Denizen Kane - Brother Min's Journey To The West - 10/06/09
September 7, 2009 by Jefe

Available digitally on October 6th, 2009 Brother Min's Journey to the West: Denizen Kane is a hard man to pin down. After beginning his career with semi-revolutionary spoken word outfit I Was Born With Two Tongues, co-founding seminal Chicago hip hop crew Typical Cats, and logging appearances on three seasons of Def Poetry Jam, he moved west, settled down, had some kids, and fell off the map. Rumor had it he could be found serving rum and cokes at a dive bar in Alameda, or repairing ratchet wrenches at the Sears in Fremont. There were some dispatches - Tree City Legends Vols. I & II - two severely underrated solo discs, come to mind, but while his crew-mates Qwel and Qwa were touring incessantly and launching up-tempo electronica assaults on Los Angeles, the third Typical Cat was nowhere to be found. Turns out, he was busy attending to the ghosts in his head, and fine-tuning the symbols of his oeuvre.

Brother Min's Journey to the West, Kane's third solo joint, is told entirely in the voice of Min, the youngest of the four Kane brothers - characters Denizen has developed on record and in print (reportedly a collection of short stories is in the works). The Kanes represent those slain in the struggle, and Min represents the most tragic of the young, gifted, and dead - the suicide. Tree City has ceased to be clown-head slang for Chicago, or a bizarre amalgam of Chi City, Oakland, Seattle, and New York - as it was for the first two Tree City LPs. Here, it is the city within the City, the remnant of decimated tribes, the last survivors, carrying imaginary homelands in their heads. Brother Min is a gripping collection of immigration narratives, rebel chants, and classic odes to crew, crossing the river, and the wild-ass kids on your block.

Buoyed by mrREY's propulsive, jazz-inflected production, Brother Min combines the best of true-school classicism, Kane's oddball eclecticism, and the energy of the 80's sound systems to deliver a platter that is ambitious in scope and easy on the ear canal. After a lengthy absence, Kane might just add another classic to his resume. 1 Intro 2 Holding Up The Wall 3 Ain't No Thing 4 Just Like Water 5 Black Hoodies 6 Sparrow 7 Boms Pt One 8 TTB (Them True B-Boys) 9 New Year's Day 10 The Porch 11 The River 12 Boms Pt Two 13 Let The Dead 14 The War (Bonus Track) 15 Fallin' (Bonus Track)

added by: Jefe

Qwel & Maker - So Be It - Dropping 09/01/09
July 30, 2009 by Jefe

Yep... the time has come... the final installment in the 4 Seasons / 4 Horsemen series... back to where it all started... with Maker

Qwel & Maker "So Be It" CD
Released September 1st 2009

Qwel & Maker reunite for the highly anticipated and long overdue "So Be It" on Galapagos4. The album’s grimy soundscape and hard hitting drums make it the perfect ending for Qwel’s four seasons project, which began with Qwel & Maker’s 2004 classic, "The Harvest".

Maker’s production on "So Be It" masterfully captures both the blazing and sometimes overwhelming hear of the summer and the cool relief of a summer night. The hypnotizing beats provide for a roller coaster of emotions and wide range of topics while staying true to a much larger overall theme.

Whether pondering hope and love or drug addictions and authority, Qwel amazingly accentuates the provided backdrop with flows ranging from rapid fire to melancholy and hazy.

Those expecting the fluff and filler so prevalent in modern hip hop will surely sit in disappointment. So be it.

Track list:
1. Dawn
2. Gnosticism
3. Back Stage Pass
4. Friend Or Foe
5. Har Megiddo
6. Interlude - Meditation
7. Berzerker
8. White Elephant
9. Fear As A Weapon
10. No Joke
11. Lunch Money
12. Interlude - So Be It
13. Paper Dolls
14. Golden Era

added by: Jefe

Robust - Grown - drops July 14th!
June 29, 2009 by Jefe

That's right ya'll... the time is near...

Check out the promo megamix that the homie DJ Bizkid from Germany put together:

http://www.galapagos4.com/sounds/grown/DJ_Bizkid_Grown_Megamix.mp3

Snippets, beats, cuts, mixes, remixes from the Robust 'Grown" release. Just a dope hip hop DJ mix.

ROBUST 'GROWN'
DROPPING JULY 14TH ON GALAPAGOS4... digital only!

added by: Jefe

G4X A SUCCESS. NEXT UP... NEW MUSIC
June 13, 2009 by Jefe

Thanks to everyone, friends family & fans, who came out for the massive G4 10th Anniversary party in Chicago. There are videos posted in the Blackbook section and lots more to come. We hope to have another couple of these elsewhere in the world later this year.

But for now... announcements come in the way of new music from G4. First up... Robust's "Grown", dropping July 14th as a digital release only. This will be G4's 1st official digital only album... more details soon...

added by: Jefe

G4 10th Anniversary Show
May 13, 2009 by Jeff

Saturday June 6th, 2009

The Galapagos4 10th Anniversary Festival
featuring:

Typical Cats
Offwhyte
Mestizo
Robust
Outerlimitz
Pugslee Atomz
Himself
Hellsent
Rift
Royce
Dirty Digital
DJ White Lightning
Denizen Kane
Qwel
Dallas Jackson
Dr. Jones
Maker
Meaty Ogre
& more!

$15 advance
$18 door

2 shows
Early show ALL AGES! 6pm
Late show 21+ 10:30pm

@ Reggie's
2109 South State Street
Chicago, IL 60616

COMBO DEAL for both shows (21+ only): Buy an advance ticket for the late show and get into the early show for $12 at the door (while tickets last)

added by: Jeff