Phenetiks

Hip-hop summit at Westhill High offers message of 'empowerment'
1. Greenwich Time
By Natasha Lee
March 11, 2007

The summit was advertised and open to the public, but only about a dozen participants attended yesterday afternoon. Nonetheless, the artists said they felt encouraged by the youths' reaction.
'I've seen nothing but smiles, claps,' said Manny Arias, an MC from Waterbury who goes by the stage name Rocone. 'Everyone looks like they're enjoying themselves."
There's nothing wrong with being nerdy and being critical
STAMFORD - Aspiring young MCs, DJs and rappers got a behind-the-scenes glimpse yesterday of what it takes to get on stage, spit rhymes and get the crowd pumped.
Underground rappers, producers and artists from across the state gathered at the first Hip Hop Summit yesterday to teach young people about performance, technique and skill.
The all-day event was sponsored by Westhill High School and hosted by Ant Farm Affiliates, an association of more than a dozen Connecticut hip-hop artists and performers.
Their message was one of empowerment.
'There's nothing wrong with being nerdy and being critical,' said Queen Godis to a handful of students following a performance. 'We have to rely on our minds, because they are underused as it is.'
Godis, a singer and spoken-word performer, and singer Kendall Johnson-Smith, both from Brooklyn, N.Y., kicked off the summit with a series of songs and poetry from Godis' recent album 'Power U!'
Godis said her message and the album are about the struggles and joy of womanhood. She said women should be 'unafraid to be who they are without fear or resignation.'
Music videos featuring scantily clad women or sexually explicit lyrics send conflicting messages about a woman's place in society, she said.
'In the midst of mixed media images, there's a lot of disconnect as to what it means to be a woman,' she said.
Westhill High senior Deidre Knight, 17, said she appreciates Godis' message.
'When I listen to a lot of rap, it's like females really can't get anywhere. All you can do is look good and be in a video,' said Deidre, an aspiring rapper. 'Even a lot of female artists are degrading themselves. We need more artists like (Godis). She's good, and that inspires me.'
The summit featured a series of workshops about gaining exposure through independent media, stage presence and breathing techniques. Leaders also spoke about turning 'tagging' (spray-painting a symbol or name) and graffiti into a graphic design career. Participants had the chance to showcase their own demo CDs and receive a critique from Ant Farm Affiliates.
The event ended with a concert featuring the artists.
Westhill English teachers David Wooley and Joe Celcis, who also are Ant Farm performers, said the goal of the summit was to introduce young people to another side of hip hop, a side less commercial and more intellectual.
Wooley said he occasionally will interject lyrics into lessons to get students hooked on expanding their vocabulary and to improve their interest in reading.
'I think that we have a lot of kids who are either artists or intrigued by the music and the culture, and they don't necessarily think it's a way they can express themselves and be successful academically,' Wooley said.
The artists with Ant Farm Affiliates have years of experience performing individually and together across the country, and they said they have knowledge and advice to share with younger people who are up and coming.
'There's a real subculture that most people don't know about,' said Celcis, who goes by the stage name Nemesis Alpha when he's not teaching 'Romeo and Juliet' to high school kids. 'For every thug rapper, there's three or four rappers that have a real message and keep it real.'
Sixteen-year-old Brett Clarke came to the summit hoping to hone his DJ skills. Brett, a Westhill High junior, said his hobby of spinning records has landed him gigs at sweet-sixteen celebrations and at parties. The enthusiasm of the crowd as they dance and sing along when he works his turntables gives him a rush, Brett said.
But the role of the DJ has been lost today, he said.
'You almost get into somewhat of a zone. It's kind of cliche, but you don't really hear the music, you feel it. It's a lost art,' Brett said. 'Now at school dances, you'll see someone getting paid to sit behind a computer and press play.'
- Greenwich Times

Protégé from Phenetiks Interview

I know you guys reading my interviews are going to start thinking I'm developing a bias towards Connecticut, but no it's purely coincidence that my next artist to interview is also from CT. With A new album out and getting a lot of good responses I catch up with Protégé from Phenetiks to talk about the Musical Journey.



Musiqpromo: How's it going? Why don't you introduce yourself to the people?
Protégé: Hello there, I go by the name of The Protégé of Phenetiks. We are an experimental hip-hop group from Waterbury CT. Besides me there is the producer Deto22, the Dj Dj SirCumference, and the two other incredible MC' JK1 the Supernova and Roc one. Happy to be here.

Musiqpromo: How long have you been together?
Protégé: Well we all kind of met through mutual friends and became friends before we actually started to do music together. Phenetiks has been around since 1994. Deto22 is the originator. We have officially been a five member group since my induction in late '05'.

Musiqpromo: How would you describe your sound?
Protégé: Our sound is untainted, pure, original, lyrics, raw beats, raw scratching, concept driven, life motivated, dramatic nonsense, hip hop. Lol I can just say that each MC' brings his own persona to the table when it comes to making songs.Deto22 lays the beat and the concept and Dj Sircumference adds the special sauce. I dont even know what else to call it. It's just some good ol hip hop!

Musiqpromo: You have released your first album, can you tell the people about that?
Protégé: Yes this is our first release wit Rawkus, but we put out our first album independently in 2006, "The Sandbox set" which is available on cdbaby.com and ITunes.com. Our second LP is called "Revolutionary Non-Pollutionary Mechanical Wonder". You can download it now at the Rawkus website, my.rawkus.com and the link is as follows http://my.rawkus.com/profile/PHENETIKS. We have merchandise links posted as well.

Musiqpromo: I saw that you have made it to the Rawkus 50, how did that come about?
Protégé: We caught word of it on the net pretty early. JK1's girlfriend Erin spotted it and was like "you guys should enter that shit" so we did. I sent in the necessary materials and Slopfunkdust got back to us with a quick response. Hate to sound cliché but the rest is history. We got in.

Musiqpromo: Your from CT I've just interviewed MD-E, are you guys ever gonna collaborate? And what do you think of Redhead Kingpin & Apathy, who are CT's most famous exports.
Protégé: Yeah M D.E is our people. We both from CT representin! We are gonna be doing a show with him next week @ Blaggards in Manhattan. (Peep the page for info)I'm sure we can get together on a track in the future. I personally have not listened to Redhead Kingpin ever. I'm sure he can hold it down because I have heard of him. Apathy is my people too. I used to be a Dj for WHUS the University of Connecticut radio station. He was always around with OneTwo of the Demigodz. He spit crazy then and he's only gotten better with time. I've seen him roast mics wit a freestyle. I'm glad he's doing his thing, I'm gonna check him out in concert in Hartford this summer.

Musiqpromo: Are you working with any other people?
Protégé: Mos def! CT becoming really strong right now and we (Phenetiks) are all about the unity. We have aligned ourselves with some good talent from around the state, M D.E being one. We are apart of the AFA (Ant Farm Affiliates) which features Spaz,Cee Reed, Workforce-Dir E Dutch and Hawl Digg,D_Cyphernauts, Sketch Tha Cataclysm, The Rising Sun Quest, and Expertiz. We are planning to drop a mixtape soon. And shout out to my peoples The Basement Bastards, Subrosa, Smoke, Cousin Larry's, Maddsonn, Defynshn, Silent Touch, Wos, Dj Eros, and the Official IC.

Musiqpromo: Sounds very promising I'm from the UK, have you heard anything from over here that has caught your ear?
Protégé: I personally can't say that I know as much about UK hip hop than I do about US hip hop. But I have caught freestyles from things like jump-off TV and mix tapes; Youtube also keeps me tuned in. I haven't listened to enough to pick favorites. I did however link up with a producer named Raze Brooks and we did a couple of tracks together. There are other UK artist's that I like outside of hip hop like Cluadia Jesse and Holly Ottignon. Great talents. Wait I like Slick Rick, he's from the UK right?

Musiqpromo: Yeah Slick Rick & Monie Love are our biggest exports, I've heard a few of Razes Tunes, his Hip Hop Years Mixes and the Stuff he did with Lava Flo, you got any plans to come out to perform in the U.K?
Protégé: We would love to come out there and perform for the people! But we all have separate lives right now and it would take a big effort on our part. The only way I see that becoming a reality is if we can do a tour and make enough money to support our music. You know we still got jobs and kids support so all of that woul - Musiqpromo (UK)