Post by Dark 7 Invader on Mar 31, 2006 3:12:45 GMT -5
March 30th, 2006
BRAND NUBIAN’S LORD JAMAR PREPARES FOR SOPRANOS DEBUT & NEW ALBUM WITH
WU-TANG
WORLD PREMIERE OF TRACKS FEATURING THE RZA, RAEKWON & MORE NOW LIVE ON
WWW.HIPHOPCRACK.COM
If you know Lord Jamar it will probably be from his work with “golden
age” hip-hop legends Brand Nubian.
This week, however, denotes a landmark in Lord Jamar’s continually
dynamic acting and musical career with the announcement of the June
27th release of his debut solo concept album, The 5% Album (featuring
guest appearances from Wu-Tang legends RZA, GZA & Raekwon) on NY-based
powerhouse indie Babygrande Records, as well as his prominent role in
the next episode of HBO’s smash series The Sopranos.
While The Sopranos role is amongst the highest profile stints in
Jamar’s acting career to date, he has appeared prominently in numerous
other shows: "Law & Order" (once on original show, & twice on
SVU), "Third Watch," and perhaps his most renowned role to date as a
5%-er on the acclaimed HBO series OZ.
So why a LORD JAMAR solo album now and why an album about the 5%
message? Jamar says
“I've always wanted to do a solo album but certain things side-tracked
me, i.e.: discovering and working with Dead Prez, acting in things
like Oz, etc. Originally my album was supposed to come last year but
we pushed it back so I could create more fire.” For Jamar making the
record an album about his culture was a logical move. He grew up with
a generation of rappers that were down with the 5% message, including
hip-hop acts like The World Famous Supreme Team, Just-Ice, Rakim of
Eric B & Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, Poor Righteous Teachers, all the
members of the Wu Tang Clan, Digable Planets, & Busta Rhymes.
Jamar further explains “there are more rappers in the Five Percent
Nation than in Minister Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam (NOI)
because the NOI doesn't lend itself to Hip Hop. The NOI is a very
structured & rigid organization. Hip-Hop is very loose, and free. The
two don't complement each other. Whereas the Five Percent Nation is
more ‘in the street,’ and is already respected, & accepted by the Hip
Hop generation. The Five Percent Nation also isn’t anything to do with
straight Islam. I know of a few rappers who are straight Muslim, but
they don’t outnumber those in the Five Percent Nation. I am not an
oppressor of Muslims; I have no fear of them. We in the N.G.E. (Nation
of Gods and Earths a.k.a The 5 Percenters) are not Muslims. To be a
Muslim is to submit to the will of Allah, & practice the religion of
Islam. To be a member of the N.G.E. is to come in the name of Allah, &
to study I.S.L.A.M, which stands for I Self Lord And Master. See, in
the Five Percent Nation, each man is the sole controller of his own
universe. If you're the god of your universe, you set up your own
laws.” Jamar elaborates “the 5% message has something for everyone
that wants to learn. It's true this nation was started to empower poor
black youth, but the lessons taught are ones we can all use.”
The N.G.E can be seen as a uniquely American movement in the same way
that Hip-Hop is a uniquely American music. The N.G.E believe in the
divinity of the black man: that the black man is the original man,
they believe that teaching based on technology is
simply "tricknology,” they believe that mathematics is a superior form
of understanding, but hardly an exclusive or prejudiced ideology, they
believe that Freedom, Justice, & Equality is to be had for all people.
Owing to the rich history of the 5% movement, Babygrande Records will
be issuing The 5% Album with a special 40+ page collector’s edition
booklet that expounds further upon the principles of the 5% movement,
its origin and continual growth, as well as its profound effect as one
of hip-hop’s cornerstone ideologies. And as members of the 5% Nation
themselves, it only made sense that the Wu-Tang Clan would come to be
integrally involved in the project. As Jamar elaborates: “I met the
Gods back in the day when we first came out. I remember building with
RZA, GZA, & Dirty back then, I always felt the gods. That's family. My
original goal was to get all the Gods from the Hip Hop nation. It just
so happens that the Gods from Wu are ones that stepped up to the
plate. Peace to the entire Wu-Tang Clan.”
Babygrande Records CEO Chuck Wilson also weighs in on the gravity and
magnitude of The 5% Album:
"The African-American nuclear family was decimated by slavery. The
rebuilding process continues today. For many African-Americans,
particularly those in the ghetto trapped in a world of poverty and
crime, the 5% ideology offers a means of finding self esteem, purpose,
discipline and so much more. Lord Jamar (and his A&R Dreddy Kruger),
has crafted a brilliant album that pays homage to the ideology that
helped shape his life and the entire genre of music we call hip-hop.
In this era defined by hyper-materialism and the glamorization of
violence, let us never forget where, why and how this genre of music
came to be."
The 5% Message is a continually vital message to many urban youth.
With The 5% Album, Lord Jamar is reaching out and giving a long
overdue voice to a culture that he, as well as some of hip-hop’s most
foundational and influential artists, have lived for years. Lord
Jamar’s The 5% Album hits stores on June 27th, 2006
For further information and to preview tracks from the forthcoming
album, please visit:
www.hiphopcrack.com
www.5percent.org
www.babygrande.com
BRAND NUBIAN’S LORD JAMAR PREPARES FOR SOPRANOS DEBUT & NEW ALBUM WITH
WU-TANG
WORLD PREMIERE OF TRACKS FEATURING THE RZA, RAEKWON & MORE NOW LIVE ON
WWW.HIPHOPCRACK.COM
If you know Lord Jamar it will probably be from his work with “golden
age” hip-hop legends Brand Nubian.
This week, however, denotes a landmark in Lord Jamar’s continually
dynamic acting and musical career with the announcement of the June
27th release of his debut solo concept album, The 5% Album (featuring
guest appearances from Wu-Tang legends RZA, GZA & Raekwon) on NY-based
powerhouse indie Babygrande Records, as well as his prominent role in
the next episode of HBO’s smash series The Sopranos.
While The Sopranos role is amongst the highest profile stints in
Jamar’s acting career to date, he has appeared prominently in numerous
other shows: "Law & Order" (once on original show, & twice on
SVU), "Third Watch," and perhaps his most renowned role to date as a
5%-er on the acclaimed HBO series OZ.
So why a LORD JAMAR solo album now and why an album about the 5%
message? Jamar says
“I've always wanted to do a solo album but certain things side-tracked
me, i.e.: discovering and working with Dead Prez, acting in things
like Oz, etc. Originally my album was supposed to come last year but
we pushed it back so I could create more fire.” For Jamar making the
record an album about his culture was a logical move. He grew up with
a generation of rappers that were down with the 5% message, including
hip-hop acts like The World Famous Supreme Team, Just-Ice, Rakim of
Eric B & Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, Poor Righteous Teachers, all the
members of the Wu Tang Clan, Digable Planets, & Busta Rhymes.
Jamar further explains “there are more rappers in the Five Percent
Nation than in Minister Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam (NOI)
because the NOI doesn't lend itself to Hip Hop. The NOI is a very
structured & rigid organization. Hip-Hop is very loose, and free. The
two don't complement each other. Whereas the Five Percent Nation is
more ‘in the street,’ and is already respected, & accepted by the Hip
Hop generation. The Five Percent Nation also isn’t anything to do with
straight Islam. I know of a few rappers who are straight Muslim, but
they don’t outnumber those in the Five Percent Nation. I am not an
oppressor of Muslims; I have no fear of them. We in the N.G.E. (Nation
of Gods and Earths a.k.a The 5 Percenters) are not Muslims. To be a
Muslim is to submit to the will of Allah, & practice the religion of
Islam. To be a member of the N.G.E. is to come in the name of Allah, &
to study I.S.L.A.M, which stands for I Self Lord And Master. See, in
the Five Percent Nation, each man is the sole controller of his own
universe. If you're the god of your universe, you set up your own
laws.” Jamar elaborates “the 5% message has something for everyone
that wants to learn. It's true this nation was started to empower poor
black youth, but the lessons taught are ones we can all use.”
The N.G.E can be seen as a uniquely American movement in the same way
that Hip-Hop is a uniquely American music. The N.G.E believe in the
divinity of the black man: that the black man is the original man,
they believe that teaching based on technology is
simply "tricknology,” they believe that mathematics is a superior form
of understanding, but hardly an exclusive or prejudiced ideology, they
believe that Freedom, Justice, & Equality is to be had for all people.
Owing to the rich history of the 5% movement, Babygrande Records will
be issuing The 5% Album with a special 40+ page collector’s edition
booklet that expounds further upon the principles of the 5% movement,
its origin and continual growth, as well as its profound effect as one
of hip-hop’s cornerstone ideologies. And as members of the 5% Nation
themselves, it only made sense that the Wu-Tang Clan would come to be
integrally involved in the project. As Jamar elaborates: “I met the
Gods back in the day when we first came out. I remember building with
RZA, GZA, & Dirty back then, I always felt the gods. That's family. My
original goal was to get all the Gods from the Hip Hop nation. It just
so happens that the Gods from Wu are ones that stepped up to the
plate. Peace to the entire Wu-Tang Clan.”
Babygrande Records CEO Chuck Wilson also weighs in on the gravity and
magnitude of The 5% Album:
"The African-American nuclear family was decimated by slavery. The
rebuilding process continues today. For many African-Americans,
particularly those in the ghetto trapped in a world of poverty and
crime, the 5% ideology offers a means of finding self esteem, purpose,
discipline and so much more. Lord Jamar (and his A&R Dreddy Kruger),
has crafted a brilliant album that pays homage to the ideology that
helped shape his life and the entire genre of music we call hip-hop.
In this era defined by hyper-materialism and the glamorization of
violence, let us never forget where, why and how this genre of music
came to be."
The 5% Message is a continually vital message to many urban youth.
With The 5% Album, Lord Jamar is reaching out and giving a long
overdue voice to a culture that he, as well as some of hip-hop’s most
foundational and influential artists, have lived for years. Lord
Jamar’s The 5% Album hits stores on June 27th, 2006
For further information and to preview tracks from the forthcoming
album, please visit:
www.hiphopcrack.com
www.5percent.org
www.babygrande.com