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Favor Train

No matter what industry you are in, people will always ask for favors to get ahead. There’s no exception for Hip Hop. I came up with the idea for “Favor Train” one day kicking it with Frank at Concepts. We were joking around about how annoying it can be when someone calls you up looking for a favor. It’s one thing to help someone who has helped you in the past, but when someone comes out of left field and asks you for the world, that’s a different story. “Before you know it your taking a ride on the Favor Train” Frank said. The light bulb automatically turned on in my head! I’m going to write a song called “Favor Train”. It’s moments like these where the best ideas are discovered, when you least expect them. I’m constantly searching for inspiration. Be careful when you have a conversation with me because it could easily end up in my next record!

-E The Real

I did the “Favor Train” instrumental about two weeks prior to showing E in a listening session. At the time, I was listening to a lot of Jazz music which inspired me to put together something a bit different from a traditional Hip Hop backdrop. When E visited the studio, I played a handful of beats I had created recently and one in particular stood out to him. He explained that he had written a song about favors, and that the beat captured the feeling that he was going for. After hearing him recite the lyrics to what he called the “Favor Train,” I knew that with the foundation he had created, we could build a song that everyone can relate to.

-Paul Mighty
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The Countdown

I love Clark Wallabees. I have a few selective pairs which I’ve kept in amazing condition over the years. My oldest and favorite pair are my suede brown Wallys. I have been wearing them for 10+ years. One day at work I found myself staring at my shoes drifting off into memory lane. I couldn’t help but think about all the places I’ve been wearing this one pair of Wallys. Naturally it inspired a rhyme. Then all of a sudden the rhyme took a new direction. Since I mentioned the number 10 in the first two bars, I decided I was going to countdown from 10 to 1. With this basic format intact, it allowed me to talk about a variety of topics. Usually I stick to a specific concept when writing. What made this track interesting was I had a specific concept and I was able to talk about things that didn’t necessarily have anything to do with each other.

-E The Real

E The Real has always been the type of emcee to be ready to record a joint on the spot. Im pretty sure there’s an incredible amount of songs in his head as well as thousands in his notebooks. During a recording session with Paul Mighty I started showing some unused beats I had lying around and this particular joint struck E’s ear and he already had a song for it. I swear it took only 15 minutes to record the joint. Back up vocals and all. His approach to recording is similar to my beat making process. When I make a beat, I usually bang out a couple joints at a time and keep most of them with me at all times (like how E always has his rhyme book with him). When it comes to throwing random beats to E the results are always dope.

-DJ Manipulator
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Wasted Emotion

A close friend of mine who I grew up with has an older brother who we all looked up to. He’s a big tough dude. Very caring and very insightful. He now works for the NYPD and is stationed in Bed-Stuy Brooklyn. He was the type to look out for us and always dropped jewels. He would refer to jealousy as a wasted emotion. That always stuck with me. I’ve never considered myself a jealous person, but I’d be lying if I said I’ve never felt the emotion. I know I’m not the first to write a song about jealousy, but I wanted to approach it with a fresh perspective. Writing the song in first person seemed to be fitting. Jealousy is a powerful and unsettling emotion and unfortunately I’ve witnessed it’s impact more than I’d like to admit. A first person perspective allows the listener to recognize what is real and what goes through the mind of a jealous person.

-E The Real

I’ve known E for a while now. Years. He’s an incredible writer, an amazing emcee and a machine in the booth. Unbelievable how much quality material he can turn around leaving producers scrambling to keep up. My production has always been abrasive but layered like a collage of colored sharp glass. Its like the difference between running on a smooth track and running on soft beach sand. I chopped up an experimental Dick Hyman record that was full of electronic sounds, beeps and buzzers. Not an easy task. I was convinced this beat would land in the “dope, but not to be rapped over” column. I was wrong. Now I believe E The Real can rock over anything and make it crazy!
The song topic is another subject….Ahhh… Jealousy. A poisonous emotion that keeps infecting until reality is so muddy that the truth is left unrecognizable. Its an ugly place to be emotionally and will break down the closest friendship. Nuff said.

-Frank The Butcher

-Courtesy of www.ButchersBlockTV.com