The Gift of Game
With the urban squalor of South Central just minutes away from the
glamour and glitz of Beverly Hills, the Los Angeles metropolitan area
is easily one of the most dynamic and volatile socio-cultural
environments on the planet. Therefore, it really should come as no
surprise that this location would produce some of the most explosive
amd stylistically synergistic music of the modern era.
Crazy Town, a seven-man band based in the City of Angels, redirects
the course of modern music with The Gift of Game, their debut album
on Columbia Records. Spearheaded by lyricists/vocalists/producers
Shifty Shellshock and Epic Mazur, who've been key
behind-the-scenes players on the L.A. rap scene for the past eight
years, Crazy Town masterfully combines hip-hop's lyrical attitude and
rhythmic sass with the sonic musculature of live rock
instrumentation.
"It was my calling in life," Shifty says of forming Crazy Town. "I grew
up listening to hip-hop and punk rock. Crazy Town is like an X-rated
Dennis The Menace. We wanted to paint a picture of what's going on
with kids today. I wanted to incorporate rap and rock like it had never
been done before. No matter what kind of music you liked, I wanted
you to enjoy something about it."
"I don't know what you would classify our music as," Epic adds.
"Sometimes you may think it's purely rock, sometimes just hip-hop.
But listening to the whole album, we're expressing whatever kind of
music through a hip-hop mentality. We're some hip-hop kids that
needed to rock, rather than some rock kids that needed to rap."
Produced by close friend Josh Abraham (Orgy, Coal Chamber) and
Epic The Gift of Game features audio H-bombs like "Little Black
Cloud" -- with Jay Gordon from scene mates Orgy -- and "Dark Side."
The latter was the last song recorded for the album, yet it masterfully
states the musical alchemy that is Crazy Town. An aggressive tune
delivered by pulsing guitars, boasting snarling vocals, "Dark Side"
contains both the twisted musical and lyrical punch that is the
group's signature.
"The beat is banging and by the time it gets to the chorus, you don't
notice the change," Epic says. "All of the sudden your head is
banging up against the fucking wall." "Everybody has their dark side,"
Shifty chimes in regarding the sinister twist of the lyrics, "whether
they want to admit it or not."
Then there's the first single "Toxic," a fittingly abrasive tune,
effectively the Crazy Town theme song summing up the organized
confusion of the band's aural assault. "'Toxic' describes Crazy Town
because our sound is toxic," Shifty relates. "It gets inside of you and
its radioactive. We're loud and obnoxious."
"Butterfly" is an ode to the one special woman every man hopes to
have by his side someday, while "Revolving Door" is about getting
down with as many honeys as you can in the meantime while you're
still looking for Ms. Right.
Crazy Town's lyrics recount the temptations and the trials people go
through during life. The group analyzes the choices each one of us
faces every day and the twists of fate these decisions precipitate that
lead us either to success or failure.
"Do what you want to do," Epic says. "Go out with that girl, do that
drug, go to that place. Just realize that you're going to have to deal
with the aftermath. Crazy Town has been known to chew people up
and spit them out. If you don't know how to navigate yourself through
it, you will die."
Helping put across the Crazy Town message on The Gift of Game
are special guests hip hop prophet KRS-One , dancehall toastmaster
extraordinaire Mad Lion and Dirty Unit ("Think Fast"). A friend of the
group had dropped by while they were recording, liked what he heard
and immediately called up Lion, holding up his cell phone so the Mad
one could hear what was going on in the studio. Quickly, the latter
offered his services as toaster on "Hollywood Babylon." When he
finished the track, he took a tape home and played it for KRS-One
who was suitably impressed and in turn volunteered his services as
well for "B-Boy 2000." This was a dream come true for Shifty and
Epic as dyed-in-the-wool hip hop heads!
Shifty and Epic grew up listening to N.W.A, Cypress Hill and Ice-T as
well as alternative rock bands like The Cure in Southern California.
Shifty (who claims to be "like Sid Vicious, Kurt Cobain and Biggie
Smalls all trapped in one body") routinely skipped out on his various
music lessons, but when he came across a copy of the Beastie
Boy's Licensed To Ill while in Mexico, he saw a fresh side of hip-hop
that proved inspirational and he began making demo recordings on
his own.
Meanwhile, Epic, whose family is originally from New York went to
high school in Cali with Ice Cube, Divine Styler, Everlast and House
of Pain's Danny Boy. He started making beats and cutting tracks
early on, and wound up providing music for MC Serch of 3rd Bass'
solo record.
It wasn't until Shifty and Epic hooked up that they either felt they
could really pursue careers as professional musicians. Initially
coming together as the Brimstone Sluggers about six years ago, the
pair recorded plenty of music, but never completed a full album of
their own because they kept getting involved contributing to with other
hip hoppers' projects i.e. Divine Styler and what would later become
Black Eyed Peas.
Finally, Shifty and Epic decided that all of their respective outside
ventures would cease and they would concentrate on their own
special vision: a hip hop band featuring a full instrumental line-up to
complement their rapping group. Recruiting Faydoedeelay (bass),
Rust Epique (guitar), Trouble Valli (guitar), DJ AM (turntables) and
JBJ (drums), Crazy Town was born with roots in classic rap-rock
miscegenation ike Run DMC's "Rock Box," Public Enemy and
Anthrax's collaborative "Bring Tha Noize," etc.
"Our parents listened to rock and we grew up listening to hip-hop,"
Shifty says. "We're part of a new generation of kids who really have
an appreciation for all kinds of music and they're all being pushed
together."
Yeah, into one Crazy Town.
