Killah Priest Reveals His Face on New Mixtape

Killah Priest needs no introduction. He stole GZA's thunder on Liquid Swords with "B.I.B.L.E." He blew minds with the thug evangelism of "Heavy Mental". But who is Walter Reed? On his new album and mixtape, "The Untold Stories of Walter Reed" and "The Psychic World of Walter Reed", Priest will take listeners into the mind behind the Priest persona. I got to ask Priest a few questions about the album, his origins, and his upcoming plans. enjoy!

Ian Thomas: Both the upcoming mixtape and the upcoming album have your real name in the
title. Does this represent a departure from the religious overtones of the
Priest persona? What can listeners expect?
Killah Priest: As far as the mix tapes, im going hard, its dirty; some of them (are) unmixed. We liked the way it sounded the first time we heard it: Project hallway type shit. They going to
get the raw. And as far as Walter Reed: Thats the guy who created Killah Priest, Masada, Leo Angle, Ghetto Jesus, etc. So he's like the professor for the X-Men, like a Dr. Mindbender, and this is his story, his psychic world. The inventor of a movement, he's from the streets of Brooklyn, New York. (He) grew up in Bedstuy and wrote these things out in a little room. Just good old hiphop. But just watch what i really can do, especially on a double! I'll prove why nobody really can get with me, lyrically or song wise.

Ian: Who is producing? Will the album feature any collaboration?
Killah Priest: Well, so far i have Godz Wrath,who did an incredible job. I have
tracks by Kalisto (Black August Light) that was too crazy already. The guests are all coming now, so we will see.

Ian: When will the album be available?
Killah Priest: It depends on a couple of things. I'm looking (to have it out by) mid-summer, but no later.

Ian: Early in your career, particularly on the first GZA album, and Heavy Mental, there was a calmness to your flow. Your style shared the metaphysical aspects of what the Wu was doing at the time, but it was more directly metaphysical. You were speaking directly to listeners about religion. What caused you to approach hip-hop in this way at the beginning?
Killah Priest: Well, it was a couple of things: one was a strong will for truth. I feel you cant be totally free without knowledge and truth. I always felt i had something to say and i always like to do something different from everyone else. And, I don't know, I guess rap found me. I didn't even look at (it) as metaphysical when i was doing it, though. I just was saying what i always felt what i was really trying to say for years.

Ian: When you arrived on the Hip-Hop scene there seemed to be more of a place
for conscious hip-hop. There was Wu-Tang, there was Tribe, etc. This type of intelligent music is still accepted in the hip hop underground, but it seems like the hip-hop mainstream is now limited to a less consciousform of rap. What do you think caused this mainstream departure from conscious hip hop?
Killah Priest: Indeed, but what do I think caused it? (It) was dudes who couldn't rap, but did the business side of it and saw all the money it made them and showed the MC the money and told them to rap about that. Look how much money it's making them. The MC saw all that money
and took it it was hard to pass up. Then, the MC kinda looked down on what they used to rap about because they were looking through another man's eyes: (men) who couldn't rap, but knew how to floss. We all grew up glorifying street legends, the niggas with the dough. We had no stars, but stick up kids and drug dealers. Girls love the money and fame and that's who had it all.

Ian: Are there any artists outside of hip hop that you would like to collaborate
with?
Killah Priest: Where's Miss Hill? I consider her out the box in a good
way. Sade would be dope.

Ian: What are your plans beyond this album? Any touring or collaborations coming
up?
Killah Priest: My plan is to take my spot. Nobody's just going to give it, so take
my spot and enjoy it for a while. Finish a lot of things. I love the road, as long as i can take the fam with me...1

GZA: Advance Knight: James Reitano Speaks On the Graphic Novel that Could Have Been

There are some works of art that never see the light of day. The mystery surrounding them inspires speculation. What insight would these unseen artifacts give about the minds of their creators? Would they change the way the artist is perceived? The Wu canon has it's share of unreleased treasures; jewels known to exist, in part or in full, but just out of reach. You might not know it yet, but James Reitano's GZA graphic novel, Advance Knight, might be one of these treasures. I spoke with Reitano, known best for directing Madvillain's "All Caps" video, about his experience working with GZA on the graphic novel.

Ian: What is your professional background? Are you from a comics background? Graphic Design?

James Reitano: A little of all of the above. Primarily trained as an illustrator/graphic designer, and later moving into animation and motion design. Comic book art was always something I've been doing since school, and as a hobby mostly. These two worlds clashed when I directed the MadVillain 'All Caps' music video.

Ian: How did you get this gig? Were you familiar with the source material before you landed it?

James Reitano: Most folks saw the comic book background in a lot of my animation work , and this ultimately led to my being hired for the GZA book. I got an email from the publisher one day asking "wanna do this?". I jumped at the chance, and it took a while for it to sink in,. But it started looking like we were gonna develop a full length 100 page graphic novel from scratch.

Ian: How closely did you work with GZA on this?

James Reitano: We met in person, over at Muggs studio, and I showed him a bunch of stuff I did, as well as some books I was hoping to emulate. He sat and told stories of how he battled Big Daddy Kane, etc. I swear, that whole studio sat around the table and listened to him. That experience gave me the initial idea for the book.From there, we talked about twice a month. Mostly lengthy conversations about Hip Hop, etc. He made it clear to me early on that he wasn't that knowledgeable about comics, but, he had some ideas about what kind of a story he wanted to. He really wanted it to be a sort of caper involving Chess.

Ian: How much creative freedom were you given?

James Reitano: He pretty much put it in my lap. Like I said, he trusted me to come up with something that involved the elements he noted. I really wanted to do this as somewhat of a personal/character driven story. I noticed the other guys (Method and Ghostface) were going much more action/sci-fi. I lobbied hard for this one to be something much more cerebral and smart. Emphasizing the 'novel' side over the 'graphic'. That's kind of how I always saw GZA's role in Wu-Tang. My art style is much more 'indie-comic' as opposed to superhero style, and I wanted the book to reflect that.

Ian: Did you write and illustrate?

James Reitano: Yes. I originally was going to enlist someone to at least consult with me on scripting. I was going to have Jeff Chang write it with me, but he ended up being tied up with his new book. I pumped out about 4 drafts of the script. Got it approved, and started on pencils.

Ian: What is the story about? How does it relate to GZA?

James Reitano: Following along the original concept I had, the story involved GZA, RZA and ODB as kids. It took place in 1986, which I saw as a real pivotal year for Hip Hop, kind of when the old-school was making way for the new players as well as the major labels getting involved, and how that really changed things.

This was also when crack cocaine was introduced, and, I was really interested in that being a background element considering, you had so many Hip Hop players fall victim to that epidemic. The basic story was how the three of them (who were the original group, known then as All in Together Now) made their way through this world. GZA uses his Chess skills to outsmart some pretty nasty circumstances, one of which involves a murder of a prominent rapper. I knew I was taking a huge chance in going this 'close to home' but I figured, if this worked, it could be great!

Ian: Is this project going to be released? If not, was there a reason given?

James Reitano: As it stands now, the project has been officially shelved by the publisher. A lot of reasons, but, mostly due to the fact that I think we went a bit too 'close to home' on some of the characterizations. It wasn't supposed to be so much as a biography, but, i think GZA saw it as such, and, had some problems with that. He was never really comfortable in being the main character.

Ian: What was GZA's response when he saw the finished product?

James Reitano: Initially, he was excited, especially when he saw the rough draft. His son is a huge Manga fan, and, had liked what he saw. Ultimately, as I said above, it got a bit too personal, which I think GZA thought just didn't fit the Wu-Tang brand. I knew in basing it somewhat in a real life setting with fictional characters, we were taking a risk. I think I might have pushed it a bit too far.

Ian: What were your over all impressions of this experience?

James Reitano: It was an incredible experience, and, much like the movie making process, it's fraught with pitfalls and shortcomings. GZA ended up being a great collaborator, and, in the end, I got paid to make a 100 page graphic novel. I'm disappointed the public will never see it, but, I'm proud that I actually pulled it off.

You can check out Reitano's work at:

www.tfustudios.com

tfustudios.blogspot.com

Killarmy update: Islord and Zu

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Killarmy soldier Islord has teamed up with Queens' up and comer Zu Haque, better known simply as Zu. According to Zu's bio, his first appearance was on 90.3 "True School Radio" hosted by the legendary Afrika Bambaattaa. He has also made guest appearances on DJ Eclipse's Halftime Radio Show (WNYU 89.1 FM), who is a world renowned DJ most recognized for his affiliation with Non-Phixion. Zu is also getting international love, as his music hit the airwaves in France on 95.9FM "The Real Hip Hop Radio Show". Based on his radio hype, Zu went on to appear on mixtapes worldwide, including DJ Emmo's Thundaground and Crunchtime projects. Most recently, he hosted "Code of the Streets " with DJ Artifaktz and Uncle Murda.

"Dark Sense", Zu's first album, will drop in '09, featuring heavy hitters like Shyheim and, of course, Islord.

Via Myspace: Brooklyn Zu and Buddha Monk Part Ways.

In a somewhat cryptic post, Buddha Monk announced on Thursday that he would be parting ways with the Brooklyn Zu. Given his prolific production with various Zu-fam, it will be interesting to see what happens next with the Zu. I have contacted Monk for a comment so stay tuned.

Via Myspace: Achozen In Final Mixing

Via Myspace announcement: The Achozen album is being mixed as we speak by Logan Mader (Machine Head and Soulfly) and will be finished very soon!


Get ready, because the wait is over, and the ground is starting to shake!

More details coming soon.


OFFICIAL urSESSION ACHOZEN page
www.

ursession.
com/achozen

OFFICIAL ACHOZEN myspace
www.

myspace.
com/achozen

OFFICIAL ACHOZEN Fan page
The ACHOZEN BRIGADE
www.

myspace.
com/achozenbrigade

RZA and Kinetic 9. How could you go wrong?

Big Stat-Fresh Off the Red and Meth Tour

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Connecticut emcee Big Stat just finished a stint on the "Still High" tour with Red and Meth. It wasn't all fun and games, though. He used the opportunity to gain some pointers on moving the crowd from Method Man, one of the illest party starters around. "I always payed close attention to Mefs performances when he brought me along with him to shows. He taught me all about showmanship and entertaining the crowd. I finally got the chance to display what I learned on the tour. I am very appreciative that they gave me the opportunity to rock these shows with them. Red and Mef are legends and I couldn't have asked to rock with anyone better," Stat says. Check out these new tracks from Big Stat: "I Gave You Everything" and "The Truth," featuring Freeway and Jake One Production


Myspace.com/djbigstat
WWW.BIGSTAT.BIZ

Wisemen Approaching in 2009...

Detroit collective, The Wisemen, led by Bronze Nazareth, will be killing it on Friday the 13th at the Eagle Theater in Pontiac, Michigan. The show will feature Bronze, his brother Kevlaar 7, Phillies, Beace, Salute, Illa Days, and Megadalon.

And that's only the beginning for The Wisemen in '09. Bronze is dropping dropping his new album, "School for the Blind Man" early this year. Also, look out for Kevlaar 7's mixtape, "Unbutton Ya Holsters" and his new album, "Die Ageless". If that wasn't enough, there is another Wisemen album in the works and mixtapes coming from it's remaining members. I'll bring you more details as they develop.

Wisemen bring it in the classic Wu sense. Grim and gritty, as it should be.