Looks like a handful of eccentric enigmas got together as Jay Electronica (along with Ta’Raach) got together with SRCP to create a part two of “Love Czars,” originally featured on the group’s latest album, Nuclear Evolution. Read the rest of this entry »

I expected to breeze through this with a quick listen…and found myself replaying this fifteen minute sampler three times. Read the rest of this entry »

Channeling the spirit of their predecessors in abstract funk, SRCP covers Sly & The Family’s “Just Like A Baby,” which was released as a bonus with the CD. I actually bought a physical copy but it was nice of the label to liberate the audio for the masses. If you’re not familiar with the original, go get a late pass! © Professor Griff. Nah, you’ll still recognize the melody since it was recently reworked for John Legend’s “She Don’t Have To Know.”

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Download — SA-RA – “Just Like A Baby”

Previously Posted — Evolution Of Song | SA-RA – “The Bone Song”

I can’t even take credit for this post, as that belongs to mainly my man Zo. Inspired by SRCP’s Nuclear Evolution: The Age of Love releasing in stores this week, Zo wanted to take heads back SRCP’s early musical history as a group.

Without delving into the whole history of the group, they’re one of those mysterious crew’s who probably have recorded material unreleased, floating around in various forms & circles, than they do available for purchase. In fact, “Butterscotch” was the first song that SA-Ra ever recorded together all the way back in ’96. A melodic song that oozed sexuality, an angle that would soon become one of the hallmarks of their sound.

“Moments With SA-RA” EPK where they speak on those early recordings.

The beauty of it is one of Killer Mike recorded a song to the track used for “Butterscotch.” Reverting back, the best way to explain the metamorphosis of this track & the group is to let the words of the trio tell the story.

AllHipHop.com: Aside from the rumors, there are a whole bunch of unreleased songs with their own little urban legends. What’s up with “Fantastic Vampire” and the joint with Killer Mike?

Taz: That’s supposed to be a single. That might come out on something different. The Killer Mike joint—we’re gonna’ put that on an album. The original one is called “Butterscotch.”

He heard the song when I was down in Atlanta while we were trying to sell him some beats. I played him about 30 tracks and he was like, “That’s cool.” I said, “You’ve gotta understand this. When you hear these beats, you’re supposed to approach this music a certain way. Let me play you an example of how you’re supposed to approach this music. Here’s one of our songs.” So I played him that, and before it even got to the second verse he was like, “Man, that’s what I’m talking about. I gotta get that!” I asked him if he wanted to buy the song featuring us, and he said, “Nah, I want to buy the song with your hook on it and I’ll get on it.” We gave him the track, and I headed back to L.A. I had a stop in Denver and he called me on my cell phone like, “I’m in the studio right now. I want you to talk right now on the intercom so I can put it on the track.”

The track never came out, so we might have to put this on an album. That’s actually the first song we ever recorded as a group, in the bedroom at my mom’s crib. We was all chillin’ and Om’Mas had just hopped off the plane. We had been begging him like, “C’mon man, come back so we can do this.” We finally got him back, and the first day he came back was when we recorded. So that song is sentimental with us.

The only time I saw “Doin’ It Well” slated to be released was for Ghetto Extraordinary (which was ironically shelved itself). Playing off the same sexual theme for “Butterscotch,” Mike puts it into his own interpretation, bringin’ a fictional lady down from her high class society into the mix of his world filled with Atlanta’s nightlife pleasures.

Pic: Fader

“It made me feel high,” Mike admits. “This how the fuck I feel at the club, this is how I like feeling. I had to return to that playa shit, I done killed enough niggas.” [Fader]

The completely different interpretation of the track is what makes up the composition of SA-RA. Too often, there are those who focus on their spaced-out appearance, the seemingly lack of cohesion with their music and the whole left field aesthetic that surrounds them.

Listening to an artist like Mike bring that sound back to more familiar surroundings gives it more accessibility…and even more appreciation for the original. It’s then that you realize, SRCP aren’t that many miles removed from your normal listening experience.

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Download — Sa-Ra Creative Partners – “Butterscotch (Frequencies)”

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Download — Killer Mike – “Doin It Well”

AHH via UK Dynasty

Respect due to Maurice & Killer for the crucial assists.

Oddly enough, this is the most “accessible” song that I’ve heard from SRCP in ages…and even then it eclipses the competition. By accessible, I mean easy to digest, not hard to follow & could stand apart from the whole (which I previously said was hard for a SA-RA track to do). Lyrically, the words revolve around the chase of ass, which Read the rest of this entry »

Been waiting on this since I heard the snippet. But @ the same time, I’m holding back because I don’t think it’s possible to enjoy bits & pieces of a SA-RA album. It’s one of those things you have to groove to as a whole.

One eccentric, soulful sound deserves another so you have to love this pairing of the artist with the SRCP trio. Badu adds a few low wails over a rolling bassline and the tale gets spun.

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Download — Sa-Ra Feat. Erykah Badu – “Dirty Beauty”

Previously Posted — SA-RA Creative Partners – “Bitch Baby”

Somewhere on high, the Greek god Apollo is smiling down upon my life.

First, new Jack Splash. This morning, the first leak from SA-RA’s upcoming album Read the rest of this entry »

And all this time, I knew these guys were still producing & influencing, but had no idea they were still working as a trio.

“Nuclear Evolution: The Age of Love blends next-level production with a unique and unconstrained blend of street wit, dirty-sex talk, tall stories, and intergalactic future sounds, and is set to become essential listening for the summer of 2009.

‘There is something powerful about the Number 3. A triangle is architectures most structurally sound shape,” explains Keith. “And there is a sense of brotherhood among us, the strong sense of purpose we all share in our will to cleanse the proverbial palette of music!’ “

That’s right. New SA-RA album, The Age of Love : Nuclear Revolution, just in time for summer. Two discs @ that. Via Ubiquity Records. In the meanwhile, they’re currently working on Diddy’s Last Train To Paris along with material for Bilal & Sleepy Brown, all the while influencing Kanye’s sartorial choices.

Holler @ us, Taz!

I’ve faced the fact that these dudes will probably not be putting out any new material as a group, and if they don’t it won’t receive any major push. Therefore Read the rest of this entry »

Swiped from Fresh Selects, SA-RA member Shafiq Husayn breaks down two unreleased versions of Badu’s “Master Teacher,” originally from Nu Amerykah. Read the rest of this entry »

Sa-Ra doesn’t matter much anymore, except to people such as myself. Time passes, bits & pieces of information surface & I’ve come to accept that they may/may not be releasing any more music as a collective, that the avant-garde has been passed before receiving their time in the spotlight. Read the rest of this entry »