Independent Hip Hop

For those that don’t know (which would be most of y’all), I been doin’ this hip-hop thing for a long time now. I was one of the original “internet rappers”. Back in ‘95-96, sharing lyrics online in chat rooms and message boards with others at places like The Honeycomb Hideout (shouts out to my old crew KNO haha). I’m talkin dial up 28/8k modems. Audio? Video?? Don’t even think about it. Straight text bay-bee… all day. So yeah, that dates me a bit. And yet, music was and is so important to me, I still haven’t let go.

As the years passed, as deals and opportunities came and went, a fear started to grow inside of my mind.  A fear that up until just recently became my biggest.  The fear of.. becoming an OLD RAPPER (dun dun dunnnnnnn)!

Read the rest of this entry »

That’s the new motto for this year. There is so much I should have accomplished with music, school, and life by this point, but haven’t because I haven’t sacrificed what it takes to get there. So here is a list of resolutions to help me jumpstart the new year.

1. Finish mixing the album and rock more shows.

2. Stop spending so much time on social networking sites.

3. Curb my spending so I can get my credit report back on track and to stop moms from asking why so many people are calling for me.

4. Earn good grades in law school while continuing to make good music in 2009.

5. Spend more time in the studio making music instead of getting fucked up and chopping it up.

6. Contribute to the Illamental blog at least 2-3 times a week.

7. Continue getting my news from a variety of sources so that my music reflects the realest truth possible.

8. Remember to keep my family and friends close, cause in the end, they’re the only ones that really mean a damn to me.

Til next time,

Akim aka Hip Hop 2.1

We keep it mad hood with the Hen dogg and Shasta cola!

Just recently, we were able to finish up all primary vocals for the upcoming album by The Vox Merger. Many late nights and early mornings at our spot, which we have unofficially dubbed “The Rock Next Door,” have begun to bear fruit. And if I do say so myself (and I do), I think you’ll all like the style of hip hop that hear from the fellas. Even with the pressed time and sometimes limited resources, they’ve been hitting their milestones and are finally starting to see some daylight as far as a release date is concerned (which I’m sure will be announced soon as well).

Read the rest of this entry »

Unlike the rest of the performers, Bamm was lined up because he thought Todd was handing out free porn.

The Illamental fellas were at it again. Running around Los Angeles on some guerrilla ish to get another video in the can (we don’t need no stinkin’ permits!). And with one eye open for five-oh, and the other watching for the local crackhead with a penchant for selling video equipment, the video shoot for “Reasons” by The Vox Merger went off without a hitch.

With Todd Angkasuwan at the helm (much props again to Todd for blessing us), we got this baby knocked out all in one day. Read the rest of this entry »

After our last show in 2007, we (Helix) said we were gonna take a hiatus from “touring” and stay close to home to focus on Vox Merger & other music, as well as get some of our ducks in a row. And while we were successful at that, I think I’m starting to crave rocking the mic again.

Read the rest of this entry »

We got a couple of shows coming up that are our of our home base city of LA. I really look forward to out of town performance because, no matter the size of the crowd, we always feel more welcomed.

One would think that being based in the entertainment mecca would provide and endless amount of opportunities and connections. While there are definitely a lot of movers and shakers out here, it takes a whole lot of hard work, time, and elbow rubbing to get to the tier of folks who play with the rich peoples’ money. That tier is pretty elite. Below them is a whole sea of “wanna-be’s”…and I don’t use that term in the derogatory way because hell, I “wanna be” too.

Read the rest of this entry »

I been producing and rhyming almost since the beginning of my career. It came out of necessity cause, frankly, me and Nameo couldn’t afford to pay producers for beats. I was like “Psssh, I can make beats” (though I had only rarely touched anything really close to a professional production tool in my life). But it was one of those things I just “felt” I would be able to do. I’d always revered producers/production and studied their techniques, but applying it was quite the learning experience…… layman’s terms – my first beats were WACK.

Read the rest of this entry »