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“A Reflection of Hip-Hop” appeared on Representin’ 4 Life EP by               Adrian H. Molina aka Mo Brown (2007), CHiTT Productions

I’ve been using this acapella piece as a crowd pleaser since 2005.  I spit the rhyme for the first time at an open mic night at Coal Creek Coffee House in Laramie, WY.  I recorded this track in 2006 with Will Ross of CHiTT Productions.  We recorded in my bedroom, turned the room upside down and inside out: makeshift studio, mattresses pushed up against the windows and the walls.  Borrowed mic, laptop setup, homemade pop filter. 

We were very meticulous about the details.  Everything had to be right.  Unplugged the refrigerator and the other appliances in the kitchen even though they were all the way down the hall.  We didn’t want the reverberation of the machines’ lull fuckin’ with our energy or our soundwaves.  We paused when trucks drove by and scrapped the takes when we felt that minor noises outside might cloud the sound quality of the recording.  

CHiTT Productions released this track on Representin’ 4 Life EP (March 2007), beats supplied by “Mannequin Rituals” (Stop the Police State, Save the Mannequins).  The cover read “Adrian H. Molina” aka Mo Brown.  I was flirting with the idea of keeping Mo Brown as my emcee name, but I wasn’t sure so I released the EP with my full-name on it just in case.  Had BIG plans for the EP… 

It was soon to reach the ears of tens of thousands of Hip-Hop heads coast-to-coast.  Didn’t happen like that, but that adds to the richness of the story.  You learn that your failures are your successes if you keep going.

The moniker “Mo Brown” had been with me since high school.  I shortened it from MomoBrown, which I decided sounded childish for a 17-year-old rapper.  I eventually scrapped Mo Brown after I realized how many emcees (male and female) claimed to be Mo Brown.  Adrian H. Molina became Molina Soleil (sometimes you choose your name, sometimes it chooses you), and now it’s somewhere in the middle, but I think I know where it’s going…

I sit back with my cheap glass of red wine and smile at the recording of this track.  So serious… and rightfully so.  It was the beginning of a movement.

I have more fun with the piece now, more playful with the delivery..  I reach into the box of Molina classics and pull it out every now and then.  I’m always in front of new people who have never heard it.  Sometimes I do it for the history, or for a familiar face in the crowd.  You gotta keep things fresh and mix it up, for yourself as much as for your fans and supporters. 

It’s a good moment to be here in Denver, CO, listening to this track and blogging it, marinating on my life as an artist, soaking it all up into my skin… preparing for a fresh MOLINA push.

I was brave enough to call my music a movement from day one.  I knew it was much bigger than me, that I was a filter.  But over the years I’ve realized that it doesn’t move without me.  You gotta be the engine.  If not you, than who?  For yourself, and the community…

Now’s the time, now’s the place, fight, now’s the time, one love for your rights.  Now’s the time, now’s the place, right, now’s the time, one love people unite… 

A.M. Soleil, Retrospectively is a weekly blog in 2010 focusing on 5 years of independent music by Adrian H. Molina, breaking down the history, insight, reflections and relevance one song at a time. 

Twitter @MOLINAspeaks

Circa Dec. 2007, Ed Auditorium, University of Wyoming

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“I strut, I flow, my style I’m all mine / I shine my truth / I chop, mash up time / you work, you grind, you climb with no interlude / your push, your pull, you rise high, it’s all you…”

…the first words heard from my first collaboration with Aju and DJ Icewater.  It was a big shift in style and presentation from the more gritty Up Before the Sunrise album.

“This that indie fly sang, we don’t wait, no label / if suit pick it up ain’t a damn thing change / Fuck big money I’m a do my thang / don’t need corporate to legitimate me…”

As a young independent artist, you make up the rules as you go.  There’s no playbook.  Everything is grassroots.  You are often your own hype machine and your own fundraiser.  You gotta hustle as your own manager, booking agent, accountant, executive producer, publicist, etc.

If you’re really down for the arts and the community, you have to find time in the midst of all this to support other artists, to support the activist scene, to volunteer your time and give back.

Last week, Aju and I made a decision 25th-hour to push the SOULAJU album back after organizing a month-long series of events in Denver to promote the album.  Analyzing it from every angle, it simply wasn’t time… So we had to trust our instincts and be confident in our decision.

Bottom line: you gotta do you and you gotta trust yourself.  Be independent in your thoughts and don’t fall in line with the sheep. 

- Molina

“Wow. A few other words to describe this experimental Spoken-Word/Jazz Fusion album would be: passionate, seductive, insightful and motivational. This album is definitely progressive, to say the least. The horn arrangements will call to your soul; the percussion stimulates your senses. Aside from superb musicianship, the message being shared by these two protégés reflects a zeal and wisdom that belies their years. Some jewels that I particularly enjoyed on this album are “Rise Mantra,” “City Night Speak,” and the title track, “Sacred Paths.” The LP is set to drop on September 20, 2009. You can pick up a copy at any CDBaby, iTunes or at the website: SoulAju.com.”

- Charlotte D. Abberant, Colorado Music Buzz, October 1st edition 2009