A.M. Soleil, Retrospectively: Week 5 “The People II”

This is the second version of The People.  It is the second single off the forthcoming album SOULAJU, set for release March 23rd, 2010.  The single can be purchased for $.99 via the download link above.

The first version of The People was titled “People (Molina Mix)”.  It appeared on Shine Flow EP w/ DJ Icewater, released June 9th, 2009.  I wrote the original in October 2008 in Portland, OR, where I was emceeing Graham St. Productions’ first major fundraiser for Papers the movie.   I was two months into the Up Before the Sunrise tour.  After the Papers benefit, I hopped on the plane and headed to the Bay Area to volunteer for Youth Speaks’ Living Word festival. 

At the end of my stay in the Bay, I recorded “People (Molina Mix)” and “Shine Flow” with Icewater in Oakland, CA and did an interview with Hard Knock Radio.  I added (Molina Mix) to the title of People because Icewater is a mixtape DJ, so I figured other emcees would be flowing over the same beat.

This second version, The People II, was written and recorded in December of 2009 for SOULAJU.  It was a last-minute decision at the time, being that the album was originally set for January release.  The words came to me one evening when Aju and I were catching up on Democracy Now episodes.  I felt like The People needed an update, so I put the pad to the pen and flipped the track.

To some people, this may seem unoriginal—the same artist using the same beat twice to tell a similar story.  To me, this hella fresh.  As an emcee, an instrumental is a blank canvas.  Give 20 emcees the same beat and you’ll get 20 different stories.  Give me the same beat with the same hook two different years and I’ll give you two different stories that are similar in vein, but different enough to provide new insight and keep your attention.  Hip-Hop is all about re-creating and re-using, building upon what has already been done, personally, musically, culturally.

So… enjoy the new mix and keep motivating and originating in 2010.  We’re definitely in the middle of very destructive times, but the flip side of destruction is that it offers space for creation. 

- Molina Soleil

Listen to the original: “People (Molina Mix)” w/ DJ Icewater:

Tags: A.M. Soleil, Retrospectively, Democracy Now, Hard Knock Radio, Molina Music, Molina Soleil, music blog, Shine Flow EP, Soulaju

Posted in A.M. Soleil, Retrospectively, MOLINA SPEAKS

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