Photo by Ariel Zambelich

Oooooooh our first ever performance at SXSW is coming up!  Rehearsals every night until we fly out on the 17th.  My social life is officially dead.  But at least kind press people like to talk to us.  Check out our interview on Spinner.com!

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As you know, we at iLL-Lit have been developing digit.iLL.Funk, an Open Source method of music production.  One of the main things people have asked me about when introducing this concept is, “If you don’t sell records, how will you make money?” And if you’re like us, or among the multitude of other artists who have hardly seen a dime from the current record industry model anyway, then asking a question like that is like asking, “If you don’t hunt unicorns, how will you heal your wounds?” Basically, it’s never been a factor, and with the way the industry is going, it might never have to be one.

Anyway, I wrote a whole article on it and would love for you to check it out @ Refined Hype!

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We were recently interviewed by the popular music blog Ruby Hornet (insert Veridiano pun here) and at the risk of getting in trouble with past interviewers, I must say that they posed some of the funnest and thought-provoking questions we’ve had yet.  Really allowed us to relinquish information about our process and the album that we didn’t plan to offer unless we were asked for it…like Nico’s aching inclination to bite bell hooks’ style.

Read our Ruby Hornet interview HERE and leave a comment if you’d like to see more of us on the site! (I know I would…but who am I to say…)

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The decade’s almost over!  The moon is blue!  MJ is with the cosmos!  And for better or worse, humans have managed to invent exploding underwear in the ‘09 BABY!!!  Our friends at Sound in the Signals asked us for our top 10 albums of the year and we have provided.  From Lil Drake to Little Dragon.  What were yours???  Check out our list HERE.

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This past spring I released two tracks through my music project with DJ Phatrick, Pretty Buoyant Society, and one of the tracks “Hot Chocolate” is featured in an ESPN spot on FMX (the F is for “fuckinawesome!!”) biker Julian Dusseau!  In case you didn’t catch it when it dropped this past spring, here’s the track again, and of course it’s still free for download.  ‘Tis the way of thy ‘iLL.Funk.

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[Pretty Buoyant Society "Hot Chocolate"]

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In the kitchen:
Nico: Does that post look self-indulgent of us?
Drizzle: No
Drizzle’s inner voice: …yeah…

…fuck it.

After two days of being out, the people are talking about iB4the1.1 and the overall consensus is…weirded out!!! Thanks so much to everyone who’s helped us push this! Here are some links and quotes that made us feel all warm inside.  I have to say that over the course of the past two days I’ve been hipped to hella blogs that I never knew about, and now I’m really worried about how much more addicted to my googlereader I’m about to be.

Also, these are just the links that either bounced back to us or that people notified us about.  If you posted or saw something that’s not on this list, let us know at contact@ill-literacy.com.

If you want to be an official presenter, it’s not too late!  Just click HERE.

Refined Hype – “Oakland is on some other ish, and if you didn’t believe me before I’ve got even more proof of the region’s creative energies in the form of iLL-Literacy‘s dope “IB4the1” project…I’ve got Chapter 1 of their upcoming musical novel and I won’t front, it’s has the potential to be a game changer.”

Hella Clean – “Imagine going to a Baptist church, dressed in your Sunday best, and somehow you end up at the circus…. on ’shrooms…. with a mouthful of Sour Mambas and a handful of arcade tokens. I think that about describes it.”

MADE Jewelry – “What makes this album not only sound futuristic but truly BE the future are the provocative lyrics set to the medley of fresh beats.”

2dopeboyz – “I was instantly intrigued with the artwork so I decided to give them a chance. Glad I did… this stuff is pretty sweet.”

Oh Dang! – “Bay Area ex-pats iLL-Literacy are among the few artists that I genuinely get excited about.”

Angry Asian Man – “I’ve been listening to some sample tracks, and it sounds like taking a frantic ride through crazytown… and I like it.”

Ruby’s Glamourbaby Trails – “Creating a space for an idea that has no comparison is the closest we humans come to summoning magic. iB4the1.1 is the new magic.”

Cookin Wit Grease – “It reminds me a bit of some Kid Cudi (only not as sad) or Janelle Monae (only not as wild) funk infused alternative hip hop stuff.”

Oakland Local - “If you’re familiar with the Oakland’s spoken word and hip hop scenes you probably already know the deal with iLL-Literacy. If you’re new to the game then this new digital download is a great primer to one of the areas most well known and longest running performance groups.”

The Brownstone Project – “They keep making hot shit, I keep supporting it!”

MC K~Swift – “I believe that knowledge is power. Music is a way of sharing information, also known as data, which is knowledge. Music gives us power.”

Dope Huge – “It’s so refreshing to be constantly surprised and intrigued by an album.”

Not Quite Milionaires – “…fresh, young way with words. Straight up talent.”

Manila Gorilla – “When I think of Oakland, I think of the Videograf episode with the Mike Dream / TDK interview at the Oakland tracks, Tower of Power, Davey-D, Raiders caps and Starter jackets, and of course, our friends iLL-Literacy.”

The Free Experience – “Praise to these brothers for pushing the limits of consciousness and entertainment and doing it almost effortlessly.”

Project Comepassion – “iLL-Lit has definitely evolved through the years…still creating movement among the people but giving them that reminiscent vibrancy that’ll connect you back to pretty much, you, where all movements should begin.”

ColinResponse - “These dudes work their arses off, are gifted, brilliant, humble, and able to harness their musical-artistic chi and reverberate it through the speaker in ways that are as cool as Clyde Stubblefield drumming for James.”

Jon de Castro – “iLL-Literacy has always stayed on the forefront of innovation in spoken word, but with the release of their first EP, they are a force to be reckoned with in the music scene.”

Papa Lo Down – “iLL-Literacy always seems to impress me with not only their artistic direction, but their business savvy thought process.”

The 9th Street Parlor – “iLL-Literacy is definitely on the verge of something potentially influential and musically progressive.”

Hyphen Magazine – “I’m rocking out to it right now, at work. No joke. My co-workers are staring at me funny.”

Thickwitness – “When three brilliants like Dahlak Brathwaite, Adriel Luis and N.I.C. gather around a microphone and make art, it’s gotta be special, right?”

Unsigned Magazine – “The multi-talented performance collective goes all out on this one.  It’s in there.”

Uncultivated Rabbits – “It’s a funky, fun, creative album with, of course, meaningful words coming from incredible poets.”

DJ Matt Werner – “Pushing the genre boundaries of spoken-word and hip hop.”

Blind I For the Kids – “The boys from Ill-Literacy have been awaiting this day for a long time, and so has many of their fans. And luckily they made it FREE for all to appreciate as well!”

Chiz Abroad – “If your head doesn’t start bobbing when you press play…. I don’t know if we can still be friends.”

The Av Club – “I literally don’t know where to begin when it comes to describing the incredible talent and dedication that iLL-Literacy has and just how important they are, not only to the world of spoken word but to the community of creative minds pushing for social awareness and racial unity amongst youth.”

The Getblog – “Surely these new Brooklynites have put their all into this project, so click the link and give it a listen!”

Benita Dix – “I’m very excited that they are around…authentic folks with a message behind what they say.”

Diary of a Hollywood Douchebag

Apt. 78

ATF Radio

Certified Fresh

Hopie Spitshard

Unfound Empire

Hip Hop is Cool Again

AznRaps

Bayrock Studios

Digital Soul Experience

Sound in the Signals

This is John Book’s Music

Missleeding Films

Life in Practice

One Imagination

Awww thanks, PEOPLE!

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Last week the wonderful Lauren of 12ft. Dwende (not to be mistaken for 5ft. Dwele) made the long trek from Harlem to Brooklyn to conduct our very first NYC interview!  Since we’ve been in caveman mode working on our live show (and also a very special something else!) we haven’t invited too many of them journalist peoples over, but she’s a NorCal native so how could we resist?  Here’s an example of some of the important topics we covered.

Adriel: Yeah The Island… They have the best mac and cheese I’ve ever had.

Lauren: Best mac and cheese you’ve ever had? You haven’t had mine yet.

Dahlak: Oh shit.

Lauren: I’ll make it for you.

Nico: Battle.

Read the rest HERE.

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Superfresh emcee scholar Colin Ehara recently published an article in the Nichibei Times entitled “5 Mixed Heritage Asian American Hip-Hoppers to Watch for in 2010,” and Nico’s on the list along with Lyrics Born, Aple.De.Ap of Black Eyed Peas, Fatgums, and Mike Shinoda!  Ummm…thanks for blowing our spot, Colin…with Ruby gone we’ve been trying to milk the fact that everyone thinks Nico’s full Filipino.  There goes our October gigs, ay nako!

Read the article HERE.

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Awwwwwwww we’re so proud of our Roobzter!  She’s been in NYC and already making international headlines…literally!  Check out her article here.  

And if you see her stomping around BK or Harlem, tell her wadduuuuuuuuuh for us!

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Last week we posted the cover of Hyphen that opted to feature an old lady on a Vespa instead of us, and now we got our hands on a scan of our spread (which is either more or less exciting than a scan of Lindsay Lohan’s spread).  

Thanks again to Zoneil Maharaj of Oh Dang! for hooking up a fresh article, and Ariel Zambelich for making us look as fly as three non-Mexican guys standing in front of a taco truck can look.

Previously: We’re on the cover of Hyphen!

Read the article HERE.

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