STORM DAVIS: Five Years Later.

Storm Davis first freestyled on a Providence, Rhode Island, city bus in 1989. He battled a female volleyball player from a cross-city high school. She won.

Thus, he began recording a proper debut album, called KEGSTAND POETRY FOR THE RECOVERING ALCOHOLIC, crafting literate, personal lyrics true to the legacies of forgotten hip hop legends like Justin Warfield, Divine Styler, and Wise Intelligent of Poor Righteous Teachers, melded with melodic sensibilities inspired by artists like Faith No More, Kilgore (Smudge), and ex-House of Pain frontman Everlast.

The LP arrived in stores in May 2006 to a whirlwind of raised eyebrows, moderate apathy, and the unbridled glee of the occasional diehard devotee.

In 2004, Storm joined forces with a cadre of New England’s finest emcees and producers to form Poorly Drawn People, the latest in this nauseating wave of overly-emotional underground hiphop crews that swurrr to gawd they gon change da game… they won’t… neither will PDP… but, the music is rather impressive.

Storm would appreciate it greatly if you stayed tuned as the saga continues to unfold.

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…that bio was written in 2006 for the release of the ‘Kegstand Poetry’ album that is referenced within. As far as blurbs go, its held up pretty well and is still reasonably accurate. Since then, I’ve recorded and released 3 projects with my PDP brethren Dox Ellis & Reason under the Poorly Drawn People name, and you can find a compilation of my work on those 3 albums here.

By day, I spend time as Label Manager of Strange Famous Records. By night, I chip slowly away at a mountain of idioms, idiosyncrasies, and idiocy, and try to make music out of what falls to the floor. I have 3 different full-length projects that have been in the works for far, far too long: Robot Rock & Necktie Blues (produced by Dox); Only Built 4 Cuban Sandwiches (produced by Entity); and Bitchslap Rap & Cocaine Tongues (produced by Falside).

One of these days, I’m gonna have a hell of a release party.

In the meantime, I’ll use this blog to keep you up on what I’m doing instead of finishing the records, as well as what my friends and fellows are doing to entertain you.

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… the trio(-ish) of graphs directly above were written in 2011 as I felt my beloved Poorly Drawn People disintegrating around me. As far as blurbs go, they hold up pretty well. I live a rather glacial life, at least in terms of what I wish to share with the public.

I did release Only Built 4 Cuban Sandwiches (which you can find on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, Amazon, or wherever you listen to your music, or buy a CD or purple Cassette here), finally, in 2014, four years after it was recorded. On the eve of that release, producer and web guru Entity did something-or-other to helpfully sabotage this website, and only now, three years later, am I able to update it. We discussed fixing it when I moved to Washington, DC, in 2015… but that was a relocation that lasted such a brief time that website reconstruction was the least of our problems. But that’s a story for another album.

I’m still working on Robot Rock & Necktie Blues, but speaking of re-locations – Dox now calls Los Angeles, CA, home. Between the time zones that separate us and my aforementioned icebergian work pace, we’ll see when that surfaces.

We did manage to squeak out a 7-inch record of our most popular tune, “Illest It Gets”, in its most popular form, the ‘Apache’ Remix (previously unrecorded & unreleased, and only done live at shows) in time for the big going-away bash. A very few of them are left to purchase here, and you can stream it on Bandcamp here.

Bitchslap Rap & Cocaine Tongues was (mercifully) re-titled Judas Priestley. Then Falside moved to NYC and proceeded to live the shit out of his life. He’s missed, but we’re happy he’s found his home. One day those sessions will likely surface in some form on a Storm Davis mixtape, long after anyone cares. We made some cool gold-foil stickers though. Send me your address & I’ll send you a few.

I’ve yet to have that hell of a release party, but we did have a hell of a farewell party, in October of 2015 when Dox moved to LA & we officially put a period at the end of our Poorly Drawn paragraphs. I wish I could have covered it here, but maybe I’ll share some of it with you when it feels right.

So I close this completely inappropriate stab at a bio with, once again:

In the meantime, I’ll use this blog to keep you up on what I’m doing instead of finishing the records, as well as what my friends and fellows are doing to entertain you.

And hey – thanks for hanging around.

FALSIDE: East Toast Trailer (NSFW).

Falside is at it again, and this time it looks like a montage of old Santa Barbara scenes. Where are my A. Martinez peoples at?

Official copy:

Falside‘s next instrumental project “East Toast” drops this summer.
More information soon. Enjoy the NSFW visuals in the meantime.

What Is Beautiful Never Dies.

My friend and fellow Strange Famous Records journeyman Prolyphic and his lifelady Sandrine Silverman are partners in a film production company called Scenic Roots. They recently worked on the documentary/mixed media project What Is Beautiful Never Dies, a music therapy initiative and national healing movement that links mothers who have lost their child to violence with hip-hop artists and performers who will convert their stories to song.

This video is a 15-minute preview of the documentary. Its a worthwhile investment of your time.

More information on the project is available here.

MC EXPOSITION: Rest In Peace.

Another friend-of-PDP was lost this past weekend.

Rest in peace to MC Exposition of Audible Mainframe, who we were lucky enough to have rocked shows with some years ago, and who collaborated with Falside & Reason on the track below. Your voice will be missed.

ESH + DOX: Soap Scum – The Motion Picture

My PDP partner-producer Dox Ellis and unquestionably talented emcee/boozer Esh The Monolith have immortalized “Soap Scum”, the second-best song on their 2011 EP Invisible, with the second video from that release. A diabolical yet sensible plan.

I had been led to believe that there would be bare boobs in this video. There are no bare boobs in this video.

JON HOPE: Hope All Is Well.

My man and occasional collaborator Jon Hope has released an autobiographical mini-doc that highlights his life before becoming a professional musician. The video is directed by the multi-talented Colby Blanchet. Many of the locations in the video are within a quarter-mile of the multiple mansions I’ve called home over the past decade plus.

Jon Hope’s Work In Progress LP is due on May 9, 2012, and I’ll be sure to remind you when it arrives.

FALSIDE & JUAN DEUCE: Direct Time Machine.

Falside & Juan Deuce directed a new video for RI hip hop legends Time Machine called “Cocktails.”

TM’s Life Is Expensive is one of my favorite rap records of the past decade. You should find it, buy it, and play it when its sunny out. You’ll smile, or complain about people who know the value of a smile, or people in general, because they’re smiling at what you’re playing and you ain’t having that. These are things that may happen.

The official copy:

“Time Machine (Jaysonic, Comel, DJ Mekalek) are preparing to drop “Vicious Experiments”, thier first mixtape after a four year hiatus. Enjoy the Juan Deuce and Falside directed visuals for “Cocktails” while you wait.

 

VAL KILMER: The Fourth Dimension.

Recently, I was thinking of Val Kilmer, as one so often does. I thought, “If he could just lose some weight and stop being so maddeningly crazy, he would be unstoppable.”

And yes, I am aware of another person for whom such a plan would also be beneficial.

The trailer for his new film The Fourth Dimension:

STORM DAVIS: Liquid Swords.

A huge thanks to everyone who came out to the sold-out GZA show at Firehouse 13 in Providence last Friday. Save for a few guest shots here and there, it was my first full live performance since September 2010, and despite the rust that I shook off onto the first few rows, you gave me more love than I could have expected or anticipated. Love right back atcha.

If you missed out on the free CDs at the merch table but would like me to sing you to sleep this evening, you can get your free Storm Davis downloads here.

I couldn’t have done it without supadeejay Dox Ellis, of course. Or the assists from my mens and them Cas Uno and Romen Rok (who came up to rock “Electric Ukulele” off of Cas’ album Sticks Out Like A Sore Thumb). Props to Juan Deuce, Falside, DJ Emoh, Al Bums, DJ Sterbyrock, and anyone else who stepped on stage, and to Ryan Gomersall, for making it happen.

Good looks to the GZA for bringing Masta Killa to the party. It’s good for him to get out of the house now and then.

DIRTY HANK & REASON: Providence Phoenix.

Dirty Hank and Reason
tap the bottle and hit the mic

Blooze brothers

By CHRIS CONTI | February 21, 2012

STEPPING IT UP Hank and Reason take a breather between rounds.

Local lyricists Dirty Hank and Reason revel in drunken debauchery all over The Monty Brogan EP (Poorly Drawn Recordings), released just last week and currently up for grabs as a free download through multiple sites (check the end of these words for links). Cop it immediately. Tapping bottles (and eventually your girlfriend) remains the topic du jour with Dirty Hank Chinaski (straight outta Glocester, RI!), as previously heard on a handful of acclaimed mixtapes (streaming at dirtyhank.com), and the partnership with longtime PDP affiliate Reason sounds like a natural fit on the EP.

Members of the extended Poorly Drawn People family have been steadily releasing quality gems over the past few years. Producer Dox recently teamed with Labeless Illtelligence wordsmith ESH the Monolith on The Invisible EP (Labeless co-founder CasUno just dropped a new single as well), and multi-talented rhymer and visual artist Reason (check out his canvas works at artbyreason.com) kicked out two noteworthy full-length albums,
Landlords & Lullabies and Gemini Slang.

Reason and Hank teamed up on a song titled “Monty Brogan” (named for Ed Norton’s character in the film 25th Hour) on Hank’s 2009 mixtape The Class Act and on a few tracks on Dirty Hank’s 2010 EP, The Guide to Giving Up, which featured production from Mad Plaid and acclaimed beat conductor Falside. Hot off his heaven-sent collaboration with Juan Deuce on The Mechanics EP (hand-picked by Sage Francis for distribution via Strange Famous Records; check out the piece we ran the first week of February), Falside returns for production duties on six of the Monty Brogan tracks.

Falside’s brand of 22nd-century street-corner G-Funk provides the perfect backdrop for Reason and Dirty Hank to rip bars about booze, promiscuous chicks, and head-bobbing braggadocio on the leadoff single “Say Disease.” “Size Zero” and “Perfect Way to Die” are standouts, and the remix of “Overslept” (originally from Giving Up) is a personal favorite. The opening cringe-worthy sample on “Funeral Fame” fits the billing, and that riff on “Size Zero” coasts seamlessly with Reason’s delivery, as does the woofer-shredding closing cut “Local Press.” Producer Mad Plaid also comes through again on “Not That Hip” and “To the Moon.” Dirty Hank’s half-cocked flow embodies Redman, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, and the Alkaholiks. On an interesting, related side note, back around 2006 Dirty Hank was the man behind Riot magazine, which focused on local graffiti and interviews with area emcees — and aspiring porn stars. His keen eye for X-rated talent landed a pretty great (yet unpublished) interview with young starlet Sasha Grey, which finally saw the light of day a few months back on theechochamberblog.com.

Rhode Island native Andrew Martin is a lead scribe for go- to indie authority potholesinmyblog.com and keeps Lil Rhody emcees on his radar, saluting Monty Brogan‘s “nine tracks of boom-bap madness” with this recommendation: “If you like your hip-hop grimy, a lil’ strange, and full of booze-fueled wordplay, you’re going to love this.”

I followed up with Martin, who offered further praise.

“Reason and Dirty Hank really pushed each other to step it up lyrically and conceptually on their new EP. Plus, they’re a great balance to what Falside is doing with Juan Deuce right now.”

Dirty Hank is midway through completing his next project — tenta-tively titled Anything Helps — with rhyming over strictly ’90s-era instrumentals.

“I’m having fun making this project because I get to go nuts over beats that I loved when I was younger,” he said.

In the meantime, download a free copy of The Monty Brogan EP right now at all of these sites: dirtyhank.com, montybrogan.bandcamp.com, and poorlydrawnpeople.com.