Black ELement

I was featured in the "this week on myspace" section on MySpace from the 23rd to the 30th of January. - MySpace

Black ELement (Massachusetts)
I’ve been trading emails with dude for a few days and he’s legit. Mass. seems to be pumping out great emcee’s as of late right? Gearing up to release a free album online (A Major Minority) in a few months he shot me a couple tracks. I took a listen and was pleasantly surprised at the quality of them. Good hip hop people, it’s still alive dammit! He asked to hold off on a track entitled Human (which is just … dope) and said I could unleash Can’t Call It. And that’s exactly what I will do. - 2DopeBoyz

I listened to this joint yesterday and all I can say is DAMN. This LP was definitely a break from the norm and it was very refreshing. The beats were sick and dude's flow was on point. I can definitely tell Black ELement put a lot of himself into this album. Honestly, albums like this are the reason that I defend hip hop from naysayers who criticize its content and livelihood because I know what it can and should be- good music with a message/story. Check out the album below and be sure to check out his myspace for more information. - iLL Vibes

The Table of ELements is comprised of various types of elements from Alkaline to Noble Gases, just like Hip-Hop ,rather we like to believe it or not, is comprised of several stable and unstable elements. We scientifically broke down the Black ELement to find out how many protons and neutrons it actually was comprised of and found out a few other interesting facts. Enter Black EL…….

illRoots.com: First off thanks for sitting down with us today. Why Major Minority?

Black ELement: Its got a few different meanings, first and most obvious one would be that I myself am a minority and I believe that the nation forgets that we as black people have had a major impact building this country. I’m not making a political album though persay like Dead Prez or Immortal Tech, but I can go there but I can also be the guy who starts the party off right. Not a lot of MCs now a days can switch styles on a dime and A Major Minority has a great variety of different emotions blended on a beautiful pallete. I’m not a preacher, nor am I the overly drunk brother at the party. I’m the dude who just got off the dancefloor, chilling with a Stella who you can have a funny convo with or chat politics. I am a Major Minority.

iR: If you could change one thing about this record what would it be?

BE: Organization. This was my first release and I’ve learned a lot from it, a lot of shit happens in life and it seemed to all go bad as soon as i started my online campaign. My engineer got evicted had to move to Florida, one of my producers got put in jail and couldn’t finish the project until recently and I’ve had to re-record some songs due to harddrive trouble. I can do without the headaches, but it comes with the territory of being a artist and I expect more in the future.

iR: So a plan b if this doesn’t work out?

BE: What doesn’t work out?

iR: Rap

BE: Oh what would i do if spitting doesn’t work out?

iR: Ding,We have a winner, winner, chicken dinner.

BE: [Laughs] Why does it got to be chicken?

iR: Maybe a salad then, because I like chicken.

BE: “If you don’t like chicken somethings wrong with you” (c) Dave Chapelle. Anyway, I don’t think there will ever be a point where I stop spitting because it “didn’t work out”, It might not be my main source of income but I will never stop doing what I love. I love making music and as long as I’m alive I will make it, whether I’m a 65 disgruntled viagra popping old man or a 24 year old aspiring artist its something that I will always have a love for.

iR: Very well put, One Emcee that inspires you that is on the radio right now?

BE: The radio? Whats that? Does it have to be a MC?

iR: Yes

BE: I dunno man, truthfully I don’t listen to Hip Hop on the radio anymore like that. If I’m listenin to the radio its usually Reggae, Electro, or Rock, I’ve been through with Urban Radio for years. But if I had to pick one I guess I would go with Ye cause he constantly keeps you guessing, I wasn’t expecting Love Lockdown and I still don’t know how I feel about it either. But really I’m on urban radio as much as a reverand watches BET.

iR: What is a Black ELement?

BE: Well there are 4 elements of hip hop as we all know, and i feel like there is one missing. The Black ELement is music relating directly towards the people who created the music, and reaching across those borders to everyone. Hip Hop started in black communities and is a culture which we started ourselves and eventually when corperate america got its hands on it we lost the “Black ELement” in our music and I use it as a reminder and homage to the past, present and future of hip hop.

iR: Why the color Black? I mean what about Light skinned brothers too. I mean….

BE: [Laughs] I am a light skinned brother. People actually think I’m Puerto Rican before black

iR: How about “Caramel ELement”?…nah…that sounds like a stripper name [Laughs]“Next on stage….Caramel Element”

BE: Sounds like a hooker whose going to teach me chemistry

iR: Hey! Shout out to all the hookers….keep working..the economy is rough nowadays.[Laughs] Anyway, A noun that describes you?

BE: Work.


iR: So your work is you?

BE: The work is a representation of my inner being, yes. Its all relative.

iR: Considering your organization problems, how long do you say this project took?

BE: It took a year, I officially started writin the project last September. I was never sure about where I was going to take it, but it over time it evolved and turned into A Major Minority. However a bulk of the recording/writing I did over the first few months of this summer. Truthfully it would of taken a lesser amount of time, I was in and out of the hospital this last year

iR: Favorite Cut?

BE: My favorite changes all the time, Quiet Nights is my current favorite due to the fact that me and Jelani recorded it two months ago and its one of the newer tracks on the album. But its my favorite because I’ve had that beat since ‘06 and just never knew what to write to it and we finally just went in this year 2 years later. The fact that I was even listening to that instrumental after 2 years told me it was special, and the lyrics just complemented the mood so well. To me that track is on some Respiration shit, which is off of one of my favorite LPs of all time but we made it ours while paying homage to one of the best Hip Hop groups in our generation.

iR: You have referred to you move to Harlem as what kept this project alive, give me what Harlem means to you ?

BE: Well unfortunately I moved back home to Boston temporarily. But y summer in Harlem was very refreshing to me, New York has a great energy to it and being there really forced me to stay focused at all hours in my day. I was meeting people, and I felt more apart of the culture than I have ever been living there, because New York was the basis of all things Hip Hop. Big L is one of the MCs who gave me a lot of inspiration and to be where he and so many other MCs resided on a daily basis was amazing by itself. Not to mention Louis Armstrong, W.E.B DuBois, Duke Ellington, X and many more important figures of Black culture.

iR: Lastly, the most important question anyone will ever ask another person is?

BE: doggystyle, missionary, or reverse cowgirl?

iR: Wow, for more Black ELement please check out his myspace and if you haven’t already downloaded his mixtape and album that we brought to you earlier this month. - illRoots.com

We've been meaning to give our boy Black ELement some attention on here, so we'll play catch up today. Black ELement is premiering his new free LP A Major Minority next week (Sept. 18th) with illroots and 2dopeboyz. To get you ready for what to expect on that tape I'm posting a couple songs from it along with the album artwork and tracklisting. Follow me after the jump for that and a special vid Black sent out to help the people better understand his LP.
- Okayplayer.com

http://2dopeboyz.com/?s=black+element
- 2Dopeboy

*Black ELement - Quiet Nights Featured in Audio Section: http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/audio/id.5779/title.black-element-f-jelani-quiet

*Black ELement & Dub Floyd: Missing ELements vol. 1 [Mixtape]: http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/mixtape/id.563/title.black-element-dub-floyd-missing-elements-v-1

*Black ELement - Confirmation Featured in Audio Section: http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/audio/id.5521/title.black-element-confirmation - HipHopDX.com

“If I had to choose, take speech over sight/’Cause I’d still be spittin’ my views.” This quotable from Boston, Massachusetts emcee Black ELement really tells you everything you need to know about him. With a style reminiscent of (but sufficiently different from) Talib Kweli [click to read], Black ELement immediately grabs you with his thoughtful lyricism and a commitment to remaining genuine.

A Major Minority is most certainly in the minority these days as Black ELement strays from gun and drug talk, instead electing to speak on everyday trials and tribulations, often with a touch of humor. On “The Burbs,” he rhymes: “So the next time you visit, or go out to lunch/You can find me next door to the Brady Bunch/I’ll be outside with Marsha smokin’ a blunt/The rest of ‘em want to get some after we done/…But, I ain’t about that/It’s not me/I’d rather smoke grass that the Cosbys got me/Shhhh! Don’t talk about drugs in suburbia/Mary Jane, cocaine, we never heard of ya!”

“Headaches” is decidedly one of the more serious tracks on A Major Minority. BE delves into his past as he recounts experiences with his parents: “My pops a drug addict or an alcoholic, I can’t call it/But he spends half his day talkin’ to the toilet/He enjoy it ‘cause he there every morning/Saying he can’t stop without the cops’ warnin/…My mom’s a deep sleeper, she hits the bass deeper/Like Aretha she needs a little respect/But like Tina, he strangles her neck.” With such deeply personal lyrics, it’s a shame that the song is nearly ruined by an atrocious hook (thankfully an uncommon issue with this album).

As slick and enjoyable as Black ELement’s lyrics and flow are, the production is a significant disappointment. It never rises above fairly good, and at several junctures, it’s incredibly hackneyed. “Can’t Call It” just plods along; and while “You Can’t Hide (Wake Up)” boasts a funky bounce and the eccentric percussion and samples of “The Stickup Kid?!?!” are among the better instances of production, neither are particularly memorable. The problem here isn’t that the beats are bad, per se – just that none manage to make much of an impression.

Poor production or otherwise, one thing never comes into question on A Major Minority Quick-witted(“Like Dick Vitale/My 16s are sweet”), funny, and thought-provoking all at once, Black ELement has a very promising future in Hip Hop. A Major Minority may not pop up on many heads’ radar, but for those seeking an artist whose content doesn’t include Mafioso-inspired delusions of grandeur, Black ELement is a refreshing new alternative. - HipHopDX.com