Los Angeles-Fresh 2 Def Entertainment Label Founder Seeks Hip-Hop's Best and Brightest
One group of L.A.-born businessmen is in the driver’s seat to be the next big record label to hit the scene since Bad Boy and Death Row. Run by a fearless leader, 21-year-old Julien Edwards (Left), Fresh 2 Def Entertainment’s strong roster of talent is generating buzz. We sat down with Edwards to find out how it originated and why he feels F2D is the future of hip-hop, and music in general.
Interview after the jump...
Hyphen: Where did the Fresh 2 Def name come from?
J.E: I came up with Fresh 2 Def the last year of high school. I was a big Roc-a-Fella fan, and I would always hear Dame Dash say, “Oh this is fresh to death, pop tags, fresh to death,” so it just kind of stuck.
Hyphen: How did the label get started?
J.E: I was always into music, but in high school I started to gain friends that rapped, and I was so cool with them that I would promote them and play their music for people, and it just came that I started to manage them. At first I managed this one group that had three of my friends in it, a producer and H.O.P.E. [a current F2D artist]. That group broke up, so we started Fresh 2 Def. Basically, I kind of just fell into it.
Hyphen: You guys just recently did a show opening up for Devin the Dude …
J.E:Yeah, that was our first show as the established F2D. It was one of my favorite shows.
Hyphen: For those who don’t know, let’s run down some of your artists.
J.E: SKEME. He can do the hard track, he can do the girl track, and he’s so young he has so much more to offer. He just turned 18, but he’s amazing. He can do whatever he wants; he’s really ahead of his time. Then there’s Lite. Lite is his own person. As an artist he’s dope: his songs are catchy and just clinch on to you.
Hyphen: Tell us about H.O.P.E.
J.E: He’s dope. Some of the things he comes up with are just like, how the heck did he think that up? A lot of people heard the backwards thing, where he rhymed things backwards.
You got Chuck, Three-1-Zero. Dope. His beats are sick and he has so much creativity, it’s amazing. He has a CD coming out, his LP, ’99 Lakers. That’s like the main core focus on Fresh 2 Def. And of course, Emon, the singer is probably on every R&B track that we do. He’s probably the most established out of any of us, like, look at his MySpace and he has more friends than any of us.
Hyphen: As far as releases, what do you guys have coming up?
J.E: SKEME just released Pre-Season, a pre-mixtape to what he’s about to come out with, New Season. But before he does that he wants to release Pre-Season 2, which is just another batch of freestyles and such. H.O.P.E. is about to put out another mixtape. We just finished four songs from it in one night. It’s gonna be called Follow the Leader. And then after that, we’ve been doing his album, The Demo.
Hyphen: Where do you think F2D stands in the grand scheme of things?
J.E: I just want us to bring back good music. I don’t want to be the back packers or those club dudes. Everybody is equally dope on F2D and has something to bring to the table.
Hyphen: When everything is said and done, what do you want Fresh 2 Def’s legacy to be?
J.E: One of the best on the West, the best since Death Row; except without the killing.
For more information, visit www.myspace.com/fresh2defentertainment.
Peace.Love.H-Life
-J. Poakwa
Monday, April 28, 2008
Hyphenated 1 on 1: Youngest in Charge:Julien Edwards & F2D
Video Of The Week: Mickey Factz- Rockin' and Rollin' Feat. The Cool Kidz
+The Cool Kidz
= GreatnessPeace.Love.H-Life
-J. Poakwa Continue to full story......
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Video Of The Week: Kidz In The Hall- Driving Down The Block
Be Sure to check my interview with the guys in Vapor Magazine, On News stands now!!!
or just click the pic lol...
Peace. Love H-Life
-J. Poakwa
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Hyphenated 1on1: Picaso
Part special needs counselor, part record label president and full time artist, 24-year-old Picaso is like no other. Los Angeles isn’t just his stomping ground. It’s the liquid that flows through his veins.
As one of the founding members of the Language Artz Crew (which includes rappers A.T., Bread Boi, Hollyhood 3, Ryan Gee, Gerrentee, Macc-Man and producers tha AdjicktivZ), Picaso, like the famous cubist painter Pablo Picasso, is one who not only amazes but provokes the mind with his arsenal of witty punch lines and grade-A rhymes.
“I pride myself in lyricism,” Picaso says. “Around 10th grade I was in art class, and we had to learn about Picasso [who] switched his style up so many times. A lot of people didn’t really understand his artwork ’til later. I really pride myself in being versatile and putting a good message in there, but it’s always decoded, so you gotta sit there and listen to it to really understand it, hence Picaso.”
Today’s industry has seen the rise of the single artist. Picaso and Language Artz, however, are trying to take music back to the Bad Boy/Roc-A-Fella days when everybody in your family was ill and the team shined together.
“If you were to put [our music] in a category, I would say it’s grass root hip-hop, but it’s not ’98, it’s 08: music with a digital mind state,” says Picaso.
And it shows in the music.
Picaso is more than just a one trick pony that can spit. As well as being a music video director, he has grown from being just another sneaker head to a full-fledged businessman.
“Fashion and music, that’s my thing. If it wasn’t rapping, it would be fashion design. We [Language Artz] have a clothing line called Honor Roll, and I do rep work with a clothing line called Beautiful Society,” he says.
With his ability to ride a track effortlessly powered by raw talent and a hint of Biggie Smalls, Picaso is a force to be reckoned with in the coming years.
For more information, visit www.myspace.com/picasoscanvas.
Peace.Love.H-Life
-J. Poakwa
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
H-Life Concert Series: UCR Heat Festivle 2008
Pusha T
“Lights Out Lights Out, Everything Black”, the voice from the speaker commanded. In an instance the crowd went silent and was immediately covered in the darkness of the night. A silhouette emerged from back stage with a Flash Light attached to its head. The cameras in the media pit began to flash, and shoot even more light into the atmosphere, “We don't need light, we are the light”, again chanted the mysterious figure. As the DJ’s cued the classic soul vinyl through the speakers, the lights blasted the massive crowd to reveal Brooklyn’s finest decked out in a fresh pair of J’s and a Crooks and Castle’s Back Pack. “Mos Def, Mos Def, Mos Def…” chanted the crowd. Thus began my experience at the UCR Heat 2008 music festival.
Mos Def
The “Katrina” sized rain drops were no match for the fire that scorched that stage. Years prior saw the likes of Lupe Fiasco light up the stage. The lineup this year was sure to make the event even hotter. Ranging from Moby to Circa Survive, Mos Def to The Clipse, and Girl Talk to 311, the fans in attendance were in for a real treat. In total there were three stages and 17 acts, 17! A music lover could go crazy.
Riverside Mutha Fucka!!!
Riverside isn’t what you call the most “happenist” place around, so when something like Heat comes around, they go all out. There were a million over priced food stands, go figure when you’re paying 31 bucks for 17 acts, as well as a semi-club/ Dance Tent. The festival started at 6pm with performances by a couple of underground and local acts and DJ’s, such as Aloe Blacc on the Jam Stage, and Low B on the main stage.
Aloe Blacc
I’m a Hip-hop head so my main focus was on Mos Def and The Clipse performances. With my trusty media Badge around my neck and a slick tongue, ya boy was able to get on stage a couple of times. Mos Def came out rockin' the crowd from jump. Not only was dude fresh, but he came out spittin' fresh tracks off his upcoming album. Trust me when I say, that shit is fire. The crowds were huge, the food was expensive, and the floor was muddy, but the music made up for all that. Mos Def ended his set with a couple of fan favorites such as: “UMI Says”, “Traveling Man” and “Ms. Fat Booty”, which he spit over the original sample; Dope.
After the Mos Def set was over I made my way over to the Jam stage where the Clipse were going to perform. After a couple of friendly words with the security guards (Mouthpiece gets you anything in this world), I was soon on stage with the Clipse taking pictures and vibin’ with the crowd. Malice and Pusha T came out and it was like old times.
The Clipse
Highlights from the set were “Grinding”, “Mr. Me Too”, and Brand new off their new Mixtape: We Got it For Cheap vol.3, “20k Money Making Brothers on the Corner”. Liva and Sandman of the Re-Up Gang were also in the house as well to rock it. By the end of the event my kicks were trash, my ears were gone, but man was that shit hot.
-J. Poakwa
Peace.Love.H-Life
-J. Poakwa Continue to full story......
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Video Of The Week: Kanye West- HomeComing Feat. Chris Martin
Kanye West + Chris Martin = ColdYe....lol
Man, it's been a while. I've been on my freelance shyt...a lot of articles showing up around your local newsstands; applause for a second.......Ok back to business. The slack is being thrown out the window to dry. That's right I'm back and you can expect more tasty goodness from ya boy. This weeks video comes from the big homie Ye and features an obscure cut out of Chris Martin singing, as well as the Gap Man, Common, standing around looking stale faced. Overall the black and white take on Chicago was ok, that is if you hate Chicago. I mean, if it were a song bout LA, shyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyt(R.I.P The Wire), colors baby. I guess Chi-town is just that dull to Ye. Tisk Tisk. Well till next time...
P.S: Be sure to check out my alter ego J. Hyphen. That guy is ridiculous on the beats.. myspace.com/Jhyphentheproducer
Peace.Love.H-Life
-J. Poakwa
