Basehead
Encyclopedia
Basehead, also known as dc Basehead and Basehead 2.0, is an American
alternative hip hop
group formed by Michael Ivey in 1992. Ivey serves as the group's songwriter and leader, performing vocals and various instruments. Basehead's 1992 debut album, Play with Toys
, was recorded at Ivey's home with various studio musicians. Ivey formed a touring band for live performances, which contributed to Basehead's second album, Not in Kansas Anymore
. The group's current lineup consists of Ivey, drummer Aaron Burroughs and bassist Brendan Ciotta.
Basehead has received praise for its distinctive sound and lyrics. The group's music incorporates elements of various genres, including blues
, funk
, hip hop
and rock
. The lyrics of Play with Toys and Not in Kansas Anymore focus on subjects such as alcohol and cannabis use, depression, philosophy, politics and relationships. Beginning with the 1996 release of Faith, the group's lyrics have focused primarily on Christian
themes, which carried over to its albums In The Name of Jesus, dc Basehead and Rockalyptic Music.
in 1992 on the small independent label Emigre. Vocalist Michael Ivey recorded much of the album at his home on a four-track
with various friends. The album received favorable reviews and frequent airplay on college radio. Rolling Stone
reviewer Kevin Powell wrote that "Without being preachy, Basehead's unconventional style challenges listeners to get beyond their basic instincts and open their minds, search their souls." Assembling a five-member touring band, Ivey toured the United States
and Europe
, opening for the Beastie Boys
, Stone Temple Pilots
, and Ween
. After College Music Journal
featured Basehead on its cover, the group received attention from major labels, and signed with Imago Records
, a former subsidiary of BMG the following year, releasing its second studio album, Not in Kansas Anymore
. Rolling Stone reviewer Danyel Smith called the album "an alternative to the benign bullshit music that floods the chain stores and commercial radio waves." Stephen Thomas Erlewine
wrote that "Although it retains many of the same qualities of their critically acclaimed debut [...] there's nothing that has the same sense of discovery that made Play with Toys an interesting record."
In April 1994, Basehead recorded its third studio album, Faith, which retained the musical elements of previous albums, but featured lyrics focusing on religious
themes. During this period, Ivey also formed a side project, Bastard Youth of Basehead, also known as B.Y.O.B., and founded I3Records, an imprint of Rykodisc Records focusing on alternative music aimed at and produced by African American
musicians. In December 1994, Imago separated from BMG, and Faith was not released until two years later. The album's release problems resulted in the cancellation of a planned tour between Basehead and B.Y.O.B. Although some band members felt that they had not been given proper financial compensation for their work, Ivey stated that he took a smaller percentage of the songwriting credits than he was legally entitled to, and that the group's underpaid work would have "laid the groundwork" for future success if Faith did not have release problems.
In 1998, Basehead released its fourth studio album, In The Name of Jesus on the label Union of Vineyard Workers. In 2002 the group changed its name to dc Basehead, releasing their self-titled fifth album on November 19. Hamlin wrote that "the mastermind's [...] effective use of subtly shifting patterns inside a repeating framework, and his talented co-conspirators lift DC into distinction." Reforming as Basehead 2.0, the group released its sixth studio album, Rockalyptic Music in 2007.
, funk
, hip hop
, pop
, psychedelic
, reggae
, rock
and rhythm and blues
, is often regarded as alternative hip hop
and alternative rock
. David Jeffries from Allmusic described Play with Toys as "slacker rap". According to Michael Ivey, "There are hip-hop elements in there, but if a hardcore hip-hop
fan bought it, they might be disappointed". Ivey also stated that Basehead's music "doesn't have the expected samples
and sounds." The lyrical themes of Play with Toys and Not in Kansas Anymore focus on diverse subjects, including alcohol
and marijuana
use, depression
, philosophy
, politics
, racism
, and relationship breakup
s. Francis Davis
wrote that Ivey's lyrics "[subvert] both rock and gangsta-rap
conventions." Basehead's albums and performances feature live instrumentation
, which differentiates the group's sound from that of mainstream hip hop artists who rely solely on sampled instrumentation. On the group's albums, vocals and instruments are altered with studio techniques for effect. Ivey's vocals mix singing
and rapping
. According to Ivey, Basehead's former DJ
, Citizen Cope
, "doesn't play music. He makes sounds—[he's] an instrument in his own self. He might scratch certain words for a special effect."
In 1994, the group's lyrics shifted to Christian
themes, starting with the album Faith. Andrew Hamlin describes the lyrics of Faith as having "caught Ivey mid-capitulation. He wanted Jesus
in his life but he also wanted his beer
, his pot, his television
, and his lust
." During the release of Faith, Ivey stated that Basehead's fourth studio album, In The Name of Jesus, would feature even more Christian-oriented lyrics than Faith. Regarding the lyrics of In The Name of Jesus, Hamlin writes that "chanting praises leaves the Basehead mastermind without his characteristic wit, and he lacks the energetic exhortations that often lift gospel
performers above sameness in material." Regarding dc Basehead, Hamlin wrote that the album's lyrics were "miles in some direction or other from any stereotyped Christian rock
bin."
During a performance in which the group received a request for early material, Ivey stated "I'm still trying to work it out—how to follow God
and still give you the old shit" and introduced the group's Christian songs with self-deprecation, referring to the songs as "the new, reborn, love-God Basehead stuff." In a 1998 interview, Ivey stated "I'm kind of wary of the Church. I know there's this whole Christian music
market, but I don't think, theology-wise, I'm in agreement with a whole lot of Christians. [...] In fact, I don't know whether I like even being called a Christian."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
alternative hip hop
Alternative hip hop
Alternative hip hop is a sub-genre of hip hop music. Allmusic defines it as follows: -Origin:...
group formed by Michael Ivey in 1992. Ivey serves as the group's songwriter and leader, performing vocals and various instruments. Basehead's 1992 debut album, Play with Toys
Play with Toys
- Personnel :* Michael Ivey – guitar, vocals* Brian Hendrix – live drums* Bruce 'Kool Aid' Gardner - live drums on "2000 BC"* Paul 'DJ Unique' Howard - scratches* Bob Dewald - bass on "Play with Toys"* Marco Delmar - feedback solo on "Play with Toys"...
, was recorded at Ivey's home with various studio musicians. Ivey formed a touring band for live performances, which contributed to Basehead's second album, Not in Kansas Anymore
Not in Kansas Anymore
-Track listing:...
. The group's current lineup consists of Ivey, drummer Aaron Burroughs and bassist Brendan Ciotta.
Basehead has received praise for its distinctive sound and lyrics. The group's music incorporates elements of various genres, including blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
and rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
. The lyrics of Play with Toys and Not in Kansas Anymore focus on subjects such as alcohol and cannabis use, depression, philosophy, politics and relationships. Beginning with the 1996 release of Faith, the group's lyrics have focused primarily on Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
themes, which carried over to its albums In The Name of Jesus, dc Basehead and Rockalyptic Music.
History
Basehead released its debut album, Play with ToysPlay with Toys
- Personnel :* Michael Ivey – guitar, vocals* Brian Hendrix – live drums* Bruce 'Kool Aid' Gardner - live drums on "2000 BC"* Paul 'DJ Unique' Howard - scratches* Bob Dewald - bass on "Play with Toys"* Marco Delmar - feedback solo on "Play with Toys"...
in 1992 on the small independent label Emigre. Vocalist Michael Ivey recorded much of the album at his home on a four-track
Multitrack recording
Multitrack recording is a method of sound recording that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources to create a cohesive whole...
with various friends. The album received favorable reviews and frequent airplay on college radio. Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
reviewer Kevin Powell wrote that "Without being preachy, Basehead's unconventional style challenges listeners to get beyond their basic instincts and open their minds, search their souls." Assembling a five-member touring band, Ivey toured the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, opening for the Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....
, Stone Temple Pilots
Stone Temple Pilots
Stone Temple Pilots is an American rock band from San Diego, California that consists of Scott Weiland , brothers Robert DeLeo and Dean DeLeo , and Eric Kretz ....
, and Ween
Ween
Ween is an American alternative rock group. They formed in 1984 in New Hope, Pennsylvania when central members Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo met in an eighth grade typing class. Ween has a large cult underground fanbase despite being generally unknown in American pop music...
. After College Music Journal
College Music Journal
College Music Journal, commonly known as CMJ, is a music events/publishing company which hosts an annual festival in New York City, the CMJ Music Marathon, as well as a weekly magazine of and for the music industry and college radio stations in the United States and Canada. It publishes top 30...
featured Basehead on its cover, the group received attention from major labels, and signed with Imago Records
Imago Records
Imago Records was an independent record label which was active during the late 1980s – early 1990s. Several influential artists released albums through Imago, including Henry Rollins, Aimee Mann, Paula Cole and Love Spit Love...
, a former subsidiary of BMG the following year, releasing its second studio album, Not in Kansas Anymore
Not in Kansas Anymore
-Track listing:...
. Rolling Stone reviewer Danyel Smith called the album "an alternative to the benign bullshit music that floods the chain stores and commercial radio waves." Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...
wrote that "Although it retains many of the same qualities of their critically acclaimed debut [...] there's nothing that has the same sense of discovery that made Play with Toys an interesting record."
In April 1994, Basehead recorded its third studio album, Faith, which retained the musical elements of previous albums, but featured lyrics focusing on religious
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
themes. During this period, Ivey also formed a side project, Bastard Youth of Basehead, also known as B.Y.O.B., and founded I3Records, an imprint of Rykodisc Records focusing on alternative music aimed at and produced by African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
musicians. In December 1994, Imago separated from BMG, and Faith was not released until two years later. The album's release problems resulted in the cancellation of a planned tour between Basehead and B.Y.O.B. Although some band members felt that they had not been given proper financial compensation for their work, Ivey stated that he took a smaller percentage of the songwriting credits than he was legally entitled to, and that the group's underpaid work would have "laid the groundwork" for future success if Faith did not have release problems.
In 1998, Basehead released its fourth studio album, In The Name of Jesus on the label Union of Vineyard Workers. In 2002 the group changed its name to dc Basehead, releasing their self-titled fifth album on November 19. Hamlin wrote that "the mastermind's [...] effective use of subtly shifting patterns inside a repeating framework, and his talented co-conspirators lift DC into distinction." Reforming as Basehead 2.0, the group released its sixth studio album, Rockalyptic Music in 2007.
Music and lyrics
Basehead's musical style, which fuses elements of bluesBlues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
, pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, psychedelic
Psychedelic music
Psychedelic music covers a range of popular music styles and genres, which are inspired by or influenced by psychedelic culture and which attempt to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues-rock bands in the...
, reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
and rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
, is often regarded as alternative hip hop
Alternative hip hop
Alternative hip hop is a sub-genre of hip hop music. Allmusic defines it as follows: -Origin:...
and alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
. David Jeffries from Allmusic described Play with Toys as "slacker rap". According to Michael Ivey, "There are hip-hop elements in there, but if a hardcore hip-hop
Hardcore hip hop
Hardcore hip hop, also referred to as hardcore rap, is a sub-genre of hip hop music that developed through the East Coast hip hop scene in the 1980s. Pioneered by such artists as Schoolly D, Spoonie Gee, Boogie Down Productions, and Kool G Rap, it is generally characterized by anger, aggression and...
fan bought it, they might be disappointed". Ivey also stated that Basehead's music "doesn't have the expected samples
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
and sounds." The lyrical themes of Play with Toys and Not in Kansas Anymore focus on diverse subjects, including alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
and marijuana
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
use, depression
Depression (mood)
Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behaviour, feelings and physical well-being. Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, or restless...
, philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
, racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
, and relationship breakup
Relationship breakup
A relationship breakup, often referred to simply as a breakup, is the termination of a usually intimate relationship by any means other than death. The act is commonly termed "dumping [someone]" in slang when it is initiated by one partner...
s. Francis Davis
Francis Davis
Francis Davis is an American author and journalist. He is best known as the jazz critic for The Village Voice, and a contributing editor for The Atlantic Monthly. He has also worked in radio and film, and taught courses on Jazz and Blues at the University of Pennsylvania...
wrote that Ivey's lyrics "[subvert] both rock and gangsta-rap
Gangsta rap
Gangsta Rap is a subgenre of hip hop music that evolved from hardcore hip hop and purports to reflect urban crime and the violent lifestyles of inner-city youths. Lyrics in gangsta rap have varied from accurate reflections to fictionalized accounts. Gangsta is a non-rhotic pronunciation of the word...
conventions." Basehead's albums and performances feature live instrumentation
Live instrumentation
In music, live instrumentation is the use of acoustic and electronic musical instruments in live music and recording rather than DJing, sampling, and other recording techniques....
, which differentiates the group's sound from that of mainstream hip hop artists who rely solely on sampled instrumentation. On the group's albums, vocals and instruments are altered with studio techniques for effect. Ivey's vocals mix singing
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
and rapping
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
. According to Ivey, Basehead's former DJ
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
, Citizen Cope
Citizen Cope
Clarence Greenwood is an American songwriter and producer. His eclectic mix of blues, laid-back rock, soul, and folk has a large and profoundly dedicated following, built over the past decade of touring due to solid word of mouth....
, "doesn't play music. He makes sounds—[he's] an instrument in his own self. He might scratch certain words for a special effect."
In 1994, the group's lyrics shifted to Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
themes, starting with the album Faith. Andrew Hamlin describes the lyrics of Faith as having "caught Ivey mid-capitulation. He wanted Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
in his life but he also wanted his beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
, his pot, his television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, and his lust
Lust
Lust is an emotional force that is directly associated with the thinking or fantasizing about one's desire, usually in a sexual way.-Etymology:The word lust is phonetically similar to the ancient Roman lustrum, which literally meant "purification"...
." During the release of Faith, Ivey stated that Basehead's fourth studio album, In The Name of Jesus, would feature even more Christian-oriented lyrics than Faith. Regarding the lyrics of In The Name of Jesus, Hamlin writes that "chanting praises leaves the Basehead mastermind without his characteristic wit, and he lacks the energetic exhortations that often lift gospel
Gospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
performers above sameness in material." Regarding dc Basehead, Hamlin wrote that the album's lyrics were "miles in some direction or other from any stereotyped Christian rock
Christian rock
Christian rock is a form of rock music played by individuals and bands whose members are Christians and who often focus the lyrics on matters concerned with the Christian faith. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Christian varies between bands...
bin."
During a performance in which the group received a request for early material, Ivey stated "I'm still trying to work it out—how to follow God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
and still give you the old shit" and introduced the group's Christian songs with self-deprecation, referring to the songs as "the new, reborn, love-God Basehead stuff." In a 1998 interview, Ivey stated "I'm kind of wary of the Church. I know there's this whole Christian music
Christian music
Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely across the world....
market, but I don't think, theology-wise, I'm in agreement with a whole lot of Christians. [...] In fact, I don't know whether I like even being called a Christian."
Band members
- Michael Ivey — guitar, vocals
- Aaron Burroughs — drums
- Brendan Ciotta — bass
Former members
- Bill Conway — bass
- Keith "Lazy K" Lofton — guitar
- Clarence "Citizen Cope" GreenwoodCitizen CopeClarence Greenwood is an American songwriter and producer. His eclectic mix of blues, laid-back rock, soul, and folk has a large and profoundly dedicated following, built over the past decade of touring due to solid word of mouth....
— turntables - Brian Hendrix — drums
- Jay Nichols — drums
Discography
- Play with ToysPlay with Toys- Personnel :* Michael Ivey – guitar, vocals* Brian Hendrix – live drums* Bruce 'Kool Aid' Gardner - live drums on "2000 BC"* Paul 'DJ Unique' Howard - scratches* Bob Dewald - bass on "Play with Toys"* Marco Delmar - feedback solo on "Play with Toys"...
(1992) - Not in Kansas AnymoreNot in Kansas Anymore-Track listing:...
(1993) - Faith (1996)
- In The Name Of Jesus (1998)
- dc Basehead (2002)
- Rockalyptic Music (2007)