TiVO “Pillz”

2013 is off to a busy start for the members iLL-Literacy — Drzzl’s off spelunking in China, Dahlak’s touring the country, we *cough* attempted 30 days of poetry…

And now, heading into summer, we’re excited to share the first episode of a new web series featuring our very own Nico Cary (and long time friends and collaborators Rafael Casal and Daveed Diggs). The show is called Banger Bros — and as you would expect, there’s music, interpretive turf dancing, allusions to Harry Potter, and lightweight creeper eyes.

As you are the people we love, we’d love for you to be the first to check it out!!

Banger Bros is a satirical web series following Kassius (Rafa), Ross Goldman (Diggs) and TiVO (Nico) — a group of songwriter/producers who move to LA in search of a wider audience for their original sound, BroPop. As TheBros navigate a new city, and a tremulous 1-year publishing deal with Warner/Chappell, the series will offer a behind the scenes look at writing a hit pop song in the age of Twitter and Facebook.

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For years we’ve been experimenting with creative and constructive ways to critically engage pop culture without being too heavy-handed or cynical. We’ve been attempting to unpack what it means to exist in digital space at a cultural moment when output for musicians is encouraged more than content. Putting our minds together the last few months, our best solution was found in the genre of satire, and at the intersection of all that we love to do — music, acting, and production. The result was a web series that both plays with form, and teases out an analysis of fame in the context of platforms like Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.

Thank you for all of your support.
So much love,

Team iLL-Literacy

dahLak Spiritrials

spiritrials is what happens when too many Saturday nights are blended seamlessly into Sunday morning. It’s for that time of the night when sobriety sets back in but the promise of salvation is still so far…“a dark gospel blue.” Read More

Beginning at the onset of “the high”, the climax, dahLak descends into the dark backlash of hip-hop’s monotonic grand narrative: greed and lust, hedonism and materialism. Through the mess, through the muck and the mire, profound glory and residues of hope find their way back into the heart of the poet.

Are we still talking about a hip-hop album? Yes. But think “hip-hop album” in the sense of art rather than a collection of disposable mp3’s. The hip-hop industry is too fast. So is the music. So is the life in the music. But as life teaches us, as Spirit x Trials teaches us, “live fast and die young”. spiritrials is for sustainability. In music and in life.

Buy the Signed CD + Poster! Buy on iTunes Buy on Amazon Buy on Bandcamp

Dahlak’s “WORK” (feat. Watsky)

as introduced by Nico Cary

I’ve known Dahlak for nearly a decade, been part of the same crew since I learned how to rap on beat, and been fan of his work since Sean Jean was still something to wear. We’ve been hustling since before “DIY” was an actual catchphrase or aesthetic goal, but simply our reality.

There’s history, and I’m blessed for it. Every bad mic, cheap hotel, and school cafeteria we’ve had to rock are stored, bronzed and slowly siphoned for the potential of a better project to come. And on that long road, with creative blocks and hella no-money-having-ass-months, Dahlak is the best person I know at understanding potential and having the patience to cull together limited resources for something great.

Here’s something great.

Next in line from a series of projects to be released in the coming months, this is “Work” feat. George Watsky. A testament to the breadth of what artists go through. A full representation, from sound to lyric, of who he is (and we are) — self-critical at the club, a little too drunk to care. Mad at most music, still slapping 2 Chainz. Always working to be better.

It’s that good ole, “intelli-hyphy-recession-stripper-booty music.” Chuch.

NiCO

Ps: Cameo was stupid fun, shout out to my older bro and Rafa…I’m still convinced Dahlak drank most of the Jamo that I was supposed to use for the shoot. Smh

Dahlak’s “Good Gawd”

as introduced by Adriel Luis

I didn’t quite know what to expect when Dahlak told me that he had a new music video. It was 2008 when he released his last project Commencement, the sonic cliffnotes for his college years. Dahlak has a way of bookmarking life events through music. Somewhere deep in iLL-Literacy’s collective hard drive are unreleased songs that capture lived milestones through melodic narrative – there’s a song for when Ruby went solo, for when we hopped in a car toward New York City with nothing in the trunk but giant Lego heads and a box of Swishers. There are the songs we recorded in our Brooklyn basement bathroom, while fending off rats, roaches, and robbers.

And then there’s Spiritrials – the songs that are making it out of the archives. Some have existed for years merely as unmixed Pro Tools files. Inside Dahlak’s upcoming album are tales that I, his bandmate/roommate/friend may have witnessed by his side, but could never experience like he did. It’s familiar but foreign, unspecifically nostalgic. Like all good musicians, he tells my story by telling his story. I’m confident you’ll find some of yours in this too.

So all this might sound like crew-promo fodder, someone just upping their homie because they’re in the same band – and it undeniably is. But at the risk of sounding like the echoing hall of rappers blasting their shit on the cyber-feeds, I hope you allow us some of your timespace to experience this new song with him. It’s one of many art pieces that the individual members of iLL-Literacy will be sharing in the months to come – many of which are not surrounded by click-goals, analytics, or calculated outcome. Unlike the album we dropped in 2009, we’re not spending the last of our savings on a big PR company. And truth be told, this simply isn’t engineered to go viral. Consider it an unloading rather than a release – an exorcism of collected works that need to be cleared out for new creativity to thrive.

This is Dahlak’s “Good Gawd.” An update for what’s happening these days. A celebration in times of cynicism. And most importantly, a new music video from my best friend. Enjoy.

Adriel