De La Soul, Led Zeppelin, Run-DMC, OutKast, The Who, the Beastie Boys, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, James Brown, Digable Planets, Beck, Tribe Called Quest, The Meters
Okayplayer "The High Decibels" "I was caught unawares by their simple-but-striking visual style, care-free but conscious true-school-isms and rootsy Blues-Rock riffs. I couldn't help but admire the way they simultaneously practice '90s Rap revivalism while paying tribute to proto-Rock Rhythm & Blues and the Rock & Roll and Soul revues of yesteryear.
SF Weekly "Miss Cindy": "This awesome track 'Miss Cindy' is straight up early days of Beck ... everything from country rock to hip-hop to Zeppelin blues and hard funk."
Pensatos "Miss Cindy": "Gliding from hip-hop and rock to blues with frightening ease is the second coming of schoolyard funk in the form of Oakland trio HIgh Decibels"
We've heard the pronouncement: Hip Hop is dead. And whether it's truly dead or just severely ill, critics and fans alike have been steadily bemoaning hip hop's artistic tailspin.
Enter the High Decibels, a veritable musical Molotov cocktail that mixes hip hop, old school rock, and superfunky blues. Featuring two MCs and a crackerjack live band, the group slides easily between classic rap and rock styles bringing a brash, adventurous spirit back to a genre that sorely lacks it.
Frontman Duke Johnson, an East Oakland native, started freestyling at the age of 12 in the schoolyard with some friends, including his current HD partner, hypeman Chief. His first live performance was at a talent show at a local high school. Mid-performance, his backing CD started skipping, and the audience booed him offstage.
The humiliation scared Duke off of rap, but he still felt compelled to rhyme and perform, and decided to try poetry and spoken word. Equipped with plenty of subject matter from his experiences living in Oakland, he gathered his confidence and entered a few slam events. Transfixing audiences with real life depictions of struggles, sufferings and shootings (one he witnessed at the age of 8), Duke soon became a top ranked slam poet in the Bay Area.
It was at a slam event in Berkeley where Duke caught the interest of a successful rock/funk producer and guitarist KC Booker, who was looking to collaborate with some hip hop artists. Seeing Duke onstage got KC’s wheels turning and he invited the poet to come by his studio. Duke agreed to give rap one more try, and when they recorded their first tracks -- a potent mix of authentic hip hop and hard, funky blues -- the chemistry was undeniable.
Bringing Duke’s childhood buddy Chief into the mix as a hypeman was the final essential ingredient. Coupled with a live band and Chief's raw, kinetic energy onstage, the High Decibels shows are an exhilarating experience. Their genre-crossing musical style, a sort of rock hop blues, has helped them appeal to all ages and races . With live instrumentation, palpable subject matter, plus a broad fanbase, the High Decibels have assured that hip hop is still alive and well.
The humiliation pushed Duke away from rap, but the still-burning desire to rhyme led him to poetry and spoken word. Equipped with plenty of subject matter from his experiences living in Oakland, he gathered his confidence and entered a few slam events. Transfixing the crowds with real life depictions of struggles, sufferings and shootings (one he witnessed at the age of 8), Duke soon became a top ranked slam poet in the Bay Area.
It was at a slam event in Berkeley where Duke caught the interest of a successful rock/funk producer and guitarist KC Booker. Witnessing Duke onstage got KC’s wheels turning and he invited the poet to come by his studio. "I had always pictured mixing hard, funky blues with a real rapper like Duke," says KC, "and the minute he recorded a vocal track, I knew we had something totally different from anything else out there."
Bringing Duke’s childhood buddy Chief into the mix as a hypeman was the final essential ingredient. Coupled with a live band and Chief's raw, kinetic energy onstage, the HIGH DECIBELS shows are an exhilarating experience. Their genre-crossing musical style, a sort of rock hop blues, has helped them appeal to all ages and races . With live instrumentation, palpable subject matter, plus a broad fanbase it seems that hip hop is still alive and well.
come play with me, it's a beautiful day in the city... guess what? i got a miracle job... i'm drivin some guy on a business trip around for three days for $1000. Can you believe it? september rent thank you very much. and i didn't even have to sell my body. ;p miss you...
Dre, u gotta lot of great shit to say in your pieces but u too "2 the point". You gotta tease em a bit and HIT em hard with the point. That's the ONLY reason I keep beatin you. We'll work on it and you'll see what Im sayin cuzzin ;-) And as far as "i", I'll holla @ her asap. Thanks for the heads up.
Come kick off the July 4th weekend with a hip hop funk dance party under the stars! DJ's all night, two dance floors, an outdoor patio, and live hip hop with the High Decibels!
Tired of the same old club scene? Feel like nothing's happening in the East Bay? Come hang out and party with us at our new Cross Pollination dance party, the freshest thing happening in the East Bay! Where else can you dance under the stars to DJ's spinning funk, old school hip hop, and super-fresh dance party music? And to top it off, this week we're featuring The High Decibels, Oakland's freshest, funkiest live hip hop group, complete with a full band. (www. thehighdecibels. com) It's gonna be rockin' at Cross Pollination, don't miss it!
Come join us for a hip hop funk dance party under the stars! DJ's all night, two dance floors, an outdoor patio, and live hip hop with the Freeform Funktet & Day Old Doughnuts! Cross Pollination The Oasis Lounge 135 12th Street @ Madison Oakland 21 and over
A production of Oakland Renaissance and Rolling Jack Records
with DJ's: DJ Don, Carlitos, Sebastian, Pvt.
Martin, Day Old Doughnuts
Tired of the same old club scene? Feel like nothing's happening in the East Bay? Come hang out and party with us at our new Cross Pollination dance party, the freshest thing happening in the East Bay! Where else can you dance under the stars to DJ's spinning funk, old school hip hop, and super-fresh dance party music? And to top it off, this week we're featuring The Freeform Funktet, Oakland's freshest, funkiest live hip hop group, complete with a full band.
It's gonna be rockin' at Cross Pollination, don't miss it!
Come join us for a hip hop funk dance party under the stars! DJ's all night, two dance floors, an outdoor patio, and live hip hop with the Freeform Funktet & Day Old Doughnuts! Cross Pollination The Oasis Lounge 135 12th Street @ Madison Oakland 21 and over
A production of Oakland Renaissance and Rolling Jack Records
with DJ's: DJ Don, Carlitos, Sebastian, Pvt.
Martin, Day Old Doughnuts
Tired of the same old club scene? Feel like nothing's happening in the East Bay? Come hang out and party with us at our new Cross Pollination dance party, the freshest thing happening in the East Bay! Where else can you dance under the stars to DJ's spinning funk, old school hip hop, and super-fresh dance party music? And to top it off, this week we're featuring The Freeform Funktet, Oakland's freshest, funkiest live hip hop group, complete with a full band.
It's gonna be rockin' at Cross Pollination, don't miss it!
Immortal technique, is from Harlem, hes my favorite MC, hes got revolutionary volume one, revolutionary volume two, The 3rd world comes out 2morrow, then hes coming out with the middle passage, You might like it you might not but u should check out his myspace when u get a chance
