Ayo! Check it out we got our first interview on w2nyc tv. Lo a.k.a Lo Ease did the interview. My dude did his thing. We were out at “The Field of Dreams” in Long Island. Gunz and Jae Cy were with me for support and you can check for their vids and pics on welcome2nyc.com. Hopefully, this is the first step in the start of a beautiful relationship it’s Da Collectiv, welcome to NYC snitches!!!!!!!!

-Sag

This documentary explores the reason why so few companies currently control the music played on the radio and for sale at retail stores, and whether corporations really have the power to silence musical innovation.
I posted this video up after my first album review for a reason. I must admit the review hit me hard at first. The writer said that I was talented but that I lacked integrity. He/she stated that there was little or no cohesion between the beats and my lyrics. That hurt. I didn’t agree. I now feel that I could have made the album more musical but, make no mistake “Boom, Bap” is the style we were going for. My next project will illustrate the growth that Gunz and I have experienced as artists/ DJ, producers, engineers and entrepreneurs. This video gave me a renewed zeal. Sometimes, people shy away from the unfamiliar. I know that with time, Da Collectiv will get it’s just desserts. Check out the video. Its super informative (that’s why it’s a hour and a half). Questlove and Ms. Badu herself are featured in it.

Watch Before the Music Dies

5/4 UPDATE: Watch the vid courtesy of Hulu. Not sure how long this’ll last though.

Hey People!! I received my first album review. There’s some positive and negative feedback. I’m trying to focus on the positive. What do you guys think? Do you agree with the writer?

-Sag

Reason to Doubt: Sagittarius Black “Burden of Proof”

The burden always rest on the artist, the emcee, because the audience is not that forgiving. In a medium defined by swagger and cynicism, you have no choice but to deliver, and as the fading novas of so many careers dot hip-hop’s skyline, you have to come to terms with the truth; it doesn’t take much to be forgotten, before you’re even known.

Talent is not enough. It would be idealistic to believe that the only ones who have survived the trek from the block to the stage, to your uninterrupted playlist are the “talented ones.” The tragedy is that so much of the business weeds out talent. The gripe that there aren’t enough lyricists in the game anymore is a valid one. Sagitarius Black is undeniably a lyricist; complicated, nuanced, versatile, and scarily capable. He possesses that rare ability to manipulate language into something more than hollow punchlines, he compels you to think, and to laugh at yourself 30 seconds after with that “oh shit did I just get that” grin on your mug. He shows the ability to handle tempo, and master cadence, to be ironic in a genre increasingly dumbed down. And for all that, his latest offering Burden Of Proof falls short of presenting a case.

Toni Morrison takes an average of 5 years to complete a novel. Not because she has any lack of capability. Its because she has an abundance of it. She has no choice given what she’s capable of but to invest herself in the production of Nobel caliber work. It’s a matter of integrity. Sagitarius Black has to mature into an artist that demands of himself the integrity his immense talent can accomplish, and should demand. Unfortunately so much of the album doesn’t live up to that. Ironically, “Proof” sets itself up by beating you over the head with wordplay and the gutter from jump. If the intro is foreplay, lyrical arousal, then much of what’s left is turning the lights on and wishing you hadn’t. Not fundamentally different from what you expected, just not exactly what you were looking for.

So if there aren’t enough emcees why hate on this one? Because an album is more than rhymes. It’s about the whole, the intricate relationship of parts, how lyrics knuckle and grip beats, how melody furnishes cadence, how a voice weds with the music. Musically “Proof” doesn’t make much of an argument, with shine moments too few and far between to compensate (Rah, Bringin The Heat, and Give it to Me) . “Proof” is fraught with awkward pauses, designed to showcase beats that don’t stand alone. The result sounds like Sag simply couldn’t fill a track, a failing all the more stark when compared to those few tracks that deserve airplay. Many would argue that with the advent of itunes the age of the album, as a comprehensive work, even as a narrative is over. Given that, maybe we can let Sag off the hook. I’m compelled not to. He’s good enough to expect more, and someone should tell him that.