Season’s Greetings, y’all. “Make a Joyful Noise” is a set of songs I compiled as a Christmas gift for a family friend — a little something from the heart and soul for the holidays. Often, it seems like the difference between soul music and gospel is that one says “baby” where the other says “Jesus”. In a number of these songs (O.V. Wright’s “Without You” is a stirring example), the artist could be singing about either. I found this to be appropriate for the season.

Download HERE

I hope you’ll enjoy these songs and share them with your family and friends. From my house to yours, happy holidays!

Songs you know, and songs you don’t
Some you’ll like, and none you won’t
Give them to a friend or two
Just like I gave them to you

Peace on Earth, good will toward men,

Grip Grand

True indeed. The new Grip Grand & DJ MF Shalem album, “Rewinder,” was released on Black Friday by Fifth Element (Rhymesayers Entertainment). You can buy the CD here:

Also available at:

www.fifthelementonline.com

iTunes

www.djmfshalem.com

…and more!

Roll that shit, light that shit, smoke it.

I go numb,

Grip Grand

You heard right. I have a new album out this month. It’s called Rewinder. It was produced by DJ MF Shalem. And it’s amazing. But don’t take my word for it. Here’s a little info from the fine folks who are putting it out, Fifth Element (a division of Rhymesayers Entertainment).

“Fifth Element is back in full effect with our latest Limited Edition FE Exclusive CD Release (300 Copies only!) that will be officially available on BLACK FRIDAY: 11.25.11!!

For this release we embark on our second collaboration with the very talented, entertaining, and humorous MC and Producer, Grip Grand. Our first joint venture was the FREE DIGITAL DOWNLOAD for his “Cassette Trippin” project, which is magical journey of great & fun rapping over a string of Hip Hop classics and more, and better yet it is still available for FREE HERE!

For “Rewinder” he has partnered with a collaborator from his past, MF Shalem. MF Shalem is one of those producers who has been around for quite some time crafting well constructed beats and laying down sharp cuts quietly in the background. His name might not be a household name, even in the Underground, but his production credits enlists some names that are; Sage Francis, Adeem, Adverse, Dorian Three, Haji P, Brown Co, and of course, Grip Grand.MF Shalem and Grip Grand worked together before on “Brokelore” via the track “96 Tears (MF Shalem’s Talk About It Mix)”. MF Shalem’s production style on “Rewinder” gives a vintage Hip Hop breakbeat feel, but without sounding dated or needing to resort to easily recognizable. In other words, he’s taken a classic style and superbly updated for 2011, providing a perfect foundation for Grip Grand to profess love for rap, struggles with the business, challenges in life, and host of other topics. All delivered with a seamless flow, great rhymes schemes, punclines; ranging from witty to so silly you shake your head and smile, and humility boarding on self-deprecation, but balanced out with a healthy dosage of boasting… Yes, “Rewinder” covers just about all the bases…

I asked Grip Grand about how he and MF Shalem met and how that lead to the recording of “Rewinder” and here is the science he dropped:

Shalem and I met through mutual friends in the Rec League crew (Cali’s best crew you never heard). When I was finishing up Brokelore, he came through in the clutch with a last minute remix of my song 96 Tears (we couldn’t use the original beat I rapped on). His version appears on the album.

In 2009, I was working on my Chart Toppers mixtape. Every week, I looked up the current list of Billboard #1 hits (rock, pop, whatever) and remixed one of them, adding my own vocals and production stuff.

Impressed by my ability to churn out a new song every week, Shalem suggested we collaborate on a full-length album. He would send beats every week, I would make new songs as fast as I could, and soon we’d have a whole album.

It didn’t work out exactly as we’d planned. In the years following, both of us had our first sons, and our lives got pretty busy. But we did manage to bust out the record faster than any of my previous projects, working on instinct and trying not to overthink everything. Go from the gut, that’s what I tried to do, anyway.

If asked what kind of music we make, Shalem and I would both be quick to tell you “rap music”. No fancy labels or sub-sub-genrefication. Our aim with Rewinder was to make an album as consistent as the classic “one DJ, one MC” combos of yesteryear: Pete Rock & CL Smooth, DJ Premier & Guru, etc. Today’s multi-producer/guest affairs tend not to have the same sound that you get from having a single producer and a single rapper on the project.

Soundwise, of course we pulled from our golden-age influences and threw some updated twists in there, as well. Lyrically, I tried to hit all the bases (back-n-forth punchlines on Rap Shit, storytelling on Flat Top Rules, catchy hooks/concepts on songs like Red Alert, honest introspection on Listen Up). All the things that rap can be. Shalem provided a whole variety of different textures to work with, all different, but all hip-hop to the core. Dirty drums, as he says.”

Thanks, Fifth Element! So there you have it. Rewinder CD available from www.gripgrand.com, www.djmfshalem.com, and www.fifthelementonline.com on 11/25/11. Available for download on iTunes, etc. the same day. Available from gripgrand.bandcamp.com on Christmas. You may now rejoice.

My game just rewinds,

Grip Grand

Well, mine anyway. For many, today is just the Day of the Dead. But for my wife and myself, it’s our anniversary (insert joke here). My wife and my son are the best, most important things in my life (my family, friends, music and loyal listeners are next, don’t fret). So I thought I’d hop in the old time machine on this, my day of days, to tell you a little story about how I met my wife.

Well…turns out I’m too lazy to do that. Maybe I should just let my music do the talking. All three of these classic Grip tunes are about my lovely wife. Happy Anniversary, baby.

Beautiful Girl (digital single)

Bewitched (from the album Welcome to Braokland)

B-Day Document ’99 (from the album Welcome to Broakland)

My son doesn’t have his own song yet (except a jazz lullaby I recorded, but it’s an instrumental). I’m sure he will someday, though. I’m such a softy.

I need love,

Grip Grand

“OK, people?/Straight up, like the fuckin’ Space Needle”

For those unaware (which is everyone except about three of you), that line is from one of the first rap songs I recorded as Grip Grand. I was living in Portland, OR, at the time, so referencing landmarks of the American Northwest made sense. Little did I know I would one day reside in the Emerald city. But that day has come. It is now.

That’s right, Grip Grand is in Seattle, bi**hes. (The censored word is clearly “birches”.) That’s why I haven’t been around much lately. Don’t worry, California, it’s only temporary. But, for the next year or more, I will be holding it down in Seatown. So if you see a guy that looks like me…it’s probably one of the literally thousands of other white guys in glasses that populate this burg. But say what’s up anyway. You never know!

The J.R. Ewing of Seattle,

Grip

My man Seprock sent me this beat, straight outta New Orleans where he resides. I responded appropriately. Download now, free.

MP3 (192kbps)

High-Quality Formats (Donations gladly accepted here!)

Or just watch it on YouTube.

Pose for the camera,

Grip Grand

Grip Grand – “Subject Matter” | Download

via www.routinefly.com

First version of the ESAE album art, fresh out the studio. The art studio, that is. I painted it myself.

I know what you’re thinking: “Uh…is that supposed to mean something?” Well, it means something to me. Isn’t that enough? Why don’t you just stare at it for a while and let your mind wander? You can listen to an interlude that may or may not make the final cut while you do so (see above). Fantastic.

If you got this far, you might be one of those people who actually supports what I’m doing here. I definitely appreciate it, so thanks very much to you all. I’ll have new albums for you before the year is out. The music is more or less done, now it’s the “How much time do I waste shopping this record before I just drop it online?” portion of our program. Stay tuned.

Your friendly neighborhood Writer-Man,

Grip Grand

Legendary singer/songwriter/guitarist Phoebe Snow passed away today. In her honor, here’s an unfinished beat I made a while back that samples one of her songs. Raise your glass to a classy lady and a lovely voice.