Browsing “The Bassment Series”

The Bassment is a weekly article bringing you coverage of the best in Hip Hop and Electronic music from around Vancouver. Weekly interviews, event coverage, album and concert reviews that show how awesome our city’s electronic and hip hop scene really is.If you think there is someone or something that needs coverage in this city in regards to the Hip Hop / Electronic community then get in touch with us.

Bullet Bill is a multi faceted Dj, producer and MC from Vancouver, BC. I first heard of him through a night in Toronto that he played called Bassmentality and through his all Canadian mix featuring friends of mine The Killabits. When I ran into him here in Vancouver at Goldie’s, I had to ask him for the interview. Bullet Bill has been bringing bass heavy music to crowds for years and has played with artists such as Benga, Emalkay, Chase & Status, Shimon, Dieselboy, Datsik and Bar9. Take a minute to read and hear what him and his crew Suave Assassins have been up to.

Photo Credit: vasho.ca

What have been some of the most memorable shows in the past year for you and why?

(laughs) Too many to list really, 2011 was an incredible year and so many things have happened that i never would of expected, definitely playing at the commodore back 2 back with krusha and opening things up for nero was an incredible night, the energy of the building and people that were there were just ready to party!  it was quite a sight,  same with Benga last summer at Venue, absolutely nuts! Vancouver likes to go in big thats for sure.

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The Bassment is a weekly article bringing you coverage of the best in Hip Hop and Electronic music from around Vancouver. Weekly interviews, event coverage, album and concert reviews that show how awesome our city’s electronic and hip hop scene really is. If you think there is someone or something that needs coverage in this city in regards to the Hip Hop / Electronic community then get in touch with us.

I thought this week I would do something a little different by linking some new music from some of Vancouver’s most talented artists. There have been quite a few new releases lately the first being from local DJ Felix Cartal. This new video for the song “Don’t Turn On The Lights” is the newest single off his upcoming album in March.

Tonye Aganaba has released her single “Hide The Gun” from the new EP “White Wizard”. She had this to say.

I have always had a real fascination with the stars and the study of ancient worlds, and a recent foray into the world of the ancient mayans, led me to the happy faced White Wizard emblem seen on my album cover. This sign is that of White Wizard, a person believed to be a shaman, guiding others to light by empowering and enchanting them with their gifts. This sign represents my birth-date and as such has turned into a talisman of sorts, representing my belief in the magic of life, and the power of positivity. 

I chose to release the first single on the 2nd of January because it’s a significant day in the the Mayan Calendar. It’s a White Wizard day. The tone of the day is to be inspired by the divine, and to communicate from the spirit. A wonderful sentiment to have when releasing any project! My hope is that the message within it will inspire and touch you! 

By releasing my EP on a White Wizard day, I am reminded to see the divine in everything that I do.

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The Bassment is a weekly article bringing you coverage of the best in Hip Hop and Electronic music from around Vancouver. Weekly interviews, event coverage, album and concert reviews that show how awesome our city’s electronic and hip hop scene really is. If you think there is someone or something that needs coverage in this city in regards to the Hip Hop / Electronic community then get in touch with us.

Had the chance to ask a few questions with Vancouver’s own Evil Ebenezer about his new album The Birds which is available free for download. It is amazing what you can get for free these days. The album contains a colourful array of artists who are featured from producers to lyricists including Toronto artist D-Sisive. The first video off the album was released this week for the song “Wonder Years“. Check out the interview and check out this ALBUM!

Photo: Courtesy of Artist

What can we expect from this album that differs from previous work?

Making this album “The Birds” felt a lot more of a natural process than when I made Evil Eye. I think I learned a lot making Evil Eye, and one of those things was don’t force it. So on this project, I just felt it happened a lot more organically. Plus this album has more singing on it, as Im starting to feel more comfortable with my voice. I also think this album is much more personal and dark. I was going through a bad break up and wrote about it.

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The Bassment is a weekly article bringing you coverage of the best in Hip Hop and Electronic music from around Vancouver. Weekly interviews, event coverage, album and concert reviews that show how awesome our city’s electronic and hip hop scene really is. If you think there is someone or something that needs coverage in this city in regards to the Hip Hop / Electronic community then get in touch with us.

The week is over and it is time for us all to recover from the 6 days of amazing events that were the Redbull Thre3styles in Vancouver. In our first post we brought you through the first two days of the events that included Hip Hop Karaoke on Monday and round 1 of the preliminaries at Barnone on Tuesday. To check out that article click HERE. The next four nights had us visiting four venues to see three nights of preliminaries and the finals that took place at Commodore ballroom. As well as the competing DJs each night had an opening act and two closing headliners.

Photo Credit: Joel Levy – DJ Hedspin Finals

Day 3 and round 2 of the preliminaries took place at Venue nightclub on Granville street in downtown Vancouver. The opening act was one of Vancouver’s best DJ crews, The Freshest, consisting of Marvel, Seko, Kut Korners and Rico Uno. I have seen each of them play many times but this was the first seeing them all at the same time. The competing DJs were Spain’s Bitcode, India’s Dippy, Argentina’s Robert Moreno, and Vancouver, Canada’s very own Hedspin. The competition was tight and many found it tough to decide between Canada, Spain and India who all came up with crowd pleasing sets. In the end Canada came out on top and was announced the winner at the end of the night. After the competitors Peanut Butter Wolf played a set followed by Skratch Bastid who did another surprise performance with Sexy Sax Man from Youtube.

Photo Credit: Joel Levy – DJ Bitcode (SPA) – Preliminaries 

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The Bassment is a weekly article bringing you coverage of the best in Hip Hop and Electronic music from around Vancouver. Weekly interviews, event coverage, album and concert reviews that show how awesome our city’s electronic and hip hop scene really is. If you think there is someone or something that needs coverage in this city in regards to the Hip Hop / Electronic community then get in touch with us.

The Redbull Thre3style World Finals have arrived and VIA is going to be there all week to cover the events. The National champions of 18 countries will be battling for world champion status. We started our week on Monday with a meet and greet with the competing DJs at the Hotel Georgia in downtown Vancouver. The DJs were all very excited to be in Vancouver and to be representing their countries. Media met with the DJs in the artist lounge that Redbull set up so the DJs can practice and relax in their free time. I asked the DJs to introduce themselves and tell us why they are excited to be here.

Bolivian Champ – Javier Rossell         Photo Credit: Joel Levy

Redbull Thre3style DJ Meet and Greet by VIATheBassment

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The Bassment is a weekly article bringing you coverage of the best in Hip Hop and Electronic music from around Vancouver. Weekly interviews, event coverage, album and concert reviews that show how awesome our city’s electronic and hip hop scene really is. If you think there is someone or something that needs coverage in this city in regards to the Hip Hop / Electronic community then get in touch with us.

Kyprios of Sweatshop Union has been making a big name for himself in Vancouver and beyond since his solo career began. Always a solo artist independently, Kyprios has gone through many transitions and learning experiences since his music making career began. We discuss all the ups and downs in his shift from making compilation records as part of SSU to his already outstanding solo project and about his experiences at the Peak Performance Project, Hip-Hop Karaoke and open mic night at The Anza Club. He also tells us about his production for a new musical entitled “Ash Rizin” and his fourth solo album.

Photo: Courtesy of Artist

What was it like transitioning from a member of a group (Sweatshop Union) to a solo career?

I’ve always made music independently. Sweatshop Union started as a compilation record because 11 years ago it was a huge expense to record, mix, master, and manufacture a CD. I was invited to add some songs to a project that featured my homeys Metty and Mos Eisley’s crew consisting of their group (Dirty Circus), Metty’s cousin’s group (Pigeon Hole) and Mos’ other group (Innocent Bystanders). I had just moved back from NYC after my first solo release and was diligently working on another. There was no foreseeable end in sight to my upcoming solo project so I volunteered some songs and then got some additional production from Moses to be included on the first Sweatshop Union record ‘Local 604.’

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