Issue 33
If you had the same fragile, vaguely tortured adolescence as us, then you know the story about the murderer with the hook and the babysitter with the serial killer upstairs and how Funk Flex was responsible for bringing Master P to the Tunnel. Or well, maybe you don't know so much about the latter but it's that kind of urban legend that is the focus of this spanky new issue of The FADER magazine: secret, pivotal moments in the lab or at school or at Chad Hugo's parents' house that birthed movements, careers, and songs-the continental shifts that created the hip-hop landscape of today. In putting the story together, our intrepid FADER staff (plus a few willing volunteers) bravely put down the donut holes and took to the phones with manic, telethon-like fervor-ringing artists, producers, engineers, the Wu Tang Clan, photographers, lawyers, hangers-on and dudes who knew dudes who knew dudes who had a funny story. What resulted is a massive megapage feature of firsthand accounts from insiders and outsiders alike-coupled with historic, never-before-seen archival photography from back in the day. We're real proud of it and hope you like it-or at least find a coupla things to geek out on and pretend you already knew about. (Shhh we won't tell your friends!)
Being ones to always bite off more than we can chew, we've also jam-packed the ish with a gangload of legends in the making: our cover star, Maceo, first pricked our ears with "Nextel Chirp" and from there it was love at first bit-stream (internetters: can you hear us?). We sent resident Kowabungatronix DJ Diplo (pen name: Wesley Pentz) down South so he could check what all our fuss was about. And look, after getting wind of the latest earthswelling goodvibery of Animal Collective, they cemented their place as legends in our book-so we did what any responsible editors would/should do and sent them down a log flume ride with journo Charles Homans and threw them on the back cover. They seemed wet, but into it.
Don't get too distracted with all this legend stuff, though: Eric Ducker has a profile on anti-Beach Boys band Dios (Malos) and our boy Chris Isenberg went training (and praying) with Orthodox boxer Dimitriy Salita to uncover new talent in its rawest, rarest form. Awww, but don't be off put-that's just how we like our talent over here in FADERland.
ALEX WAGNER
Cover 1: Maceo
The New Loophole
"The super-minimal reigns these days as the MCs shine with a big 'fuck you mayne'—all that's left are the bare necessities. A kick drum and a finger snap, a few 'yeps' looped on the counter beat, and a lazy key melody if you want to push it."
Cover 2: Animal Collective
The Lost Boys
"The songs have lived like this for more than a year: on the road, in loud sweaty incarnations that stretch their limbs when they feel like it, sometimes with inspiration and sometimes with indulgence."
Feature 1: Untold Hip-Hop Moments
The Art Of Storytelling
"He was in the front row with his hands all the way up, like 'Keep going, keep going.' You know what I'm saying? I'll never forget Biggie for that. Not ever."
Feature 2: Dios (Malos)
Nobody Knows
"We're obviously not of the moment. We don't deal with 'of the moment.' We never have."
Feature 3: Dimitriy Salita
The Star Of David
"'If you never lose,' says Mohar, 'you never know if you can come back. And coming back is what makes you a great fighter.'"
+ GEN F:
Killa Kyleon / Afrirampo / Endless Boogie / Jammer / Jim James / Baby Jaymes / The Nice Boys / Brendan Benson
+ FASHION:
Black Kes
+ VINYL ARCHEOLOGY
On That Dust
Hallucinatory Hip-Hop, Selected by Edan.
