Street Soul Productions
Encyclopedia
Street Soul Productions (S.S.P) Is a record label
established in 2005. Based in Birmingham
, London
, Ipswich
and California
. The label is called Street Soul to pay tribute to the hip hop
genre, in particular the movement from the mid-1990s.
Created by James Kennaby, aka Vice in 2005, Street Soul Productions is aimed at an Alternative UK Hip Hop. Created in Birmingham, UK involve artists from around the World, embracing all different styles, and incorporating emcees, singers, DJs, Producers and session musicians to consistently create a unique brand of Hip Hop for the future.
. In the same year Halo formed a trio called The Micrippers. The group consisted of Halo, JD Sykex and Geo-Graphic. Within a few months the group began performing at various student nights and live events around the region and began to build a strong following. Venom was invited to DJ for the group and incorporated the performers into his existing Live shows. Alongside being a DJ, Venom was also an event promoter and radio show host and managed to build the Micrippers fanbase.
The project sold out within the first few weeks, and from there the music became stronger. Incorporating various session musicians from Beatboxers to singers, guitarists to DJ's, the sound eveolved alongside the overall professionalism of the Micrippers approach.
, The Micrippers released their second project entitled The Lost Chapters. The project was used as a promotional tool, and more importantly a way to connect with new musicians and extend the artists' existing network.
Also in 2006, Venom started work on Your's Sincerely mixtape.
During this year Halo started work on Halogenic, with the intention of creating a project that blends a variety of different styles and sounds to illustrate his skills as an Emcee. Around the same time Vice started work on con-X-ions after a successful internet based collaboration with Canadian Emcees Wio-K and Dan-e-o, and Australian Emcee Eljay.
As part of the con-X-ions Vice connected with Rawkus Records / Glow In The Dark Panacea. The group later went on to be named Number 1 Hip Hop album of 2007 in Hip Hop Connection magazine, a UK based magazine which was established in the early 1990s. The track Vice and Panacea created is entitled Momentary Emotions.
In January 2008 Vice, Venom, Halo and REP were invited to appear on the long running pirate radio station Force FM for the DJ Shorty Show. The show wasn't recorded, and consequently a 20 minute podcast was created by Street Soul Productions as an alternative download for listenners.
Also during 2008 California based d. C. officially joined the Street Soul team as an official producer. Like with all the Street Soul artists d. C. continues to work with non-Street Soul members, and already has worked with New York based rapper Fokis (Aftermath Entertainment) , Wu Tang International member Darkim Be Allah (see List of Wu-Tang Clan affiliates), Lauren Santiago and many more. d. C. has contributed to a number of Street Soul projects including Vice's con-X-ions, Venom's Northern Soul, REP's Distant Traveller and Halo's For The Love Of The Music.
The label are strongly connected with the local music scene on a grassroots level. Not only concentrating on the music, the label also works with talented artists including photographer Karl R Dixon, illustrator Gemma Lewis, caricature artist Matt Brown aka Stilts, graphic designers Simon Randall and Hon To and many more talented individuals who create their work with a social conscience.
In late January 2009, Vice and Venom, the co-creators of Street Soul Productions launched the Basement Sessions Podcasts. Utilising the Podomatic website, the podcasts were intended to promote new music from the Street Soul Productions musicians, however the podcasts rapidly expanded and Vice quickly became established as an interviewer and podcast host.
In May 2009, Sensei FM, a London based online radio station added Basement Sessions to its range of shows, giving Basement Sessions increased credibility and a larger audience. By June 2009, 500+ people had subscribed to the show using I-Tunes.
Currently, the Street Soul Productions team are working on an event called Basement Sessions Live, which has been granted funding from the Arts Council under the Grants For The Arts scheme.
• d. C. - Producer - California, USA
• Halo - Emcee - Ipswich, UK
• REP - Emcee - Birmingham, UK
• Venom - Emcee / DJ - London, UK
• Vice - Emcee / Producer - Birmingham, UK
Associates
• Remedy - Emcee - Ipswich, Uk
• JD Sykex - Emcee - London, UK
• Ascend - Producer - Ipswich, UK
• Carvalho - Vocalist, Bassist & Flute Player - Birmingham, UK
• 2005: Vice - "The Tales Of A Street Poet"
• 2006: d. C. - "Separation Anxiety" (Released on soulplusmind music)
• 2007: d. C. - "Cut 'N' Sewn" (Released on soulplusmind music)
• 2008: Venom - "Your's Sincerely Mixtape"
• 2009: d. C. - Darkim Be Allah - "God In The Ghetto Mixtape" (Co-produced by d. C.) (Released on Fame Labs Music)
• 2009: Halo - "Halogenic" - Date TBC
• 2009: Vice - "con-X-ions" - Date TBC
• 2009: REP - "The Distant Traveller" - Date TBC
• 2009: Venom - "Northern Soul" - Date TBC
• 2009: Halo - "For The Love Of The Music" - Date TBC
• 2009: Vice & d. C. - "The Transatlantic Connection" - Date TBC (To be Released on Street Soul / soulplusmind music)
• Street Soul Myspace
• ArtsFest Reference
• Basement Sessions Homepage
• Basement Sessions Podcast page
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
established in 2005. Based in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Ipswich
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
and California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. The label is called Street Soul to pay tribute to the hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
genre, in particular the movement from the mid-1990s.
Created by James Kennaby, aka Vice in 2005, Street Soul Productions is aimed at an Alternative UK Hip Hop. Created in Birmingham, UK involve artists from around the World, embracing all different styles, and incorporating emcees, singers, DJs, Producers and session musicians to consistently create a unique brand of Hip Hop for the future.
2002
Vice, Halo and Venom began studying at the University of LincolnUniversity of Lincoln
The University of Lincoln is an English university founded in 1992, with origins tracing back to the foundation and association with the Hull School of Art 1861....
. In the same year Halo formed a trio called The Micrippers. The group consisted of Halo, JD Sykex and Geo-Graphic. Within a few months the group began performing at various student nights and live events around the region and began to build a strong following. Venom was invited to DJ for the group and incorporated the performers into his existing Live shows. Alongside being a DJ, Venom was also an event promoter and radio show host and managed to build the Micrippers fanbase.
2003
The following year the group began to record their debut project entitled The Four Chapters. At this point additional members began building around the core Micrippers team. The new members included Emcees Stevie Beko and Vice. The newly formed collective quickly established their roles, with Halo and Vice engineering the music, Geo-graphic concentrating on the production and Venom, JD Sykex and Stevie Beko concentrating on promotion.The project sold out within the first few weeks, and from there the music became stronger. Incorporating various session musicians from Beatboxers to singers, guitarists to DJ's, the sound eveolved alongside the overall professionalism of the Micrippers approach.
2004
During the final year of UniversityUniversity
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
, The Micrippers released their second project entitled The Lost Chapters. The project was used as a promotional tool, and more importantly a way to connect with new musicians and extend the artists' existing network.
2005
After graduating from Lincoln University the group stayed in touch, and in September 2005 Vice approached Halo and Venom to become members of the newly formed Street Soul Productions record label. During this time James Kennaby (Vice) had started work on the label's debut project entitled The Tales Of A Street Poet. Enlisting the help of a variety of producers including Rise (Futuristica) and Arcaine (Hedphokis) alongside Emcee Solo Cypher of the Birmingham based Vocal Swords collective. By the end of the year 1000 copies of the project had been pressed on to CD and the trio began to distribute the project around the country.2006
The label decided to expand, with the addition of formed Micrippers member JD Sykex and Birmingham based REP.Also in 2006, Venom started work on Your's Sincerely mixtape.
2007
In 2007 the label started facilitating music workshops. Concentrating on lyric writing, emceeing, DJ'ing and music production, the Street Soul Productions team are attempting to spread positive messages to a wide variety of schools, community projects and youth centres around the UK.During this year Halo started work on Halogenic, with the intention of creating a project that blends a variety of different styles and sounds to illustrate his skills as an Emcee. Around the same time Vice started work on con-X-ions after a successful internet based collaboration with Canadian Emcees Wio-K and Dan-e-o, and Australian Emcee Eljay.
As part of the con-X-ions Vice connected with Rawkus Records / Glow In The Dark Panacea. The group later went on to be named Number 1 Hip Hop album of 2007 in Hip Hop Connection magazine, a UK based magazine which was established in the early 1990s. The track Vice and Panacea created is entitled Momentary Emotions.
2008
2008 saw the label go from strength to strength, with interest from BBC 1Xtra, Big Smoke Magazine and This Is Hip Hop (Blog). In the same year the team began promoting forthcoming projects. d. C. and Vice began a collaborative project entitled "The Transatlantic Connection". One track from the LP saw particular success. "Searching" was chosen to be part of a charity compilation by development charity Kamay a Puso which was distributed nationally across America in October 2008.In January 2008 Vice, Venom, Halo and REP were invited to appear on the long running pirate radio station Force FM for the DJ Shorty Show. The show wasn't recorded, and consequently a 20 minute podcast was created by Street Soul Productions as an alternative download for listenners.
Also during 2008 California based d. C. officially joined the Street Soul team as an official producer. Like with all the Street Soul artists d. C. continues to work with non-Street Soul members, and already has worked with New York based rapper Fokis (Aftermath Entertainment) , Wu Tang International member Darkim Be Allah (see List of Wu-Tang Clan affiliates), Lauren Santiago and many more. d. C. has contributed to a number of Street Soul projects including Vice's con-X-ions, Venom's Northern Soul, REP's Distant Traveller and Halo's For The Love Of The Music.
2009
By 2009 Street Soul Productions were becoming established within the UK Hip Hop community, and created a podcast called Basement Sessions to further promote the artists. Working with both up and coming and established musicians, DJs and promoters, the podcast built up a rapid fanbase via various social networking websites and blogs including Facebook, Blogger (Google) and MySpace.The label are strongly connected with the local music scene on a grassroots level. Not only concentrating on the music, the label also works with talented artists including photographer Karl R Dixon, illustrator Gemma Lewis, caricature artist Matt Brown aka Stilts, graphic designers Simon Randall and Hon To and many more talented individuals who create their work with a social conscience.
In late January 2009, Vice and Venom, the co-creators of Street Soul Productions launched the Basement Sessions Podcasts. Utilising the Podomatic website, the podcasts were intended to promote new music from the Street Soul Productions musicians, however the podcasts rapidly expanded and Vice quickly became established as an interviewer and podcast host.
In May 2009, Sensei FM, a London based online radio station added Basement Sessions to its range of shows, giving Basement Sessions increased credibility and a larger audience. By June 2009, 500+ people had subscribed to the show using I-Tunes.
Currently, the Street Soul Productions team are working on an event called Basement Sessions Live, which has been granted funding from the Arts Council under the Grants For The Arts scheme.
Artists
Current• d. C. - Producer - California, USA
• Halo - Emcee - Ipswich, UK
• REP - Emcee - Birmingham, UK
• Venom - Emcee / DJ - London, UK
• Vice - Emcee / Producer - Birmingham, UK
Associates
• Remedy - Emcee - Ipswich, Uk
• JD Sykex - Emcee - London, UK
• Ascend - Producer - Ipswich, UK
• Carvalho - Vocalist, Bassist & Flute Player - Birmingham, UK
Discography
Studio albums• 2005: Vice - "The Tales Of A Street Poet"
• 2006: d. C. - "Separation Anxiety" (Released on soulplusmind music)
• 2007: d. C. - "Cut 'N' Sewn" (Released on soulplusmind music)
• 2008: Venom - "Your's Sincerely Mixtape"
• 2009: d. C. - Darkim Be Allah - "God In The Ghetto Mixtape" (Co-produced by d. C.) (Released on Fame Labs Music)
• 2009: Halo - "Halogenic" - Date TBC
• 2009: Vice - "con-X-ions" - Date TBC
• 2009: REP - "The Distant Traveller" - Date TBC
• 2009: Venom - "Northern Soul" - Date TBC
• 2009: Halo - "For The Love Of The Music" - Date TBC
• 2009: Vice & d. C. - "The Transatlantic Connection" - Date TBC (To be Released on Street Soul / soulplusmind music)
External links
• Official site• Street Soul Myspace
• ArtsFest Reference
• Basement Sessions Homepage
• Basement Sessions Podcast page