Amy and I decided that, with so many creatives in town, we would get enough material to put together an amazing post. When I learned that Afro Classics was performing, I had to attempt to get an interview with them. Through following them on Twitter, I learned that they have a penchant for fashion as well, and because this blog focuses on style and culture, it seemed like the perfect fit. I was already planning to see them. I have seen Scarub perform with the Living Legends several times... enough to know how his talent and passion can really get in your soul...
I asked Scarub if he would mind doing an interview and he sweetly obliged. At some point during the eight minute interview with these artists, I began to understand how hard they work, how much passion they put into their craft and how much energy it takes to do what they do. I have utmost respect for their ability to share themselves with audiences, night after night. Their sound is sexy and raw, with heavy bass and a lot of love. I urge you to find this out for yourself at Afro Classics on MySpace.
Afro Classics (Scarub & Very)
When did Afro Classics come together?
Very: We started a long, long time ago. Afro Classics came together as a group I would say, like, around '98/ '99 and we released our first album called Afro Classics in 2001. And you know, we took a long hiatus, obviously. We linked up a few years ago. We have always been making music, but we decided to put out an album a few years ago and we basically picked the best of the best and that's how it came out to the album and the EP that we have.
Scarub: J Revolution is a clothing line based out of Los Angeles. A good friend of ours, Alan, owns it and basically we met him at an instore and we liked what he was doing, he liked what we were doing and we decided to collaborate. He is a really supportive and really fresh clothing designer; in fact, if it wasn't so cold I would show you the sweatshirt that I am wearing that is designed by him. And he designs clothes as well as t-shirts and is just a homie from L.A.
Who are your musical influences?
Very: Everybody. I cannot say anybody in particular. I think it is like, you know, where we grew up, what we grew up listening to, what we hear, everywhere we go and um, obviously who we make music with. He probably has a different answer.
Scarub: You know, I agree, it is not anyone in particular, it is bits and pieces of damn near everybody that we listen to since we was like, little kids, ya know...
Can you tell me three of your biggest influences?
Scarub: It changes everyday, but um, I would say with me, you know, from Poor Righteous Teachers to Tribe Called Quest to NWA, ya know.
Very: I won't give you names but, I have three new favorite rappers that I just found out about over the last three days, you know what I mean? So that is the perfect example of how it changes.
This is kind of silly, but my favorite song right now is 'Hey Love.'
Scarub: Awesome, that is not silly at all... silly not.
Scarub: It's about you.
Very: Yeah, it's about you. I think that hip hop means love, ya know and um, a lot of people talk about love, you know, that kind of stuff and it is just a regular song, like, you know trials of being in or out of a relationship like somebody that you want to keep and all artists can feel that... "baby, you always on the road" that kind of stuff, so you know, that's what it sounds like... "I know I be fuckin' up, but damn, you know... I love you girl."
Do you have a favorite fashion accessory or article of clothing?
Very: Both of us, and I will speak to say this... we both have a really bad shoe problem. A really, really bad... it's a problem. I will tell you a story about our shoe problem. Last tour we did, we did not have a lot of space in the car, but we have this favorite state that we go to and this favorite place. I won't even tell you, that is how secretive we are about it, we don't even want to give up our spot. We had so many fuckin' shoes in the car that we could not even see through the back window because we had boxes and boxes of shoes. Like, between three of us we had like, eight pairs of shoes. Like, that is not a lot to a lot of people but we were in a small car, I mean, we had no business getting anymore luggage and we walked into the store and we were like, let's go look around and we walked out with like, five boxes, ya know?
Scarub in J Revolution at Club Deville
Annual Chicharones SXSW Boat Party 2010
It was a cold, breezy day on Lake Travis (too windy for the boat to leave the dock), but the hip hop was worth suffering for. I felt privileged to be in an intimate audience with Afro Classics, Blueprint, Killah Priest, Solliloquists of Sound, Sleep and Josh Martinez, Notion, Greenhouse: Blueprint + iLLogic, and the insects
I had not seen Very before SXSW. He is AMAZING!
Afro Classics is seriously on to something...
Adrian Younge of Black Dynamite Sound Orchestra was, by far, the best dressed man that we saw all weekend.
and Grace is equally fabulous...
This man, DJ Chicken George, seemed to be everywhere during SXSW being involved in so many different events. He surrounds himself with the most undeniably sensual sounds. I would highly recommend checking out the audio mixes that he generously provides on his website... djchickengeorge.com. Radio Jazztronica fills the air with a perfect blend of hip hop, soul, and jazz flavors that will most certainly relax your mind....and then seek out his Chicken Soup collection. This music is the soundtrack to my life these days...
DJ Chicken George played at the SXSW HIT+RUN party... a live art, music and film party. This t shirt was printed for me by HIT+RUN screen printers at the party, while I waited... DJ Chicken George has several t shirt designs for both men and women. I also have a brown and gold racer back tank. As far as I know, everything is printed on American Apparel, which is nice because their shirts are universally flattering... and super soft. His merchandise is available on his website as well.
I am not sure what to say about this...
