Name: The MESSAGE mixtape by Ahki eL
Duration: 56 min 37 s
Description: With the advent of marketing and promoting for the sake of sales over substance that cater 2 the youth..Ahki IsraeL has put together a mix of hip hop and soul musik with messages of hope and inspiration..

With teacher strikes occuring in my hometown of Chicago and school closings occurring in major urban areas across the nation children need 2 know that there is still hope 4 the future..it all starts with LISTENING 2 The MESSAGE in the music..

Zhigeist

Understanding / Understanding Reprise

Miles away from the watered-down hype of auto-tune, the glam of Hollywood, big bank accounts, and even larger cars lays the virtual city of Brooklynati. Brooklynati, is Anytown, USA; a place where small record shops struggle to stay alive, local corner stores become impromptu gathering spots, and people enjoy city parks, attractions and performance venues regularly. Providing the soundtrack to our daily encounters, this album gives everyday people a chance to discover the things they have in common with the three members of Tanya Morgan; Ilyas, Donwill, and Von Pea. Discussing his move to Brooklynati, Donwill from Tanya Morgan says, "Brooklynati is the most real place I know".

As part of the Brooklynati experience, fans will have the opportunity to explore the city of Brooklynati through a virtual metropolis outfitted with an extensive website, video newscasts, a zoo, mayor's office, and even a fledgling mom and pop record store. Fans will have a chance to "move" to Brooklynati, become part of the vibrant city, get their very own Brooklynati driver's license, and order Chinese from their favorite takeout spot. The multi-faceted multimedia campaign driving the Brooklynati experience will feature a plethora of innovative limited edition merchandise including New Era Brooklynati caps, one-of-a-kind MUNNY collectibles from THIS SIDE UP DESIGNS, Brooklynati Public Library cards which will entitle its holders to access the Library Systems files, Tanya Morgan paper toys, and city destination relics featuring the most popular spots in Brooklynati. The unveiling of the Brooklynati project will also include album release parties in 5 major cities at premiere venues.

In 2003, Brooklyn resident Von Pea teamed up with Cincinnati's Donwill and Ilyas to form Tanya Morgan. Three years later, the group's Moonlighting LP took the rap world by storm, receiving a 3.5 mic rating from The Source and high praise in XXL's Chairman's Choice column. Donwill describes the group's uniqueness and appeal: "Instead of jam-packing our releases with different producers and guest emcees for attention, we carefully choose who we work with because we make it a priority to cultivate our own sound and identity. We look to groups like Eric B and Rakim, who honed their own sound and rarely collaborated with other artists." After touring the US more than a few times following their debut release, the crew came back in 2008 with release of their mixtape Tanya Morgan is a Rap Group and their EP The Bridge. 

Bang & Boogie

With the advent of marketing and promoting for the sake of sales over substance that cater 2 the youth..Ahki IsraeL has put together a mix of hip hop and soul musik with messages of hope and inspiration..

The MESSAGE mixtape

I am constantly thinking of different themes to build a mix around. With the completion of each mix I typically fall into a 2-3 week funk where I try to think of a new theme for my next mix. Following the Folger's Blends mix I was struggling to think of a new theme. Then, one day while doing a random google search I stumbled onto the above logo. At first glance, I thought the logo was straight dope. However, the logo became even cooler when I learned that it was the creation of my favorite t-shirt designer, Derek from Manifest Worldwide. Given that the saying behind the logo comes from a ATCQ song, I was originally intending to do a Tribe mix. However, since Tribe mixes are a dime a dozen I went in the direction of creating a mix that attempts to capture the jazzy vibe that groups like Tribe and Digable Planets spawned. As the title suggests, all songs on this mix incorporate jazz based samples. The track selection includes music from jazzy groups and producers such as A Tribe Called Quest, Digable Planets, Diamond D, Black Moon, De La Soul, Madlib, No ID, Gang Starr, Showbiz & AG, Big L, The Roots, and Nas (I think that's all of them?). Half the fun of making this mix was doing the research to ensure that all songs maintained a jazz break. Some were no brainers, but other songs with jazz breaks were quite surprising. Jazz based samples have always given a special vibe to hip hop music so I hope this mix captures that magic. Thanks again to Derek at Manifest for inspiring the mix's theme.

The MESSAGE mixtape

Ahki eL

Recent comments

Giza Wave & De Zelve

DJ Scottpot

Ahki eL

Related tracks