31
Novie-Funk 3 (Get Next to You) video feature by John M. Ellison IV
Hey folks, I just got this video of Toronto alt/pop singer songwriter Novie. She’s recently collaborated with New York animator Gavin C Reed and created an animated music video for her song “Funk 3 (Get Next to You)” The song is featured on her debut EP “Whatcha Doin’ Baby.” The video fuses Japanese anime, computer animation that compliments the moody, yet poppy feel of “Funk 3 (Get Next to You” by Novie.
Novie’s myspace page
Official music page
Bandcamp page
iTunes page
Novie – Funk 3 (Get Next To You) Official Music Video from novietheoneandonly on Vimeo.
In closing, if you enjoy Gorillaz, animated music videos, chill alt/pop music then you’ll enjoy this.
21
Jay-Z and Kanye West-Otis review by John M. Ellison IV
*Gasp* Kanye West sampled Otis Redding? This is amazing! This is incredible! This is…not the first time that somebody sampled Otis Redding. I mean, “Try a Little Tenderness” alone has been sampled by Masta Killa on D.T.D. and Young Black Teenagers on “Tap the Bottle” For clarification, I have nothing against sample-based music at all. In fact my favorite rappers have used a…how to put this eloquently a “shitload” of samples that where some productions verged upon being considered an urban equivalent of Edgar Varese’s “Musique Concrete.” I’m just not just seeing the unnecessary “dick hopping” that hip-hop’s doing right now over an awkwardly sampled Otis Redding cover.
Yes folks, “Try a Little Tenderness” is a cover of a ballad written in 1932 by “Irving King” (or James Campbell and Reginald Connelly) and Harry M. Woods and performed by the Ray Noble Orchestra with vocals by Val Rosing. Personally, the Otis Redding version is more appealing than the original.
To be fair, I’ll point out the good in the track. There were a few amusing lines from Kanye West like “sophisticated ignorance, write my curses in cursive.” Aside from that, I didn’t see this as anything more than just a studio “outtake.” But in comparison to the dreck that passes for rap now and that cover of “Try a Little Tenderness” by Chris Brown I can see how this can be considered re-invigorating.
In closing, if you aren’t a fan of Jay-Z or Kanye West…this might make you dislike. If you’re a fan, than you’ll have this on a constant loop.
Listen here
Life and Times Otis
14
Atlanta Rock Band the 54 Need a New Lead Singer! by John M. Ellison IV
The 54 Needs a New Lead Singer!
Atlanta based rock band The 54 is looking for a new lead singer. Here are some songs off of their Reverbnation page. If you feel that you’re a fit for the band’s sound. Why not give it a shot?
12
“The Black Eyed Peas are Taking a Break…So?” by John M. Ellison IV
I just read that the Black Eyed Peas are taking a break. “*Gasp* you mean the “Crescendolls”–I mean “The Black Eyed Peas” are taking a break like they did in ’05 and came back four years later?” Honestly, I’m indifferent to them. I can’t say they suck…because well they sold out stadiums and can throw one awesome spectacle at the Superbowl. So apparently somebody likes them. Musically they don’t really appeal to me. It’s not because I dislike electronic/techno etc. music, it’s just because I’m not interested in general. “Hating” on The Black Eyed Peas would show my musical hypocrisy as well.
Here’s the deal, most people “claim” to clamor for real music and they think doing that is by bashing popular artists. But when artists like Esperanza Spalding or bands like Arcade Fire win a “Grammy” award people ask “who they are?” and “why they won?” Apparently the focus isn’t really about wanting “real music” but accosting “fake” artists. When it comes to it, “Top 40” music is the dart board of the pop culture landscape that we create by promoting these “superficial artists.” Attention being either monetarily by seeing them and buying their music or caring enough in the first place to actually form an opinion on ‘em.
In closing, I’m indifferent to the whole “hiatus” of the Black Eyed Peas and let’s let them enjoy their sabbatical and bash the next group or artist that makes it big until they return.
Source
http://celebritiespassion.blogspot.com/2010/09/william-negative-feedback-blackface.html
11
Lerix-Audio Arcade review by John M. Ellison IV
I got a copy of “Audio Arcade” by Lerix. This is kind of a “geek chic” album. The best way to describe it is to imagine “Outkast” ghostwriting for nerdcore rapper MC Frontalot and sprinkled catchy hooks throughout the album. The theme is reminiscent of another rapper on the west coast by the name of Task1ne whose similar content wise (ex. “geek” culture references) I enjoyed most of the album but these are the songs that really caught my ear.
“Last Laugh”
“Here’s to the renegade/ to the outcast. They used to doubt but now I think they figured out fast ‘ha ha’ we got the last laugh.” The hook pretty much sums up what the song about. I can definitely relate to it.
“I Got This”
Nice violin riff and the Spider-Man reference caught my attention.
“I’m no good”
Lerix laments about the split between him and his girlfriend. The allusions to songs by Jay-Z, Kanye West and Notorious B.I.G. to reiterate his point were a nice touch.
Passion of the Mike
Is he spitting rhymes over Daft Punk’s baroque influenced electronic jam” Verdis Quo?” Who am I kidding? I’m a sucker for Daft Punk samples.
In closing, if you’re into East Coast rap, Lupe Fiasco and other nerd tinged rap music then I would recommend “Audio Arcade” by Lerix for you.
6
More than Meets the Eye part 3 my interview with MVP by John M Ellison IV
I noticed over the years a lot of wrestlers tend to be stand-up comedy fans and the feeling tends to be mutual with other comedians such as Jay Mohr, Steve Harvey mentioning that they’re wrestling fans as well. Since you mentioned that you’re a stand-up comedy fan, I was wondering you noticed any similarities?
Dude…every chance I get I check out stand-up! I recently got to see Ralphie May and he’s a huge—uh…
*laughs*
Uh, huge wrestling fan. There’s the place I frequent called the Laff Spot in Houston, TX. Whenever I talk to a comic I always tell them the similarities between an upstart wrestler and an upstart comic are frightening. It’s so uncanny. The only difference between it is the physical training that you would have to go through with pro wrestling. The similarities include you would drive virtually anywhere to practice your craft in front of people for next to nothing. I used to drive Miami to Jacksonville for free. That’s a five hour drive for no pay but for experience. At this point, you do this to develop your craft and your name. So after awhile you start to get $20 or maybe $50. But still not making any money, it’s more of an expensive hobby. You would hope somebody who’s a bit more established takes you under their wing and starts teaching you some things. In stand up it’s all about psychology and in professional wrestling it’s about psychology as well. In pro wrestling if you’re a “worker” you go out there and you work the crowd. When I worked with Benoit, he had a terrible memory so we couldn’t sit there and talk about 20 minutes worth of spots. We had a general idea about what we wanted to do but we worked “on the fly.” If you’re a stand-up comic and you’re doing 10 minutes of material and you find the audience isn’t responding to your material…you got to change it up and “call it on the fly”, too. If a guy and I are having a match and the crowd isn’t responding, we got to change some shit to get them to respond. So, knowing your audience, working on your timing and be able to call it on the fly are a few things we both had to learn.
You’re right; I mean amongst other things, comedy was always an interest of mine. I noticed there was a similar tweet regarding wrestlers and comedians. On my timeline, there were some comedians and wrestlers tweeting about how they felt they were both snubbed by the “booker” at a gig.
It’s the same thing! A booker will say to you “all right if you drive up I’ll give you $50 or five minutes” and when you get there and perform. They’ll say “well the house was kind of light tonight so I can only get you $30.” Promoters will try to weasel out of what you were promised. It happens all of the time and that’s something comedians and upcoming wrestlers have to face.
Apparently Chili formerly of TLC is a fan of WWE. Billy Corgan is really into pro wrestling as well. Who’s the most unexpected fan of yours or of wrestling that you’ve come across?
It doesn’t surprise me when I meet someone that’s a fan of wrestling but it does sometimes surprise me when I meet someone that’s a fan of mine. Years ago, when Smackdown was moving to “MyTV” they sent me to a Phoenix Suns vs L.A. Lakers game to do a half time giveaway. Michael Clarke Duncan who’s a Lakers fan had floor seats not too far away from me. I’m not a fan of Kobe Bryant. Relating to a similar point earlier, I can’t tell you that Kobe Bryant sucks because he’s one of the greatest guys ever to touch a basketball. On the other hand, Shaq was still playing for the Phoenix Suns. I love Shaq so I’m rooting for Phoenix. Inevitably, there’s Michael Clarke Duncan. We never met but we found each other. I’m taunting him, he’s taunting me and we almost had our own sideshow on the floor. So I did the giveaway during the half time and as I was walking back he said something and I said “Don’t make me come over there, man!” He’s like “come over here!” Y’know, just trading words. Towards the end, the Lakers won. He’s like “what?” and I just wave a white flag. After the game, I went over to shake hands with him I said “Hey, I’m a big fan of your work” and he replied “No man, I’m a big fan of yours!” I’m thinking “okay, this is customary…” As I was waiting with one of our representatives, Michael Clarke Duncan had just turned around the corner with his girlfriend at the time. He said “Baby, remember the one wrestler I like the one with the attitude who’s real cool? That’s him right there!” He came over, he introduced his girl. We exchanged numbers and we’ve been friends ever since. So yeah, I can’t tell you anybody that I was surprised to find out that they like wrestling but on occasion it surprises me to find out that somebody’s a fan of mine.
It’s not that surprising I remember reading that Jack Nicholson was a huge Ric Flair fan.
I could see that, that makes sense.
Even the guys on Eastbound and Down—
Danny McBride?
Yes! Remember the Ric Flair based character?
I know that episode *laughs*
I “tweeted” Jim Ross about it and he replied “it wasn’t a coincidence” and this interview with Will Ferrell confirmed that it was based off of Ric Flair. Meanwhile before I found that confirmation there were fans trying to downplay it with this smugness.
Y’know, getting into it, I think that’s Vince McMahon’s issue is. Because wrestling is still received with that derision, they’re a lot of people that still talk about wrestling almost contemptuously. Vince wants to be accepted as mainstream entertainment. Wrestling will always be a part of Americana but he wants to get Emmys and to be accepted into the establishment and shake the…what’s the word?
Stigma?
Yeah, I guess stigma would be the word.
How do you feel about rappers andcelebs in general trying to get into wrestling? Do you feel they should just stay in their lane or the occasional crossover can help both in the long run?
If you’re a fan, do it. But I would balk a bit when WWE would bring in celebrities who didn’t care for the product or weren’t wrestling fans. I remember at Wrestlemania 24…the kid from the Cosby Show.
Raven Symone?
Yeah, during an afternoon rehearsal she said “I want to thank you all to coming to the “Smackdown show…”
*Cringes*
They had to correct her and I’m like this is our Superbowl, you wouldn’t come out and say “we want to thank you for coming to the Monday Night…Show. So I said “that’s okay we don’t watch that panther girl shit you make either!” or something and the guys laughed. I was brought up in the old school way and I was a bit of a purist or didn’t allow enough room for what the WWE was becoming. But, when they brought in people that were fans then I thought “run it…have fun.” But when they brought in people who had a movie they wanted to hock and wanted a mainstream guy…that kinda irked me.
Thanks to social networking sites like Twitter, I got in contact with you and a few of my other favorite artists. I noticed that you’re also on Facebook , Youtube and working on a website. Do you think social media helps fans see another side of you?
Absolutely! I admit, I fought “social networking” for so long. I mean, if you were on Myspace and you had something to promote or sell I understand. If you had a Facebook, that was a way for old friends and family to connect with me. I guess I got that too. I resisted it, I thought it was stupid. But until I wanted to do something with my music, my friend “JJ” said you need to get on Twitter. Then I thought, “Wow, Twitter’s like a video game to me.” It’s like no matter what time it is or where I am in the world it’s always like a few people hanging out with me. Most of those people genuinely care about what I have to say. It helped most people realize that the guy on Monday Night RAW or Friday Night Smackdown is much deeper and has so many more dimensions. I mean, I love comedy; I love thrash, punk, hardcore, metal, jazz etc. so it definitely helps people see a different side.
Well folks, this wraps up the interview with MVP. Keep an eye out for the next segment of “More than Meets the Eye.” Once again, I want to thank MVP for making time in his schedule for the inaugural edition of the interview feature “More than Meets the Eye.” You can check him out on…
Official website
http://mvp305.com/
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/OfficiallyMVP
Twitter
http://twitter.com/#!/The305MVP
Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/user/MVP305BRAND
photo courtesy of
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/3415/mvpppph8.jpg
5
More than Meets the Eye: My Interview with MVP part 2 by John M. Ellison IV
Hey folks, this is the second part of the MVP Interview from June 26th, 2011. In this case, the focus is more on wrestling. Some would consider this a “shoot interview.” I disagree with the term though. Unlike most “shoot interviews” my subject wasn’t bitter. We talk about the differences between American Wrestl—uh “Sports Entertainment” and Japanese wresting or “Puroresu”, him being the first IWGP intercontinental champion and how “context is key” when it comes to social networking.
On May 15th in Philadelphia you defeated Toru Yano during the NJPW Invasion Tour for the intercontinental belt. What’s it like being the first IWGP intercontinental champion?
For me it’s a huge honor because the IWGP… hmm, it’s funny man trying to verbalize because my introduction to wrestling was Norman Smiley who was one of my early trainers who actually introduced me to Japanese wrestling. As soon as I saw I knew that’s what I wanted to do. I grew up watching American wrestling and I loved it but Japanese wrestling is just so different. It’s so much more aggressive and so much more like sport and less show and I‘ve always been fascinated with the Japanese culture, people and history anyway. Knowing the history of the IWGP titles and the guys that have held them I realize to be the first IWGP intercontinental champion a legacy begins with me. In Japan, the titles mean something. In the United States, WWE particularly they say its entertainment and its TV and the title is essentially a “prop.” No emphasis is placed on it Titles in the WWE and its just bounce around sometimes with no rhyme or reason whatsoever. In Japan they don’t do business that way. For a Gaijin, in this case a Kokujin, a black foreigner to come in and be rewarded the first ever IWGP intercontinental title is just a huge honor. For most people that don’t understand Japanese wrestling and the history of Japanese wrestling probably won’t grasp how big of an honor it is but it’s not wasted on me.
I’ve heard that some can be xenophobic, have you experienced anything like that?
Not yet, it’s funny it’s I’m trying to remember who it was but it was a shogun that closed off Japan from foreigners and kicked out all of the foreigners of the country. So, Japan was pretty much in a time capsule for a few hundred years they were as you said very xenophobic. Now if you go to Tokyo, it’s like New York City and you see people from all over the world walking around and it’s an international city. But I found when I travel to some of the smaller northern and southern parts. Especially northern, I made my debut in Sendai. A city that was sadly ravaged by the earthquake and subsequent Tsunami and I remember getting up the day of the show and going for a walk. I walked about an hour I walked to a mall I walked to McDonalds and I did not see one other person with brown skin I didn’t even see white Gaijin. All I saw was Japanese people for the entire hour walking down the street and walking around the mall. Nobody was rude to me, I mean there were a few people that started but I mean you don’t see black people in your city and here’s a big black guy with cornrows and I’m something from a music video *chuckles* walking down their street. But nobody treated me badly and so far I haven’t run into any xenophobic situations. Except for the occasional bar or club that doesn’t allow Gaijin to enter, that still exists in Japan. You might want to a particular nightspot and they tell you no Gaijin and it’s been that way for a long time.
You kind of answered this already but…since you’re wrestling with New Japan Pro Wrestling or (NJPW). Could you explain the differences between American wrestling and Puroresu or (Japanese wrestling) to our readers?
American wrestling has always been more about the showmanship. Let’s take WWE for example. This is one of the selling points that I used to use when I would do promotional appearances on television or radio. But you had the amazing audio visual LED, High tech entrance ramp and hundreds and thousands of dollars every night in pyrotechnic explosions; it’s primarily about the show. WWE especially has become more about the show and less about the wrestling. Now, they recruit guys that have to look but not the skill. You got a lot of guys on WWE TV right now but only have one or two years of in-ring experience that are on TV which to me in my opinion is a travesty because that’s a huge honor to be able to get in the ring and perform in front of fans and when people are paying for that they should the most gifted talented individuals. In Japan, it takes years of sacrifice for as what they call a “young boy.” The trainings brutal; it’s not “Candyland.” it’s hundreds of squats a day, hundreds of bumps it’s almost boot camp-like and they kind of rough the guys up too. After that they have to prove themselves to get on the show and once they are on the show they’re still consider a young boy so they still have to clean up the back and carry bags, tend to the veteran guys . After the match they come back to the locker room and greet all of the veteran guys and thank the veterans for the opportunity to be in the match so there are still lots of honor and respect in Japan and the fans still treat it as sport. With New Japan Pro Wrestling you could say it’s the equivalent of WWE in Japan. They do have some showmanship but primarily you have to be able to go out there and perform and have to be able to go out and wrestle. The emphasis isn’t placed on promos or “pyro” the emphasis is placed on being about to entertain the crowd between the ropes and if you can’t do that adequate you won’t perform just because you’re 6’5 and have a hell of a body. If you’re garbage, you might see the ring once or twice. So I love the fact that the fans there treat it as sport and they sit quietly the course of the match watching. If you’ve never seen Japanese wrestling you would probably get that confused with disinterest but it’s not they’re watching and they actually applaud.
I noticed how in Japan, they appreciate the art of pro wrestling. It kind of reminds me on how they’re a lot of bands that didn’t really make it in the U.S but all around the world they have a huge following. Like Fishbone is bigger in Japan and Europe than they are in the U.S., the Ramones were bigger in Brazil. It’s like the rest of the world treats and appreciates the artistic aspects of something a lot more than the U.S.
It’s weird, because I was having a chat with William Regal once about bands. They’re a lot of funk/soul bands that phased out here in the late 70’s and early 80’s and you forgot about ‘em. But as you said they went out to the U.K. and continued to tour for years and continued to release song and continued to do well for themselves. In the U.S. they were regarded as has-beens but still had fruitful careers elsewhere. “D-Train” was a band that we would discuss (one of Regal’s favorite bands.) They were here in the states for a little while and they continued to quite well overseas. For example, in the U.S. Fishbone I think primarily hits college towns, smaller venues etc. but they still do huge festivals and huge tours in Japan, South America and Europe. There’s just a strange sensibility overseas where they appreciate it much more that they do in the states.
So, you can say that Japan is kind of a litmus test when it comes to wrestling, right?
You can say that…they’re a lot of guys in the WWE that couldn’t make it in Japan. If you’re given the “push” or someone says “look this is the guy were going with take care of this guy. Your job depends on you making this guy look good. The “powers that be” say “okay this is our next star.” They’re putting him with guys that make him look good. In Japan, you’re gaijin, a foreigner and a lot of guys kind of resent you being there anyway. Now, if you’re a legitimate star and you’re drawing sure that helps but if you talk to guys from the old days a lot of Japanese guys would try you and see what you got and if you weren’t a legitimate tough guy then you would find yourself in a bad position. I’ve heard stories about Flair going to Japan to defend the NWA world title. They sent Harley Race just to make sure the title came back and nobody to try any funny stuff. Because legend has it that Harley Race was one of the legitimate tough guys in the business because they would’ve handled business. Japan the business has evolved and Japan isn’t quite as inhospitable as they used to be.
A lot of people might not realize that working for New Japan Pro Wrestling was one of you main goals in wrestling. How does it feel to achieve your dream?
Y’know, I always tell people that when the red light comes on I’m never at a loss for words but when you ask me to articulate how I feel accomplishing a dream, I do find myself a little loss for words. I remember sitting on the couch in my house and I have stacks of old VHS tapes of Japanese wrestling and DVDs that I would order and trade for and borrow them. I would watch a lot of the classic All Japan, New Japan stuff. The WWE at least at that point internationally was the pinnacle of our profession the place to go. A lot of our top stars Eddie Guerrero, Chris Jericho, my late friend and mentor Chris Benoit. All of these guys had careers in Japan. Hogan at one point too. A lot of the greats spend time to hone their skills in Japan. Watching these guys that I looked up to and admired is where I wanted to go. I love the Japanese wrestling style, I love strong style, I love the fact that it’s more aggressive and that there’s an emphasis on actual in-ring ability and the fan’s appreciation for a wrestling style. In Japan, two wrestlers can go through a series of reversals and there’s huge applause. In the states, you can go through a few reversal and the people are just quiet. There’s no response, they don’t care that this guy just reversed a few arm locks and successfully separated it they’re like “jump off the top rope and show me something!” In Japan, they actually appreciate that kind of technical ability I noticed this at an early stage of my career and I just loved the style and I just wanted to compete. It worked out that I went to WWE and Chris Benoit. He was a guy that I just studied; I watched all of his stuff in Japan and watched the best of Dynamite Kid which was Chris Benoit’s influence. Making it to the WWE was huge and I don’t want to discount that for one second and having Chris Benoit who was the guy I used to watch and study and become my mentor and then facing him at Wrestlemania 23 for the United States championship. I didn’t think it could get any bigger and I told Chris after the match “that’s it Chris I’m going to Vince and ask for my release. This is it!” and we laughed about it. Every time I’m in Japan, they put us in the Tokyo dome Hotel. The last few times my room, the view outside my window was the Tokyo Dome. I actually tweeted a picture of the view of the Tokyo dome lit up at night. This last tour, I put the IWGP title in the window with the Tokyo dome in the background and snapped a photo of it. Myself and (the) Brian Kendrick we were talking about how amazing it was when I knew him on the indies years ago talking about my desire to wrestle Japan and to actually see come to fruition is one of the most amazing things you can ever experience. Because everybody talks about “someday” “someday I’d like to do this” and “one day I’d like to do that” But I don’t think enough people take the steps to make someday become today. Some day may never come if you don’t work towards it. If you don’t take that step to make someday happen, it could elude you forever.
To have been able to wrestle Chris Benoit at Wrestlemania and to wrestle Ric Flair at Madison Square Garden, that was awesome. But now to wrestle at Korakuen Hall, to have somebody like Hiroyoshi Tenzon (Team 2000, former IWGP Champion ) who’s one of my favorites and tell me that he’s a fan of mine and to come up to me and tell me how much he liked my match…now that blows me away. Tag teaming with (Satoshi) Kojima who’s a first ballot hall of famer in Japan. It’s a dream come true and to realize a dream it’s one of the most gratifying things that anybody can experience. I wish that everybody in the world at least once could have an opportunity to realize a dream so they can understand to know what it feels like. They’re a few words that can truly express it.
Do you think there’s a market for “Puroresu” in the U.S.?
Yes but a very small market, a more specialized market. Like you have a lot of grocery stores like you have Whole Foods where it’s a little costlier and a smaller segment of society shop there. Everything comes down to money and if there was enough money involved to present puroresu and a viable option I think a lot of people would appreciate the wrestling more. It’s pretty brutal, some guys in the WWE are terrified at the thought of a dragon suplex or a tiger suplex and if you don’t know what that is. It’s a very scary suplex to take. I think with enough conditioning and if there was enough money I think it could definitely have a segment but as the business stands now I think Americans are so condition to what they know as the American style, showmanship, John Cena-esque entertainment style of wrestling. I think a lot of American fans would…y’know here’s the easiest analogy. A lot of Americans love Taco Bell and that’s what they think Mexican food is. But if you fed them real Mexican food they’d have to adjust their taste buds. While it’s better food it’s not what there used to. But if you fed it to them consistently, little by little they’d lose their taste for Taco Bell.
Do you still watch “Monday Night RAW” on occasion?
Being honest I don’t really have a taste for the product so I don’t really watch very often. On occasion if I’m flipping through and see somebody I know I’d watch them and see what’s going on. Let me clarify by saying that I do not have any type of animosity or bitterness towards the WWE. On Twitter people say all the time “why are you so bitter?” As a guy that was a convicted felon who couldn’t get a minimum wage job, Vince McMahon gave me an opportunity to travel around the world to become the top tier superstar and make enough money so I would never have to get a regular job ever again. I will forever be grateful for that. Did we see eye to eye? On lots of things, no we didn’t. But, I don’t have any animosity towards them.
*Sarcastically* you just gotta love the members “Internet Wrestling Community” that thinks that they know more than the people that actually work there, huh?
Y’know, most of these guys are such morons. Some of the tweets that I get and things that people draw my attention to on dirt sheets, example there’s a rumor that’s going around that I wanted to do a rapper gimmick. I NEVER wanted to do a rapper gimmick; I just wanted to do my own theme music.
Then I had the idea of (R-) Truth, Cena and I coming together and doing a clique. It wasn’t based on us being a “rapper clique” but based on a similar style we share. Somehow the dirt sheets got a hold of that and turned it into “MVP wants to do a rapper gimmick” It’s like “where do guys get this stuff, man?”
It’s like a bizarre game of “Telephone!”
*laughs* yeah!
I understand. Whenever I tweet out a “one liner”, I have to be very careful about what I say in case it loses context.
Here’s a good example, somebody tweeted when I left the WWE, I left a big hole and the WWE lost a huge star. They didn’t lose anything they gained “Sin Cara.” So I said “Yeah, *laughs* I heard his promos are amazing!” Suddently, I got this influx of hate tweets of “how dare you!”–Somebody actually accused me of making fun of a “mute!”
What the?!
I guess they think he’s “mute” of something. The guy can’t speak English, he can’t cut a promo. That’s what I was saying. I mean, I met him before I don’t have any problems with him. But somebody took that statement and twisted it into “Oh you’re hating on him!” No, it was just a statement that I said it joking manner. “You’re so rude! Do the fans in Japan respond you to the same way because you speak Japanese?” Well actually when I’m in the ring I say things in Japanese to my opponent and to the crowd. No, I can’t cut a promo yet but I’m trying to learn the language. Only difference is Japanese fans they want to hear English. They like it when you speak English. In twitter, text etc. things can lose context.
Well, here’s the thing, you’ve met Sin Cara. Out of all of the people, you have the right to make a reference. Most of these guys online don’t have the right or privilege to joke about somebody!
Y’know, it’s just people with an opinion. I engage people that say negative things on Twitter because it’s amusing to me. I mean, unless it’s somebody that’s name is known by millions of people, or regarded as an in-ring master or even checked cashed a six figure check then I don’t take it seriously.
To relate to an earlier point, I’m not surprised that you’re a rapper because when you rap you’re “spitting from the dome” as it were.
Nowadays everything is so scripted with WWE. Guys aren’t really able to write their own stuff or come with their own stuff. Guys like the Rock, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Edge, and Chris Jericho nobody had to write their promos, if anything he was given an outline and given a basis. Going back, Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes etc. they were incredible speakers and knew how to get the crowd going. Once for the VIP Lounge, Ric Flair was my guest. One of the writers was writing the “verbage” for our segment. I remember thinking “this guys writing a promo for Ric Flair…wow” he said “Well, if you guys want to go over it in the hallway to make sure you got it I’ll leave you two alone.” We replied “yeah sure.” At the entrance ramp, Flair looks at me and says “hey kid, you don’t really need this do you?”
I said “No, I don’t need it.” So he took my copy of the script, put it with his and tore it up and put it in the garbage. That night we did what I felt was my best VIP lounge performances. There were still a few buzz lines in their but for the most part it wasn’t scripted. That was Flair and I doing it the old way. Flair gave me a hug and said that it was great.
Tune in again for the final part of the interview with MVP.
4
More than Meets the Eye: My Interview with MVP by John Ellison IV
On June 27th, 2011 I did a three part interview with professional wrestler “MVP.” This was the first time I’ve done an interview in years especially an interview worth publishing it. Originally, it started out as a formal interview with a few short questions…but by the time we got into talking about bands like Bouncing Souls, references to jazz fusion, wrestling etc. I admit I forgot I was doing an interview and it felt like I was talking to an old friend. In fact, we ended up talking for 2 hrs and 20 minutes! The interview topics include less talked about interests that include his love for hardcore/old school punk rock, his love for stand-up comedy, the differences between Japanese pro wrestling and American pro wrestling and other little interests that give you a little more insight into the mind of “MVP.”
What’s the story behind “Holla to the World?” How’d it come about?
Growing up, I was always a fan of music. My mother was white, my father was black and I lived in Miami. So I was exposed to all types of music. I was born in 1973 so I watched the evolution of rap and hip-hop and I remember it in its infancy when there was no rap music to be found on the radio and even black radio stations played the occasional rap song but there was no rap station. A lot of the rap music I got back then was from my friends from New York when then would come down and bring mixtapes with DJ Red Alert, Hot97, Kiss FM. But I had an appreciation for music of all types. In 6th grade I remember it vividly. I heard Run DMC for the first time. In my 6th Grade class I had some free time I was bored and I wrote my very first rap and at P.E./Recess whatever you call it. I was standing behind the P.E. shed and read it to a few of my friends and Mr. Strong Clarence Strong who’s a really good guy he caught me and I was scared because there were a couple of bad words and I thought I was going to get in so much trouble and he read it. But I didn’t get in trouble and I was shocked and he actually gave me props for being a 6th grader. I always enjoyed rap music and became a decent little freestyler and as a kid had visions of being a big rap star like how Biggie talks about…
It was all a dream I used to read “Word Up!” magazine?
Yeah that’s it! *laughs* I remember those days and I used to dream about the same thing. I wanted to be like Slick Rick and halve all the gold chains and girls going crazy for me and once I made it into the WWE I used to ask Cena about his album and he’d buzz me on certain things. I met Baby Bash of Cyclone through Rey Mysterio Jr. and Bash put me in touch with DJ Ice aka Mickaël Zibi. We collaborated on my entrance music VIP Ballin or whatever WWE named it. He produced it, I wrote it, we recorded it and sold the rights to the WWE and that was to be my entrance music. At this time I bought a bunch of equipment and converted one of the rooms in my house into a demo quality studio and just started recording stuff. I actually wrote “Holla to the World” on a plane to a pay per view. Dwane Sweazie is one of Mickaël’s artists and I like his work a lot and asked him if he wanted to drop a verse on this thing and it just took off from there. I finally decided you know what? I want to make a move and start releasing to the public. Because I initially wanted to release stuff for me, I have stuff I had written in prison and a few notebooks that I still saved and always wanted to know what it would sound like if I did a song. I said man “let’s run it let’s do it. I released it as a free download. Last time I checked it had like 33,000 listens and several thousand downloads. I’m shooting a video for it this week. Heh, here’s the life of a” balla.” I’m shooting a video Wednesday, Thursday and heading to Japan on Friday. But that’s how it came about. I liked the sound of it; it was good enough to put out.
Are people surprised to know that you can rap?
Oh yeah, lots of people. People are actually shocked! It’s funny because most people see me as MVP “the professional wrestler.” I’m also a pretty good writer and what I’ve let some of the people read they’re like “man, you wrote that?” I’d like to think of myself as a renaissance man. There are a lot of things that I can do that people don’t know about but they find out that I have an interest in something and I’m able to do something they’re like “man, I thought all you did was wrestle. Well that’s what you get for thinking! *laughs*”
Is it true that during your time with WWE that there’s an unreleased track featuring you, John Cena and R-Truth or is that just speculation?
The track was never completed. I actually have in my audio vault a few John Cena freestyle that he did here in my studio. We collaborated on a track that my cousin produced. It has this real slide blues guitar on it. It’s just a cool ass beat. We called that song “Urban Desperadoes” I let John hear it and John loved it. He did 16 and I did 16 and had this brainstorm that had you, me, and Truth are the only guys that had our own theme music that we perform. What if we had a WWE produced track released and pushed by the company that featured you me and Truth titled “Urban Desperadoes.” I played it for (Exec. Producer) Kevin Dunn and he loved it. “Truth” wrote his verse but never recorded his verse but before we actually had an opportunity to finish it and release it I made the decision to leave the company. So, it’s just sitting in my vault.
You mentioned that you live in Houston, TX now. Have there been any rappers in Houston that have been trying to reach out for you to get on a track with them?
Working with Mickaël Zibi he’s produced Baby Bash, Paul Wall, Slim Thug, Z-Ro. It’s funny because Z-Ro is probably the most respected underground artist in Houston. Z-Ro’s is amazing. I was in the studio recently and he talked about us collaborating on something in the near future. There are a number of Houston area rappers I’ve rubbed elbows with in Mickael’s studio and nothing definitive but a few guys have expressed interest.
Heh, MVP and Bun B would be awesome!
That would be!
A lot of people might not be aware but Busta Rhymes did a song with Fishbone called “Psychologically Overcast.” Since you’ve mentioned that you’re a fan of Fishbone, you rap and if the opportunity was given, would you like to get on a song with them?
Are you kidding me! *laughs* you just made me think of that song. I met Dre Gipson awhile back and he and I hit it off and we stayed in touch for quite some time and I had the opportunity to meet Angelo and Norwood and they were all cool. To me these guys are mythical in stature and I feel like I’m not worthy to be a track with those guys but if the opportunity presented itself than I would bend over backwards to something with Fishbone. I read in an interview with John Cusack that his estimation that Fishbone is one of the most underrated bands of all time. I have everything by them and I would jump at the opportunity to do anything with them.
That’s another common thread between us I’m more into Bad Brains and 24-7 Spyz, but all and all we pretty much dig the same bands though or are at least aware of them.
Y’know, when I was 14 and really just starting my street life and gang phase. I was working at a drug store at 163rd street Mall in Miami. The manager was a guy named Wes who was a skinhead. At that point, I didn’t know the difference between colorblind skins and racist skins. HE was already in his 20s. He would take me with him to shows. At first I was intimidated by the scene these doc marten wearing punks. It kind of threw me off. He took me to a few shows. I’m not gonna lie I was kind of shook. But at first I didn’t understand the whole genre just yet. At that time, all I listened to was Public Enemy and Eric B. and Rakim and I was entrenched in hip-hop. I’m on my black power phase. He was telling me about Bad Brains I’m like “Man, black people don’t make that garbage, man” but the rule was his car, his music. So I had to listen to Black Flag, Bad Brains, Angry Samoans, Agnostic Front. Initially I hated that stuff but I don’t care what kind of music you listen to. If you’re forced to listen to it after awhile you find yourself recognizing songs and bobbing your head and going “It’s not so bad” and then he turned me on to Bad Brains and he said “these dudes are black dreadlock Rastas” I said “You’re pulling my leg he said “No I’m telling you!” He gave me a cassette tape…*witty tone* now for your readers a cassette tape is a piece of plastic that has a magnetic strip inside…wow I’m really dating myself *laughs* But on one side was (Bad Brains) “I Against I” and the other side there was Red Hot Chili Peppers “Uplift Mofo Party Plan” and it did not take me long to be absolutely mesmerized by both sides of the tape. I don’t know what happened but I fell in love with Bad Brains. This was before alternative music and alternative sections in record stores. I went and bought everything Bad Brains had at that time. I still have my copy of the “yellow tape” from the ROIR sessions. Then the Quickness album came out and I still have that around vinyl somewhere. My mom sent me to live with my aunt in Texas. There were these guys out there that had a thrash band and they got me into Fishbone. Then from all of a sudden there was this whole genre of music that I feel head over heels over and I guess that looked like me *laughs* that made this music made it intriguing too. ‘Cause I was always a Hendrix fan but then it was this new sound and aggression and Fishbone their sounds so eclectic. (Fishbone goes) from punk, ska to metal and Bad Brains from them go seamlessly to Pay to Cum and then I Luv I Jah, it was an audio rollercoaster!
So you got into this around 14. I started playing guitar around 14 and felt like I was the only black guy that digs rock. After Hendrix it wasn’t that much heavy guitar based music except for Living Colour once in awhile. A band that restored my faith in rock–
I’m sorry; let me interject something because this is pretty interesting. At the time I got into Bad Brains I would tune into Headbanger’s Ball and 120 Minutues because I wanted to see Bad Brains. I wanted to see what they didn’t look like but they did play (Bad Brains videos) at that time. But I saw the video for Cult of Personality and I saw Living Colour for the first time and I thought “Is this Bad—oh that’s not Bad Brains it’s Living Colour…okay cool.” That video and that song threw me for a mental loop I wanted and had to have that song. I remember going to Speck’s music store for 2 weeks asking “the Living Colour album come yet?” she say “not yet” and one day she saw me she smiled and was just pointing and I went over and picked up that cassette and listened to that cassette nonstop for 2 weeks. Corey Glover’s vocals and Vernon Reid’s—his style—I never called myself a guitarist and never got very far but I understand the nuances and the differences between guitar playing and what Vernon Reid plays so out of context of what you’re standard guitarist do breaks so many rules and I remember looking at tablatures and trying to play and looked at it like “That’s impossible! How can you play that? This has got to be a mistake.” So Living Colour is another band that opened the door for me and I discovered them looking for Bad Brains and then got into Fishbone and 24-7 Spyz and these groups they’re still rotation.
You mentioned that you met Randy Savage backstage at a GWAR and Misfits show in Florida. Noticing you’re timeline, we dig a lot of the same bands. Are people surprised by your vast taste in music?
All the time…all the time! Whenever I sit down and talk with people about music people expect me to know about soul, funk hip-hop based on appearance etc. they’re like “you should know that” but whenever I talk about my love for jazz and Thelonious Monk, Chet Baker, Charles Mingus they’re like “what do you know about that?” or my love for hardcore or old school punk. People are shocked. C.M. Punk and I talk about music and we’re on the same page. One day I was sitting down with Lars (Frederiksen of Rancid) in catering and he goes “Hey! Punk! MVP knows what’s up!” C.M. replied “of course that’s why he’s my homie!” So, people are shocked; I get a kick out of it. I remember being with my best friend “Bert.” He’s like a big brother to me. When I was about 12 or 13 and he was flipping through the radio but I remember liking the song and wanting to say “Hey leave that!” but I was worried about him criticizing my choice in music because he’s somebody I looked up to so I didn’t want to make a bad impression. He put it back on there, and I was glad he put it back there I was scared to say something. He said to me “Man, don’t you ever let somebody tell you what you can like. Don’t let anybody dictate you what’s cool.” I never forgot that and that allowed me to embrace music. When it was in prison, it was especially tough because I like rock music and I don’t allow myself to be relegated to one any one particular genre. There would be times where I would be blasting some rock on my radio and dudes would be like “aw mane you like dat ol’ cracka shit, man? You lissen to dat that white boy shit, dawg?” So yeah people are shocked all the time.
I saw where you tweeted about getting kicked out of a Fugazi show for moshing. Would you mind elaborating? Also, did you get the $5 back?
That’s what I’m pissed off! If I see fucking Ian Mackaye! He owes me money…
*Shocked* WHAT?!
I know that Ian MacKaye is known for kicking people out of shows and giving their money back. I was at this Fugazi show. My younger brother who shares a similar taste in music…he’s actually a big country fan. I don’t know how that happened! But…
I think I saw you mention him; he’s kinda into Hank Williams III?
No, that’s me. I’m not into the mainstream pop country; I’m more into the outlaw country. “Rope in the Wind” is not really for me. My younger brother is bigger than me actually. He’s a state champion amateur wrestler, tough kid, good looking and cool as hell. At the time he was also a cop too. I wasn’t even moshing that much. I was about pushing 270 and he was 240-250. I was standing around keeping an eye on him and a few skinheads. Then you had the trendy black horn rimmed *whiny voice* “ewww you’re touching me you’re moshing!” in the crowd. Ian MacKaye said something to the crowd like “watch out” “take care of each other.” Then he stopped the show and said I want these guys thrown out. Security surrounds me and my brother. My brother was on that cop shit and indignant and they roughed him up with a bloody nose. We could’ve fought and took out a bunch of guys. But he’s a cop and I’ve only been out of prison for a couple of years and I didn’t want to stir anything up and I was a security guard at a club in South Beach. There were cops outside and my brother identifies myself as a law enforcement officer. But we were in Broward County…my brother was a cop in Dade County. So, we didn’t get arrested but the cops weren’t very helpful. We didn’t go until we saw the head of security. After a while he finally came out and I asked “What did we do to get thrown out?” The security guard said “you guys were fighting” “Well, who were we fighting?” I asked. The guy stared at me looking stupid “tell me who we were fighting?” I was a tank at the time and my brother was no joke. “If we were fighting, you would have to back this ambulance up because there would be somebody out here going for a ride…were we fighting each other? Where’s the guy that we were fighting?” Ultimately he said “Ian Mackaye said ‘throw those two guys out!’” It infuriated me because we were the only two black guys on the floor. I wasn’t even moshing, there were other guys that were moshing but we were the only two that got thrown out. Others were booing as we got thrown out. We got thrown out of the Fugazi show; we didn’t get out money back and were assaulted. So FUCK Ian MacKAYE! FUCK FUGAZI! If I see that motherfucker he owes me $10-15 for the concert!
This is kind of twisted irony…you’re familiar with Go-Go right?
Of course!
Henry Rollins and Ian MacKaye were the only two white guys in the go-go scene, in fact Minor Threat played their final show with Trouble Funk. It’s kind of ironic that the only two white guys at a go-go end up throwing two black guys out of his show.
By him!!! I mean it’s tough because I want to respect him because of his contributions to the hardcore scene but the way things went down. But they way he behaved I can’t forgive him! It would’ve been a funny story if we got out money back because he’s known for throwing people out but we didn’t even get our money back. On the other side, I haven’t met Henry Rollins but he’s somebody I want to meet. He’s a huge inspiration. When I was in prison, I used to write a lot of lyrics and a lot of rap and hardcore lyrics because one of my other dreams is to front my own hardcore band.
I used to envision myself onstage with black shorts, sneakers, no shirt and with the microphone cord wrapped around my wrist. I fancied myself being a “black Henry Rollins.”
Ice-T tried that! *laughs*
Kind of…I’m a fan of Ice from the “6 in the Morning” days before he blew up with “Colors” and I still have his vinyl and I dig what he did with Body Count.
I understand totally. When I first started writing, some of my biggest inspirations were a hodge podge of guys like Paul Heyman, Henry Rollins, Gil-Scott Heron and George Carlin.
When it comes to comedic deities you have to mention Carlin and Pryor…
Tune into part’s 2 and three coming soon! We speak on comedy and pro wrestling next! Also check out his new website http://mvp305.com
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