“…Respect Anna Check” – C.R.A.C. Knuckles Preview
AUDIO By TSSCrew on February 26, 2008 at 1:51 pmWords By LC Weber
Pic By Kyla
“How’s everybody feeling in this biotch tonight?” Ta’raach asked the crowd surrounding him during the C.R.A.C. Knuckles preview of The Piece Talks on February 10. The club was Carbon – a dim redlight hole in the wall off of Venice Boulevard in Los Angeles. It has one cramped bar, two turntables and a couple of vinyl couches – which put C.R.A.C. right in the thick of things during their performance.
“That’s what we really try to do – we want the raw shit,” said J-1, a DJ and musician from Cleveland who plays drums on three C.R.A.C. joints and hosts Tripboogie at Carbon every Thursday night. “There’s no stage so it’s just real raw.”
And C.R.A.C. is raw. Pronounced “crass” – as in “to lack all refinement or delicacy; Extreme; Flagrant” – the name stands for “Collect Respect Anna Check” and the duo is indeed on some other other shit.
Judging from their performance, it would be a mistake to weigh C.R.A.C. – a monstrous collabo between Blu and Ta’raach – against anything before it. Combined, the two emcees have an impressive resumes – Below the Heavens, Powders & Oils, The Fevers, Triple P, Welcome 2 Detroit, etc. – making a joint project interesting by default. But despite their previous achievements, it’s important not to box C.R.A.C. in with expectations. C.R.A.C. isn’t default anything – it stands completely on its own.
“There’s nothing contemporary, modern or underground about it,” said Ta’raach outside of Carbon before the show. “But I hope it will appeal to everybody.”
The buzz about the duo won’t hurt their appeal either – when C.R.A.C. opened with “Love Don’t…” at Tripboogie, the folks surrounding them already knew the lyrics.
“Goddamn, that shit ain’t even come out yet, son!” said Ta’raach.
What impressed me most was the way these two dudes vibe off each other. I’ve seen them spit individually, but Tripboogie was the first time I heard them perform together – and when I did they, just made sense to me. They compliment each other – Ta’raach spits low and hard, Blu is smooth and buttery – and they meet in the middle between high-flying, trippy beats.
C.R.A.C. is certainly not for the close-minded or faint of heart. Ta’raach’s production is broad in vision and scope, pulling from elements of rock and soul rarely heard in hip-hop. It’s their inspired sound – along with an innate ability to entertain – that makes their music so important.
In an era when the pull of Big Business is levied against the ever-powerful Internet, what garners attention is the ability to truly perform and come with something new. C.R.A.C. has no problem meeting those standards.
The Piece Talks drops on April 22. But if you listen to their live performance from Tripboogie, you’ll hear details on how to get it earlier…and hear a few of their upcoming tracks.
Tweet This
Digg This
Save to delicious
Stumble it
18 Comments
wooooooooooooord
First is old but did see the wire last night.It’s damn shame they taking it off air.It somebody from this cast don’t win an emmy then something is real wrong.
Did anyone watch the wire last night. it’s a damn shame they taking it off the air. If somebody from this cast don’t win an emmy for this year something is real wrong. A lot of the actors especially from street are first time performers and are giving special perfomances.
Can’t wait for this album man! The mic skills of Blu plus Ta’raach’s ill-production (check out his album “The Fevers” if you think not!) should be a knock-out combo. Ahhhhhhh 2008 is shaping up to be another dope year for the culture, ain’t it great to be alive???!!!
Anybody heard that Common track produced by Just Blaze?
Common-The Light ‘08 (It’s Love)-Produced by Just Blaze
http://www.zshare.net/download/8127071f040e64/
@ THEKID
It was in the Loosies earlier this morning.
Anybody got a link for Taraach & The Lovelution “The Fever”? Been lookiing for it everwhere.
What up folks…was at the Brand Nubian
show last night in the ‘H’..Cosmo Baker
shut the mufuka down with his dj set..killed
it..Connie Price and the Keystones as usual
handled up..Brand Nubian ran through the classics
as a group and Puba’s solo joints..all in all great energy.
@ Slick, cosign.
They’re in ATL tonight, and NC tomorrow or the day after….for those in those areas.
As for C.R.A.C, I already stated my claim.
TC Reppin’ MN!!! Yes Sir! lol
@ TC – Ah, must’ve missed it. Carry on, then.
wow….carbon. i just to DJ there when it first opened. def hole in the wall but cool ass people. good write up.
could someone repost that nicolay and kay album. I slept on it and want to give it a check
This is what’s goin on in my hood.
http://www.kltv.com/Global/Story.asp7s=7923886
these dudes got some fire
VIOLATOR ALL-STAR DJ’S, DJ JAM X & WEB
22 EXCLUSIVE ORIGINAL CUTS!!!!
COPY AND PASTE THE LINK TO DOWNLOAD….
http://www.zshare.net/download/72304356b897e2/
dope feature…def looking forward to this album!
This album gonna be disappointing. What I’m really looking forward to is Blu’s upcoming solo album. Here’ a song from it called My Boy Blu:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=KKX4C4JA