D_Cyphernauts get political

Written by Othello of D_Cyphernauts

In case you haven't been following the news, former Marine Sergeant Adam Kokesh, and Iraqi War veteran is in jeopardy of having his Honorable Discharge from the Marine Corps reversed because he took part in protests while wearing a stripped down version of his uniform. Essentially the Marine Corps is attempting to silence Sgt. Kokesh's voice in an attempt to keep other veterans and voices within the active military from speaking out against President Bush's war in Iraq. I have no idea what a soldier's discharge status has to do with his civilian activity AFTER HE HAS HONORABLY SERVED OUR COUNTRY during his service in the military. The fact that he opposes the war and chooses to exercise his 1st Amendment right to free speech has NOTHING to do with his military service. Is this how we repay our veterans???

The d_Cyphernauts had the honor of performing at several events at which the anti-war group Iraq Veterans Against the War spoke compellingly and passionately about their opposition to the war. You need to hear their stories. They are brutally honest and they paint a picture of this conflict that we, in America, are unaware of.

I reprinted an update about Adam's situation from the Iraqi Veteran's Against the War's website, www.ivaw.org below. Please visit their site for more comprehensive and timely information. I also encourage you to support Adam's fight to retain his Honorable Discharge status by visiting his blog at http://kokesh.blogspot.com/.

Adam Kokesh Hearing Update:


Iraq Veterans Against the War scored a victory for free speech today in Kansas City, MO. A panel of three Marine Corps officers recommended today that Adam Kokesh receive a general discharge under honorable conditions. Adam and his attorney will, however, appeal this finding on the grounds that Adam is entitled to his full honorable discharge. In a seemingly hypocritical contradiction, the Marine Corps panel, as well as the prosecution's key witness, Major Whyte, agreed that the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) does not apply to members of the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR). Regardless of this, several other honorably discharged IVAW members are facing a similar hearing based on their stance against the war. IVAW members will continue to tell the truth about our experiences in Iraq and in the military and fight to bring our brothers and sisters home from Iraq now.

Adam, Liam and Cloy appeared on Good Morning America on Sunday, June 3rd.

Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) on GMA

Workforce featured in the Fairfield County Weekly

Check out this video: Workforce Live - Best Foot Forward



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By Nick Keppler:
So it's been established that Danbury isn't the next Seattle, right? Anyone still waiting on that? Anyone? Good, that means the following bands can be judged on their own merits, not the unreasonable expectation that they'll blow up like Soundgarden. Recent shows at Cousin Larry's and the Monkey Bar have been pretty sweet, even if no one's coming in from New York, the fools, to see these Danbury-based bands and musicians.
...
Workforce
"I get down with the grit 'n grime/ so until I get mine I'm gonna stay on the grind/and use the rhyme as a tool to build/cause there's empty space that needs to get filled," raps Workforce's Hawl Digg (pictured) on "Set It Straight." Digg's lyrics are positive without being corny, confident without being boastful and old-school without being outdated. DJ and producer the Dirty Dutchman serves him well with samples from the Curtis Mayfield era of soul, one that's spiritually akin to Workforce's gangsta-free urban sound. Danbury natives and childhood friends, Digg and the Dutchman became addicted to hip-hop when "Rapper's Delight" swelled beyond New York City. "[W]e've seen all the good and bad that hip-hop has to offer," says the Dutchman. "We formed Workforce in 2004 to promote more of the good and less of the bad." www.myspace.com/workforce.

Phenetiks Rawkus 50 LP Available Now!

Yes Yes. Hear ye hear ye.The Phenetiks CD:Revolutionary Non-Pollutionary Mechanical Wonderis officialy out through the long awaited highly anticipated Rawkus 50.(Yes. I changed the album artwork at the last minute. The one they had for 7 months wasn't "big" enough)

It's on :


iTunes
Amazon
Napster
Rhapsody
Mtraks
Emusic
... and a few otherThankfully, they completely ignored our song order, and the songs are now conveniently listed alphabetically. (which makes the album pretty close to inside out)Oh, and just for kicks...my two favorite tracks are misspelled. Devistation Ragga, and Epotome One, Two.Hope you enjoy it, and make us millions. Download like crazy you little circus monkeys.Peace. Sorry for the Sarcasm.~Phenetiks collectively opened a studio in Waterbury, CT in 2003 and are now standing strong on their 2nd LP.

Cee Reed EP Now Available! "The E.P"

The 3rd solo release from CEE REED brings the fuel to the fire. This album is raw hip hop at it's best. Old School, Underground, Raw, Political, what ever you want to call it it's good.

www.ceereed.com
www.littleax.com
www.myspace.com/ceereed
www.musicnation.com/ceereed


Some real dope shit right here!

Adam Bernard Interview W/The Rising Sun Quest

Sometimes an artist can just grab your attention through a performance. I had known The Rising Sun Quest for a little while, but it was during a show in Danbury, CT that I realized he needed to be featured on this site. The Waterbury, CT native is part of a collection of MCs and producers called the Ant Farm Affiliates, a crew that has come together to create great Hip-Hop music and attempt to show listeners that there's a lot more out there than current radio playlists might lead one to believe. Quest is currently working on his third solo effort, his first two being Stellar Evolution and Surviving Life, and with every song he writes he has one main objective, "to create dope songs with deep concepts and meaningful lyrics that are in my opinion timeless." Attaining that goal hasn't always been easy, though, as he readily admits "I'm human." This week I'm sitting down with The Rising Sun Quest to discuss his work, the meaning of his name, and how one of his songs has been saving lives.

Adam Bernard: On your MySpace page you have a comma in your name; Quest, The Rising Sun. I don't think I've ever seen that before. What's up with the punctuation?
The Rising Sun Quest: (laughs) Well the name is Quest. I believe I'm the original around these parts unless you can find somebody who got their name before 1994. Quest was originally a rap name given to me by an early rap partner. When it became the name people referred to me as "The Rising Sun" was added as a prefix to make the rap persona sound grand. So said properly there is no comma. It's The Rising Sun Quest. See you don't just say, "Quest is dope." You say "The Rising Sun Quest" is dope. I'm a big fan of astronomy and I love the stars and planets. But the star that means most to us humans is our Sun. So I thought when I became a big rap star I would be the most important one,The Rising Sun.

Adam Bernard: You noted you've been MCing for over a decade. Who have you drawn influences from over the years and how are they reflected in your work and life?
The Rising Sun Quest: I won't go crazy with this one. First off my music reflects anybody who lives life. So people in general inspire what I write. Musically my influences have been Redman, Wu-Tang, Boot Camp, Big Pun, A Tribe Called Quest, Rakim, KRS-ONE, Big Daddy Kane, Grand Puba, Gravediggaz, NWA, Kool G Rap, Mob Deep, Jeru, LL Cool J, Slick Rick, etc.

Adam Bernard: One listen to songs such as "Soul Merchant" and "Surviving Life" and it's obvious your content isn't all about partying like a rock star. What are you hoping to say with your music AND what do you feel can be gained by saying it.
The Rising Sun Quest: Well all I ever wanted to gain was the respect of those who hear the music. Whether it be from a street thug, convict, sexy lady, ugly lady, old man, Hip-Hop fan, rock fan or my mom. I want you to hear my music and relate to it. Maybe even see things in a different way. As the Sun it's my job to Shed Light on certain things, pun intended. I think music is very powerful and can be used to help people understand that they aren't alone, that they can do anything and that I'm making music for them always. On Stellar Evolution I have a track called "U Die?" and over the years people have told me that that song has helped them through situations that were awful. It's about contemplating suicide and then actually going through with it only to realize afterward that your situation wasn't worth ending your life over. That song's premise is that no matter how bad you have it, other people have it much worst yet still manage to get through.

Adam Bernard: Coming from a state that's traditionally ignored by the Hip-Hop masses how are you going about making sure songs like "U Die" get out to people?
The Rising Sun Quest: I think the key is to get people to recognize that we have a unique sound and then run with it by labeling it something and then branding it similar to "the Dirty South" or "East coast Hip-Hop." Like if we started calling music from this region "New England Hip-Hop" it would give our style of music its own bit of credibility even though its just "East Coast Hip-Hop" from CT.

Adam Bernard: Finally, Hip-Hop is in a one hit wonder phase with acts like D4L, MIMS, Shop Boyz and Yung Berg, but since music goes in cycles where do you see Hip-Hop going next?
The Rising Sun Quest: Right in the garbage if cats like that keep coming out. On the real, that to me is just pop music. I cant imagine that those radio DJ's enjoy playing that mess. Its possible mainstream Hip-Hop will take a turn for the better. But there will always be dope crews like the Ant Farm Affiliates and many others who will continue to make good music. We may not die rich but well die for the cause.

You can check out The Rising Sun Quest's music at myspace.com/risingsunquest, soundclick.com/risingsunquest & myspace.com/theafaff and some of his crew's thoughts and opinions at theafa.blogspot.com.

posted by Adam Bernard at 7:47 AM

AFA (Ant Farm Affiliates)

PHENETIKS has joined forces with some of the most promising hip-hop artists in CT.We are now apart of a much larger coalition call The "Ant Farm Affiliates". THe group includes:

PHENETIKS

THE RISING SUN QUEST

D_CYPHERNAUTS

SKETCH THE CATACLYSM


SPAZ "THE WORKING CLASS"

EXPERTIZE

HAWL DIGG AND DIRT E DUTCH ( WORKFORCE)

CEE REED

PRUVEN

We need all of our fans however many there are of you on this earth to please support these artists along with us. We all have very different styles with the same common goal behind our music. And that is to deliver hip-hop to the listener in its purest form.

peace

AF to the def fa real!

More to come Squad Up!

Phenetiks Voted # 1 Hip Hop in CT

Straight out of Waterbury, the authentic and innovative hip-hop group Phenetiks is becoming a force to be reckoned with. Together for only two years, the men were life-long musicians, either as DJs or MCs, before they met through mutual friends. They mix edgy social observations and nostalgic explanations of music with catchy and experimental beats that immediately make you realize these guys are doing something completely different than what's "popular."
Deto-22, the group's producer, lays the beats down and, according to his MySpace page, Phenetiks is more than just a music group for him; it's a life-saving force.
"Phenetiks saved my life," the site reads. "I used to live in random parked cars and hustle Snickers to high school kids for drug money. I'd spend my nights with various homeless hookers playing setback and Scrabble and [I'd] eat cans of snowshoe peas." It wasn't until he haphazardly met Roc-one and JK1, both from New York, that he really tapped into his production skills. Then, after years of producing beats for local solo artists, the three men started Phenetiks with MC Protégé and DJ SirCumference.
Record label Rawkus picked them to be in their "Rawkus 50," a collection Rawkus calls "the 50 next important hip-hop artists," less than a month after Pheneticks submitted a demo to them. The label will get them a digital distribution deal along with promotional assistance and occasional shows in New York. Opportunities like this allow Phenetiks to "hardcore promote" their new album, The Revolutionary, Non-Pollutionary, Mechanical Player, along the East Coast, and each copy comes with the Rawkus seal.
Their songwriting is strictly collaborative. It starts with Deto-22's beats and then moves its way through the others in the group, sprouting lyrical legs until all the verses and hooks are nicely packaged and put together. "We call Deto-22 the creator and the originator because we can't make Phenetiks tracks without him, the Protégé says. "He has that certain sound." They bounce ideas off each other, and a song's not done until they all agree it's done.
Currently, aside from picking up as many shows as possible, they're collaborating with Smoke, this year's Best Hard Rock/Rock winner, on a live album to be recorded at shows between now and the end of 2008 and planned for an early-2009 release.
Hip-hop groups like Phenetiks show its struggle and passion to create art, not a struggle and passion to sell sneakers and over-sized hoodies. Listen to them and it's clear that if mainstream hip hop wasn't spoon-fed to the masses, nobody would eat it.
Check it out for yourself at www.fairfieldweekly.com

Sketch Tha Cataclysm...Ranked in Adam Bernards Top 25 Albums of 2007

21) Sketch Tha Cataclysm – Party Music 4 Pissed Off PeopleIf you’ve ever shaken your ass to the idea of a revolution then you were probably listening to Sketch Tha Cataclysm. Sketch is one of the only artists around who can make you party while spitting intense lyrics about American history, where the country is going and why the radio only plays certain artists. Heck, his album even has a suggested reading section! Production on PM4POP ranges from reggae inspired to mid-90’s Hip-Hop. The only negative about the album is its length, it’s only an EP and the world could use a lot more of Sketch Tha Cataclysm.Song you need to hear: Betsy Ross and the Miseducation of AmericaWebsite: myspace.com/sketchthacataclysm