BLUE SCHOLARS in Rice University

NEW BLUE SCHOLARS EP, FREE DOWNLOAD, HAWAII TOUR

Everybody loves Hawaii. Few know better than Blue Scholars MC Geologic, having grown up in Honolulu in the 1980s and returning with the Scholars dj/ producer Sabzi last year to rock a sold-out homecoming show at Next Door. Love lingered in the air despite all the changes happening outside the sweaty, crackin' club. "Development" has paved over lush lands and displaced longtime locals, the US military continues its stranglehold on the islands, and tourism runs tings (into the ground). By and by, the people maintain, and Blue Scholars bore witness to life beyond the beaches and resorts.

OOF! is the story about the Hawaii that you don't see on TV: fish-fry BBQs in Waianae, native Hawaiians struggling for sovereignty, house parties on the Leeward side, uncles playing mah-jong on a lanai in Waipahu, a thriving independent hip-hop and fashion scene, on-air ciphers at KTUH, a room full of folks vibin' to a mean reggae song, young poets spitting fire into mics, grubbing on poke in the Foodland parking lot, whole neighborhoods leveled by the ice epidemic.

Many "mainlanders" go to Hawaii to get away. Blue Scholars went to get it in. They returned again six months later with a New Years Eve show and a handful of new tracks inspired by the first visit, soon to be released in the form of their most collaborative multi-media project yet: OOF! available August 25th. Blue Scholars partnered with painter, vinyl toy & skate deck artist, Angry Woebots (www.armyofsnipers.com who crafted a painting to go along with the lead song HI-808 which will be turned into a limited edition print and t-shirt. The painting was created at the influential Hawaii based surf & skate boutique brand IN4MATION (www.in4mants.com. The cover for OOF! was designed by one of Hawaii's premier photographers and historian of all things dope, Aaron Yoshino (Honozooloo / 5 to Life - www.honozooloo.com whose photos have documented Hawaiis subculture for several years. The video for Hi-808 was handled by The Island's premiere video production crew, Kai Media, who shot in and around Oahu (edited by Zia Mohajerjasbi). All these groups have come together to create the OOF! project which will be sold as a complete package online using Topsin Media widgets at Blue Scholars' and each project partners' websites, with the EP being available separately at all digital retail outlets.


Anchoring the project is the OOF! EP, featuring five new Blue Scholars tracks and 5 instrumentals. The minimalism of the intro song "Bananas" yields to the familiar complex lyricism and production of "HI-808," which documents the differences between the Hawaii Geo grew up in and the one he would later return to, laid over an 808-drum-dominated Sabzi masterpiece. Hello is a playful take on the escapism while New People is a truly original effort that almost treads dance music territory. "Cruz" is the duos ode to island life over

Blue Scholars and Common Market at SXSW:

3/18/09 – Common Market
Official SXSW Showcase by The Agency Group
Back Alley Social - 303 W 5th St.
Load In: 8:10PM
Set Time: 9:10PM (30min)

3/18/09 – Blue Scholars
Official SXSW Showcase by The Agency Group
Back Alley Social - 303 W 5th St.
Load In: 8:10PM
Set Time: 10:20PM (30min)

3/20/09 – Blue Scholars
Nah Right / Smoking Section Party
Peckerheads – 402 E 6th St
Load In: 2:00PM
Set Time: 3:00PM (25min)
RSVP Link – Wont have it until next Monday or Tuesday

3/21/09 – Blue Scholars / Common Market (Joint Set)
SxSeattle Party
Palm Door – 401 Sabine St
Load In: 4:15PM
Set Time: 5:15PM (30min)
RSVP Link - http://sarathan.com/ecards/sxseattle

3/21/09 – Common Market
Do512.com Party
Do512 Compound – 2208 S Lamar
Load In: TBA
Set Time: 9:00PM (20min)
RSVP Link - http://sxsw2009.do512.com/event/2009/03/21/the-big-one-2009

3/21/09 – Blue Scholars
Do512.com Party
Do512 Compound – 2208 S Lamar
Load In: TBA
Set Time: 9:20PM (25min)
RSVP Link - http://sxsw2009.do512.com/event/2009/03/21/the-big-one-2009

It's that time of year again - if you want Blue Scholars to come play at your school, tell your student activities folks to get in touch with us via The Agency Group at http://tinyurl.com/cvvpva

Blue Scholars will rock a show and will also come to the classroom to talk about hip hop history, production and community action.

Thanks all,

Blue Scholars

Common Market (RA Scion and DJ/ Producer Sabzi) have a new album out this week called "Tobacco Road". Check out some reviews of the album at:

http://www.urb.com/features/1254/CommonMarketSnarelessinSeattle.php
http://www.spinmag.com/reviews/common-market-tobacco-road-hyena
http://www.dailycal.org/article/102531/common_market_tobacco_road_massline_

Pick up the album at iTunes, Amazon.com or your favorite local indie record store.

more info at www.myspace.com/commonmarket

MySpace is hosting an exclusive listening party for the new Common Market album at http://www. myspace. com/commonmarket

the album is also available exclusively at iTunes - and is already #17 on the iTunes hip hop/ rap chart

Common Market is RA Scion and DJ/ Producer Sabzi (also of Blue Scholars).
Check it now!

New Common Market EP "Black Patch War" is out now, featuring RA Scion and Sabzi (from Blue Scholars). You can find it on iTunes (by searching for Common Market, Black Patch War)

Amazon - http://www. amazon. com/gp/product/B0016UNO8I/ref=dm_sp_alb?ie=UTF8&qid=1210089001&sr=8-2

Rhapsody - http://www. rhapsody. com/commonmarket/blackpatchwar

and various other sites....

also check out the release show this Friday in Seattle:

tickets: http://www. ticketweb. com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=254871

featuring Common Market
D. Black and Khingz (of Ab Creole) and DJ Daps 1 is the DJ for the evening...

Friday May 9th
7PM doors
$8 - ALL AGES
The Vera Project


here's a review of Black Patch War:

Let's just go ahead and get this out of the way upfront: This is not an EP. I know it's labeled as such in the press release and that it will be listed as an EP when it hits retail, but trust me when I tell you that there's more material and depth layered into the 7 tracks that make up Black Patch War than what you'll find in a dozen full-lengths from the reigning Top 40 crunkbuster crowd. This thing drops with a weight that can only be described as monumental, courtesy of lyrics penned, chewed up and spat back by RA Scion with devastating production from Sabsi (of Blue Scholars fame). The energy between these two is chocolate and peanut butter, start to finish, the whole piece has that "MC/producer collab hall-of-fame" feel, you're def hearing a couple of heavy hitters at the top of their game.

And this is just the lead-in to a full-length?
That's the word, with their Tobacco Road LP set to hit in September.

It's blowing my mind to think it's even possible to follow this piece up that quickly, but the foundation is definitely here and after seeing what these two are capable of in 7 tracks there's no doubt that they've got the momentum to keep it going. Black Patch War is one of the smartest, freshest and most listenable slabs of hip-hop I've heard in a long while.

RA and Sabsi's love of early 90's west coast hip-hop is worn proudly on their sleeve, and you feel that influence in the dense-yet-deft wordplay heard throughout the piece. This is married to beats and background that run the gamut from street bangers (the title track) to backpack crunchers (27) and maybe even a little bit of club love (Trouble Is) giving the album a variety and depth that reaches beyond easy categorization.

Black Patch War also explores a variety of themes in a rather unique manner; through the framework of the historic Black Patch Tobacco War, an uprising of rural farmers against a larger corporate structure that threatened their livelihood in the early 1900's. While this may seem strange territory for a hip-hop album to veer into, it's surprisingly effective given RA Scion's own upbringing in western Kentucky and his ability to cleverly ju

Blue Scholars join The Legendary Hieroglyphics to Combine Fashion & Music On 45 Date, Three Month-Long "Freshly Dipped Tour"

05.07.2008

Expo of cutting-edge music and fashion features the debut of the Hiero Jeans clothing line

(May 7, 2008 - Brooklyn, NY) In celebration of its 10th anniversary as an independent label and hip-hop collective, Hiero Imperium announced details for a massive North American tour that will span from mid-summer into fall, joining with Blue Scholars who have been lighting up the underground coming out of Seattle. As creators of classic music and trailblazers in the entertainment business and technology fields, the Hiero crew and label have grown to represent more than just hip-hop music. Since its inception in the late 70's, hip-hop culture has permeated mainstream consciousness and its influence has infiltrated fashion, sports, and entertainment on a global scale. Combining elements of fashion and music, The Freshly Dipped Tour is a nod to Hiero Imperium's prolific past ten years as indie hip-hop industry leaders as well as to the bright future of Hiero Imperium. The 3-month long tour, which runs from July through October, includes spot dates all across the US, as well as select dates in Canada.

"We are putting this tour together to thank our fans for their years of loyal support, expose them to our new projects including our brand-new lifestyle line, Hiero Jeans (www.hierojeans.com), and to celebrate the ways that hip-hop style has influenced the fashion world," explained Hiero Imperium CEO Tajai Massey.

Joining the tour and building on the trends set by The Hieroglyphics will be Seattle's Blue Scholars, who are hugely popular in the Northwest hip-hop scene and have been breaking out nationally since the release of their 2007 release “Bayani” on MassLine/ Rawkus. Both groups are known for their strong live shows, and represent the best hip-hop the West Coast has to offer. Hiero Imperium will also debut a special, limited edition Freshly Dipped Tour 7” this summer. Available exclusively at the shows, the 7” will include a Hieroglyphics remix of a Blue Scholars track and a Blue Scholars remix of a Hiero track. Also available at the shows will be a selection of Hiero Jeans denim and shirts, and special edition Blue Scholars gear.

The Lineup:

Hieroglyphics: Souls of Mischief (Tajai, A Plus, Phesto, Opio), Casual, Pep Love, and Domino. Opio's new album Vulture's Wisdom, Volume One in stores in July
Blue Scholars: MassLine/ Rawkus. New album to be released June 2007, new EP Butter & Gun$ out now. Video and single for "Loyalty" in rotation on MTVu
Prince Ali: Eye 5/Hiero Imperium. New album Curb Side Service in stores now. Video for “The Majors feat. Casual, Planet Asia and Keith Murray" in rotation on MTV and BET
Musab: Rhymesayers Entertainment Founder, Hiero Imperium. New album Slicks Box in stores now
Knobody: Bumpin Muzic, Hiero Imperium. Album Tha Cle

New Blue Scholars EP BUTTER&GUN$ is for sale now at iTunes.

Check out the new video for "Loyalty" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHDyPvF0KL8

And watch the Blue Scholars' tour dates - we'll be announcing an amazing national tour next week!