Stand up Hong Kong: Mochilla and Vtech make amazing hip hop

What does an Irish guy, a Californian and a Hong Kong phone company have to do with hip hop?

Everything! If you saw any of the live orchestral renditions of JDilla or video remixes by J.Rocc you may know a little about Mochilla, a creative visual agency in Los Angeles who has been  underwritten by VTech, a 34-year old Hong Kong Chinese consumer electronics firm.

To explain what's going on I had to read J To The Aap's blog. Basically, Mochilla created three awesome live orchestra concerts in 2009 as part of its "Timeless" series. These were recorded and released as a limited-edition DVD set. Then the DVDs were put in the hands of J.Rocc who remixed them live in a VJ fashion. See the videos below.

"Timeless: The Composer/Arranger Series is the name of a concert series that was created in homage to the composer/arrangers who have influenced hip-hop in the most literal and profound ways. Timeless was conceived by production house Mochilla in Los Angeles during February and March 2009 and included the performances of over 150 musicians in front of ecstatic sold out crowds. These three historic events were recorded and filmed in exacting detail with Mochilla's unmistakable style."

The Mulatu Astatke and Arthur Verocai DVDs are fresh, but it's the 60-piece orchestra led by Miguel Atwood-Ferguson that stands out for me. Not only because it was a tribute to JDilla, but it also featured special guests Bilal, Dwele, Posdnuos, Talib Kweli and others. Behind the mixing board was legendary Grammy award-winning producer/mixer, Bob Power who actually worked with Dilla whilst he was still with us, but is probably more famous for in the studio with Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Nas, KRS-One, Big Daddy Kane. This was history in the making!

Hoc n' Pucky

FULL SCREENThe Sounds of VTech / JRocc's Timeless Performance at SXSW

 

"The energy onstage was infectious, and the audience was just as emotionally invested in the performance as the musicians. One could feel the grand swoops and shimmering intricacies of the music just by the motion of Atwood-Fergusons hands. When Dwele came out to do Angel, he had to stand back in awe for several moments to take in the beauty of what he was about to sing over.

In true Dilla fashion, one classic begets another, and we got to see that progression take place right before our eyes.Diana Moreira led us through the bossa nova lilt of Stan Getz and Luiz Bonfas Saudade Vem Correndo, containing the famous hook Dilla sampled into the Pharcydes Runnin. Minutes later, the orchestra changed tempo and transformed the bossa nova mood into Dillas inspired jam with vocal contributions by Amp Fiddler, Bilal and Shafiq Husayn of Sa-Ra. Bilal then sang Reminesce and brought the crowd to the verge of rapture.

The night rounded out when Posdnuous surprised everyone and did his verse of De la Souls Stakes is High, and then brought on Talib Kweli to do Doves verse. The chorus which included OhNo, Alchemist, Illa J, Frank Nitty, Rhettmatic, Ma Dukes, J Davey, Houseshoes sang out the refrain Love, Vibration – eventually turning the mic over to the audience to sing along. An encore of Slum Villages Fall in Love left everyone with the sweet high that only falling in love can bring about.

People will be talking about this majestic performance for years and blessed are the ones who were able to see it bloom firsthand." Mochilla