| |
 |
|
Travis Williams - The Trickle Down |
Travis Williams is about to have the most significant
weekend of his young life.
The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native, who moved to Athens
three years ago, will celebrate the release of "Trickle
Down," his first full-length CD, on Friday at Little
Kings.
Less than 12 hours later, he'll graduate from Georgia
Law School.
"I've been contemplating that situation," says Williams
during a recent study break, as he prepared for his
final law school exam. "My family's going to be here,
some of my fraternity brothers and some good friends
will also be here; I'll have 20-25 people in town.
"I guess I'll probably stay up all night. I know I'll be
at the club until 2 and will probably stay up talking
with some old friends, so there's not much sense in
going to sleep at 4 or 5 a.m."
The 25-year-old Williams, who came to Athens after
earning his undergraduate degree at Florida A&M, says
he'll have to temporarily set his rhyming voice to the
side this summer as he studies for the state bar exam,
but he does plan on a string of shows (Boston,
Philadelphia, New York, Washington) sometime in August
and is scheduled to appear at Rye Bar during AthFest.
"Everything will settle in August," says Williams, who
is expected to take a public defender's job in the
Northeastern Judicial Circuit, which serves Hall and
Dawson counties, and adds he plans to be "a lifetime
trial lawyer."
Williams' career as a rapper began at the age of 13,
when influenced by the likes of Nas, Ghostface Killah,
Pete Rock & CL Smooth and EPMD, he started battle
rapping in his neighborhood and at school. He gravitated
to Miami, where at 16 he began showing up at battles and
was actually courted by several recording labels.
But something else put a crimp in his hip-hop progress -
higher education.
"I never thought about going to college," he says. "But
because our family was on food stamps, I got to take the
SAT for free and did pretty well on it, and I started
getting letters from colleges. So I decided to leave rap
alone because I knew going to school could make positive
things happen."
He was elected student body president at A&M as a
sophomore, and revived his emcee dreams when he enrolled
at Georgia Law and was introduced to Montu Miller of the
Dreaded Mindz family and AthFactor Entertainment, a
local management, marketing and promotions operation.
"When I got to Athens, I met up with Montu and started
going to some of his poetry nights," says Williams. "It
reminded me of what I missed about doing music, so by
the end of my first year in law school, I started
getting back into it."
Since his return to the hip-hop stage, Williams released
his first "official" mixtape ("Reparations") and
recorded with Crazy DJ Bazarro ("Lean on Me") and
producers DJ Speek Greene and Moon Child. The 11-track
"Trickle Down," which is extremely raw in terms of text
and context, had many hands aboard, as no less than five
producers - including Wilmington, N.C.'s Distinguished
Gents, Mosaic of Michigan and Maryland's Keenan.
"Working with so many producers is a challenge," says
Williams, who was joined on the CD by longtime colleague
Pee Duble, whom he calls "Pops." "When I put some of my
music on my MySpace page, producers would go on there
and then hit me up with a beat. The album has 11 tracks
but we actually recorded more than 60 tracks. It was
kind of hard to find a sound to go with. I love the
golden era of rap, which was 1988-1996; I'd like to
capture that sound and still be fresh. It took a while
to get the right mix of instruments and concepts."
Pronouncing himself pleased with "Trickle Down,"
Williams adds his work was reaffirmed when several of
his hip-hop heroes heard the album and offered hymns of
praise.
"It's a good project," he says. "I've been blessed to be
able to deal with a number of people whose work I really
look up to, like?uestlove (The Roots) and Pete Rock.
They both heard the album and dug it. That's a huge
compliment because I grew up listening to those guys.
That just adds to the pride."
When asked if he'd composed any rhymes regarding his
life in law, Williams responds that he's tried to keep
the two pursuits separated.
"Some folks at school know I emcee," he says. "I try not
to mix the two worlds so it doesn't blur for me. But
once I start working, I'll just be going out on the
weekends. I try to separate the two worlds but they
still get intertwined."
Although his nonstop study sessions to complete his
degree probably didn't leave him much time for
contemplation, Williams admits he's aware of all he's
accomplished in such a short amount of time.
"It's kind of hard to wrap your head around it all," he
says. "But I do feel a sense of achievement in my
academic pursuits. And getting the (CD) out is huge." |
| |
|
Download -
Travis Williams - The Trickle Down |
| |
|
|
 |
|
Nas - I Am (Advanced Promo 1998) |
|
Word to your mother. Props for Hevehitta for this. |
| |
|
Download:
Nas - I Am (Advanced Promo 1998) |
| |
| |
 |
LL Cool J - Strictly For All You Haters
(Produced By DJ Premiere)(Produced
by Marley Marl) |
|
I have no idea of the time frame of this song. I'm
guessing within the last 10 years though....lol. |
| |
|
Download:
LL Cool J - Strictly For All You
Haters (Produced By DJ Premiere) |
| |
| |
 |
|
Lloyd feat. Grafh - Girl's Around The World (BlackHand
remix) |
|
Yes, another remix on the same day. Why can't these guys
take Wayne of the song? |
| |
|
Download:
Lloyd feat. Grafh - Girl's Around
The World (BlackHand remix) |
| |
| |
 |
|
DJ Nice & Legend-Joell Ortiz:Brooklyn Bomber |
Fresh off the well received and anticipated "Lost
Sessions" release
with Joe Budden ... DJ Nice teams up with Legend and
lyrical
heavyweight Joell Ortiz to showcase the
Brooklyn
Bomber himself. From the
depths of the most infamous borough comes the man who
can paint a vivid picture that will walk you thru the
depths of what it is to grow up hip hop in New York ...
Rising up from the bottom of the gutter and becoming one
of hip hops most lyrical monsters, Joell Ortiz is
towering above and dropping bombs ... He is the
BROOKLYN BOMBER
!
Featuring rare tracks &
freestyles from the
bomber himself ...
Brought to you by Brooklyn
born DJ Nice & The Kid Legend ! |
| |
|
Download:
DJ Nice & Legend-Joell
Ortiz:Brooklyn Bomber |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
LLOYD ALL AROUND THE WORLD REMIX FEAT TABI BONNEY |
|
I love Tabi on this joint. If only they had taken off
Lil' Wayne. |
|
|
|
Download:
LLOYD ALL AROUND THE WORLD REMIX
FEAT TABI BONNEY |
| |
| |
 |
|
88-Keys - Adam's Case Files |
|
If you don't know about 88-Keys, I'll supply the bullets
for you. Kill ya self. Here is his latest project
leading up to his Kanye West executive produced album. |
| |
|
Download:
88-Keys - Adam's Case Files |
|
________________________________________________________ |
 |
|
DJ Skee & Charles Hamilton - Crash
Landed |
|
Coming out of the new West Coast breed of lyricists,
Charles Hamilton is a rare breed of MC as apparent on
his mixtape with DJ Skee. Your gonna like what you hear. |
| |
|
Download:
DJ Skee & Charles Hamilton - Crash
Landed |
|
________________________________________________________ |
| |
 |
|
DJ Victorious & Sha Stimuli - While You Were Sleeping |
|
Stimuli is making it a very hot summer indeed. |
| |
|
Download:
DJ Victorious & Sha Stimuli -
While You Were Sleeping |
|
________________________________________________________ |
| |
 |
| X.O. - The Takeover
2 |
| X.O. hails from the nation's capital, Washington,
DC. The area is going through a music renaissance of
sorts. X.O. is one of the standout MC's leading the
charge. |
| |
| Download:
X.O. - The Takeover 2 |
| |
| |
 |
|
DJ Green Lantern & Nas
- The Nigger Tape |
|
Nas teams up with the evil genius Green Lantern for the
prequel to his Def Jam release. |
| |
|
Download:
DJ Green Lantern & Nas - The
Nigger Tape |
|
________________________________________________________ |
