| Features
|
Last Updated:
Mar 19th, 2008 - 07:43:02 |
Sounds From The City
Dwele + John Arnold + Big Tone
Detroit: the original home of Motown, the birthplace of techno and the
point of conception for many other legendary movements in music. Our
long musical history bred from a hardcore working class environment and
a poverty-stricken economy has pumped out some of the most amazing
music in recording history. With each generation comes a new breed of
Detroit musicians who take this tradition to a whole new level.
Recently, Real Detroit Weekly sat down with three of today’s most
talented urban artists representing various realms of Detroit music:
John Arnold, Big Tone and Dwele. Our discussion focused on how the
different facets of urban music are represented in Detroit and how they
all come together.
As a guitarist, producer and DJ, John Arnold represents the eclectic
sounds of Detroit’s electronic music scene. With the release of 2003’s
Neighborhood Science and his new album Style And Pattern, Arnold comes
with a funky yet soulful broken beat sound highly influenced by his
surroundings. As Arnold explains about his perception of the electronic
music scene in Detroit:
“Growing up in Detroit, you are exposed to so many different people and
I think it’s all really connected. We all do things in a similar way
and have the similar perspective because we’ve been brought up here on
soul and Detroit hip-hop and all the hot shit that came from Detroit.
And all these guys are still around and these are my mentors. I can
actually hang with these motherfuckers still. I can hang with Derrick
May. I can hang with Larry Fratangelo. And that’s amazing. I don’t know
any place that has that where all these amazing motherfuckers are right
here for you, and we are all coming from the same tradition.”
Growing up on the west side of Detroit, Big Tone is a pure MC
incorporating that gritty street-soul sound into our hip-hop scene. As
a member of the group Wasted Youth, along with the new release of his
solo album The Drought on ABB Records, Big Tone’s experiences and
upbringing in Detroit are evident in his music. “It’s kind of wild that
so many different cultures are attached to Detroit in terms of the
people and where they come from,” Big Tone says of the scene’s
influences. “I think a lot of that plays into a melting pot for the
culture. In terms of what I came up listening to, [it] was everything
from East Coast to West Coast. I’ll listen to anything from E-40 to
Boogie Down Productions and pick up those influences. A lot of the
stuff we do is derived from funk, jazz, East Coast hip-hop and the
whole G-Funk era and it’s made for a weird twist. Creatively, we have
cats taking so much that it makes its own sound.”
As a throwback to past generations of Detroit music, Dwele is that
smooth R&B vocalist bringing soul music back to its roots. From his
early demo recordings like Rize up to his new album Some Kinda…, Dwele
was educated from a young age by everyone around him about all the
different forms of soul music. “I think soul music right now is an
offshoot of soul music of the past,” he says. “I think our fathers,
mothers, aunts, uncles, all of them grew up playing music, playing
instruments and singing as well because back in the day that is what
Detroit was known for. If you came up in Detroit, you had some part of
that. And because of that, we grow up on soul music. Our parents kept
soul music in our homes, so it’s burned into our soul.”
With the long history that Detroit represents in regards to hip-hop,
soul and electronic music, the city has increasingly become a breeding
ground for our artists. The music touches the hearts and souls of
people all across the world. In New York, LA, Toronto, London, Germany
and Japan, Detroit artists are treated with the utmost respect and
appreciation.
When asked why Detroit music is felt so much worldwide, Arnold says:
“Detroit, to me, is a tough motherfucker and it comes out in the music.
I don’t know any other place in the world where it’s so real. Where if
you are not keeping it real, people will let you know. It’s hard living
here. And to actually take the step to do music is tough because you
might need to work 60 hours a week, and then what time do you have
after that? So I think when people hear the music, it’s the top-notch
shit. You feel the soul and the struggle of the city in the music.”
While internationally, many of our artists can continue to make a
living off touring, it’s here in Detroit that they hone their skills.
It’s a crazy melting pot of all sorts of different influences. To get
the full effect of Detroit music, one would need to experience all the
different scenes. Go to places like Northern Lights Lounge on a Tuesday
night where DJ House Shoes spins hip-hop along with old school pop,
funk, jazz and soul. Go to Corktown Tavern each month for Dorkwave’s
Les Infants Terribles dance parties. Go to Oslo, where you can hear
anything from old school soul music from DJ Dez to techno from the
likes of Mike Servito. Go to Baker’s Keyboard Lounge to see the legends
and up-and-comers of jazz play.
The hot spots for real Detroit music will continue on and are
ever-changing. With every year that comes to pass, a new chapter in
Detroit’s long legacy of music will be written. So don’t sleep on all
the exciting talent in Detroit. | RDW
John Arnold’s Style And Pattern is out Oct. 25 on Ubiquity.
Big Tone’s The Drought is out now on ABB.
Dwele’s Some Kinda … is out now on Virgin.
|
|
|
 |
