup in 2007, Morello met up with Boots Riley of The Coup, suggesting that they start a band which Morello had named Street Sweeper. After giving Riley a tape of various songs to write to, the two created the duo Street Sweeper Social Club.Street Sweeper Social Club opened for Nine Inch Nails and Jane's Addiction in May 2009.
Other side projects (1994-present)
Morello has played with a great number of artists. Some of the more notable contributions are listed below.Morello and RATM bandmate Brad Wilk joined with Maynard James Keenan of Tool and Billy Gould of Faith No More to record the song "Calling Dr. Love" for the 1994 Kiss tribute album . The lineup was billed as Shandi's Addiction.
In 1995 Morello formed a short-lived project called Weatherman with former Articles of Faith frontman Vic Bondi. They recorded demos in September 1995. Bondi wrote all the lyrics, while Morello wrote all the music. One track, "Enola Gay", was recorded by Brett Eliason in fall 1996.
Morello played lead guitar and produced on three tracks of Primus' 1999 studio album Antipop.
Morello played the guitar on The Faculty soundtrack, featured with Class of '99 for their cover of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall (pt. 2)".
Morello worked with The Crystal Method on their 2001 album Tweekend. He co-produced and played guitars on the smash single "Name of the Game" and "Wild, Sweet and Cool".
Morello recorded guitars along with country legend Johnny Cash during his late career with American Recordings, which was released on the Unearthed.
Morello has worked with the punk band Anti-Flag on numerous occasions: he produced their 2003 album The Terror State, recorded the guitar solo on "Depleted Uranium is a War Crime" on their 2006 album For Blood & Empire, and has played at some of their concerts.
Morello played guitar in the single "No Man Army" by The Prodigy, which appears on the "Smack My Bitch Up" single.
Morello played guitar on the Atari Teenage Riot song Rage.
Morello played a short solo on the Benny Mason band song Exodus IV.
As The Nightwatchman, Morello has often performed alongside Boots Riley, frontman of The Coup; also, he produced and performed on a track for The Coup's 2006 release Pick a Bigger Weapon. In July 2006, it was reported that Morello and Riley were to collaborate on a project called Street Sweepers (see section above).
Morello sat in with the Dave Matthews Band featuring Butch Taylor and Rashawn Ross for multiple dates on the band's May 2007 stint in Europe. He performed on "#41", "American Baby Intro" and "Satellite" at various dates on the brief tour.
Morello appears in as a "guitar boss" (the first of 3 in the career mode of the game) in a night club. Beating him in a one-on-one battle (playing an original composition he recorded for the game) will unlock him as a playable character and will result in the player and Tom playing the master track of "Bulls on Parade" as an encore immediately following the battle. Morello's original composition features many of his trademark guitar effects like those heard in songs such as Audioslave's "Cochise" and "Doesn't Remind Me" and Rage Against the Machine's "Bulls on Parade" and "Sleep Now in the Fire".
In April 2006, Morello produced two tracks for the group Outernational; on the band's website, it states that Morello will be producing their debut album.
In April 2008, Morello made two guest appearances with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at the Anaheim Pond. They performed an extended electric version, featuring guitar solos, of "The Ghost of Tom Joad" (which had been previously covered by Rage Against the Machine on Renegades). One of these performance was included on Springsteen's Magic Tour Highlights EP as an audio track or video download.
On October 29, 2009 Morello performed at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary Concert at Madison Square Garden. He performed "The Ghost of Tom Joad", "London Calling", "Badlands" and "Higher and Higher" with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.
Morello performed on Steve Earle's track, "Lungs," on Earle's Townes Van Zandt tribute album, Townes (album).
On February 23, 2010 Cypress Hill released the second single, "Rise Up", from their album Rise Up featuring Tom Morello on guitar. He is also featured on the track "Shut 'Em Down" from the same album.
Morello performed with the rockabilly supergroup Fistful of Mercy on the November 10, 2010 edition of Conan.
Appearances in films
Morello played on a number of soundtracks, including (2006), , Spider-Man, and most recently The A-Team. He was an "Additional Electric Guitar" in the 2008 superhero movie Iron Man and played a terrorist. He also stars in the movie Berkeley (2005) and in . He also collaborated with John Debney for the score for Iron Man 2Tom has also appeared as himself as part of a new wave of protest music sweeping across America in music documentary Sounds Like a Revolution, the documentary , about heavy metal band Iron Maiden's Somewhere Back in Time World Tour, and in the video game, Guitar Hero 3
Guitar playing technique
Morello is famed for his guitar style, which consists of heavy metal/punk hybrid riffs and hip hop-inspired sounds. Matthew Bellamy of the British band Muse has cited Morello as an influence, which can be heard in his use of pitch-shifting in solos.To produce his alien guitar sounds, Morello chooses various effects pedals. During his tenure in RATM, he used a Dunlop Cry Baby, a Digitech WH-1 Whammy, a Boss DD-2 Digital Delay, a DOD EQ pedal (set flat and just used to boost the volume during guitar solos or particular rocking moments), and an Ibanez DFL Flanger. Around the time of The Battle of Los Angeles he added a Boss TR-2 Tremolo pedal (which can be heard on "Guerrilla Radio"). For Audioslave, Morello replaced the Ibanez Flanger with a MXR Phase 90. His amplifier of choice has always been a 50-watt Marshall JCM 800 2205 and a Peavey 4x12 cabinet. Though the Marshall is his amp of choice with Rage Against the Machine, he used a Vox AC30 combo amplifier for multiple overdubs on Audioslave's 'Revelations' album. While the Marshall amplifier has two channels, he only uses the overdrive channel, and simply turns down the volume on his guitar to get cleaner sounds.
In the studio, Morello uses the same setup for the bulk of the guitar tracks. For The Battle of Los Angeles, he also used a few other amps, such as a Line 6 as heard on the clean, spacey intro of "Mic Check", plus a Pignose mini-amp and a MusicMan "Twin" style amp. During the recording of Audioslave's last album Revelations Morello experimented with different amplifier setups. For the title track's solo he split his signal to his standard Marshall 2205 head and Peavey cabinet and a 100 watt Fender Bassman head and an Orange cabinet. With delay sent to one while the other is unaffected the sound is being "ping-ponged" between the two amplifiers. He also borrowed a VOX AC30 amplifier from producer Brendan O’Brien for some tracks.
Morello's unique technique and talent led to him being voted the 5th greatest guitarist of the past 30 years in a 2010 BBC poll.
Politics
Activism
On August 27, 2008 Morello performed in Denver, Colorado at the Open The Debates rally in opposition to the Commission on Presidential Debates exclusion of third party candidates from the nationally televised debates. He performed "This Land is Your Land" as The Nightwatchman and endorsed Independent Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader. Sean Penn, Jello Biafra and Cindy Sheehan were also part of the rally.In October 2009, Morello, among a number of musicians, sued the US government for the declassification of all documents relating to the use of music in interrogations at Guantanamo Bay. He stated, "Guantanamo is known around the world as one of the places where human beings have been tortured -- from waterboarding to stripping, hooding and forcing detainees into humiliating sexual acts -- playing music for 72 hours in a row at volumes just below that to shatter the eardrums. Guantanamo may be Dick Cheney's idea of America, but it's not mine. The fact that music I helped create was used in crimes against humanity sickens me."
Axis of Justice
Morello and Serj Tankian of System of a Down are the co-founders of Axis of Justice, a political group whose declared purpose is "to bring together musicians, fans of music, and grassroots political organizations to fight for social justice together." They "aim to build a bridge between fans of music around the world and local political organizations to effectively organize around issues of peace, human rights, and economic justice." The group has worked for such causes as immigrant rights and death-penalty abolition. Its recommended book list includes such authors as Noam Chomsky, Karl Marx, Che Guevara, George Orwell, Mumia Abu-Jamal and Grant Morrison.
Morello and Tankian, together with a handful of other artists, including Maynard James Keenan, Wayne Kramer of the MC5, the hip hop group Jurassic 5, and Michael "Flea" Balzary of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, released a live recording of covers and original songs, titled The Axis of Justice Concert Series Volume 1.
On April 6, 2006, Tom Morello was honored with the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award for his support of worker's rights and for his AOJ work. Tom has worked on numerous labor campaigns: the Guess sweatshop boycott, the LA janitors strike, the Taco Bell boycott, the southern California grocery workers strike and lockout, and others.
Morello was a strong supporter of the Immigrants Reform Rally and protest around the US. Morello played as The Nightwatchman at MacArthur Park in Los Angeles and has featured many articles on AOJ. On September 28, 2006, Morello was one of 400 protesters arrested protesting in support of immigrant hotel workers' rights, in what organizers called "the largest act of civil disobedience in the history of the Los Angeles". Morello knew he was going to be arrested; he wore a bright yellow signs, and gave the LAPD his driver's license number a few days before the march. Morello told MTV:
Equipment
Guitars
Morello uses heavily modified guitars from various manufacturers, but he has never had an official endorsement deal with any company.
Mongrel Custom, aka "Arm The Homeless" - Morello's most famous guitar, and his main guitar for standard tuning since 1991. The original guitar was made by Performance Guitar USA for Morello to his exact specifications. It featured a Stratocaster body with a Performance Corsair neck, 2 Seymour Duncan JB pickups and A chrome original Floyd Rose tremolo system. However, when he got the guitar he hated everything about it and completely reassembled it. Since then just about everything has been changed countless times. The only thing that remains from the original guitar is the body. The body is blue with the words "Arm the Homeless" written on it in black and red. It has a 3-way toggle switch mounted on the lower horn, 4 Hippos (painted) on the front, one large hippo (upside down) painted on the back, and a hammer and sickle symbol sticker. The neck is a 22 fret performance guitar neck with a rosewood board and a "banana" headstock. It also has Gotoh Crownhead tuners. It has an EMG 81/EMG H set of pickups and a Ibanez Edge Floyd Rose Tremolo. The guitar is tuned to standard E. This guitar is available in the video game . Fender Stratocaster "Soul Power" - Originally made as a Factory Special Run for Guitar Center, Morello found it on the rack and really liked the look of it. It has a black finish with white binding and a color-matched headstock. It also has a mirror pickguard, Ibanez Edge Floyd Rose Tremolo, a 3-way on/off toggle switch wired as a kill switch, a Seymour Duncan Hotrails pickup in the bridge and Fender Noiseless pickups in the middle and neck positions. It has the words "Soul Power" on the top of the body in silver paint and is his main guitar in Audioslave for songs that are in standard E tuning. Fender Telecaster, "Sendero Luminoso" - A black stock 1982 Standard Telecaster, his main guitar for use in drop-D in Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave and Street sweeper social club. He got this guitar in a trade with his roommate. The guitar has various stickers on its body, most notably the words "sendero luminoso" in white and red. Fender telecaster 2. Black with white binding, mirror pickguard and toggle switch on the lower horn. Tom used this guitar when he played with Fistful of mercy on Conan. Ibanez Artstar Hollowbody (Custom) - Made especially for Morello. Based on an old Vox Ultrasonic, it contains several on-board effects (wah, echo, dist, treble/bass boost) and is painted red and black paint. Used live on the song "Guerrilla Radio" by Rage Against the Machine but rarely seen anywhere else, until it was used in the video clip (and one would assume also in the studio) for Cypress Hill's "Rise Up". Goya Rangemaster de Greco, "St. George Creamy" - Bought by Morello at a Canadian pawnshop for $60. It was modified with a Seymour Duncan hotrails pickup in the bridge position. A toggle switch was also added that is dead in the middle position, resulting in a "hummingbird chirp" when toggled. Used as a drop D guitar for some songs on the Rage Against The Machine record Evil Empire. Currently, it is tuned to drop B. Used in Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave. Ibanez Talman (Custom) - Has 3 single coil "lipstick" pickups, an Ibanez Lo-Pro Edge tremolo, and a killswitch. It has a custom Kenyan flag finish and was used on "Revolver", "How I Could Just Kill a Man", and "Pistol Grip Pump" for Rage Against the Machine and "Exploder" for Audioslave. The guitar has a faulty internal pickup which makes odd feedback noises, which Tom adjusts by tweaking the tone knob and using the guitars tremolo. This technique can be heard at the beginning of Rage Against the Machine's "Revolver", Audioslave's "Exploder", and the live version of Street Sweeper Social Club's Promenade. Tom owns a second Talman, in a white finish, with two humbuckers. Gibson EDS-1275 (Double Neck SG) - Tuned to drop-D on the 6-string neck, and only seen used live on "The Ghost of Tom Joad". Ovation Breadwinner - Tuned to standard E, used for "Ashes in the Fall" for Rage Against the Machine. Also used with a MusicMan amp and Tone Bender pedal to capture the Korean radio station audio heard at the end of "Sleep Now in the Fire".He owns 2 others and confines them to the studio because he thinks they look ugly. Morello used one of these guitars in the video for Travis Barker's "Carry It", which he is featured in. Gibson "Budweiser" Les Paul - Used during the recording of Audioslave's third album "Revelations". Originally had a orange budweiser logo. He hated the Budweiser logo on the guitar and thus decided to burn it off in the parking lot of the studio where he received it using a lighter. Afterwards the burn lines were filled with drawings by his guitar tech. He liked the new appearance and modified the guitar with DiMarzio pickups. Gibson Les Paul Standard, #1 - orange burst finish. Tuned to drop-B for use in Audioslave and Street sweeper social club. Gibson Les Paul Standard, #2 - Red finish. Has been around since the early Ratm days, but was rarely used live until Audioslave's Out of Exile tour where it was tuned to drop-D and only used for Soundgarden covers. Gibson Les Paul Standard, #3 - tobacco sunburst finish. Tuned to Drop B and used in Street Sweeper Social Club. Can be seen in the music video for "100 little curses". James Trussart Steelcaster - A Telecaster style guitar with a body made in steel, finished with a red star graphic over a holey front. Has Seymour Duncan pickups ( Alnico pro II in neck and a Hot rails in bridge). Seen occasionally on the Rage Against the Machine reunion tour, Tom also owns one with polished finish that was used on early tours. Ibanez roadstar- Tom's backup guitar for arm the homeless. It has all the same specs as arm the homeless (light blue finish, edge trem, toggle switch on the bottom horn, emg pickups etc.) but has several small hippo stickers instead of the 4 larger ones seen on the original guitar. This guitar can be seen briefly in the "sleep now in the fire" music video. "Whatever It Takes" guitar - A custom Ibanez Galvador classical acoustic guitar he uses during concerts as The Nightwatchman. Plain body with 'Whatever It Takes ((star))' left of the bridge. Note: The drop B tuning used by Tom is different to normal drop B. Tom uses the guitar in standard tuning but drops the low E down to a B.
Effects & amplifiers
Morello's amplifier and effects setup has been practically the same throughout his career in Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave and Street Sweeper Social Club.;Pedalboard:
Digitech Whammy WH-1 Dunlop Cry Baby Wah Boss DD-2 Digital Delay Boss TR-2 Tremolo DOD FX40b Equalizer Ibanez DFL Flanger MXR Phase 90 (Replaced the Ibanez Flanger for Audioslave) ;Amplification:Marshall JCM800 2205 (50-watt) (Tom blocked the Marshall logo out to avoid endorsment proposals.) Peavey 4x12 Cabinet
Selected discography
Lock UpSomething Bitchin' This Way Comes (1989) Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine (1992) US 4x Platinum Evil Empire (1996) US 3x Platinum Live & Rare (1998) The Battle of Los Angeles, (1999) US 2x Platinum Renegades (2000) US 2x Platinum Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium (2003) Audioslave
Audioslave (2002) US 3x Platinum Out of Exile (2005) US Platinum Revelations (2006) US Gold The Nightwatchman
One Man Revolution (2007) The Fabled City (2008) Street Sweeper Social ClubStreet Sweeper Social Club (2009) The Ghetto Blaster EP (2010)
Filmography
Saturday Night Live (Episode #21.17, 1996) .... Musical Guest (Rage Against the Machine) (1998) (uncredited) .... Son'a officer (Season 6, Episode 20, 2000, "") .... Crewman Mitchell Made (2001) .... Best Man Berkeley (2005) .... Blue (2005) ... As Himself Iron Man (2008) .... Insurgent #5 (2009) .... As Himself Iron Man 2 (2010) .... Insurgent #5
References
External links
The Nightwatchman Sandmonkey Lives (!) Axis of Justice Video of Tom Morello's network TV debut of "House Gone Up in Flames" "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time", Rolling Stone, August 27, 2003. Listen online: Tom Morello On Corporate Imperialism Performing live at SXSW 2007 on 89.3 The Current Tom Morello on The Hour Axis of Justice Video It’s Guitarist Tom Morello - video report by Democracy Now!
Category:1964 births Category:African American guitarists Category:African American rock musicians Category:American activists Category:American anarchists Category:American anti-Iraq War activists Category:American heavy metal guitarists Category:American rock guitarists Category:American socialists Category:American television actors Category:American vegetarians Category:Harvard University alumni Category:American musicians of Irish descent Category:American musicians of Italian descent Category:American people of Kenyan descent Category:Living people Category:Musicians from New York Category:People from Manhattan Category:People from Libertyville, Illinois Category:Rap metal musicians Category:Rage Against the Machine members Category:Audioslave members Category:Lead guitarists
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| Coordinates | 22°34′0″N95°42′0″N |
|---|---|
| Name | Masta Killa |
| Background | solo_singer |
| Birth name | Elgin Turner |
| Born | August 18, 1969 |
| Origin | Brooklyn, New York City |
| Genre | Hip hop |
| Occupation | Rapper |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Label | Nature Sounds |
| Associated acts | Wu-Tang Clan |
| Url | www.myspace.com/mastakilla |
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Masta Killa was the last member to join the Wu-Tang Clan; consequently he did not appear on the group's debut single "Protect Ya Neck". He was also the only member who was not a rapper at the time of the group's formation. He was extensively mentored by the GZA during his early days with the group, evident in the similar flow they both employ. He derived his rap name from the 1978 kung fu film Shaolin Master Killer, (Shao Lin san shi liu fang). Masta only appeared on one track on the Wu-Tang Clan's first album, in the closing verse to "Da Mystery of Chessboxin". Masta only narrowly made the track, and was almost left off in favor of Killah Priest. In fact, on the No Said Date DVD, Killah Priest claims that he and Masta Killa were in competition for the spot on "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'", and while Killah Priest fell asleep, Masta Killa stayed up all night writing and Killah Priest woke up the next morning to Masta Killa's verse. Since he was a developing rapper at the time Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) was being written, his verse in "Da Mystery of Chessboxin" was the only one that could hold up with the other, more experienced Wu-Tang members.
During the first round of solo projects, he made several appearances on tracks now considered Wu-Tang classics, such as "Winter Warz", "Duel of the Iron Mic", and "Glaciers of Ice". His flow at the time attracted attention for being very slow and laid-back, in contrast to the more manic, forceful styles of members like Inspectah Deck and Ghostface Killah. Masta Killa is also the Clansman fondest of Chinese martial arts imagery. In 1997 (1997 in music), the Wu-Tang Clan's second album Wu-Tang Forever saw Masta become a mainstay in the group's line-up with regular appearances throughout the double album.
Masta Killa was the last member to release a solo project, after it was delayed for several years and finally released in June 2004 with the title No Said Date; critically acclaimed, it became independent label Nature Sounds' best-selling album, notable for featuring every core member of the Wu-Tang Clan on the album after a period in the group's history that lacked unity. His second album, Made in Brooklyn, was released on August 8, 2006, and includes production from Pete Rock and MF Doom. "Ringing Bells", the Bronze Nazareth-produced lead single from the album, was released in March 2006. Also in 2006, Masta Killa became the latest in a succession of hip hop artists to endorse PETA, also participating in an advertisement for the organization and is also a vegetarian. In a 2004 "Rock the Bells" documentary the head orgainizer of the event - the man that had booked the Wu-Tang Clan to perform - mistakes Masta Killa for a nobody.
In September 2009, news surfaced of a planned Masta Killa album with production from PF Cuttin. It is entitled Loyalty is Royalty, and the first single "Things Just Ain't the Same" was released to the internet. Recently in a interview with HipHopDX, he mentioned he will be releasing a Live album from concerts of him performing and then hopefully release Loyalty Is Royalty in June 2010 with producers such as 9th Wonder, P.F. Cuttin' & True Master and guest spots with Method Man & Cappadonna and possibly Ghostface Killah & GZA. He also hopes to drop his 4th album soon after Loyalty Is Royalty entitled Soul & Substance.
In his personal downtime he listens to Gladys Knight, Patty LaBelle, Barry White, Parliament-Funkadelic, and Ohio Players. In an interview with nobodysmiling.com, he even said, "I listen to all kinds of things. Like... I listen to nothing, I might listen to the wind today. ""
Along with a number of the members of the Wu-Tang Clan, Masta Killa is vegetarian.
Category:African American rappers Category:Members of the Nation of Gods and Earths Category:People from Brooklyn Category:American vegetarians Category:1969 births Category:Living people Category:Wu-Tang Clan members
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
| Coordinates | 22°34′0″N95°42′0″N |
|---|---|
| Name | John Frusciante |
| Background | solo_singer |
| Birth name | John Anthony Frusciante |
| Born | March 05, 1970New York City, United States |
| Instrument | Guitar, vocals |
| Genre | Alternative rock, experimental rock, avant-garde, electronica |
| Years active | 1988–present |
| Label | Warner Bros., , Birdman, American Recordings |
| Associated acts | Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ataxia, The Mars Volta, Venetian Snares, Swahili Blonde, Warpaint, Omar Rodríguez-López Quartet |
| Url | www.johnfrusciante.com |
| Notable instruments | Fender StratocasterFender TelecasterGretsch White FalconFender JaguarGibson Les Paul}} |
Frusciante joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers at eighteen, first appearing on the band's 1989 album Mother's Milk. The group's follow-up album, Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991), was a breakthrough success. However, he was overwhelmed by the band's new popularity and quit in 1992. He became a recluse and entered a long period of drug addiction, during which he released his first recordings: Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt (1994) and then Smile from the Streets You Hold (1997). In 1998, he successfully completed drug rehabilitation and rejoined the Red Hot Chili Peppers with the album Californication (1999). His album To Record Only Water for Ten Days was compiled in 2001. On a creative spree, Frusciante released six solo albums in 2004; each album exploring different recording techniques and genres. In 2009, Frusciante released The Empyrean and again parted ways with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Frusciante has produced and/or recorded with the Wu-Tang Clan, The Mars Volta, George Clinton, and others.
Frusciante has received critical recognition for his guitar playing, ranking eighteenth on Rolling Stone's list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" in 2003, and he was voted the best guitarist of the last 30 years in a 2010 BBC poll called "The Axe Factor".
Frusciante began studying guitarists like Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix at eleven. After mastering the blues scale, he discovered Frank Zappa, whose work he would study for hours. He began taking classes at the Guitar Institute of Technology, but turned to punching in without actually attending and left shortly thereafter.
Frusciante became friends with former Dead Kennedys drummer D. H. Peligro in early 1988. They often jammed together, and Peligro invited his friend Flea (bassist of Red Hot Chili Peppers) to join. Frusciante and Flea developed a musical chemistry immediately, with Flea later acknowledging that might have been the day he first played the bass riff to "Nobody Weird Like Me". Around the same time, Frusciante intended to audition for Frank Zappa's band, but changed his mind before the final try-out as Zappa strictly prohibited illegal drug use. Frusciante said, "I realized that I wanted to be a rock star, do drugs and get girls, and that I wouldn't be able to do that if I was in Zappa's band." McKnight, however, failed to connect musically within the group. Flea proposed auditioning Frusciante, whose intimate knowledge of the Chili Peppers' repertoire astonished him. Flea and Kiedis auditioned him and agreed that he would be a suitable replacement for McKnight, who was promptly fired. When Flea called Frusciante with the news of his acceptance into the Chili Peppers, Frusciante was elated; he ran through his house screaming with joy, and jumped on a wall, leaving permanent boot marks. He was in the midst of signing a contract with Thelonious Monster at the time—and had actually been playing with the act for two weeks—but his unanticipated reception into the Chili Peppers prompted him to change his plans.
However, Frusciante was not familiar with the funk genre of Red Hot Chili Peppers' sound: "I wasn't really a funk player before I joined the band. I learned everything I needed to know about how to sound good with Flea by studying Hillel [Slovak's] playing and I just took it sideways from there." Several weeks into the band's new lineup, Peligro, whose performance was suffering due to extreme drug abuse, was fired. Soon after, Chad Smith was added as the group's new drummer and the new lineup began recording their first album, 1989's Mother's Milk. Frusciante focused on emulating Slovak's signature style, rather than imposing his own personal style on the group. Producer Michael Beinhorn disagreed, and wanted Frusciante to play with an uncharacteristic heavy metal tone, largely absent from the band's three preceding records. Frusciante and Beinhorn fought frequently over guitar tone and layering, and Beinhorn's idea ultimately prevailed as Frusciante felt pressured by the producer's much greater knowledge of the studio.
(left) performing as the Red Hot Chili Peppers during the Blood Sugar Sex Magik tour in 1991]] The Chili Peppers collaborated with producer Rick Rubin for their second record with Frusciante, Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Rubin felt that it was important to record the album in an unorthodox setting, so he suggested an old Hollywood Hills mansion, and the band agreed. Frusciante, Kiedis and Flea isolated themselves there for the duration of the recording. Frusciante and Flea seldom went outside, and spent most of their time smoking marijuana. Around this time, Frusciante started a side collaboration with Flea and Jane's Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins called The Three Amoebas. They recorded roughly ten to fifteen hours of material, none of which has ever been released. The unexpected success instantly turned the Red Hot Chili Peppers into rock stars. Frusciante was blindsided by his newfound fame, and struggled to cope with it. Soon after the album's release, he began to develop a dislike for the band's popularity. Kiedis recalled that he and Frusciante used to get into heated discussions backstage after concerts: "John would say, 'We're too popular. I don't need to be at this level of success. I would just be proud to be playing this music in clubs like you guys were doing two years ago.'" Frusciante later said that the band's rise to popularity was "too high, too far, too soon. Everything seemed to be happening at once and I just couldn't cope with it." He also began to feel that destiny was leading him away from the band. When the Chili Peppers began their world tour, he started to hear voices in his head telling him "you won't make it during the tour, you have to go now." Frusciante admitted to having once taken great pleasure in hedonism; however, "by the age of twenty, I started doing it right and looking at it as an artistic expression instead of a way of partying and screwing a bunch of girls. To balance it out, I had to be extra-humble, extra-anti-rock star." He refused to take the stage during a performance at Tokyo's Club Quattro on May 7, 1992, telling his bandmates that he was leaving the band. He was persuaded to perform, but left for California the next morning;
Frusciante released his first solo album Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt, on March 8, 1994. Despite the common belief that most of the tracks were recorded while he was strung out on heroin in his home in the Hollywood Hills, Frusciante has said that "That album was not recorded when I was a heroin addict. It was released when I was a heroin addict.”
The first half of Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt was recorded shortly after the completion of Blood Sugar Sex Magik; the second half between late 1991 and early 1992, during the album's tour. Frusciante further asserted that the album was meant to be experienced as a cohesive unit rather than separate entities or songs.
An article in the New Times LA described Frusciante as "a skeleton covered in thin skin" who at the nadir of his addictions nearly died from a blood infection. During this time, his friends Johnny Depp and Gibby Haynes went to his house and filmed an unreleased documentary short called Stuff, depicting the squalor in which he was living.
Frusciante released his second solo album, Smile from the Streets You Hold, in 1997. The album's first track, "Enter a Uh", was largely characterized by cryptic lyrics and hysterical screeches. Frusciante also coughs throughout the track, showcasing his deteriorating health. By his own admission, the album was released in order to get "drug money"; he withdrew it from the market in 1999.
Fully recovered and once again healthy, Frusciante began living a more spiritual, ascetic lifestyle. He changed his diet, becoming more health-conscious and eating mostly unprocessed foods. Despite his experience as an addict, Frusciante does not view his drug use as a "dark period" in his life. He considers it a period of rebirth, during which he found himself and cleared his mind. Frusciante has since stopped practicing yoga, due to its effects on his back, but he still tries to meditate daily. With Frusciante free of his addictions and ailments, Kiedis and Flea thought it was an appropriate time to invite him back. When Flea visited him at his home and asked him to rejoin the band, Frusciante began sobbing and said "nothing would make me happier in the world." The songwriting and production of To Record Only Water for Ten Days were more efficient and straightforward than on his previous recordings. In addition to his guitar work, Frusciante experimented with a variety of synthesizers, a distinctive feature of the record. His goal to improve his guitar playing on the album was largely driven by a desire to emulate guitar players such as Andy Partridge, Johnny Marr and John McGeoch; or as he put it, "people who used good chords". After two days in the recording studio, they played two shows at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood, and spent two more days in the studio before disbanding.
Frusciante released his fourth full-length solo album Shadows Collide with People on February 24, 2004. This featured guest appearances from some of his friends, including Klinghoffer, and Chili Peppers bandmates Smith and Flea. In June 2004, he announced that he would be releasing six records over six months: The Will to Death, Ataxia's Automatic Writing, DC EP, Inside of Emptiness, A Sphere in the Heart of Silence and Curtains. With the release of Curtains Frusciante debuted his only music video of 2004, for the track "The Past Recedes". He wanted to produce these records quickly and inexpensively on analog tape, avoiding modern studio and computer-assisted recording processes. in Reading, England in July 2006]] In early 2005, Frusciante entered the studio to work on his fifth studio album with the Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium. His guitar playing is dominant throughout the album, and he provides backing vocals on most of the tracks. Although usually following a "less is more" style of guitar playing, he began using a full twenty-four track mixer for maximum effect. In the arrangements, he incorporates a wide array of sounds and playing styles, from the funk-influenced Blood Sugar Sex Magik to the more melodic By the Way. He also changed his approach to his playing, opting to contribute solos and allow songs to be formed from jam sessions. Several reviews have stressed that the influence of Hendrix is evident in his solos on the album, with Frusciante himself backing this up. He also expanded the use of guitar effects throughout the album, and used various other instruments such as the synthesizer and mellotron. He worked continuously with Rubin over-dubbing guitar progressions, changing harmonies and using all his technical resources. He also contributed guitar solos on their 2005 album Frances the Mute. In 2006, he helped The Mars Volta complete their third album Amputechture by playing guitar on seven of its eight tracks. In return, Rodriguez-Lopez has played on several of Frusciante's solo albums, as well as made a guest appearance on Stadium Arcadium.
Frusciante's tenth solo album, The Empyrean, was released on January 20, 2009 through Record Collection. The record—a concept album—was in production between December 2006 and March 2008. Their first EP was released in December 2010 on Planet Mu Records.
Along with Speed Dealer Moms, Frusciante also provided guitar for Swahili Blonde, a project of percussionist/vocalist, and girlfriend of John's, Nicole Turley. The project released its debut album Man Meat in 2010. That same year, Frusciante functioned as executive producer for Omar Rodríguez-López's directorial film debut, The Sentimental Engine Slayer. The film debuted at the Rotterdam Film Festival in February 2010. Along with work on the film, Frusciante and Rodríguez-López have released two collaborative records in May 2010. The first is the album Omar Rodriguez-Lopez & John Frusciante, an album with just the two of them, the other a quartet record, Sepulcros de Miel, consisting of Omar Rodríguez-López, Juan Alderete, Marcel Rodríguez-López, and Frusciante. Frusciante also contributed music to the documentary film, Little Joe, based upon Joe Dallesandro.
Frusciante uses a variety of vocal styles on his solo albums, ranging from the distressed screeches on Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt and Smile from the Streets You Hold to more conventional styles on later records. With the Chili Peppers, Frusciante provided backing vocals in a falsetto tenor, a style he started on Blood Sugar Sex Magik. He thoroughly enjoyed his role in the Chili Peppers as backup singer, and said that backing vocals are a "real art form". Despite his commitment to the Chili Peppers, he felt that his work with the band should remain separate from his solo projects. When he returned to the Chili Peppers in 1998, Kiedis wanted the band to record "Living in Hell", a song Frusciante had written several years before. Frusciante refused, feeling that the creative freedom he needs for his solo projects would conflict with his role in the band. He feels that in general, guitar mastery has not evolved much since the 1960s and considers the greatest players of that decade unsurpassed. Frusciante views songwriting as taking time, and does not force it: "If a song wants to come to me, I'm always ready to receive it, but I don't work at it." He cultivates an atmosphere conducive to songwriting by constantly listening to the music of others and absorbing its creative influence. He also prefers to record his albums on analog tapes and other relatively primitive equipment. This preference stems from his belief that older equipment can actually speed up the recording process, and that modern computerized recording technology gives only an illusion of efficiency. On Californication and By the Way, Frusciante derived the technique of creating tonal texture through chord patterns from post-punk guitarist Vini Reilly of The Durutti Column, and bands such as Fugazi and The Cure. During the recording of Stadium Arcadium, he moved away from his New Wave influences and concentrated on emulating flashier guitar players such as Hendrix and Van Halen. With his recent solo work, he has cited electronic music—in which the guitar is often completely absent—as an influence. His electronic music influences include Depeche Mode, New Order, The Human League, Ekkehard Ehlers, Peter Rehberg and Christian Fennesz. His interests are constantly changing, as he believes that without change he will no longer have any interest in playing: "I'm always drawing inspiration from different kinds of music and playing guitar along with records, and I go into each new album project with a preconceived idea of what styles I want to combine."
;Bibliography
Category:American rock guitarists Category:American rock singers Category:American male singers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:Backing vocalists Category:Slide guitarists Category:American musicians of Italian descent Category:People from Astoria, Queens Category:Red Hot Chili Peppers members Category:1970 births Category:Living people Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Lead guitarists Category:People self-identifying as substance abusers
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| Coordinates | 22°34′0″N95°42′0″N |
|---|---|
| Name | Inspectah Deck |
| Background | solo_singer |
| Birth name | Jason Hunter |
| Birth date | July 06, 1970 |
| Birth place | The Bronx, New York City, New York |
| Origin | Staten Island, New York |
| Genre | Hip Hop |
| Occupation | Rapper, Producer, actor |
| Years active | 1991–present |
| Label | Loud, Relativity, Koch, Urban Icon, Traffic |
| Associated acts | Wu-Tang Clan The Housegang Gang Starr Big Pun |
Despite this inconspicuous persona, Inspectah Deck maintained a relatively high profile, as he was the second most featured member on the album, and provided highly acclaimed verses for the singles "C.R.E.A.M.," "Protect Ya Neck," "Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing ta Fuck Wit," and "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'." In the years following, Hunter would appear on several Wu members' solo projects, including Method Man's Tical (1994), Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… (1995), GZA's Liquid Swords (1995), and Ghostface Killah's Ironman (1996). On Wu-Tang's second group album, Wu-Tang Forever (1997), Deck produced the track "Visionz" and contributed a solo track, "The City." He would also provide production for some of his Wu cohorts, including "Elements" and "Spazzola" for Method Man's (1998), "Kiss of a Black Widow" for RZA's RZA as Bobby Digital in Stereo (1998), and the title track for GZA's Beneath the Surface (1999).
In 2003, Inspectah Deck released his second studio album, The Movement (for which he would later state did not live up to his expectations), and in 2006, he released The Resident Patient, intended as a precursor to The Movement. In 2007, the rapper reconvened with the Wu-Tang Clan to record the group album 8 Diagrams. Along with Raekwon, and Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck partook in the controversy, sparked when several group members disparaged RZA's tight artistic control of the album, championing Ghost's album The Big Doe Rehab. In regards to these disagreements, Deck stated in an interview:
Around this time, the rapper announced his up-coming project The Rebellion, confirming production from RZA and the Wu-Elements; it is now set to come after The Resident Patient II, and will reportedly be his final album as a solo artist.
On March 23, 2010, Inspectah Deck released his fourth solo album The Manifesto, which features guest-appearances from Raekwon, Cormega, Termanology, Planet Asia, Cappadonna, Kurupt, and M.O.P.'s Billy Danze. In 2008, a mixtape entitled The Resident Patient II was leaked on to the internet; this features some original material, as well as freestyles over other artists' songs. Inspectah Deck stated in an interview that The Manifesto was meant to be the originally announced full-length sequel, Resident Patient II.
Since early 2010, Inspectah Deck has begun work on the The Rebellion, and has expressed his interest in working with several Wu-Tang members, as well as Snoop Dogg, E-40, Nas & Jadakiss on the album. He had mentioned in an interview with Conspiracy Radio that he will only retire from solo albums if the fans don't show support for The Manifesto and The Rebellion. He has also mentioned his plans to release an instrumental album of his own production, entitled 'The Bodyrock Volume 1', which is inspired by the instrumental albums released by Alchemist, Ayatollah, and Pete Rock. He has recently confirmed Fall 2011 as the release for The Rebellion.
Category:African American rappers Category:Hip hop record producers Category:People from the Bronx Category:Members of the Nation of Gods and Earths Category:1970 births Category:Living people Category:Wu-Tang Clan members Category:Rappers from New York City Category:People from New York City Category:People from Staten Island
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
