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…

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.

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 D Rose and DJ Cozmos’ album “The Daily Journal”
Lyrics: D Rose, Tray Chaney
Music : DJ Cozmos
Directed by: Damien Randle for Ethos Music Group
Director of Photography: Wraithe for Kinetik Cinematix
Filmed on location in Houston, TX

Download D. Rose f/ Tray Chaney “Life On Film” (Produced by DJ Cozmos) on iTunes

Commentary videos after the jump:

Performed at “The WOW” on March 14, 2010. From their upcoming project entitled “_____ _______”. This is Scottie Spitten’s (From HISD) favorite song this year. That’s a direct quote. That’s Scottie sticking his head thru the backstage curtain.

Footage from a recent show that finds us performing crowd-favorite “Untitled” from the Universal album. Tough crowd that night, but we still did our thing. Appearances by D Rose and The Niyat. Filmed by (DJ?) Remix.

D. Rose – “Revolution”

From the album Taster’s Choice

Written by: D. Rose

Produced by / Cuts by: DJ Cozmos

Directed by: Damien Randle

From Damien -

My wife burst into the room as I was touching up the final edits on the video. I immediately hit her with “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Who’s doing the scratches on that song?”

“Coz.”

“Really? Coz?”

“Yes. Coz. He’s been a DJ all his life. He’s pretty good at doing cuts.”

“You don’t have to be an ass!”

“……….”

“Anyway, his scratches sound FABULOUS! I miss hip hop like that.”

Coming from my wife, that says a lot. If there’s one thing that’s indicative of hip hop, it’s the sound of a DJ moving the record back and forth in a rapid succession that creates the sound that we know as “the scratch”. And even though I was being an ass to my wife, I have to admit that there is something about the sound of some good cutting that puts me in a good place when it comes to listening to hip hop. It’s all but extinct in most music we hear today.

All of this brought back memories of the long days in my home studio where Tasters Choice was crafted. D Rose would make the 60 minute commute from the northside to write and record his vocals; Coz would lug his MPC into the room with a crate full of disks, disks that contained every track in his arsenal. I can’t even tell you how many we all listened to before they settled on the choice cuts that would become the album.

I also thought about the night that Coz came through with the mixer and turntable, and we listened to record upon record to find the right cuts for the right track. It’s funny, because what you hear on the final version of “Revolution” might have been the 5th or 6th set of cuts that they decided on. The others were equally as impressive, but this set just brought it home. And before you ask – no – there won’t be a leak of the alternate versions. You’re listening to the version that was meant to be heard.

I admire D Rose’s work ethic as much as one can admire anything. After a few false starts, he found the resolve to put together an album that I feel is timeless in its own right.It’s rare these days to see an MC and a producer helm an entire project together. Think of Gang Starr; Pete Rock & CL Smooth; Kool G Rap & Polo and so on. In today’s world of albums littered with scattered offerings from so many “super producers”, it’s refreshing to hear an album that has a consistency and warmth that can only be created under these settings. I’m saying that and I was in the room the whole time.

When D Rose hit me up for the video, he said that he wanted something “simple and elegant”. No frills, no bells & whistles. And that’s what you have here: a clean, vibrant look into the soul of a man who stands alone, but is always in the company of others. The city of Houston serves as a beautiful backdrop to his narrative. This was the one video that he had to do above and beyond any other on the album. It may be the song that best defines who he is.

I hope you enjoy watching it as much as we enjoyed creating it.

-D-