Cut Chemist goes Afrobeat

Cut Chemist has be down with hip hop 'for yonks' as we say in the West Country of England :)  Just check out the "This is The Life" video below.

So in 2010, Cut Chemist is being original again. This time he's unshackled himself from the traditional DJ's two turntables. His latest Afrobeat mixtape was recorded live using only one turntable, a mixer, a loop pedal and 100% vinyl!

Named in tribute to KRS ONE's hip hop classic, Cut Chemist's "Sound Of The Police" delves into his obscure Ethiopian, Colombian, Sudanese and Afro-Brazilian record collection. The two 20-minute live tracks are available on-demand until August 17th at KCRW (or below.) The CD gets released this week.

"Originally, Sound Of The Police was only intended to be a one-time performance for Mochilla's “Timeless” concert series opening up for Ethiopia’s own Mulatu Astatke in 2009. He recorded the practice session and after the success of that performance he thought it deserved to be heard and seen by as many people as possible.

"The live performance attempts to be a reenactment of the CD, but with cameras on the turntable and loop pedal so the audience understands exactly how the records are being manipulated. “You don’t have to be into DJs to enjoy this show. It’s like walking a sonic tight rope and the audience gets to see me fall if something goes wrong," CUT says. "The interesting parts are when I mess up and fix it. The audience goes crazy and appreciates what a difficult balancing act this actually is." Cut Chemist

I couldn't find the video for this performance, but here's something as tantalizing!



This is The Life