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Audio 8 ready to
take on the big boys
May 23, 2003 BY DAVID JAKUBIAK
As you watch Nico B of Audio 8
Recordings rip the microphone, keep in mind you're seeing only a few threads
in a fabric intended to cover the entire hip-hop industry. In a genre filled with
complex relationships, allegiances and collectives that range from Wu-Tang to
okayplayer.com, Audio 8 have drawn up a blueprint to infiltrate the
billion-dollar industry using everything from the sticker on the Red Line
rider's notebook to the beats that pulse from the commuter's Walkman. Think
of it as total coverage. Take the Record Playas, a
three-man production team hailing from the South Side of Chicago, composed of
DJ Mind, DJ Noble and Jesus. Record Playas first hooked up with Nico two
years ago after a freestyle session at WRTE-FM (90.5), the radio station of
the Mexican Fine Arts Museum in Pilsen.
"I
was up there during an open mike and they heard me and liked it," Nico
says. "They hit me with some beats, I liked their beats, and we've been
working together ever since." They've also been
performing together ever since. In addition to their club shows, for the past
year Record Playas have hosted a weekly hip-hop night on Tuesdays at Tequila
and Chicas. Because Record Playas are primarily a production team (Noble and
Jesus have been known to rhyme now and again), Nico B and fellow MC Angel Won
often handle the microphone during shows. "We perform stuff from my album
and other more recent projects that we are working on," he says. Record Playas recently
released their second CD, "Soundtracks for Days," on Audio 8
Recordings. The CD is a 24-track ode to hard-hitting boom-bap with lyrics
provided by Chicago MCs ranging from Seel and Pugslee Atomz to The Knomadz
and Rhyme Fest. "Soundtracks"
is one of five releases scheduled for this year by the Chicago-based Audio 8
label, which was founded last year by a group of artists including, that's
right, Nico. "We decided to put
out the Record Playas CD because of the good chemistry we have." Where Record Playas
represent the music side of Nico's plan, Audio 8 (www.audio8.com) is
the business side. With seven artists, based
in Chicago, San Francisco and Rio de Janeiro ("I have a great affinity
for Rio. I studied Portuguese in college and even did one of my songs in
Portuguese"), Audio 8 is designed to operate as an artist run label
"for complete artistic freedom." Under the Audio 8 plan,
Nico's tasks include promotions, booking and networking, all of which keep
him busy when he's not rhyming. Now, he says, the label
is looking to increase its industry connections for licensing and
distribution partnerships to take their plan worldwide. In the meantime, he says,
he'll keep planning, executing and rock, rock, rocking it. David Jakubiak is a
local free-lance writer. |
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