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Some things from Company Flow's El-Producto on his involvement with Zack's forthcoming solo album: "I ship them to him and he'll take as many as I can give him, so the pressure's on me. El-P said he met de la Rocha through their involvement with Rawkus Records, the New York rap label for which Company Flow records.
"Zack got in touch with us, actually. He was hanging around Rawkus and heard [the Company Flow song] 'Patriotism' [from Soundbombing 2], and we connected. Zack has serious flow control. Most people are on some kid's shit, which is cool, you know, I'm on somekid's shit too, but few people have Zack's lyrics."
De la Rocha recently dipped his foot into the solo arena with the song "Mumia 911" on The Unbound Project, Volume 1, an all-star hip-hop album, due May 16, benefiting Abu-Jamal's legal defense. He also could be heard on last year's all-star Lyricists Lounge album from Rawkus, on which he shared the microphone with old-school rapper KRS-One on the song"C.I.A. (Criminals in Action)."
Invisibl Skratch Piklz turntablist Mix Master Mike (born Mike Schwartz) said in February that he planned to collaborate with de la Rocha on a track for his upcoming album, Terrorist, tentatively due in October. "I met [de la Rocha] when we played a show together [in January 1999], and ... we got heavily involved in hanging out and sharing views on music," Mix Master Mike said.
A recording session has not yet taken place, according to Felice Agi, a spokesperson for Mix Master Mike's label, Asphodel Records. As far as Zack's solo album, it has no title and no release date, an Epic Records spokesperson who requested anonymity said. He/she also said no additional information was available on other artists slated to collaborate with de la Rocha on the album.
The music base is having a contest. Enter here. The winner recieves a 4"2' promotional banner from Epic Records for The Battle of Los Angeles, signed by the band. 5 runners-up will recieve a copy of the album. Very nice, indeed.
Yes, indeed: According to representatives from the underground New York hip-hop outfit Company Flow, Zack de la Rocha will be heading into a New York City recording studio this May (next month) to begin production of his solo album. He made a 'wish-list' of producers he'd like at the helm of his debut, and has recruited his top choice, Company Flow's El-P, to produce at least four of the tracks.
Company Flow cut short a tour of Japan recently so El-P could fly back to the States to meet de la Rocha and discuss working together. El-P is scheduled to spend the entire month of May in the studio with the Rage Against the Machine frontman.
Other hip-hop artists being tossed around to produce the remaining tracks include Roni Size, DJ Premier, and Mos Def, although none of them would confirm.
The album will be released by Rage Against the Machine's label, Epic, which had no details on the musicians joining de la Rocha in the studio or on an official release date. (Thanks to Ian Mance for passing on this info from CDnow.com)
The verse of "Roll Right", without vocals, appears on the skate video "Rodney Mullen vs. Daewon Song, Round 2", during the World Industries segment. The credits list only "Rage Against the Machine" with no song title. It's interesting to watch how skate culture is working and growing, even without Rage's music in the background. When it is there, however -- well, even better. (Thanks to Andrew Langan for letting me know)
The UK 7" release of SNitF that was supposed to be released on 4.04.00 was actually released yesterday, and is pressed on limited edition red vinyl, with a live version of Guerrilla Radio as the B-side. The tracklisting for the German release of the single is as follows: (Thanks to Ian Mance for this info)
1. Sleep Now in the Fire (LP Version) 2. Sleep Now in the Fire (live in Mexico City) 3. Bulls on Parade (live in Mexico City) 4. Freedom (live)Also, Digitech has released a new Whammy Pedal that is modeled after the original, which Tom uses. Whether or not Tom has anything to do with this 're-release' is uncertain.
To further pacify rebellious culture, A.J. McLean of the Backstreet Boys has developed a 'split-personality' entitled "Johnny No Name" who covers rock songs. During his solo tour, he sang Rage's "Killing in the Name" to the pre-teen audience -- Being sure to, of course, censor the "Fuck you I won't do what you tell me" segment. From Rollingstone.com: To Johnny, all rock songs -- be they political or not -- are about sex. "It's all in the pelvis," he later explained. But Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name" was sapped of its original intent by McLean's pelvic thrusts. Swiveling his hips, Johnny lifted his shirt to show the space between his stomach and his underwear, and would teasingly start to take off his jacket, only to show just a glimpse of shoulder and armpit. "I have a surprise for you later," he joked, "and no, my pants are staying on." Holy shit.
It's also interesting to note that Toronto University used Backstreet Boys songs, and other pop songs, to torture anti-sweatshop activists staging a sit-in protest at the president's office. Read the story. (Thanks to David Desola)
Rage has a new manager: John Silva, who has worked with Foo Fighters and Beck.
They will also appear at the rally for political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal in New York at the Madison Sqaure Garden Theatre on May 7th.�Check out www.mumia2000.org� for more info.
Here is an interesting image from a mini-magazine for grade schoolers called "Math". Thanks to Kron's little sister for finding it.
Brad told ShoutWeb.com that they would not join Korn and Limp Bizkit on the "Monsters of Rock" tour this summer: "No, absolutely not. We're setting up a tour with the Beasties and probably somebody else. I don't think that would be good for the band. I have nothing against Korn and Limp Bizkit or anything." He also went on to convey that he wished that they would have asked the band instead of just throwing it out there.
