It’s probably been the worst kept secret ever, but we’d like to officially announce that K-OTIX (yes, all 3 members) is putting the finishing touches on a new project called “LEGENDARY”, and will be releasing it this October!

In addition to that, we’re working on a globe-spanning video documentary to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the crew. (Wow – that’s a long time!) There’s still time for you to get involved if you’d like. In addition to that, we’re also planning a one-of-a-kind live performance  in our hometown of Houston, TX in October to celebrate it all, and we’ll get more details on that soon. Whatever you do – don’t miss it – take our word on it.

Over the next few months we’ll roll out some new exclusives and updates leading up to the big day. New music and videos? Yes, it’s coming. Did you miss out on getting K-OTIX t-shirts back in the day? Looks like we’re going to have some limited edition “LEGENDARY” shirts.

Anyhow, we’ve got to get back in the studio to tidy up a few things. Thanks for your support over the years, and we look forward to releasing “LEGENDARY” in October!

-KO-

If you don’t care for 48-bar verses, look away now.

This was originally going to appear on the once-planned “Ethos II” project that never really came around. (There’s still hope!) It’s a classic example of how easily I can get distracted when it takes too long to get the song done.

D-ology is my personal favorite MC, so any chance that I get to record him – I jump on it. He was originally supposed to appear on The Science Part I along with the other members of The Niyat, D Rose, and Big Mon.

What’s kinda quirky about this song is that I actually talk about the making of the song within the song itself. I had a lot of track to use, so I stretched the verse as far as I could.

I can already hear FWMJ saying “It’s dope, needs a bassline though.” Well, apologies again to Wayne Bertoni. He worked hard to make a NICE bassline for me, but it was lost in the HD crash.

This track goes back a little over a year ago, back to when D Rose started working on his “Daily Journal” project. After our “Play It Cool” experience from the first project, he wanted me to bring some heat for the follow up. Well, it wasn’t easy. I produce, but i’m more of an on-demand producer. I’m not the type that will make 5 tracks a day and give people beat tapes of 50 beats to choose from. In this instance, I had a few that i’d accumulated. I think I sent D Rose about 4 or 5, and he turned them all down.

So I decided to make one from scratch – the one you hear now. GOT EM COACH! In time, we realized that it wasn’t going to make the final cut of the album. Wish I could have done more with it, but you know how it is with HD crashes…

A couple of years ago Brew sent me a track that he was just kind of playing with, produced by his partner in crime C.O.S. called “Hard”. Can’t really remember what it was supposed to be for, but I just imposed myself on it anyway. It’s what I do. After my recent hard drive crash, I came across this one unexpectedly. What you hear is just a demo version; I don’t think we had any specific plans for it. It still goes hard. Pun intended.

If I recall correctly, this was one of the first songs recorded for D. Rose’s upcoming “Daily Journal” project. It was originally supposed to appear on King Coz’s “80s Project”, which kind of fell into the ether. Either way, enjoy.

Let me say, first of all – I feel that this is one of the most well-written songs that we’ve ever done.

Back in 2008, we planned on releasing 3 projects: The Reason LP, and 2 EPs titled The Reckoning and The Redemption. The first 2 got released; The Redemption just kind of… you know…

We screened this song for quite a few people, and the reaction across the board was nearly identical – absolute, dumbfounded silence. It’s one of those songs that really cuts to the core of any artist who has to sacrifice their interpersonal relationships for the sake of their craft.

Extra special thanks to Michele Thibeaux for gracing this track! My dream is to one day get a band together to replay this track and make it something grand. I think Denis Cisneros would sound great on the guitar. We’ll see.

Of all the tracks that got lost in my recent hard drive crash, this one probably hurts the most.

Most of my ideas come to me in dreams. For years i’d wanted to take that War sample and chop it to infinity, but never really knew how I wanted it to sound. One night I had a dream, and in that dream I sampled it almost identically to what you hear now. I woke up at around 3 am and immediately ran into my home studio to chop it the same way that I heard it in my dream – couldn’t run the risk of forgetting it. It took me about 3 or 4 hours to get everything out of it.

Of course, I had to get the crew on it. It was originally supposed to go on the planned Ethos II album, but just kinda got tossed to the side. If I ever recover my hard drive, this is the first session that i’m pulling up. This version doesn’t even do justice to the nearly-completed version, which also features a dope bass arrangement by Wayne Bertone (sorry, Wayne!)

Another one from the #CRASH series, also part of D Rose’s #STAYDOWN campaign…

We recorded this track towards the completion of D Rose and DJ Cozmos’ “Tasters Choice” sessions for possible inclusion on that project, but decided to hold off. One of those rare moments when we actually get to write from scratch together in the studio. I’ve got the video of that session buried somewhere, and i’ll bring it out soon.

Unfortunately, the original session was lost in my hard drive crash from a few weeks ago. I’ve got a pretty neat idea for a video to this song if we ever decide to put it out there like that. For now – enjoy!

Damien

From Damien:

A few weeks ago, the hard drive that I store all of my music sessions on crashed, taking with it a number of songs that were in progress / incomplete / sitting idle / forgotten. I’m usually pretty good about backing up my drives, but neglected to back this one up for a while. Fortunately, some of the more important future releases are intact, but there are a few sessions that were dear to me that are presumably missing forever. Luckily, I still have the unfinished 2-track versions of a lot of these songs, so i’m just going to give them to you as they are.

The first is “Presto Chango” by perhaps my personal favorite lyricist ever, D-ology of The Niyat. He stopped by my home studio last summer to record a few songs, and we got into a discussion about the monetary system (i’ve been the financial services industry for nearly 15 years). He mentioned that he’d written a song about the abuses and misconceptions of monetary policy, and implored me to add a verse. We originally recorded it over a track that I produced and had waiting in the wings. Later on he brought by the final track, produced by Mirawge, and it ended up being a better fit for the song. Apologies to D-ology – I know that he wanted to re-record his second verse again. But the session’s gone. I still see the raw beauty in any imperfections that you may find in the verses – it definitely captures a moment.

If I get around to it, i’ll even post the original version.

Damien

#CRASH