Quannum: The Furious Five - URB August 1999
By Oliver Wang
When Solesides, the Bay Area’s vanguard indie label, closed its doors last year and re-opened as Quannum, some were left in a state of understandable confusion. After all, these days when labels close, they usually close for good and their artists get dispersed like the four winds. Long-time fans of Soleside, home to DJ Shadow, Blackalicious (Chief Xcel and Gift of Gab) and Latryx (Lateef and Lyrics Born), weren’t sure where their underground favorites were headed off to.
Simple answer: they didn’t go anywhere. The five artists at the heart of Solesides are still the ones running Quannum Projects – only the name’s changed, but the passion and integrity have remained intact. What’s missing is that Quannum, unlike Solesides, is not a label, but what’s gained is a greater degree of autonomy and a reinvigorated sense of purpose. In other words, Quannum is Solesides supercharged, sleeker in body, but packing even more power under the hood. Other than that, ain’t a damn thing different for the Quannum/Solesides quintet: ya’ll know what they’re like, you play them in your system every night.
In announcing the formation of Quannum, the five decided that they needed more than a press release so they walked into the studio and walked out with Spectrum. The 12-song collaborative album is a sampler of sorts, a primer to Quannum Productions in 1999 and the 2-triple-0. In Lateef’s words, "I think you’re going to get a taste of everybody’s stuff onSpectrum, but it’s just a tidbit of what you’ll hear from us." Included are songs by each artists, plus collaborations that include Company Flow’s EL-P, Divine Styler and Jurassic 5.
Between Spectrum and new projects by all the Quannum members, you’d need a scorecard to keep up. Therefore, URB presents the Quannum compendium – your guide to understanding Quannum, Spectrum and beyond.
DJ Shadow
Affiliations: UNKLE
Theme Song: Double Dee & Steinski "Lesson 3"
Quannum Connect: Hip-hop’s favorite purveyor of percussion comes to Quannum after spending a year promoting his UNKLE project with Mo’ Wax’s James Lavelle. While Shadow has been Quannum’s most visible and recognized name, compared to his comrades, he’s actually trying to slide back into low-pro status after UNKLE brought him back into the media circus he had just left with 1996’s Endtroducing…. However, Shadow credits that project with expanding his technical and creative borders. "A singer goes through different mentalities than an MC does. It’s a different art so I need to know how to do it, watch how things happen. It’s all about learning."
For Spectrum, Shadow dipped into his beat bag on four tracks, ranging from the thunderous gamma-tek blasts on "Divine Intervention" (with Divine Styler) to the squeaky-clean basslines and kitschy pop synthesizers on "Hott People" done with Lyrics Born. Shadow is most happy that Spectrum gave him the opportunity to work with more MCs after spending a year-plus with heavy-hitters in the alt-rock world. "Spectrum is a really important outlet for me because it lets me bounce my ideas of hip-hop with people who listen to it themselves," says Shadow, modest as always. "I need the feedback, I need to keep my skills."
Gift of Gab
Affiliations: Blackalicious
Theme Song: Eric B & Rakim "Lyrics of Fury"
Quannum Connect: Of the crew, Gab and Blackalicious partner Chief Xcel have been the quietest for the longest, but not for long. 1999 finds Blackalicious returning with not justSpectrum but also their A2G EP (dropped in May) and the fall release of their long-awaited full-length, Nia (meaning "purpose"). "Just like music is a reflection of life, life is a reflection of music," muses Gab, explaining, "Nia represents everything from individual personal struggles, to what we’ve been through as Blackalicious, and as Quannum. It engulfs all of that."
As a preparation for Nia, Gab used Spectrum to keep his rhyme skills sharp through verbal workouts involving his Quannum partners as well as respected contemporaries like Jurassic 5 ("Concentration") and Souls of Mischief ("The Extravaganza"). Even among his friends, Gab’s ever the competitive MC, but he’s also humble about his loquacious "gift": "You can be in a circle of MCs and there can be an MC who, two months ago, was the wackest MC. But if you get him in that circle and if God chooses to touch him in that way, in a moment, he could be doper than anybody," he warns. "Nobody’s really the best – it’s a power that you channel into it and some people go deeper into it. But next week, somebody can go deeper into it than you went and so on."
Peer Review: Jurassic 5’s Cut Chemist considers Gift of Gab one of his favorite MCs right now.
Chief Xcel
Affiliations: Blackalicious, Maroons
Theme Song: Jungle Brothers "Straight Out the Jungle"
Quannum Connect: A producer so focused on beats that he even makes his intense partners Shadow and Lyrics Born seem relaxed, Xcel describes his work with Spectrum as a "cool breakaway from what we were doing [with Blackalicious] to put some stuff together in a new direction." This included working with soul divas Erin Anova and Joyo Valerde (on "Golden Rule" and "Jada’s Vengeance," respectively) as well as forming a new group with Lateef called Maroons. Does X really need all these outlets for his musical madness? "There is no off-time from making beats. You just keep learning, every day. You learn better ways to do things. Artistically, your ear expands, the things you listen to, your world broadens," says Xcel.
Like Gab, Xcel is anxiously awaiting Nia’s release and the full-fledged return of Blackalicious to the underground scene after a long hiatus. X has described the transition betweenMelodica (1995) and Nia as growing up "fom B-boys to B-men," explaining, "Nia’s birth was in the Solesides era, but its maturity happened during the whole Quannum thing. I’m now at the point where it’s the end of that four-year period and everything that I’ve talked about has to happen now."
Lateef
Affiliations: Latryx, Maroons
Theme Song: Isaac Hayes "Theme from Shaft"
Quannum Connect: As Quannum’s youngest member, Lateef provides the crucial catalyst to insure the crew’s chemistry together. A former roomate with Shadow, and current Latryx partner with Lyrics Born, Lateef’s newest collaboration is with Chief Xcel as the two of them are set to form Maroons. "Maroons is going to be my solo project for all intents and purposes," shares Lateef, breaking down the name by explaining, "Maroons are communities of renegade slaves and have been around since the onset of slavery. The Seminoles were examples of maroon societies and there are maroon societies to this day in Jamaica, Surinam, North Carolina. Symbolically, X and I didn’t want to be shackled to anything and we wanted to try and explore working outside of the system."
As Maroons, Lateef and Xcel have their own song, "Golden Rule," on Spectrum as well as joining Blackalicious on "Jada’s Revenge." Lateef also pops up with Latryx on "Storm Warning" and "Looking Over a City," a song done in collaboration with Company Flow’s EL-P. While their musical styles differ considerably, both Co Flow and Quannum are innovative iconoclasts in their own right and approach hip-hop from outside the preconceived norms. "Ever since Company Flow started out they’d been trying to get with us, so when we were out in New York we just hooked up with EL-P," says Lateef.
Peer Review: "Lateef is original. He represents the Bay Area underground and his voice is ill." – Tajai, Souls of Mischief
Lyrics Born
Affiliations: Latryx, Poets of Rhythm, Joyo Valerde
Theme Song: Ninjaman "Murder Dem"
Quannum Connect: Fresh from masterminding the funk fuzz of the Muzappers Remix EP, Lyrics Born hasn’t eased up a step. While most associate him with his verbal craft (duh, "lyrics" is part of his name), LB is just as busy with his production duties. Not only did he complete a hat trick of tracks for Spectrum, but he’s also working on his solo debut, executive producing the funk band Poets of Rhythm (also on Quannum Productions), and starting work on an album for sultry songstress Joyo Velarde (whose Spectrum song, "People Like Me," is a sleeper hit). And lest we forget, another Latryx project lurks in the background as well.
Apart from his actual work on Spectrum, LB’s greateast contribution to the collective and the album is in helping diversify the sound. Working with funk, soul, pop and, of course, hip-hop,Spectrum only hints at the breadth of sound LB tries to include. "The whole purpose of what we do, in my opinion, is to break down barriers," he says. "I think it’s unfortunate that people, because of peer pressure and just because of history, can’t listen to the kind of the music they want without being harassed. I think we should be able to listen to whatever we want to and have equal influence on us. It’s not just soul – it’s rock, it’s hip-hop, it’s everything."
Peer Review: "Lyrics Born is actually the one that drew me to [the Quannum project]. He’s just an incredibly cool person. And you gotta respect what they’re doing. They’re like, ‘Fuck what everybody feels is the standard,’ and they’ve come up with their own shit, their own style, and managed to make it come our dope. They are very similar to the way we think." – EL-P, Company Flow.
By Oliver Wang
When Solesides, the Bay Area’s vanguard indie label, closed its doors last year and re-opened as Quannum, some were left in a state of understandable confusion. After all, these days when labels close, they usually close for good and their artists get dispersed like the four winds. Long-time fans of Soleside, home to DJ Shadow, Blackalicious (Chief Xcel and Gift of Gab) and Latryx (Lateef and Lyrics Born), weren’t sure where their underground favorites were headed off to.
Simple answer: they didn’t go anywhere. The five artists at the heart of Solesides are still the ones running Quannum Projects – only the name’s changed, but the passion and integrity have remained intact. What’s missing is that Quannum, unlike Solesides, is not a label, but what’s gained is a greater degree of autonomy and a reinvigorated sense of purpose. In other words, Quannum is Solesides supercharged, sleeker in body, but packing even more power under the hood. Other than that, ain’t a damn thing different for the Quannum/Solesides quintet: ya’ll know what they’re like, you play them in your system every night.
In announcing the formation of Quannum, the five decided that they needed more than a press release so they walked into the studio and walked out with Spectrum. The 12-song collaborative album is a sampler of sorts, a primer to Quannum Productions in 1999 and the 2-triple-0. In Lateef’s words, "I think you’re going to get a taste of everybody’s stuff onSpectrum, but it’s just a tidbit of what you’ll hear from us." Included are songs by each artists, plus collaborations that include Company Flow’s EL-P, Divine Styler and Jurassic 5.
Between Spectrum and new projects by all the Quannum members, you’d need a scorecard to keep up. Therefore, URB presents the Quannum compendium – your guide to understanding Quannum, Spectrum and beyond.
DJ Shadow
Affiliations: UNKLE
Theme Song: Double Dee & Steinski "Lesson 3"
Quannum Connect: Hip-hop’s favorite purveyor of percussion comes to Quannum after spending a year promoting his UNKLE project with Mo’ Wax’s James Lavelle. While Shadow has been Quannum’s most visible and recognized name, compared to his comrades, he’s actually trying to slide back into low-pro status after UNKLE brought him back into the media circus he had just left with 1996’s Endtroducing…. However, Shadow credits that project with expanding his technical and creative borders. "A singer goes through different mentalities than an MC does. It’s a different art so I need to know how to do it, watch how things happen. It’s all about learning."
For Spectrum, Shadow dipped into his beat bag on four tracks, ranging from the thunderous gamma-tek blasts on "Divine Intervention" (with Divine Styler) to the squeaky-clean basslines and kitschy pop synthesizers on "Hott People" done with Lyrics Born. Shadow is most happy that Spectrum gave him the opportunity to work with more MCs after spending a year-plus with heavy-hitters in the alt-rock world. "Spectrum is a really important outlet for me because it lets me bounce my ideas of hip-hop with people who listen to it themselves," says Shadow, modest as always. "I need the feedback, I need to keep my skills."
Gift of Gab
Affiliations: Blackalicious
Theme Song: Eric B & Rakim "Lyrics of Fury"
Quannum Connect: Of the crew, Gab and Blackalicious partner Chief Xcel have been the quietest for the longest, but not for long. 1999 finds Blackalicious returning with not justSpectrum but also their A2G EP (dropped in May) and the fall release of their long-awaited full-length, Nia (meaning "purpose"). "Just like music is a reflection of life, life is a reflection of music," muses Gab, explaining, "Nia represents everything from individual personal struggles, to what we’ve been through as Blackalicious, and as Quannum. It engulfs all of that."
As a preparation for Nia, Gab used Spectrum to keep his rhyme skills sharp through verbal workouts involving his Quannum partners as well as respected contemporaries like Jurassic 5 ("Concentration") and Souls of Mischief ("The Extravaganza"). Even among his friends, Gab’s ever the competitive MC, but he’s also humble about his loquacious "gift": "You can be in a circle of MCs and there can be an MC who, two months ago, was the wackest MC. But if you get him in that circle and if God chooses to touch him in that way, in a moment, he could be doper than anybody," he warns. "Nobody’s really the best – it’s a power that you channel into it and some people go deeper into it. But next week, somebody can go deeper into it than you went and so on."
Peer Review: Jurassic 5’s Cut Chemist considers Gift of Gab one of his favorite MCs right now.
Chief Xcel
Affiliations: Blackalicious, Maroons
Theme Song: Jungle Brothers "Straight Out the Jungle"
Quannum Connect: A producer so focused on beats that he even makes his intense partners Shadow and Lyrics Born seem relaxed, Xcel describes his work with Spectrum as a "cool breakaway from what we were doing [with Blackalicious] to put some stuff together in a new direction." This included working with soul divas Erin Anova and Joyo Valerde (on "Golden Rule" and "Jada’s Vengeance," respectively) as well as forming a new group with Lateef called Maroons. Does X really need all these outlets for his musical madness? "There is no off-time from making beats. You just keep learning, every day. You learn better ways to do things. Artistically, your ear expands, the things you listen to, your world broadens," says Xcel.
Like Gab, Xcel is anxiously awaiting Nia’s release and the full-fledged return of Blackalicious to the underground scene after a long hiatus. X has described the transition betweenMelodica (1995) and Nia as growing up "fom B-boys to B-men," explaining, "Nia’s birth was in the Solesides era, but its maturity happened during the whole Quannum thing. I’m now at the point where it’s the end of that four-year period and everything that I’ve talked about has to happen now."
Lateef
Affiliations: Latryx, Maroons
Theme Song: Isaac Hayes "Theme from Shaft"
Quannum Connect: As Quannum’s youngest member, Lateef provides the crucial catalyst to insure the crew’s chemistry together. A former roomate with Shadow, and current Latryx partner with Lyrics Born, Lateef’s newest collaboration is with Chief Xcel as the two of them are set to form Maroons. "Maroons is going to be my solo project for all intents and purposes," shares Lateef, breaking down the name by explaining, "Maroons are communities of renegade slaves and have been around since the onset of slavery. The Seminoles were examples of maroon societies and there are maroon societies to this day in Jamaica, Surinam, North Carolina. Symbolically, X and I didn’t want to be shackled to anything and we wanted to try and explore working outside of the system."
As Maroons, Lateef and Xcel have their own song, "Golden Rule," on Spectrum as well as joining Blackalicious on "Jada’s Revenge." Lateef also pops up with Latryx on "Storm Warning" and "Looking Over a City," a song done in collaboration with Company Flow’s EL-P. While their musical styles differ considerably, both Co Flow and Quannum are innovative iconoclasts in their own right and approach hip-hop from outside the preconceived norms. "Ever since Company Flow started out they’d been trying to get with us, so when we were out in New York we just hooked up with EL-P," says Lateef.
Peer Review: "Lateef is original. He represents the Bay Area underground and his voice is ill." – Tajai, Souls of Mischief
Lyrics Born
Affiliations: Latryx, Poets of Rhythm, Joyo Valerde
Theme Song: Ninjaman "Murder Dem"
Quannum Connect: Fresh from masterminding the funk fuzz of the Muzappers Remix EP, Lyrics Born hasn’t eased up a step. While most associate him with his verbal craft (duh, "lyrics" is part of his name), LB is just as busy with his production duties. Not only did he complete a hat trick of tracks for Spectrum, but he’s also working on his solo debut, executive producing the funk band Poets of Rhythm (also on Quannum Productions), and starting work on an album for sultry songstress Joyo Velarde (whose Spectrum song, "People Like Me," is a sleeper hit). And lest we forget, another Latryx project lurks in the background as well.
Apart from his actual work on Spectrum, LB’s greateast contribution to the collective and the album is in helping diversify the sound. Working with funk, soul, pop and, of course, hip-hop,Spectrum only hints at the breadth of sound LB tries to include. "The whole purpose of what we do, in my opinion, is to break down barriers," he says. "I think it’s unfortunate that people, because of peer pressure and just because of history, can’t listen to the kind of the music they want without being harassed. I think we should be able to listen to whatever we want to and have equal influence on us. It’s not just soul – it’s rock, it’s hip-hop, it’s everything."
Peer Review: "Lyrics Born is actually the one that drew me to [the Quannum project]. He’s just an incredibly cool person. And you gotta respect what they’re doing. They’re like, ‘Fuck what everybody feels is the standard,’ and they’ve come up with their own shit, their own style, and managed to make it come our dope. They are very similar to the way we think." – EL-P, Company Flow.