Ignite Mindz
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Ignite Mindz

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"Ignite Mindz: Psychological Warfare"

Ignite Mindz
Psychological Warfare
Classic Records 2007
While the southern East Coast has always boasted worthy Hip Hop acts, Black Sheep, Outkast, The Clipse, and the Timberland camp (minus Magoo) being a few notable examples, it seemed as though it wasn’t until Little Brother dropped The Listening that the underground massive realized that ‘real’ rap could come from below the Mason-Dixon line. Since then, Little Brother has split up and 9th Wonder’s production lost it’s novelty but in their wake, I still find non-snap/non-double time Southern Hip Hop being compared, almost reverently, what they created in 2003. Making strides to both build upon and escape Little Brother’s shadow is the group, Ignite Mindz. With an album cover which suggests too-complex-for-you rhymes and beatless, Def Jux-esque production lie within, Psychological Warfare flips the script completely with a hefty album of soul stirring beats and thought provoking rhymes. As an MC and producer, Ignite Mindz is 7 outta 10, but like the saying goes “Pick one thing and do it well” and that he does. Touching on topics from politics, near death experiences, to story rhymes and party and bullshit type jams, Mindz shows his versatility while avoiding “making music that only other MC’s would appreciate.” On the production side, we’re blessed with head nodders that serve a bigger purpose than to smack you in the face. Creating a definite atmosphere which, more often that not, supports his subject matter, Psychological Warfare achieves what many major label albums do not… continuity.


by DJ TREW
Welcome back to GLmag’s Demo Round-up. Every month we receive loads of promos from artists on all levels of the game. Folks on major labels, large scale indies, regional cats, and bedroom producers. What this feature focuses on are the low key releases from artists who are grinding hard for their careers. Acts who you may have never heard of, but nonetheless deserve attention despite not having big money backing or 6-digit promotional budgets.
This month we’ve got a double dose selection of homegrown Hip-hop from Brother Reade (CA) & Ignite Mindz (NC)
- Groundliftmag.com


"Ignite Mindz brings the Psychological Warfare"

Ignite Mindz brings the 'Psychological Warfare'
ECU Graduate to release new album
John Bosco
Senior Writer
This writer can be contacted at pulse@theeastcarolinian.com
A year and a half ago, ECU Communication graduate John Dixon began writing material for his new album Psychological Warfare.
Dixon, who raps under the name Ignite Mindz, held positions at the campus radio station, WZMB 91.3, as hip-hop DJ, hip-hop music director, and production manager.
“I tried to record a lot in the ECU studio, but those tracks sounded bad,” said Dixon.
“I wound up just re-recording everything again at my house, and I sent the tracks to get mixed and mastered. I got them back, and now the CD is pretty much done.”
The result of his efforts?
Psychological Warfare is an album packed full of intellectual flows crammed with imagery that feels honest.
It's not just a one-sided album, either.
Dixon presents a wide range of skills from crafting brilliant stories, catchy hooks, tongue-twisting alliteration that'll make listeners lose their breath, and, on tracks like “C.W. Rides Again,” hilarious comedy.
He's also not afraid to spit rhymes bilingually, either. “Natural High” and “Cheezin” both feature lyrics crafted in Spanish.
Musically, 10 of the 15 beats were created by Dixon himself.
The beats not only sound professional, they cover a lot of ground: some with guitar riffs, others with Marvin Gaye-esque samples and horns.
“My favorite collaboration has to be 'Me, My Pops, and Imagery'. [Singer/Rapper] Imagery would sing Marvin Gaye stuff and I'd sample that and create the beat around it. And on top of that, my Dad plays trumpet on it.”
Other artists Ignite Mindz got to collaborate with for the album include D-Jones, Beja, and Rudolph Lyrics.
The remaining beats, those not produced by Dixon himself, were all done by Segundo, and those tracks hit just as hard as his own do.
“Russian Roulette: The Red Mafiya” draws from history and Russian culture to create an insane track that showcases his storytelling, and it hits hard with its dark plot.
Psychological Warfare's spectrum is impressive and promising; Ignite Mindz tackles politics, history, love, partying, and even religion.
But Ignite Mindz presents himself as more than just a mere rapper—true to his roots, he is a humble, honest artist with goals of being more than writing songs, but being a good person, too.
Maybe he sums it up best himself on the track 'Cheezin' when he raps, “I like to do the things I like/I only write that truth.”
While you can currently buy the singles on his Myspace page, soon the album will be available on iTunes and Cdbaby.com.
“It will also be available at local skate shops and head shops, I'm hoping by early February,” Dixon said.
“I like this CD a whole lot.”
“It's a real personal album and I really feel like I covered everything I wanted to on this album.”
And true to his humble music, Dixon told me, “I feel lucky that it turned out so well, and I'm glad there's been such good feedback.”


- The East Carolinian newspaper


""I can't wait to hear him live" Village Idiot review"

Ignite Mindz
Psychological Warfare

Originally from Winston Salem, this MC has a cool, comedic wit and vocal style that puts him miles ahead of the game. What the album may lack in production quality is quickly outweighed by clever rhymes and sweet hooks. The samples are hot- think A Tribe Called Quest in the early days-and he knows his way around a verse, so I wouldn’t be surprised if his freestyles were worth bootlegging. (I am not advocating the thievery of music, but Ignite Mindz does offer a few free downloads on the website, www.ignitemindz.com.)

The other huge plus is that you can’t resist the smile and nod when you hear Ignite Mindz’ subject matter and its relevance to all the real people from your hometown (or someone else’s).Now residing in Raleigh, it seems that Ignite Mindz won’t exhaust his stash of N.C. specific subject matter any time soon. Songs about mullets just don’t sound the same if you’ve never inspected one intently as you attempt to seem patient and calm at the DMV.

I just can’t wait to hear him live. With lyrics like “Redneck gangster, chillin’ in the meth lab- trailer park hustling-….” and samples from Pulp Fiction, Ignite Mindz is more credible than the usual local hip hop--along with all the homegrown flavor you love from the likes of Asheville’s Granola Factory Express, not to mention the explosive attitude and boom-box-ability of other hip hop circles with hometown type roots, like Little Brother. Ignite Mindz brings the everyday back into a genre that has been overloaded with hype and buzzwords of late, and that puts him in a class of his own. Review by J.Lynn Pirch
- Village Idiot


Discography

Ignite and Imagery: Thoughts LP 2005
Ignite Mindz: Psychological Warfare LP 2007

Photos

Bio


IGNITE MINDZ: BIO

What's good? I'm a Winston Salem NC native. I moved to Greenville to attend ECU in 2002 to study art, but I ended up studying journalism/production instead. I finished the album right when I graduated and moved to Raleigh. That was a hectic year working as a hip hop radio DJ, raising a puppy, writing, producing, and mixing an album; All while trying to finish college. My life has been a crazy ride and I chronicle it in my music. The son of a jazz trumpet player, I grew up in a musical household (he’s got a solo on the album and I sample him).

I started makin beats in 2004 and we dropped an album called Thoughts. I love it but I didnt have the funds to really release it. We had a manager paying for the project, but my gut instinct told me to drop him and I'm glad we did. Too many snakes in the grass in this business. I had to break off and do a solo album because I now live 3 hours away from Imagery. The result: Psychological Warfare.

Other magazines have praised the album, such as Groundliftmag.com with this review:
"Psychological Warfare flips the script completely with a hefty album of soul stirring beats and thought provoking rhymes... makes strides to both build upon and escape the shadow of Little Brother… achieves what many major label releases do not, continuity."

The East Carolinian’s review said, “Psychological Warfare is an album packed full of intellectual flows crammed with imagery that feels honest.
It's not just a one-sided album, either.
Dixon presents a wide range of skills from crafting brilliant stories, catchy hooks, tongue-twisting alliteration that'll make listeners lose their breath, and, on tracks like “C.W. Rides Again,” hilarious comedy.”

I'm from the school of MC's that focus on skills, flow, and wordplay. But I design each verse to blow away other MCs while making sure the average person can feel it. I write lyrics most people can relate to while making sure they're entertaining. But what I feel makes me special (beyond just the skills) is that most rappers are stuck rapping about just a few subjects. I rap about everything, my raps range from deep topics, to very personal things in my life, to party rhymes to battle rhymes, to politics, to wild real life stories, as well as cinematic fictional stories. I even have a comedy song that is hip hop from a southern redneck's point of view, which made number one on the Soundclick hip hop charts. Flip that and I have a song that's a true story about me almost getting shot in my own car. That song scares the shit out of everyone because I make them feel like they were right there with me. I’ve got a song over a marching band drum beat that damn near gets the crowd moshing. Flip that and I have a slow, soulful song half in Spanish about rejection. The album finishes off with a song featuring a top 50 American Idol contestant and that song also made number one on the Soundclick hip hop charts. The beats are original. I produced ten of them on Reason and Fruity Loops, and the other five were produced by veteran producer Segundo on the classic MPC 2000XL. I hope you enjoy it.