Intricate Minds

"Like the other Alberta albums I've reviewed, Intricate Minds make music that you would file under "real" or "traditional" in the hip hop rolodex."

Posted by naedoo

full review available at...

http://www.herohill.com/2007/04/reviews-intricate-minds-self-hypnosis.htm - HeroHill

"The RAWKUS 50 is the 50 Next important hip hop artists."

More Info @

http://www.rawkus.com/rawkus50/ - Rawkus Records

All the info available at:

http://www.discmakers.com/imws/W07sf.asp - Disk Makers

http://www.rapattacklives.com/charts_306.htm - RapAttackLives.com

http://www.myspace.com/recordbreakercharts - Record Breakers

Interview: Intricate Minds

Written by Lia Karidas

Monday, 24 March 2008

Great Minds Think Intricate: Justin Crates, Synaptix, Verse and Profound Sound, of Intricate Minds, talk to MMN about their unique sound, their debut album and their future goals.

When it comes to underground urban hip-hop, the first region that comes to mind is...western Canada? Okay maybe not. But considering Alberta based rap crew, Intricate Minds, there's no reason it shouldn't be.

Intricate Minds features MCs Justin Crates, Synaptix, Profound Sound, Verse, as well as DJ and producer, DJ Aretistik. The core members grew up together in Red Deer, Alberta, and harbored a mutual love of rap, as well as a will to create great music. Profound Sound says it specifically started with Synaptix and himself rapping and playing video games in his father's office. The rest all played out just as naturally. Verse tells us that Intricate Minds has been together for almost ten years, and that it began after a period of contemplation, "Synaptix, Crates and Profound decided after years of listening to hip hop that it was time to take the next step and begin writing, recording, a purchasing gear towards this end. [I] joined the crew around the same time and things started taking shape."

Their debut record, Self Hypnosis is unique in concept- and in length! This 22 track album is woven together with speech interludes about hypnosis amongst the tracks. Though the album is unusually lengthy, it is definitely representative of the amount of work that these guys have been doing over the past several years. Synaptix thinks that the length was not a conscious decision, but rather a natural opportunity to show the world what the group has been up to, "I think it was more of an unconscious outcome based on us wanting to shine as much as possible. The response has been pretty good though and I think people recognize the talent and potential of our music." Verse points out that the most notable support has come out of their experiences in the Rawkus 50 Competition, as well as from the United States.

So what made Intricate Minds decide to incorporate the theme of self-hypnosis on this album? It seems to be a combination of symbolism and practicality. "Its not a concept album, and we wanted to have some type of theme to keep it solid", Profound Sound points out. Synaptix agrees, "I think [the hypnosis interludes] lend a cohesiveness and theme to album that wasn't there before". It was Crates' decision to incorporate the hypnosis theme in this album, and for him the idea also does a lot to complement the listening experience: "Self-hypnosis, meditation, martial arts. They fit with music well. You have to master self-hypnosis, just like you have to focus to fully experience this album."

Having listened to all 22 tracks on Self Hypnosis, I can honestly say that Intricate Minds has created a listening experience worthy of the listener's undivided attention. Honest, relevant lyrics coupled with a versatile sound, place Intricate Minds in the school of rappers that don't conform to the commercialized standards of the genre. The tracks on Self Hypnosis feature a fusion of rap and a variety of other styles, including rock, funk, reggae, jazz and classical. For all four MCs, their musical influences are equally as diverse. Profound Sound grew up with soul and classic rock, and also found himself interested in reggae and jazz. Synaptix cites a wide variety of musical influences, but for him it mostly comes down to song writing, "I think good song writing is the main factor for me, if the music is well written and composed you can really tell it's quality over less stimulating stuff." Crates listens to many different types of music, and hopes that the incorporation of different styles on this album will inspire listeners to experience other genres as well. For Verse, this kind of diversity is essential for development as a musical artist, "An artist who is stuck on one form of music severely limits his own potential for growth."

Lyrically, the songs on Self Hypnosis stray away from the materialistic, hypersexual subject matter that is often associated with rap music. Instead, Intricate Minds focuses on real-world issues and concerns, as well as the ongoing urban theme of authenticity and realness in music. As a result, Self Hypnosis commands your attention from track one, offering powerful food for thought that is both entertaining and thought provoking. Whether it is social change or thought provocation, the guys of Intricate Minds all believe that their music has the potential to raise consciousness. Profound Sound is optimistic about this capacity for change: "I hope to ignite an inferno of social change with my music. With Canadian Idol and 50 Cent out there, we need it more then ever." For Verse, it is a matter of perspective. "It's just our take on what we see around us. It's not necessarily meant to change anything, but to maybe bring light to subjects that we touch on." Crates agrees that his music has the potential to spark social change, "But first we need to become big enough to actually make that change. Haha." And for independent musicians in Canada this is always the reality. Canada isn't a nation that is famous for it's urban music scene, but Intricate Minds hopes to make the best out of whatever prospects that Canada offers them. "There are very few opportunities in Canada music-wise", Crates says, "I would love to change that." He wishes that there were more opportunities for him when he was younger, but with the lack of open doors came opportunity in the form of self-learning, "Up here, I had to figure it all out myself. What equipment I needed, how to use it all. That was all me...all me." Synaptix believes that there is always opportunity for hard work, but he hopes to change the fact that many Canadian artists are obligated to search for opportunities outside of Canada, "We can change that by getting success inside and outside of Canada, and opening some eyes to what we can do." For Verse, nationality has no bearing on success in this industry, "To me it doesn't matter where your music comes from as long as its quality. I've never been one to ask where the artist is from to validate how it sounds. I think a lot of people feel the same way as I do."

So what makes Intricate Minds the quality music that Verse is referring to? Crates values the fact that Intricate Minds is genuinely making music for the love of music. "We still, despite everything that's happened in the industry over the last few years, remain in this for the love first." Synaptix thinks that they encompass "that original hip-hop group feel that isn't as alive anymore". According to Verse, Intricate Minds is unique because of the sum of its parts, "The fact that there's four white MCs and a DJ makes it stand out on its own for starters. Also, Crates' production is very unique, which is a major factor. Inside the group, the individual style in both writing and delivery is very pronounced. Its what makes each track easy to listen to." For


Profound Sound, the value of Intricate Minds is simple; "We try to keep it classic with a Canadian flavor." To listen to music from Intricate Minds and/or purchase their great debut album, Self Hypnosis:

www.rawkus.com

www.myspace.com/therealintricateminds

Or in the profound words of Profound Sound: "Just Google the name and don't forget it..."Intricate Minds."

- muzikmovementnewz.com

Intricate Minds
To The Letter
By Thomas Quinlan

While the obvious draw to this Intricate Minds twelve-inch is the production by Stones Throw star Oh No on “To the Letter,” it actually ends up being the least appealing of the three tracks found here. The four rappers — Justin Crates, Profound Sound, Synaptix and Versatile — are decent and the bass certainly stands out, but the track quickly becomes repetitive and boring. Justin Crates does better with his production on the other two tracks. The samples on “Your Neighbourhood” somehow combine to give the song a Hawaiian luau feel, while Intricate Minds break down their hip-hop credentials and brag about how they will “rock your neighbourhood.” Crates then smooths things out with the piano-laced “Do Not Enter,” a skills-testing ode to the recording studio. The MCs are not flawless with their flows, although they do display an impressive level of comfort with each other; together for more than eight years, the members of Intricate Minds work well together and sound similar but different enough to differentiate between each member. Maybe not mind-blowing, Intricate Minds have still created a smooth twelve-inch to chill to, but hopefully their full-length will have a little more variety. (Introspection)
- Exclaim! Canada's Music Authority

http://www.vueweekly.com/article.php?id=7580

Week of December 19, 2007, Issue #635

MUSIC
Intricate Minds feeds the hunger
CAROLYN NIKODYM / carolyn@vueweekly.com

It’s been a bit of a bumper year for Edmonton hip hop, with fresh, traditional releases in the last couple of months from Low Budget Affiliates and iD following on the heels of Touch and Nato’s The Representatives in Intelligent Design and Intricate Minds’ Self-Hypnosis earlier this year .
So, what’s in the water?

“I don’t necessarily know if it’s Alberta that creates the right environment, but I think that we have a lot of creative people that want to do it properly and that are taking the right steps to make it so that Edmonton does have a hip-hop scene or an urban music community,” opines Synaptix, aka Joel Pelletier, one of Intricate Minds’ four MCs. “Like, people like Arlo [Young Mav of Politic Live] are doing it and that’s how it works ... the scene could be better, and I think that it’s so young that it just needs a lot of time to develop before we can all get, like, do a local show and have everyone know about it, you know. But it’s getting there, for sure.

“There’s some good music, and everyone is getting outside of Edmonton as well and getting radio play in the East and in the States, and it just helps everybody,” he continues. “You know, like anyone who’s getting some shine helps the whole scene, for sure. It gives us all credibility.”

Intricate Minds, who’ll be sharing the sixth annual Hip Hop for Hunger bill with Moka Only, Fatty Jones and Freshly Squeezed, among others, has been doing its own part to shine the light on the scene. The group’s debut album, released in March, was picked up by Rawkus Records and re-released as one of the Rawkus 50 in November. And the album’s single, “To the Letter” reached #3 on Rapnetwork Record Breaker and RapAttack charts earlier this month.
Not bad for four guys from Red Deer who just started rhyming for fun.

“If you felt like you had a little bit of skill, you know, you could all get together, if it was a party or we were just sitting around, and it was never to record or even to go in that direction,” Synaptix says. “It was kind of like a this pipe dream we used to talk about ... like, ‘Imagine if we were famous rappers,’ you know. But somehow we just got to the point where someone splurged on some equipment and started making beats and we had our own studio, and once you start making songs, it’s like it’s not satisfying to listen to them yourself.”

Eventually they started doing some shows in Edmonton—many for free—and with that came some attention.

“After you do one show, people know that you’re out there and it kind of surprised us,” he explains. “After you do a show, and then all of a sudden people are like, ‘Hey, you want to do this?’ So, that’s kind of how it started and just really doing a grind in Edmonton—doing shows for no money and just wanted to get experience, really. There’s some promoters that probably made some money off of us, but I think it was worth it. For us, we never even talked about money at first, it was just, ‘Thanks for having us on the stage,’ ... you know, at that point, we were pretty much just practicing and it helped a lot.”

Weathering the difficulties of having members in different parts of the province and some lineup changes, Intricate Minds—made up of MCs Synaptix, Profound Sound, Justin Crates, Verse and DJ Artistic—put together its own label, Burnt Reynolds Records, and took a year and a half in its Red Deer-based studio to cut a single and then a debut album six months later. At 22 tracks, the album, according to one reviewer, might be long, but Synaptix explains that the group wanted to show off its diverse MC styles, with rhymes covering everything from weed to the death of four RCMP officers in Mayerthorpe.

The decision to have multiple MCs happened pretty organically, but Intricate Minds was going after the feel of the old school hip-hop group.

“We’ve evolved a bit—some members dropped out and we’ve kind of tightened up to four members. We used to have a few more, but that’s just how things go. People move in different directions, and stuff, but right now, we feel pretty solid about how our group is feeling,” he says. “And we just got a new DJ as well—DJ Artistic. He’s from Calgary. And he’s really helped us out. It really helps us out for our show because no one was a DJ before. We had producers but no one was a DJ, so you don’t have the proper tools to give every thing you need to the crowd. Like a DJ can ... if you have a gap or something, they can do cuts or anything, so it’s added a lot to our versatility. So we’re like a five-member group with one DJ ... it really helps out, to kind of top off the hip-hop group.”

Having been part of the Edmonton hip-hop scene for some five years now, Intricate Minds has done shows with Politic Live and has offered to play Hip Hop for Hunger, having supported the event pretty much since it began.

“We’ve always told Arlo, or Marlon [Wilson], that like we’re ready to perform whenever,” Synaptix explains. “And he’s kind of looking for groups in Edmonton that are doing something significant that year to put on the bill and this year we’ve had a pretty good year, so he right away, he asked to put us on.”
Not only for a good cause—last year the event raised nearly 1000 pounds of food for the Edmonton Food Bank, and this year the goal is 1500 pounds—Hip Hop for Hunger has arguably become one of Edmonton’s hip-hop events of the year.

“It’s that time of year, people want to support good causes, you know,” Synaptix says. “So I think that’s the main reason, and it’s just like all the Edmonton hip-hop people get to have their event and show off, so that’s good ‘cause everyone comes out. It’s one of the biggest hip hop events of the year, so give good credit to Marlon, because he’s done a good job. He’s pretty hardcore.” V

Fri, Dec 21
Hip Hop for Hunger
With Moka Only, Intricate Minds, Fatty Jones, TDB, Freshly Squeezed, Third Street Beat, the U of A Dance Team
Marcus Garvey Centre (12526 - 125 Avenue), $10 with food donation
- www.vueweekly.com

International Locations to Purchase Intricate Minds Music

Download Tracks from the Crates & Profound Sound 7" for a small fee:

http://westsounds.org/mp3_download/Intricate_Minds/artist/2083521/

Buy our 12" in France:

http://www.nuloop.com/en/vinyl-records/hiphop/detail/52804/intricate_minds-to_the_letter.html

Buy our 12" in Germany:

http://www.hhv.de/index.php?action=changeLanguage&lang=en&rid=90886&show=startSeite

http://www.loop23.de/article/view/120462

Buy our 12" in the US on UGHH.com

http://www.undergroundhiphop.com/store/detail.asp?UPC=BRR0112

Buy our 12" and 7" from Switzerland

http://www.humrecords.ch/detail.php?id=127066

Buy our 12" in the Czech Republic

http://www.audio3.cz/goods.asp?gid=1019238
- Myspace.com

alright what did you cats feel for the year?
1. IDE - Force Fed - for me i've said it before nothing came even close to this album its one of the best albums i've heard in years
2. Y Society - Travel At Your Own Pace
3. Chain Of Command - Rogue State EP
4. The Problemaddicts - The First Step
5. Johnson & Jonson - Powers & Oils
6. Educated Consumers - Write Hear
7. Dj Muggs vs Sick Jacken : Legend Of The Mask & The Assassin
8. Matlock - Moonshine
9. Intricate Minds - Self Hypnosis
10. El-P - I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
11. Cap D - Return Of The Renegade
12. Pharoahe Monch - Desire
13. M9 - High Fidelity

no doubt come back & add more so many good albums released its hard to try & remember them all & i know i've def left out alot

http://www.stealthmag.com/board/viewthread.php?tid=11619&page=1#pid124563
- www.StealthMag.com