CityBeat: Album Review: Gonjasufi – MU.ZZ.LE

January 27, 2012 by Quan Vu Leave a Comment

Seth Combs went in on Gonjasufi’s MU.ZZ.LE album, which just dropped this week. You can read the review in this week’s CityBeat. I’m not sure about him conflating “comforting familiarity” with catchiness though. I mean, if Gonjasufi had indulged his weirdness more to pander to critics who loved A Sufi and a Killer, that would’ve been another sort of comforting familiarity, right? I wonder if the muzzle represents people that want to put him into an “artsy-fartsy weirdo” box.

Anyway, just some thoughts. Snippet below. Click here for the full review. Not sure if I’ll review it myself yet but I do have plans for something way more baller, eventually.

Now, we have a follow-up in MU.ZZ.LE, a 10-track mini-album that was produced by Sufi and local producer Psychopop. The distorted, trademark voice is still here, but the sonic experimentalism is dialed down a bit. He sounds like Mos Def at his most loose—indeed, “Venom” and “Blaksuit” sound like outtakes from the emcee’s 2004 release, The New Danger.

I can see fans of Sufi, who now lives in Las Vegas, embracing just about anything he puts out (the weed helps), but I can’t help but feel that Sufi has lost a bit of his edge. Songs like “The Blame” and “Nikels and Dimes” are downright catchy! I know, it’s weird that I’m bitching about a song being catchy, but you know what? Give me adventurousness and inaccessibility over retreads and comforting familiarity any day. I may not like it immediately, but I’ll at least commend the novelty.

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SD Reader: Gonjasufi Interview

January 18, 2012 by Quan Vu Leave a Comment


Not written by me (I’m not a huge fan of the Reader after reading about these shenanigans), but The Reader published a short interview with Gonjasufi in anticipation of his upcoming album, MU.ZZ.LE. It’s a pretty entertaining read. Check out a snippet below and read the full article here:

Is MU.ZZ.LE following in that vein?

That one’s all singin’, you know. Anyone who follows my older shit, MU.ZZ.LE is more like Sumach than anything. I feel like this is my first record. I love this shit, man. I have my wife on two songs with me, and I’m working on her record right now [BlackHaleMary]. All the production on MU.ZZ.LE is me and Psychopop from Daygo. He’s part of a group called Skrapez.

But, essentially, at the end of the day what I want to be able to do is put out my own records the way I want to put ’em out without having to conform to anybody’s box. And in order to do that — and I love Warp, I nurture that relationship — but I can’t allow any label to box me in and suffocate my expression. Know what I’m saying? So as far as Warp putting out the record that I want, ultimately, the complete me, I don’t know… That’s what I’m working toward and I’m hoping that they’re open to that shit. I’ve turned in a lot of songs lately and they’ve shown interest toward piecing together another record to follow up after MU.ZZ.LE. So, we’ll see, man… I don’t want to have to make up an alias and shit, and this is this style and this style. I just want people to grab my record and know it’s all kinds of crazy, different shit, and that’s why they love buying the shit, because it’s just whatever the fuck.

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SoundDiego: Album Review: Gonjasufi – The Ninth Inning EP

December 2, 2011 by Quan Vu 1 Comment


Gonjasufi – The Ninth Inning EP by Hydroshare.tv
THE LOWS (REMIX) produced by Meaty Ogre by OLDENGLISH1904

I wrote a track-by-track review Gonjasufi’s latest Fader-sponsored EP, The Ninth Inning, over at SoundDiego. In short, it’s a very weird 10 minutes of music. But I’m glad that he doesn’t rely on his weirdness as a crutch, doesn’t let himself become a gimmick. He still says real-ass shit even if it’s sometimes coded like “Be rich, eat fish, and die.”

I’ve also included the “The Lows (Remix)” with Saviorself of Old English, who was this close to Fader fame. Read a blurb about “Eatfish” below and check the rest of the review here:

Yay, break beats! It sounds like there are some soft xylophones, which is a nice counterpoint to the crisp drums. Gonajsufi is relegated to singing the hook and sprinkling his wailing through Blu’s verses, but this still sounds more like a Gonjasufi song despite Blu having the lion’s share of the mic time. When you pay attention to the lyrics, you realize this is basically a motivational song, though the message is given in the weirdest of terms: “Be rich, eat fish and die,” goes the chorus. You actually have to rely on Blu’s verses to get the main point of it, which is weird in itself since it’s usually the chorus that sums up the verses. Anyway, the point is: Whatever you want to be, it’s possible if you just work your ass off.

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Video: Gonjasufi – Demonchild

November 27, 2011 by Quan Vu Leave a Comment

The director of the video plays on the title with sort of The Exorcist meets Microsoft Paint visuals. But I don’t buy the song title. I don’t think the child in the song is evil. It’s the world around the child that has gone to ruin. Or maybe our ruin is what ultimately corrupts this child into a demon? Nitpicking aside though, this is the sound of the world falling apart and a man singing in tears over it. The filter on his voice adds another shade of sorrow or gives it more texture or something.

“Demonchild” comes off The Ninth Inning EP. Review pending. But get it here now.

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Gonjasufi – Nikels and Dimes

November 22, 2011 by Quan Vu Leave a Comment


Gonjasufi “Nikels and Dimes”
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Haven’t covered Gonjasufi enough here which is a shame seeing as how he’s one of the most visible hip-hop artists out of San Diego currently. I’ll probably review The Ninth Inning EP during the extended weekend (because the holidays means more family blogging for me) though it won’t post till next week on SoundDiego.

Anyway, “Nikels and Dimes” is about having enough freaking decency to spare some change for a homeless dude, which means an automatic re-blog here. But morality aside, the song works because Gonjasufi’s voice as well as the instrumental, they both sound broken, battered, and bruised in a sense. Bruised by and heavy with the weight of life. It’s the voice and the sound of the homeless dude on the corner imparting to you sage words on life and compassion.

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Old English’s Top 5 San Diego Hip-Hop Songs

September 1, 2011 by Quan Vu 7 Comments


The CityBeat article on Old English actually could’ve gone a completely separate way. My first idea for the article was to ask OE their Top 5 local hip-hop songs. I ask this of all rappers I interview, for sure. But if you follow OE on Facebook or their Tumblr, they always share obscure SD rap/hip-hop songs, which is the whole appeal of this blog anyway. They seem to be true advocates for and sincere fans of SD rap music.

Without further ado, here is OE’s Top 5 San Diego Hip-Hop Songs. The interview took place at The Armory. Nothin’less was fighting off a cold. King D makes a quick guest shot.

Sumach (Gonjasufi) “Southside”
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Saviorself: A lot of people know him from his singing and shit but he’s got some hard-ass raps. This is off an album called Jungl Bulit. I think it was [originally] released in 2001. PWC put me up on this shit. I was like, Goddamn, that shit’s hard. He’s storytelling off-the-dome. He takes motherfuckers on a ride around the world and back to SD before he started traveling. He’s using the Law of Attraction to just put it out there and it came back to him. This was when he was in SD, not really super-cracking like he is now. That dude’s been through a lot of shit but he’s really doing it big right now. Read more of this post

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Gaslamp Killer ft. Gonjasufi – When I’m In Awe

September 1, 2010 by Quan Vu 1 Comment


Gaslamp Killer ft. Gonjasufi “When I’m In Awe“
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Speaking of Gonjasufi, here’s a new track featuring him with Gaslamp Killer. “When I’m In Awe” comes from GLK’s upcoming EP, Death Gate. The song picks up where the duo left off on A Sufi And A Killer, with these sorta Voodoo-inducing vocals coupled with lo-fi, “post-Dilla” glitch-hop/eastern psychedelics. Or I guess to put it more simply, some weirdo singing on top of Madlib-ish beats.

Fun fact (I think?) about Gaslamp Killer: He named himself GLK because he hates all the douchebags that roam around the Gaslamp District. I couldn’t blame him.

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Gonjasufi Interview @ Passion of the Weiss

September 1, 2010 by Quan Vu 1 Comment

I’m about six months late but I just peeped a great interview with (former?) Masters of the Universe member, Gonjasufi, over at the Passion of the Weiss blog. Gonjasufi drops some San Diego hip-hop history in the midst of speaking on his album, A Sufi and A Killer, which was released earlier this year with the aid of another San Diego alum (though you wouldn’t know it), The Gaslamp Killer. Check out a few nuggets below and read the rest here:

What was the scene like in San Diego. I imagine you must’ve stood out considering it can be a pretty conservative crew-cut type city, especially in the Gaslamp District.
It didn’t become like that until 2000. This was in the early 90s and during that era, the Gaslamp was the spot to be, it was where all the underground acts were coming through. Tres cho (sic?) C-4 Villains … it was actually an artistic spot with all sorts of thrift shops and shit. It wasn’t until around ’99 and 2000 when shit changed. They started reconstructing it, put the ballpark up, and the crew-cut crowd moved in.

…

Other than Jayo Felony and Mitchy Slick, San Diego hip-hop never got much love outside of the city. Did you feel that was the case?
For sure. There was a lot of dope shit. Mitchy Slick, NMS with Orko Eloheim and Big Jus from Company Flow was big and Masters of the Universe. But those were the main cats, Jayo, Mitchy, and and the NMS project, that’s Masters of the Universe right there. Those were the cats: Jayo, Mitchy, and Ol’ Gold and Big June. But everyone in the Masters of the Universe is brutal. We get more love in France and elsewhere overseas then we get in America.

Is it just a matter of Los Angeles being so close that it overshadows everything in Diego?
LA is two hours away and casts a big shadow, but there was a crossover. The Project Blowed shit was brutal and all The Freestyle Fellowship dudes came down to Diego all the time, but it seemed like it was always about the Bay to LA and back. No one understood Diego. Abstract Rude would come down all the time to hang out with us and show up at the Underground Improv. His cousin stayed out here during the early 90s and that’s how I met him. But it was just like the LA scene was so strong that they deserved it. But at the same time, I think my exposure right now will bring Diego the attention it deserves.

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