LLEENNBLNTS

It's been a long time, I shouldn't have left you... But we've gone way back to take a look at how far and where we've come, in order to obtain a better understanding of where exactly it is that we are going. We are not of this place but of the Freeworld, of a world of wars and words, and we seek only the actions. The actions we live by have been gleaned from all Four Corners of the Globe. We're not right, and you're not wrong, not always... Understand. This is the beginning. This is why we are here. Welcome to the future, http://youtu.be/6FWip3F7bx8 -LLEENNBLNTS!

Free Joe Crutch

With the Freetime I am allowed, I decided to shed some light over the production behind the Free Joe Crutch tape. Recorded and Produced by The Capital Ill, here is a link to listen/download Free Joe Crutch.



1. Mexico.
I don't really know if that sample says Mexico or not, but it sounded like it when I was recording so I stuck with it. The verses are respitten, first from a record I did with Commissioner Gordon (@ComGordon) called Dr. Strangelove and the next was from an original named Makin Moves. The beat is called Rising 5 from a producer named Hudson Mohawke. Shouts to the whole Raleigh fam on that one.

2. Rude Love.
Drake's tape So Far Gone is a good tape. I was listenin to it the other week and the beginning of Brand New had this slink to it that I liked. So I hijacked that, put some acoustic guitar on the intro, and then put some simple piano progression underneath that southern swag beat. I proceeded to freeball with this one and that psycho synthline happened the first time I tried somethin out on the keys. The way I heard it when I played it back ridin round the city sounded kinda like a crazy in a straightjacket goin through withdrawals. This is what inspired the Rude Love hook. The rest was Free.

3. Steeze Up.
Monica's So Gone set the tone for this one. But I kinda wanted to flip it into something fresh. So right before I was steppin out one night, I put the brakes on it and dropped these verses from this joint called Shaft and this other joint called Stay. Be on the lookout for the album version of Stay, due to be released this summer on the full length Great Romances Of The 21st Century!

4. Get Money.
So I have a younger sister, right? Years ago, when we all still lived at the house, she would be bumpin John Mayer like tomorrow wasn't gonna happen. That got me into the dude's music and I started to appreciate the stuff he was putting out as well as the musicians he worked and toured with. The original chop of this happened about 2 years ago. I just never had anything to use it with. Found it, put that swaggie on it, but she gotta be thick though.

5. My Lady.
This is actually my most recent original creation, well, when I made Free Joe Crutch a few weeks ago it was the most recent one. I made all the music and lyrics for it. Dug it so much that I put the unfinished version of it out on Free Joe Crutch, but you must have patience for the finished version of it, which will be released on Great Romances (coming soon)!

6. I Wont Do That.
First and foremost, R.I.P. Dilla. Years ago I was on my way to rack some paint with my homie and when he played that song, I was like whoa, whoa. It kinda became my anthem from that moment on. So I had to give you a prelude to how I got to the point where "One wont do, two is not enough for me, no!"

7. Get Low.
I love the energy on this one, somethin like a cyclone. The drums come from Travis Barker of Blink 182, ripped from the beginning of Miss You off their self-titled. I just added that piano, bassline, and synthline to make a Joe Crutch thing. I could rhyme forever over a beat like that though, its too much fun.

No doubt, there's a lot that goes into making a Joe Crutch record. But at the end of the day, its all music, for me, for you, for the world. At this point in my days a lot more un-fun stuff takes place all up in my area so I just wanted to make something smashing fun, you know? Get Free for a minute...

Peace and Light

OneLoveKiteMix

I was sitting in my truck just listening to some instrumentals with all these words just racing through my brain. I drove home quickly and made my way to my underground laboratory. I thought I was playing the One Love instrumental but it turns out it was the a capella version. So I heated it up, along with the rest of the elements that were cooking at the moment, and when it cooled, what I ended up with was something that smelled rather fonky. I know, there's real life happening all around me but when I sit here and I think: If the Obama administration can pass that healthcare bill, the least The Capital Ill can do is re-mixdown some NaS.

The Capital Ill Presents: OneLoveKiteMix ft. Esco('s) Bar(s)

What Is The Capital Ill

A lot of folks have been asking me what exactly Capital Ill is.

Check it out.
Capital Ill is a collection of all of the artistic components that comprise the (insert appropriate adjective here) sound made by me.

I am orchestrating the strings behind the scenes, producing nearly all the sounds you hear on any given Capital Ill record, unless the record features another artist or artists.

[Shouts to all the producers I've worked closely with in the recent past @Manifest Beats, @CommissionerGordon, @Wallsause]

But the time has come to make the distinction. Same music, same musician, just call me Joe Crutch. Cuz thats my name.

Enough with the blah blah, here's the link for the new lick

Download Joe Crutch-Makin Moves prod. Capital Ill

The iLL Mentality Tape

The complexity of what is actually taking place is quite difficult to fully describe in mere text. So here's the track listing for The iLL Mentality Tape.

1) The Illest Mentality
2) The New Guru Lamping In His Natural Habitat
3) The Man Straight From Raleigh-Durham
4) I Had Her Shipped To Me Overnight
5) If I Was Here And You Were There
6) Dark Hawk Down
7) Blacklisted For Saying True Things On Television
8) Subtle Differences Between Rare And Medium-Rare
9) Open Letter From The Curator To Whom It May Concern
10) Let The Drummer Drum
11) Listen To Your Heart, Hear What It Says
12) Four Women Fainted At The Modern Day Masquerade
13) All Of The Bodies Were Outlined On The Cement With Lipstick
14) There Was Something In The Vibrations
15) Framed At The Local Coffee Joint
16) I Bought A Pair Of Allen Edmonds For Twelve Dollars
17) All I Need Is A Cape, Maybe Some Fangs
18) The Baker Stays Blazing It Up, The Butcher Stays Chopping It Up
19) Your Most Humble Servant

Against Walls *coming soon*

Cap in Raleigh Feb 11th!!!

Sweet deal. I can't wait for this show, honestly. Sorry about the delay but good music is back in effect!
Years ago, when I first came to the Triangle, I found myself at an Urban Sophisticates show out in Durham and it was too fresh. The music was on point, and the energy the whole band puts out was the stuff of a good live hip hop show. I haven't been able to catch them since then but Feb 11th is just around the corner so now I have something else to look forward to. In addition to my brand new album that is! After years in the making, Against Walls will finally be released into the general population starting in February 2010. Pick up your copy (and one for a friend!) on Feb 11th and at any of my live shows after that.

Peace, for real.

On Last Thought

I thrive at night, obviously.


I know its 2010 and cats (myself included at times) are equipped nowadays with an attention spans shorter than Verne Troyer.
But after clicking back and forth through several websites, blogs, Twitter, email, I see that the good folks over at The Smoking Section kindly posted a fan-made video of Stevie Wonder's guest appearance with John Legend a couple nights ago.

My brother happens to be that fan who was illin in Vegas sitting VIP, close enough to get a good shot with a nice camera, so he did.
Here's the link for the vid on TSS
http://smokingsection.uproxx.com/TSS/2010/01/video-john-legend-x-stevie-wonder-ordinary-people-live