MUSS (MU$$)

Callie Claytor — best known as Callie Dee in the local music scene — remembers bumping DJ Screw with her friends when she was about 15 years old.
DJ Screw was the Houston artist who pioneered the “chopped and screwed” technique, slowing hip-hop tracks down so that they sounded like soundbites drowning in molasses and honey, or like the listener was living in the music while nodding out on sizzurp.
“I was kind of poor, and that whole culture resonated with me,” said Dee, who lives in Fort Worth. “I had friends who sold drugs, who got incarcerated. I felt like it spoke to me.”
Right about the time Lil Wayne’s records started going platinum, Dee stopped listening to new music.
Now, at 32 and with children of her own, Dee is keeping serious hours promoting North Texas hip-hop — specifically Denton hip-hop as a director of operations and hustler-in-chief for Gitmo Music. Gitmo is a label, crew and music collective credited for squashing beef in Denton’s hip-hop scene and setting the stage for serious artist development and lots of recording. She also manages Dallas’ Blaze Won, one-half of the local duo Baconomics. (Oh, and along the way, she discovered a cousin, Cory Claytor, known as S. Good around these parts.)
This summer, Dee is coordinating “Master of the Mic,” a summer-long contest to find the best hip-hop emcee in the Denton-Dallas-Fort Worth region.
It took some years to get to this point for the promoter, blogger and booking agent.
Dee said she did some growing up.
“I had kids, worked a lot and wasn’t involved in any kind of music or cultural scene,” she said. “I felt like something was missing.”
Her brother, a folk musician, was running an open mic in the region, and Dee started catching shows.
“I saw Leon Bridges two and a half years ago and got the chills,” she said of the Fort Worth soul artist who’s dropping an album through Columbia later this month. “I saw what my brother was doing and decided to throw my own show. It flopped.”
She started going to hip-hop shows and DJ sets in Dallas. Eventually, Dee took the ingredients she enjoyed from Dallas — hip-hop, DJs, breakdancers and graffiti artists — and put them together in a Fort Worth show.
“We had 400 people at that show, and it was a Wednesday night,” she said.
Dee has been booking shows at Lola’s in Fort Worth for a year through Red-Empire, and is a host of Out the Box, an Internet hip-hop radio show. She booked Denton’s elder statesmen of hip-hop, Fab Deuce, into a Fort Worth show. After that, Dee started working with Gitmo. She discovered a rapport with Denton’s Ritchy Flo, Blaze Won and Gitmo founder Keldrick Scott.
And somewhere between the madness of raising three children and grooming a hip-hop scene, Dee got to talking with local hip-hop artists about Master of the Mic.
“At first I was doing this bracket thing, thinking about getting together 20 emcees from the three cities,” she said. “You can’t really do that in one month.”
The contest started with 20 emcees in each city — not all of them showed up for the first round — and 10 moved on to the second round. Denton’s Round 2 is tonight.
Gitmo artist Stu Brootal, the brainchild of Stu Ludlow, said he went all in for Master of the Mic even though he doesn’t approach hip-hop as a competition.
“I don’t think art can really be judged that way, but I like being part of it,” he said. “All these guys are really talented. Their music, their art, I have a lot of respect for what they do.”
Stu Brootal shares the stage tonight with some of Denton’s sharpest hip-hop cats: Pudge Brewer, the anchor of Fab Deuce, is on the bill, as is master beatmaker and gifted rapper Ritchy Flo. King Pap poses a threat, and Brootal will go toe to toe with emerging artists S. Good, Muenster and Mussoleani, among others.
Stu Brootal has his work cut out for him, though, because he tends to set rhymes to progressive metal and rock structures. His rhymes veer sharply away from the materialism and immoderate sexual leanings of mainstream hip-hop, too. Over the course of about five mix tapes and an album, Brootal’s work has a more existential bent to it.
“I find myself watching my genre and seeing how it doesn’t represent my perspective on the world,” he said. “We’re discussing things that can’t be taken to the grave.”
He doesn’t sidestep his values in his music. He leaves out sexism in favor of musings on equality, and keeps his poetry personal.
For a guy in hip-hop, Stu Brootal didn’t do any posturing about how he’ll fare in Round 2 tonight.
“I don’t really think I will [advance],” he said. “But the important thing is getting your music out there to a bigger, wider audience.”
He’s still a competitor. In his seven-minute contest spot in Round 1, Stu Brootal banged out four songs. He hadn’t finished his set list for Round 2.
Dee said the Master of the Mic competition nudges Gitmo artists to the next logical step in the game. A group of Gitmo artists have been on a short regional tour this spring. The contest moves the artists toward Oaktopia Fest and, if Dee is reading the cards right, more lucrative recording projects.
“At this point, I think we’re closing the Gitmo roster so we can focus on developing the artists we have,” she said. “I really don’t want them playing for free anymore. I think the artists are good enough to get paid when they do shows. It seems like Gitmo’s kind of taking over D-FW right now.”
Round 3 of Master of the Mic is in August. Round 4 is in September, and the winner will be declared in November. Finalists get a performance slot at Oaktopia Fest in September. Among the prizes: a performance slot at 35 Denton in 2016, media coverage with contest partners, T-shirt pressings, studio time with Denton’s Real Rad Records, and a one-hour consultation with Candace Manns, the Grammy Award-winning producer of Symbolyc One.
LUCINDA BREEDING can be reached at 940-566-6877 and via Twitter at @LBreedingDRC.
MASTER OF THE MIC,
DENTON ROUND 2
When: 9 p.m. today
Where: Hailey’s Club, 122 W. Mulberry St.
How much: Cover is $5.
Judges: Milla DaMayor, Jerrad Barger, Madame Mims. The audience will choose two artists to advance to Round 3. The judges will select three artists for the third round.
CONTENDERS
Pudge Brewer
Blaze Won
KoolBRZ
Stu Brootal
Ritchy Flo
Doug Jason Funnie
S. Good
X-Calibur
King Pap
Mussoleani
Muenster
Microphone Lewis - Denton Record Chronicle

Whatever direction music is going in, I can guarantee you that Mussoleani and the Meditation Mafia will be at the forefront of it. “Mussoleani” is his first self-titled mixtape and was released earlier this year.

This is the first project that the Meditation Mafia has released. Mussoleani is everything you want out of a mixtape. It invites you into his world and Mussoleani allows you to view things from his perspective. He talks about “realistic peace” and how he must remind himself to meditate through difficult times. He gives advice on how one can achieve peace himself. That is what his movement is all about. It’s “positive blues”.


Download Mixtape | Free Mixtapes Powered by DatPiff.com
Aside from the message, the production and composition of this project was outstanding. Produced mostly by Johnny “Drama” Sammis and Keys Louise, I highly recommend listening to this tape and to also check out “Strictly Medicinal”, a 4-track 20 minute EP released by the mob. Follow their movement and check out www.meditationmafia.com and follow Mussoleani on TWITTER - Jamsphere - Buddy N.

The Meditation Mafia is a 4 piece rap band. Electronic with RnB spice. Slightly mystic and nostalgic yet bittersweet and professional, that's what comes to mind listening to The Meditation Mafias single "Know I Ball".
The Meditation Mafia has a little bit of retro vibe yet very modern. The Meditation Mafia is a music collective out of Denton, TX. The members include Mussoleani, Tree Eye, Johnny Drama, and Keys Louise.
Johnny Drama lives in Long Island, NY but still makes music and produces for the group via internet.
"We promote a peaceful movement. We promote realistic peace. We know that negativity exists but we live above it.
We live with the positivity. We make mostly rap music but also have EDM, Blues, Rock, and even Christian songs.
We are a very diverse, ambitious group that aims to keep the peace in this crazy world." Take a listen to "Know I Ball" in the player below: - Music Eye Reviews

Click. Click. Enter.

A few clicks later and Meditation Mafia, a hip-hop collective, has officially applied to play at this year’s South By Southwest, one of the largest music festivals in Austin.

Meditation Mafia is comprised of three University of North Texas students and two others. Formed after a wave of creativity and coincidence, the group is catching much attention for their unique sound.

“It wasn’t really planned,” said CJ Durr, Meditation Mafia’s lead vocalist. “We all came together and made a song, and it got people’s attention and people wanted more.”

Originally dubbed Meditation Group, the name has evolved over time. The band’s current moniker, Mediation Mafia, was born out of the group’s dedication to meditation in their own way, or “realistic peace,” Durr said.

The group consists of, rappers CJ Durr and Roosevelt “Jerome” Campbell; writer and guitarist, Colton Bigham; producer and keyboardist, Alan Turbeville; and producer and vocalist, Johnny Sammis.

The group takes influences from The Black Keys, The White Stripes, Wu-Tang Clan and Pimp C, Turbeville said.

“The group is made up of so many musical geniuses,” fan Brittany Johnson said. “It’s amazing to me what they can come up with when they’re all in the same room together.”

When they are not making new beats, the members have a range of jobs. Turbeville and Sammis are full-time students; Durr is a cook at BJ’s; Campbell works with special education students, and Bigham is a waiter at Giuseppe’s.

“My dream for Meditation Mafia is to create a peaceful movement through music that changes people’s mindsets to have an overall positive outlook on the world,” Durr said.

The group frequently posts about upcoming shows and new music at www.meditationmafia.com.

“We just had a show at Quixotic in Deep Ellum and we regularly perform in the DFW area,” Turbeville said.

While they wait on a call from South By Southwest, the group wants their audience to know one thing.


“We make magic,” Durr said. - Kristen Watson

Johnny Drama drops a new one called "Know I Ball".

Johnny Drama is indebted to the lineage of bubblegum rap that we perhaps first heard with Soulja Boy, taking ringtones rap's catchy simplicity, and adding some sweet auto-tuned hooks to the mix. We've since seen Chief Keef take the sound in a slightly more menacing direction, but Johnny Drama has steered things back in the way of pop ecstacy.

"Know I Ball" has placed the rapper among this week's final four Heatseekers. If you like to have your song or video featured on the site, you can submit content to us here.

Make sure to follow Johnny Drama on Twitter and Youtube.

Quotable Lyrics:
And all these bitches love me now
People hating 'cause they see me getting money now
Now how I wanna go 'bout it
I just fucked this bitch, and ain't know 'bout it - HotNewHipHop

When Shaheed “Flow” Barket started rapping, he didn’t even have an entirely functional microphone.
“The first song I ever recorded was terrible,” Shaheed said. “I was recording on my friend’s computer. I was just being dumb, rapping about killing people and stuff I really didn’t do. I was fourteen, so I really just followed what the crowd said.”
It’s safe to say that Shaheed, who started making music when he was 14, has come a long way. The 18-year-old rapper is on the verge of releasing his debut album, Gold Ceilings, and performing live for the first time.
“In the four years since I started rapping, I have definitely progressed,” Shaheed said. “My style has changed. Right now, it’s a lot more professional.”
Shaheed will be performing for the first time in front of an audience at Andy’s Bar on Jan. 17th. He’ll be performing seven songs, four of those being from his upcoming album Gold Ceilings. Shaheed2Online
“I’m pretty stoked,” he said. “I’ll have a 30 minute part, and the show ends at 1 a.m. You have to be 18 to get in, but it’s going to be really fun. I’m not nervous at all. I’m ready.”
He is planning to release his album in the spring of 2014. He’ll be selling them for $5.
“This album is going to actually be mine,” he said. “The style of it is all me since I’m now using my own beats. It’s called Gold Ceilings because that’s the accessory of a king. Gold Ceilings is just a representation of becoming royal and entering a higher life.”
As Shaheed writes lyrics, records music, and produces songs, he keeps his musical goals in mind.
“My goal for rapping is to make it into the music industry and get my name out there,” Shaheed said. “I really love putting my music on YouTube. I like the networking of YouTube because it helped me meet producers. I want my music to spread as much as possible.”
Shaheed hopes to be able to take his music to the next level soon.
“Touring is the main thing on my mind right now,” Shaheed said. “I just really want to get the chance to meet new people. Whenever I tour, I want to go all across America. If I keep going, this could definitely be a possibility.”
Senior Diego Davila has been by Shaheed’s side since the beginning. And having been friends with Shaheed for the length of his music career, Diego has high hopes for his future.
“I’m incredibly happy for him,” Diego said. “I’ve always told Shaheed that he’d be great. With the rate of progress, I think that he’ll definitely have state-wide popularity in a year or so. He has more lyric and rhythmic talent than he knows. He has great abilities and will only improve.”
Shaheed’s mother, Zella Barket, is also glad that he is chasing a music career.
“I’m very proud of him,” Zella said. “I’m very supportive of his choice to make music. I think he’ll start to be more and more popular as the years go on. He’s already popular as it is, and I only see him getting better!”
Even though Shaheed doesn’t have expensive recording equipment, he is still happy with the materials that he has.
“Right now, I record all of my music at my house,” he said. “It’s not much of a studio, because it’s only a microphone and an interface. I use an Audio-Technica AT2035 for a microphone. Even though it’s small, it still gets the job done. I’ll probably go to a studio whenever I start making major moves. For now, I’m just going to work in my house.”
Whenever Shaheed faces adversity, he thinks of his fans who give him supportive feedback.
“At this point, the fans are the people who motivate me the most,” Shaheed said. “I really like it when a person tells me, ‘dude, that’s a cool song!’ That makes me want to keep making music. The feedback’s been great. It’s all about the fans. I love the people, they love my music, so why stop making music?”
In the song “Pimp C,” Shaheed explains that talent is required in order to “make it.” According to the lyrics, “everybody wants to make it, but nobody’s got the talent.”
“For people who want to get big doing something, they definitely should have the talent first,” Shaheed said. “Don’t give yourself false hope. If you’re trying to be talented, my advice for you is to practice. That will definitely make you better. Repetition is the father of learning! When you’re being told opinions, just remember that what you do is what you do and you know how you want it done.”
Shaheed believes that having dedication to something is completely vital to becoming successful.
“I love making music because it’s something to be creative with,” Shaheed said. “I want to become successful. I think that, generally, if you want to be successful, you have to really want it.”
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Going with the Flow: Ebb and flow- See more at: http://www.dhshorseshoe.com/features/going-with-the-flow-ebb-and-flow/#sthash.tw7bSuAA.dpuf - The Horseshoe News