1996 was a watershed year for hip-hop. Considered by some to
mark the end of the music's Golden Age, '96 saw the release of numerous albums
that would go on to be considered landmarks in the genre: Nas' It Was Written,
The Fugees' The Score, A Tribe Called Quest's Beats, Rhymes and Life, OutKast's
ATLiens, and The Roots' Illadelph Halflife. Jay Z made his now classic debut
with Reasonable Doubt, while 2Pac took his final bow with All Eyez on Me prior
to his death that September. That summer marked the culmination of hip-hop's
maturity, a period when groundbreaking artists deftly melded rap, jazz and
classic soul into a singular sound that would remain influential for decades to
come.
The summer of 1996 was also a turning point for
singer/rapper/producer Lonnee Stevens and composer/producer Antman Wonder. Not
only did the remarkable music of the time point them in the direction of their
future careers, but it was the moment when both men took their first steps in
the transition from avid fans to creators. Joining forces for the first time as
Summer of '96, Stevens and Antman draw inspiration from the individuality and
innovation of that foundational year to discover new pathways into the juncture
of hip-hop, jazz and R&B on their debut album, Splendid Things Gone Awry,
available July 21 via Unsociable Music/RED.
"1996 was the coming of age for music for my
generation," says Stevens, citing particularly hip-hop's unparalleled
flowering but also an impressive year for inventive rock music: Sublime's
self-titled debut, DJ Shadow's Endtroducing..., Beck's Odelay, and countless
others. "Everything sounded so new, just as we were coming of age as
creative people."
Although the fusion of jazz and hip-hop reached a pinnacle
in the mid-'90s, the two musics had been intertwined since hip-hop's
beginnings. The always forward-looking Herbie Hancock was one of the earliest
pioneers, pointing the way to the future with his 1983 smash hit
"Rockit." As Antman puts it, "One begat the other. Jazz
influenced hip-hop majorly, especially in the Golden Era. Hip-hop introduced me
to Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock and [producer] David Axelrod through the music
that was sampled when I was growing up by people like DJ Premier, Pete Rock,
and Just Blaze."
Hancock's former boss, Miles Davis, was of course at the
forefront as well, collaborating with producer Easy Mo Bee for his final album,
Doo-Bop. Hip-hop producers sampled jazz grooves and melodies from the
beginning, including Gang Starr's "Words I Manifest," which sampled Dizzy
Gillespie's "Night in Tunisia," and UK-based Us3's ubiquitous 1993
hit "Cantaloop," built on the infectious hook from Hancock's
"Cantaloupe Island." Central to the Summer of '96 idea are the
efforts of the Native Tongues collective, a loose-knit group of hip-hop
pioneers that included A Tribe Called Quest, the Jungle Brothers and De La Soul
(who released their direction-changing fourth album, Stakes Is High, that
year).
Flash forward to today, when those artists' innovations
paved the way for a new generation of jazz/hip-hop fusion. Artists like Flying
Lotus, Thundercat and Kamasi Washington are redefining the marriage of the two
musics (among other influences) while leading rappers like Kendrick Lamar are
finding new ways to draw upon jazz approaches.
Enter Summer of '96, who don't so much channel the music of
their namesake year as they continue in its spirit of reinvention and
individuality. Splendid Things Gone Awry is a rarity in the streaming age, a
true album with a central mood and an experimental spirit. The duo built the
album via a long-distance collaboration between California native Stevens'
Atlanta digs and Antman's Philly base. The music is entirely original, using
live instrumentation and no samples, with compositions created and played by
Antman and restructured and adde onto by Stevens.
"Today everything is synthesized," Stevens says,
"but back then everything was sampled, and it was sampled from soul and
jazz records. When we got together we decided we wanted to make a record that
sounds classic but using all original stuff."
The album's moodiness stems from a recent break-up that
Stevens had gone through, leading him to a darker but richer sound. The album's
title captures the feeling -- things have gone wrong, but those things were
beautiful to begin with, and retain that sense even in their ruined state.
A harpsichord melody initiates the cinematic feel of opener
"Stacey Dash," which uses the Clueless star and Fox News commentator
as an icon for a certain type of woman that Stevens defines as "almost
perfect until you get to know them, and then they have such bad
attitudes." Typical of the duo's instinct-trusting method, the track
eschews drums for a more free-floating, amorphous atmosphere.
The blissful "Mahogany Blue" is a tribute to the
azure-colored guitar of Detroit singer-songwriter Mayaeni and features vocal
contributions from soul singer Teedra Moses. The swirling "All That
Jazz" is the first of several instrumental interludes showcasing Antman's
frantic, eclectic jazz style. "When I first heard Antman, he was already
heavy in his calling as a hip-hop producer, but really he was playing jazz,
especially with the way he was improvising," Stevens says. "I don't
know that he saw it as jazz at the time, but he could play his ass off."
Further examples arrive via the '70s funk-soul vibe of "Phyllis
Hyman" and the sweeping Stevie-cinema of the Songs in the Key of
Life-reminiscent "Wondersong."
"Good Man," with its "you don't know what you
lost" message, was one of a few tracks begun by Stevens, who laid a more
structured foundation as opposed to Antman's more improvisational approach. The
confessional "At All" is a pure Stevens production, while "You
In My Mind" was composed and titled by Antman with the female R&B trio
KING in mind. Featuring a guest verse by Detroit rapper Royce da 5'9",
"Not a Rich Man" is a classic debate between commerce and integrity,
while the title track, featuring a sax solo by Bill Kahler, closes the album
with a last-call jazz club feel.
The hallucinatory "Black Zombies" is a lament for
the increasing prevalence of "lean," the sweet but codeine-heavy
cough syrup-based drink. "The last generation was more drug dealers,"
Antman says, "and this generation is more drug addicts. We're not so much
throwing shots or judging; it's just an observation. We all have our vices, but
that's becoming part of our culture now and that's dangerous." Case in
point: the three Ws of "Whiskey, Weed, Women," a particularly
self-explanatory track.
Perhaps the simplest way to explain this record is this: If
Phyllis Hyman and the great Thelonious Monk had a love child, and that child
grew up with Kendrick Lamar as the babysitter, you'd probably get this album.
About Antman Wonder
Philadelphia-based composer/producer Antman Wonder built a
reputation on classic-sounding but sample-free productions, drawing on the
influence of eclectic innovators like Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder and Isaac
Hayes. He's worked with one of his major influences, Gang Starr co-founder DJ
Premier, as well as well-known artists including Tyga, Pusha T, Rick Ross, 2
Chainz, Action Bronson and Joey Bada$$. Antman also recently contributed to
Meek Mill's new single "Slay," featuring A$AP Ferg.
About Lonnee Stevens
Lonnee Stevens is a Grammy® Award-winner and six-time
nominee who has worked with Alicia Keys, Trombone Shorty, Lauryn Hill, Talib
Kweli, India.Arie and his godfather, Motown legend Smokey Robinson (some of his
credits come under another alias). Stevens (born Alonzo Stevenson) is the son
of William "Mickey" Stevenson, songwriter/producer and original head
of A&R for Motown, and singer Melanie Burke, and is the grandson of R&B
legend Solomon Burke.
No comments:
Post a Comment