![]() Although it’s not in any way intended as such, Def Mask could be seen as a state of the nation address because, like all the best science fiction, the album is inspired by and rooted in the here and now. He returned to the genre in part because he felt a need to articulate a response to what he saw around him. “Why is there no relationship between Bobby Schmurda and Chuck D? Or Chief Keef and KRS-One? That’s what we’re missing.” “It would be sacrilegious for Hendrix not to know who Muddy Waters is,” he says. Divine believes part of the problem is that the chain connecting elders and youngers, although just four generations deep, has been severed so that the old school no longer informs the new. A music that was once as much a commentary on itself as well as the world it emerged from seemed to have become entirely lacking in self-reflection and self-awareness. He felt uncomfortable in the negative space mainstream hip-hop had carved out for itself. It turns out there is a relatively simple explanation for the long absence. ![]() However, for someone so shrouded in mystery, the figure who sits – unmasked, it should be noted – in an upstairs room of The Seventh Letter, a street art gallery and store in Hollywood, is remarkably open and gregarious, and keen to elaborate on his history and his return to hip-hop. According to the blurb accompanying the album, the Def Mask of the title “keeps others at distance and creates a barrier between the wearer and the multiple realms of psychic pollutants” a concept that certainly seems in keeping with Divine Styler’s reputation as rap’s recluse. His fourth album, Def Mask, a tour de force of hardcore beats and futuristic electronic production wrapped around dystopian science fiction, is released next week, 14 years after his last. He’s clearly reverential to the art form, yet he chooses to blaze his own trail rather than waste energy seeking acceptance or contextualisation.” His most recent work has been with Len, Swollen Members and DJ Shadow.DJ Shadow, who collaborated with Divine Styler on the 1999 single Divine Intervention, and describes himself as a longtime fan considers him “an anomaly within rap. He appeared (along with Sadat X and Cockni O'Dire) on several tracks on the final House of Pain album, Truth Crushed to Earth Shall Rise Again (1998). He has done several tracks with John Tejada but they're scattered on several compilations and albums by Tejada. Many of the songs on Spiral Walls Containing Autums of Light are songs of praise to Allah, and the 1999 song "Make It Plain" (recorded for the Funky Precedent compilation) details the joy he feels at having finally found a way of life he loves after decades of uncertainty and woes.Īside from those major albums his tracks are scattered among other artists' albums and projects. The Beat Junkies' DJ Rhettmatic also appeared, along with DJ Shadow, on his third LP, Wordpower 2: Directrix (1998), which trafficked in Information Age paranoia.ĭivine Styler is a convert to Sunni Islam after a number of years spent in the Nation of Gods and Earths he influenced the decision by Everlast to become a Muslim. In 1998, Divine Styler hooked up with the Quannum posse, teaming up with his dear friend and fellow Rhyme Syndicate alum Everlast, Styles of Beyond and the Beat Junkies. His second album, the wildly experimental Spiral Walls Containing Autumns of Light, also failed to sell well. His first LP, Word Power, was hailed by critics and fans, but was not a commercial success. Divine Styler (born Mark Richardson 1968 in Brooklyn, New York) is an alternative rapper who first emerged as part of Ice-T's Rhyme Syndicate.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |