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February issue of West Coast Performer Magazine:
gabfest - The Refinement
Produced and mixed by Fil “Proph” Angelov
Recorded at Lil’ Shanghai in Los Angeles and Silent Sounds Recording Studios in Hollywood
Mastered by Gene Grimaldi at Oasis Mastering in Burbank
The off-beat savvy of L.A.’s gabfest is comprised of wordsmith The Stunt and composer Proph — hip-hop’s very own Ralph Cramden and Ed Norton. Proph has worked behind the boards for noteworthy entities such as Daz Dillinger, DJ Quik and Kool Keith — who oddly enough, manages to lend some coherence to the slang-laden poetics of gabfest on the industry knocker “Face the Truth.” Aside from that one cameo, The Refinement is 60 unadulterated minutes of borderline cipher rhyming, like “5994 divided by 9 / Speak of the devil what you get right there is the sign / Now divide that by 333 and you’ll see it’s true / That’s how many Bushes are coming after you,” on “Shelter.”
Conspiracy theories aside, gabfest is by no means a lyrical beast spitting fiery bars. But for what it lacks in word wizardry, gabfest more than makes up with unabashed enthusiasm for the hip-hop culture. Aside from Kool Keith, there is no one else in the game that lays claim to fathering this spazzed-out, happy-go-lucky rhyme style that The Stunt and Proph have championed.
Production throughout The Refinement is stellar and often refreshingly daring (“Ode to Fake Gangstas”), though on “Feel Good Music,” the most fundamentally sound song on the album, it’s just a simple kick/snare arrangement.
gabfest gives balance to the spectrum of rap in that it offers a sound that does not take itself too seriously. The key elements of expression and fun reign supreme on The Refinement. Gabfizzy! (Slam Identity Records)
www.gabfesthiphop.com
-Franklin Grimes
Link to West Coast Performer Magazine review:
http://www.performermag.com/wcp.recordedreviews.0802.php - West Coast Performer Magazine
10-31-07 issue of Campus Circle:
Gabfest
For Mature Audiences Only
By Parimal Rohit
Proph doesn't expect everyone to like his new album. He admits that The Refinement is "not for everyone."
By "everyone," he means any person who likes run-of-the-mill, product-based music that dominates the hip-hop scene today. However, if you are into more mature, intellectual and positive hip-hop, then The Refinement is your album.
Gabfest is Proph and the Stunt. Proud to be independent, the producer-writer team embraces topics they believe most creative circles avoid.
Instead of rapping about platinum jewelry, cars, women and money, Proph and the Stunt proclaim their lyrics are "refined" – positive, but not preachy, focusing on old-school emceeing and beats. The duo defines their sound as "feel good music," representing the state of mind needed to listen to the album, since the vibe can switch from hardcore lyricism to "extraordinarily lighthearted wordplay where a comedic atmosphere is the result."
The subject matter of The Refinement, which features Kool Keith, ranges from UFOs and the art of stalking to government conspiracies, environmental issues and poking fun at celebrities and "phony gangster rappers" – all issues that are artistically represented on the album cover.
Proph, who says he named the group after coming across the word "gabfest" in the dictionary, says The Refinement is ultimately a soulful album with a futuristic twist. There is no "coastal" flavor to the album, meaning that fans on both east and west coasts (and everywhere in between) can enjoy the album.
The Refinement is currently available. For more information, visit www.gabfesthiphop.com.
Link to Campus Circle review:
http://www.campuscircle.com/review.cfm?r=4282 - Campus Circle
Discography
Release: BE REFINED mixtape
Label: Slam Identity Records
Year: 2007
Length: Full-length
Format: CD & free MP3 download
Release: The Refinement
Label: Slam Identity Records
Year: 2007
Length: Full-length
Format: CD & MP3
Release: GIANT MUMMIES mixtape
Label: Slam Identity Records
Year: 2009
Length: Full-length
Format: CD & free MP3 download
Photos
Bio
gabfest is Proph and The Stunt, two artists who have joined together for the purpose of portraying a more mature viewpoint than the run-of-the-mill Hip Hop music that is abundant in today's world. Embracing topics that are generally avoided in most creative circles, the group's debut full-length album, "The Refinement," gives the listener a more, dare it be said...'refined' subject matter that is positive but not preachy. The reality of UFOs, the art of stalking, the deterioration of the planet, fine Asian women, government conspiracies, and making fun of celebrities, phony gangster rappers and whach R&B chicks, all run amok throughout the album, while the group stays committed to the foundation of real emceeing, real beats, real Hip Hop. The album also features a special guest appearance by Hip Hop pioneer and legend Kool Keith.
Independent and arrogantly proud of it, you can expect gabfest's music to remain free of the typical and predictable corporate formulas that plague many popular artists and encourage them to create cookie-cutter songs that conform to accepted radio formats strictly for the sake of that almighty dollar. Proph and The Stunt prefer to write material that is more likely to pique your intellect rather than your interest in platinum jewelry and automobiles that are worth more than the average person's mortgage. The music of gabfest can be thought of as having soulful sensibilities with a futuristic twist, and they have adopted the term "Feel Good Music" as an aphorism when asked to describe their sound. As a matter of fact, feeling good is a requirement when listening to gabfest since at any moment they might just flip from heavyweighted subjects to extraordinarily lighthearted wordplay where a comedic atmosphere is the result.
Proph, the group's primary producer and beat crafter, has a background as a top-rate recording and mixing engineer which has enabled him to work with some of the recording industry's finest in many genres, both independent and major. Some of these artists and producers include DJ Quik, Daz Dillinger, and good friend Kool Keith.
The Stunt is gabfest's key writer and lyricist and has enjoyed astounding success from his features on the group's "Be Refined" mixtape which has been offered as a free MP3 download on their official website (www.gabfesthiphop.com) and their MySpace music artist profile page since February 2007. Also available on CD, the mixtape has been widely distributed in record stores and hangout hotspots around their hometown of Los Angeles and has generated a healthy buzz.
Whether you're into Hip Hop that's not too hard to digest or you favor a mentally stimulating workout, "The Refinement" is sure to please your palette for both. As The Stunt so proudly professes, "We be so gabfizzy!"
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