QN5 Blog

written by QN5 on Jul 23, 2008

After releasing Natti’s “Ruled The World [VLV Remix]” in June (which had Kno chopping up the Coldplay hit “Viva La Vida” into a hip-hop bounce track) on this very blog, the promotional single spread like wildfire on the internet, popping up everywhere from the front page of Okayplayer.com to HipHopDX.com and other mainstream hip-hop websites and garnering tens of thousands of plays.

Fast-forward to July 21st, and the one and only Swizz Beats is getting heavy spins on New York mainstream radio with his new promotional single entitled “That Oprah”, which has Swizz (you guessed it) chopping up the Coldplay hit “Viva La Vida” into a hip-hop bounce track.

Swizz Beatz – “That Oprah” [Produced By Swizz Beatz]

Natti – “Ruled The World (VLV Remix)” [Produced By Kno]

Natti’s song, a twist on the original Coldplay concept, is commentary on the decline of the “One Trick Pony” rapper who only raps about drugs and money. Swizz Beatz’ song is about…money.

Swizz even built the beat up from the actual song at the beginning, too. Nice.

Enjoy!

written by QN5 on Jul 22, 2008

It’s that time of year again. The Rocksteady Crew 31st Anniversary celebration is upon us. This year PackFM’s FMania iNc. basketball team returns to the annual tournament. We encourage all Blue Schoolers and FManiacs to come out and support, cheer and have a good time!

Rock Steady Crew Celebrity Benefit Basketball Challenge
Come watch members of the Hip-Hop and Film community compete for bragging rights.
Thursday, July 24, 2008 @ 11am
Location: The Cage – West 3rd Street & 6th Avenue (New York, NY)
A, B, C, D, E, F & V train to West 4th

PackFM
Shooting Guard
Known for high energy and defense that will stop you dead in your tracks. Leave your wallet at home, he WILL pick your pocket.



Ike P (CVees)
Point Guard
The play maker. Handle (check), jumper (check), Magic Johnson passes (check, check, check).



Icon The Mic King
Power Forward
The first step’s a doozy. He has the reach of Mr. Fantastic and the speed of the Flash. All Praise Jesus Shuttlesworth!



GMS (Hydra)
Small Forward
White men cant jump? They said white men cant rap either. Don’t sleep on the guy on the court with the pony tail, you might wake up posterized



Swave Sevah (CVees)
Center
A frieght train on the loose. Seriously just stay out of his way.



G-Money
Shooting Guard
How many Knicks Cheerleaders can YOU bag?



Session
Point Guard
Every team needs a knucklehead. We’re just hoping he doesnt bring that bat to the game.



J-Zone
Coach
There will be no inbounds plays and triangle offense coming from this guy. J-Zone is here to heckle the players and annoy the refs. Rappers shouldnt be playing ball!


BAAAAAAAAAAALLIN!

written by Tonedeff on Jul 21, 2008

Substantial Wins The Vote @ MTVu’s The Freshmen

THEY CAN’T HOLD US BACK!

After the controversial whirlwind which was Mallory-Gate, your votes poured in by the thousands. As of today, Substantial has been added to regular rotation on the MTVu network, which can be seen in colleges all over the country (to over 5 million viewers!).

Everyone here at QN5 Music would like to thank each and every one of you for making your voice heard and fighting for us on this one. I for one, was personally overwhelmed by the rabid response this particular story received and while some of y’all got a tad wild, we certainly appreciate the sentiment shown.

Also, I’d like to thank the folks @ MTVu for playing it straight and allowing the fans votes to be the deciding factor in having the video added to rotation and not politics. They even reached out to me via phone to clear up all the mess, which was definitely classy. I look forward to providing them with more QN5 material in the near future.

At the end of the day, the lesson we can take from this whole thing is – people can talk shit about us, they can change the rules of the game, they can do everything in their power to stave off the New Hip Hop – but when we got the support of the blueschoolers behind us – THEY CAN’T HOLD US BACK.

BEST...FANS.........EVER!

Hollerate,
Tone.

P.S. I’ll have an update on my sunken studio this week – keep your fingers crossed

written by QN5 on Jul 18, 2008

Watch CunninLynguists live with Ludacris, Ice Cube and more on Saturday, July 19th!

Local Times For CunninLynguists’ Set:
HELSINKI: 16:30
STOCKHOLM-OSLO: 15:30
NYC-ATL: 9:30 A.M.
L.A.- SEATTLE: 6:30 A.M.

Click Here For More Info!

Enjoy!

written by Tonedeff on Jul 17, 2008

Water raped my studio in the rectum on Tuesday night. Sans KY.

In a twist only Stephen King himself would’ve been able to conjure up, one of my upstairs neighbors decided it would be a good idea to thaw out some meat with hot water in his kitchen sink while leaving the stopper in it…and then leave the apartment.

The results?

Basically, it rained on my entire fucking studio. Water came through the floorboards and basically made a bee-line through my ceiling and completely drenched my entire system, cords, monitors, speakers and worst of all – my external hard drives.

I had to gut the entirety of QN5 Manor, which had taken me literally months to set up. Anyone who’s built a recording studio before knows how much of a pain in the ass it is to get everything set up, wired efficiently and working together. It all had to be pulled out to avoid any further leaking and to remove the absolutely drenched floor rug underneath.

Thank god my niece was there when it happened…otherwise it woulda been even worse. Miller Lite provides us with comfort in times of panic.

Soaked Drives. Fuck.

My external hard drives are waterlogged. There’s literally big bubbles of water all inside of their cases. It’s pretty much safe to assume that I’m absolutely fucked if these drives don’t work anymore and there’s any corruption to the data on them. Considering water + electronics = evil (in the form of electric shock death or data death), you could say that I’m pretty much ready to jump off of a cliff. It’s more like QN5 = QNFried.

When you consider that literally everything I’ve created is on these drives – unfinished projects, songs, beats, lyrics, mixes, illustrations, albums, financial shit, etc etc – you’d understand my willingness to drink myself into a coma or lunge into freeway traffic with a blindfold on. Real talk – if I could list the contents of these drives in bullet form I would – but there isn’t a blog on earth that could hold that amount of text without imploding. I ALREADY had a ton of shit to get done this week as is, but this puts me COMPLETELY out of commission in multiple ways. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck Fuck. fuck….....fuck.

So, at the moment, I have a fan running at a stack of soggy external hard drives. My hope is that I can turn them on after the weekend to check if they still turn on and then check the data if they do. Granted, I’d have to do all this via the Mrs.’ laptop, cause I have no idea if my computer (R.I.P. Milo?) even works anymore. I just gotta wait it out and eventually rebuild the room.

Fucking hollerate.
Tone.

:(

PS. Please keep voting for Substantial @ MTVu. Voting Ends Friday @ Noon.

written by Kno on Jul 16, 2008

I have a friend named “P”. Not “Throw a TV at you, crazy” P. Not Master P. Lets call him “Louisville P”. He is a record collector and dealer, and he owns a 2-story home filled with some of the most sought after vinyl gems on the planet, as well as two of the chunkiest cats I’ve seen since Tonedeff’s. I was introduced to him by the Record Vulture and Mykraphone Mike, and since then he has helped fuel some of the best instrumentals I’ve released in the past 2 years, including about 3-4 songs on Dirty Acres.

The fact that he allows us to come into his home, set up the PT-01 and treat his humble abode like candy store is a testament to his awesomeness. I’m not sure how many other producers know about the house in Louisville, other than DJ Shadow. That alone should show you the caliber of little black discs “Louisville P” is dealing in. Quality over quantity. 2 or so rooms full of ever-evolving goodness.

So, this post is just a short, long-overdue shout to the man I like to call “Louisville P”. Thanks for the hospitality.

written by QN5 on Jul 15, 2008

The reviews and praise keep pouring in for Substantial and Sacrifice. Check out the latest review from eMusic.com

They say that “out of the darkness comes light,” and for Maryland-born whiz kid Substantial, this adage rings true. After being dragged though the bouts of homelessness and personal tragedies that fired his internationally acclaimed debut release, …To This Union a Sun Was Born, Substantial took in a deep breath and exhaled. The result is an organic labor of love that’s remarkable in its focused alignment and enlightened command of self. Here’s a man who may not have all the answers, but certainly knows who he is. Perhaps this tranquil ascension has something to do with Substantial’s commitment to martial arts, a practice whose calculated grace emanates from each of the 17 tracks. Or maybe the artist, born Stan Robinson, has approached new heights through a conscious effort to shake loose and allow life to take its proper shape.

Review by Andrea Boston, eMusic