(Water Colour, Tea, Coffee on Paper)

Latest Painting of who I think is.. the best producer alive, Madlib aka Otis Jackson Jr, The Beat Konducta, Quasimoto, DJ Rels, Da Bad Kid, Ahmad Miller, Monk Hughes, Malik Flavors or Joe McDuphre.

His music & beats are unbelievable, I had the “Beat Konducta Vol. 1 &2″ on repeat while painting this.

Check out his discography it’s huge

Quasimoto (Madlib) - Basic Instinct

and a handy recipe for delicious hoe cakes.

One part of the infamous “Souls of Mischief” who rocked it from 93 ’til infinity, a member of the underground hip hop super-group “Hieroglyphics” along side Casual & Del The Funky Homosapien And Veteran in the game for more than fifteen years, Opio Lindsey is definitely no stranger to Hip Hop.

With the recent release of his sophomore album, “Vulture’s Wisdom Vol.1″, Opio collaborated with David Flores (XLarge, Stussy, Kid Robot) to whip up one ill album cover and worked closely with Oakland-Based Producer The Architect (Stones Throw, Planet Asia, Encore) to the heavy bass throbbing beats.

I was able to snap up an interview with Opio himself, to get some info about the new album and what to expect from the hiero imperium in the near future.

“Where others saw nothing we saw food, we was like, ‘We can eat right here’. So we swooped in with the vulture’s wisdom and brought this music” 

READ ON FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW!

Vulture’s Wisdom

TREWZ: Your New Album Vulture’s Wisdom Vol.1 has just dropped, what’s the story behind the title? 

OPIO:The title came out of conversations that Architect and I had about the state of hip-hop… Everywhere we looked people were saying, “it’s over, it’s done with, hip hop is of no use.” Me and Architect have a lot of experience in the game, and with experience comes wisdom. 
Where others saw nothing we saw food, we was like, “We can eat right here.” So we swooped in with the vulture’s wisdom and brought this music. 

David Flores

TREWZ: You worked with renowned pop artist David Flores to create your album cover, how did that collaboration come about? Does the cover have a certain insight on the album?

OPIO: A close friend of mine Roy Miles of Antidivision an artist and filmmaker, who’s been down with Hiero since its inception and filmed the Hiero Live DVD, suggested that I collaborate with a well known artist for my record. I let him listen to the album, we sat and talked about the feel of the record, and he suggested I link with David Flores. I am a fan of his work, his style is very original and recognizable, similar to what me and Architect were trying to do with the sound of the Vultures wisdom Vol. 1 The way he captured my face with my mouth wide open like that, you can see the aggression. It’s a true depiction of how me and Architect went in on this record. We went hard. So in essence I’m screaming on the world right now.

Opio & The Architect

TREWZ: Are there any features on tracks or production we should look out for on the album? 

OPIO: With this series it’s just me and Architect. He really went deep on the production side. A song like “Some Superfly Shit” for instance doesn’t sound like its played out, but he actually got on the bass, the guitar, the Rhodes, moog etc. and made that song himself. So when people go to look for the record to find the loop. It aint there you gotta check the 2 inch reels. With that kind of depth and layering in the sound of the record it allowed me to get into a zone lyrically. The music was driving me to elevate my style and I feel we achieved that with this record.

 
Hieroglyphics Crew 

TREWZ: Can we expect some new material from S.O.M or Hiero in the near future? 

OPIO: We have a new SOM album done its comin soon, and its pure fire!!!!
Hiero is still prolific… We in the lab right now workin’ on the new one.

Souls of Mischief Live in Europe 04

TREWZ: Can we look-forward to yourself and the Hiero crew to tour Europe again, it’s been a long time!

OPIO: I would love to make that a reality. The Hiero Crew in Europe would be massive!!!

TREWZ: And Lastly… Dunks or Air Force’s

OPIO: Dunks

TREWZ: Xbox or Playstation?

OPIO: I was a playstation dude… But they need more games (MGS4 is raw though) Xbox got em right now just on strength they have hella more games. I’m waiting to see the PS3 go there
 
TREWZ: Technics or Numark?

OPIO: I still rock the 1200’s

TREWZ: Up or Down? 

OPIO: Ascension, Elevation… Of course up!

Vulture’s Wisdom Volume 1 Is now available on iTunes with a Bonus Remix of “Some Superfly Shit” Featuring Del the Funky Homosapien & Stones Throws own, Guilty Simpson

female finalists

A Super Nintendo set up with street fighter 2 turbo, seb chew & greenslade on the turntables, Manny Norte & his witty banter, a pair of small fans mistaken for a.c equaled one rowdy night hosted by London’s own Trapstar
Among the competitors was, Maharishi, Cassette Playa, Bape, Billionaire’s Boys Club, Imperious Rex, Size?A A.INT, and few others and the winner got to take home sacks full of gear put in by every shop.

fixed

Liam of Team Cassette Playa

a special piece of cardboard

I think I’m starting to learn the benefits from cutting the middle-man out and getting stuff directly from the supplier.

Maybe they do this with all their orders but dammit I felt special.

Peeped “I heart Niyi” last night, Namalee did a very exciting performance live for channel 4.
Pulsing Powerpop to Electro, it’s all good 

This beat is hot… among other things..

also check out the gruesome twosome!! Tic Tac, I love em, oversized jewelry and microphone, legends!!

I Bought a pair of Pointer’s from Carhartt, pretty sweet looking. I Especially Like the cross stitching across the toe..

NICE!

“Established in 2004, Pointer was created with the aim of making simple, well-designed casual shoes in response to a market then saturated with increasingly technical trainers and hyped-up limited edition sneakers. Pointer employs people it likes, from artists to interns; based in London, the company is backed by a creative stable of friends and co-conspirators, inspired and informed by everything from art and music to skateboarding and breakfast”