SELF

http://media.www.smudailycampus.com/media/storage/paper949/news/2007/12/10/Entertainment/Lotus.Tribe.Evolves.Rap-3140662.shtml


OK, it's done. The line between art and entertainment has been drawn. Talib Kweli is art, whereas Trick Daddy is entertainment. Common Market is art, whereas Crime Mob is entertainment. Art has the uncanny ability to evoke emotions and thoughts that surpass "goin' dummy" and "bouncing that ass." Along those same lines, Lotus Tribe is art.

Presently, a hip-hop revival is upon us, yielding a reemergence of true artistry. Leading the way are Bleubird, Thavius Beck, Game Rebellion, Brother Ali and Median, to name a few. Copious amounts of quality hip-hop are indeed floating around underground, undetected by Clear Channel radio waves.

But, no man's message, be it bourgeoisie or blunt, matches Lotus Tribe's straight-to-the-point, hip-hop magnum opus, "The Art & War of Misanthropic Philanthropy."

Lotus Tribe's album is a bold deviation from the over-touted, Lil Jon crunk-junk, specifically targeting those blinded by bling and surrounded by earthly excess. Lotus Tribe is slowly but surely rehumanizing rap one prolific verse at a time.

This foursome arose from the muck and mire of San Antonio's mean streets, reevaluating their surroundings and vocalizing issues that range from genocide to the ongoing war to AIDS. Lotus Tribe is arguably one of the most didactic hip-hop outfits since NWA themselves.

In 1988, NWA's rude-mood message of defiance on "Express Yourself" remarked, "It's crazy to see people be/ What society wants them to be/ But not me!" Nearly two decades later, this classically hip-hop motif resurfaces in full swing on Lotus Tribe's album, specifically on track 10, "Sky High." For those of you perfectly content with the latest two-step or crunk-club record, beware. You've got a mutiny on your hands. But hey, don't hate the poets. Hate the game.

S.E.L.F defined means Self Expression Is Living Free, a movement in change born out of the San Antonio streets. Line after line of complex lyrics spark dormant neurons and force intelligent thought through headphones directly to the brain. If it's a movement they want, it's a movement they'll get.

This 14-track LP is stunning, a must-have for the nu-defiant hip-hop fan. Some songs are smooth ("Trapped" and "Human Condition") while others are rough and abrasive ("Primitive Feedback"), providing a layer of perfect rhythms atop perfect rhymes.

Lotus Tribe, formally submerged in adversity and mucky waters, is alight, spreading their hip-hop upheavals on tour throughout the U.S.

overall, Lotus Tribe's "The Art & War of Misanthropic Philanthropy" is a genius work of art that is evocative and compelling, spellbinding and raw. The title track, "Misanthropic Philanthropy," irons out confusion and smoothes crinkled foreheads, serving as a powerful synopsis of the entire album, the movement and the men that make it possible. Lotus Tribe is a large, mounting force to be reckoned with in America's overly rapacious rap game.
- smu daily campus

http://leonardslair.wordpress.com/2007/11/04/review-self-of-lotus-tribe-the-art-war-of-misanthropic-philanthropy/


Review: S.E.L.F. of Lotus Tribe - The Art & War Of Misanthropic Philanthropy
Published November 4, 2007 Reviews

There is a school of thought which suggests hip-hop has stagnated since the early 1990s. Complete nonsense of course but on a commercial basis it is frequently tired, unimaginative and full of sexism, homophobia and self-aggrandisement. S.E.L.F. (a project developed by members of Texan unit Lotus Tribe, it stands for Self Expression Is Living Free) are unlikely to be troubling the Billboard Top 75 any time soon but they have crafted an album of substance, intelligence and tangible sadness, which is aimed to offer a glimmer of hope in a world full of war, disease and dubious politics.

S.E.L.F. Album Cover
The line of misery is drawn from the outset as a mournful score underpins ‘Closure’. It’s neatly followed by the quickfire raps on ‘Primitive Feedback’, which is itself bolstered by dark piano keys. Comparisons can be drawn between the mid-1990s group Earthling whose choice of sinister filmic samples and on-the-money rapping still excites today. The choice of backing here is similarly imaginative and involving; soulful easy listening for ‘Change’, obscure film dialogue for ‘War Child’, sinister strings for just about everything else, arguably reaching a peak on the woozily hypnotic ‘Lost’ and the tearful ‘Sky High’. The only criticism is that the S.E.L.F. worldview is bereft of the light which it was aiming to achieve but as a listening experience it’s so involving it’s hard not to be drawn in to their malaise.

- The Weblog Of Leonard’s Lair

http://hiphoplinguistics.com/underground/2007/07/self-of-lotus-tribe-the-art-war-of-misanthropic-philanthropy

S.E.L.F. “The Art & War of Misanthropic Philanthropy” Album Review
It wasn’t until recently that I realized I feel more at peace listening to songs made famous during the time when I was in high school. The early to mid-90s to be exact; it’s just something about the hip-hop then that inserted a heavy anchor into my heart that will forever be embedded. But there are many new artists who are growing on me; many who might fit the mold overtime as well. S.E.L.F. could possibly be one of these groups.

What makes a person spiritually strong is the foundation to which their soul relies. In regards to hip-hop, the foundation of the culture itself goes back as far as 1977-78 for some; others argue that hip-hop started with James Brown. Whatever the case; for me, I started listening to hip-hop in the late eighties and fell in love with hip-hop in the early nineties. On The Art & War of Misanthropic Philanthropy, S.E.L.F. takes me back to this sweet time of my life with some of his tracks.

With a sound reminiscent of Digable Planets, S.E.L.F. delivers a quality product full of intelligent lyrics, unique rhymes structures and melodic jazz-filled beats. Most of the album is at a tempo consistent with a slow head nod, but the production fits their styles perfectly. One thing that can kill an artist’s album is choosing beats that really don’t flow with the artist’s style; this is not the case on The Art & War of Misanthropic Philanthropy. I highly recommend this album for those looking for something different but at the same time good to add to their rotation.

- ScholarMan - Hip-Hop Linguistics

http://underground9.blogspot.com/2008/01/art-war-of-misanthropic-philanthropy.html

Underground9 Overview:
I was very surprised by this debut, the dark production brings classical sounds to the listener, while the lyrics are beautiful in it's complexity, the major subject of this record is the questions about life, disease, war, murderous minds and expresses the hatred for what mankind has become.
Now you probably don't know much about S.E.L.F, i too am new to their music, so we gotta start with the Lotus Tribe.
Lotus Tribe met as troubled high schoolers with a mutual concern for the lack of a real hip hop scene in San Antonio, TX. Four years of cultivation and regional acclaim has led to the "Self Expression is Living Free" (S.E.L.F.) project and "The Art & War of Misanthropic Philanthropy" which features Lotus Tribe's MCs The Reason, Trinit-I and Aura.
My favorite track is "Aether" that lyrically amazed me, the beautiful strings beat made it one of my favorite tracks of 2007.
The only thing that disappointed me is the artists' flow on some tracks.
This is definitely worth downloading, this album is one of it's kind. - Underground9

http://jeej.wordpress.com/2007/09/08/guess-whos-back/

With each musical genre come sub-genres and then mutations between genres and sub-genres, almost to the point now where it is becoming hard to classify certain music as one thing or another - sure it is shitty if you work in a record store, but generally speaking I love it. There are casualties along the way, but such trials must be taken and errors must be made to unearth something a bit special. Sometimes it is the subtle approaches towards a genre that can surprise and pay-off the most. Recently it was one such approach that came as the most pleasant surprise. I’ll cut to the chase: it was the new release by Lotus Tribe, the ‘S.E.L.F.’ project: The Art & War of Misanthropic Philanthropy. These guys are from San Antonio and decided it was time to shake up the hip-hop scene in Texas, and that they did. The rhymes are smooth, melodic and intelligent. The beats are strong, well produced and addictive. All the elements are on display to full effect, in a similar vein to Jedi Mind Tricks and Immortal Technique, only in a more laid back manner, these dudes really hit that fresh spot. Remember to check the Lotus Tribe MySpace page - Just Like Music

http://jeej.wordpress.com/2008/01/19/the-best-of-2007-2/

I heard a few people say that 2007 was a bad year for music, specially compared to 2006, but I have a list of 84 titles that beg to differ. I’m gonna detail 30 of my top picks, then I’ll just list the rest in no particularly special order. There isn’t enough hours in the day! In an ideal world I’d have mentioned all of the below albums at some point over the last year, but 84 albums is nearly one album every four days - even if by some miracle I did give a semi in-depth review of each one, I doubt you’d have enough time to read them all. I do often substitute my lack of prose with a slot on my podcast for new stuff that I dig, so try to catch that if you can.

Anyway, here’s my definitive Top 30 albums…

Pepe Deluxé - Spare Time Machine [mp3][ysi]
Beastie Boys - The Mix Up [mp3][ysi]
CocoRosie - The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn [mp3][ysi]
4hero - Play With The Changes [mp3][ysi]
Shawn Lee’s Ping Pong Orchestra - Voices And Choices [mp3][ysi]
Y Society - Travel At Your Own Pace
Nostalgia 77 Octet - Weapons Of Jazz Destruction
Antibalas - Security
Me&You - Floating Heavy [mp3][ysi]
The Sweet Vandals - The Sweet Vandals
Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings - 100 Days, 100 Nights
Ohmega Watts - Watts Happening
The Quantic Soul Orchestra - Tropidelico
Speeka - Bonfire
The Cinematic Orchestra - Ma Fleur
The Heliocentrics - Out There
The Bamboos - Rawville
Little Dragon - Little Dragon
Nostalgia 77 - Everything Under The Sun
Jay Bharadia - The Yeti Cave [mp3][ysi]
Sia - Lady Croissant
Jazz Addixx - Oxygen Refreshed
Bullion - Pet Sounds: In The Key Of Dee
Cookin’ On 3 Burners - Baked, Broiled & Fried
Kid Acne - Romance Ain’t Dead
Amon Tobin - Foley Room
Jumbonics - Talk To The Animals
Flevans - Unfabulous [mp3][ysi]
Thes One - Lifestyle Marketing
The Dynamics - Version Excursions

And the fantastic rest (in alphabetical order)…

2Tall - Beautiful Mindz (feat. Dudley Perkins & Georgia Anne Muldrow)
Battles - Mirrored
Blockhead - Uncle Tony’s Coloring Book
Bonde Do Role - With Lasers
Bumps - Bumps
CunninLynguists - Dirty Acres
Diesler - The Rhythm Station
Dinner At The Thompson’s - Lifetime On Planet Earth
Distance - My Demons
DJ Day - The Day Before
DJ Kentaro - Enter
Dntel - Dumb Luck
Dyno - Dyno is Sol Waters [mp3][ysi]
Elizabeth Shepherd - Besides
Feist - The Reminder
Fink - Distance and Time
Flow Dynamics - Flow Dynamics
Grieves - Irreversible [mp3][ysi]
Hot 8 Brass Band - Rock With The Hot 8
Husky Rescue - Ghost Is Not Real
Intellectually Sound - Beats and a Poem Vol.1
J Dilla - Ruff Draft
Juba Dance - Orange
Kidkanevil - Problems and Solutions
Kings Of Leon - Because Of The Times
Kutiman - Kutiman [mp3][ysi]
Lack Of Afro - Press On
Lefties Soul Connection - Skimming The Skum
Lotus Tribe - S.E.L.F.: The Art & War Of Misanthropic Philanthropy
Lou Rhodes - Bloom
Lukid - Onandon
M.I.A. - Kala
Madlib the Beat Konductor - Beat Konducta in India Vol 3-4
Norah Jones - Not Too Late
Orgone - The Killion Floor
Prefuse 73 - Preparations
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Robert Glasper - In My Element
Rup - Rup On Zebra
Saul Williams - The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!
Scianka - Secret Sister
Sia - Some People Have Real Problems
Speedometer - Four Flights Up
The Budos Band - The Budos Band II
The Haggis Horns - Hot Damn!
The Heavy - Great Vengeance & Furious Fire [mp3][ysi]
The Polyphonic Spree - The Fragile Army
The Shape Of Broad Minds - Craft Of The Lost Art
The Sound Stylistics - Play Deep Funk
Thief - Sunchild
Unkle Ho - Circus Maximus
Voice of the Seven Woods - Voice of the Seven Woods
Wajeed - The War LP
Wax Tailor - Hope and Sorrow
Yesterdays New Quintet - Yesterdays Universe

See, plenty of great albums came out in 2007. If you have the time, I’d advise you to check out any of the above if you haven’t heard of them before. Not every artist has millions of dollars worth of marketing push behind them, but that isn’t a measure of quality by any means what-so-ever. The Police have reformed and are taking Fergie (?!) on tour with them to sell out crowds around the globe. Sure, The Police were good in their day, but Fergie as SPECIAL guest?! Meanwhile Ohmega Watts played to a couple of hundred people in Brisbane. If enough commercials said so, some people would spread shit on their toast in the morning and wear condoms on their ears. Mass marketing and advertising doesn’t mean shit. However, it means that if you genuinely want to get your hands on decent music, then YOU have to put the effort in. Do your research, spend that extra five or ten minutes rather than waiting for your big FM station to ram some shit down your throat. Don’t settle for second best, get up off your arse and find the best yourself. The good stuff is there and is more accessible than you think, so go get it.

- Just Like Music

http://www.lefthip.com/review_detail.php?reviewID=752

The San Antonio Texas group gets right to the point even in their S.E.L.F title breaking down as Self Expression is Living Free. I’ll tell you one thing, if these 4 lived in my neighborhood in Vancouver; they’d be a hands down hit because of what they preach. Yes, this is not only a good way to ventilate a bit of frustration with the way our world has slung shot it’s way into a desperate situation with pollution, war, consumerism, genocide, disease, and lack of sustainability but it is a chance to open eyes with words. These days it’s spoken of too much in all of the same places, hip hop needs to be a new venue to speak of things other than what we hear of hip hop being in the media- because it sure gets a bad reputation for being either too violent or too glitzy. This to me is real hip hop, and this is how it should be.

The rhyme-scheme is brilliant, the beats are flawless and feature booming bass drums, cultural overtones and always emote in a very reluctant way. So much knowledge is put behind these sophisticated lyrics already chanting: Acceptance of the proper usage of the words, blindly committed to an opinion that was never yours, but in convenience the true traditional fear- you would hear… making the truth seem quite unclear. These lines alone make me picture a politician behind a podium reading off a speech sheet that they didn’t even write.

I really can’t wait until I get more time with this album because I want to take in all of these words and let them digest. The messages and the beats go hand in hand. The delivery is very tactful, concerning and meaningful. I am adding this album to my musical library to enjoy on my own, and I will share it with others. This has been one of the best albums I have heard yet this year through Left Hip Magazine and it has been an honor to review it.

Kristen Cudmore - Left Hip Magazine

http://www.fussmagazine.com/content/view/125/45/

Okay, it’s done. The line between art and entertainment has been drawn. Talib Kweli is art, Trick Daddy is entertainment. Common Market is art, Crime Mob is entertainment. Art has the uncanny ability to evoke emotions and thoughts that surpass “goin’ dummy” and “bouncing that ass.” As well, Lotus Tribe is art.

Presently, a hip-hop revival is upon us, yielding a reemergence of art, the “real sh*t” so to speak: Bleubird, Thavius Beck, Game Rebellion, Brother Ali and Median to name a few. Copious amounts of quality hip-hop are indeed floating around underground, undetected by Clear Channel radio waves. But, no man’s message, be it bourgeoisie or blunt, matches Lotus Tribe’s straight-to-the-point, hip-hop tour de force.

Lotus Tribe’s album, S.E.L.F: The Art & War of Misanthropic Philanthropy, is a bold deviation from the over touted, Lil Jon crunk junk, specifically targeting those blinded by bling and surrounded by earthly excess. Lotus Tribe is slowly but surely re-humanizing rap one prolific verse at a time. This foursome arose from the muck and mire of San Antonio's mean streets, blossoming, reevaluating their surroundings and vocalizing issues that range from genocide to the ongoing war to AIDS. Lotus Tribe is arguably one of the most didactic hip-hop outfits since NWA themselves. In ‘88, NWA’s rude mood message of defiance on “Express Yourself” remarked, “It's crazy to see people be/ What society wants them to be/ But not me!” Nearly two decades later, this classically hip-hop motif resurfaces in full swing, specifically on track ten, “Sky High.” For those of you perfectly contented with the latest two step or crunk club record, beware, you’ve got a mutiny on your hands. But hey, don’t hate the poets, hate the game.

S.E.L.F defined means Self Expression Is Living Free, a movement in change birthed from the San Antonio streets. Line after line of complex lyrics spark dormant neurons and force intelligent thought through headphones directly to the brain; if it’s a movement they want, it’s a movement they’ll get. This fourteen track LP is stunning, a must have for the nu-defiant hip-hop fan. Some songs are smooth (“Trapped” and “Human Condition”) while others are rough and abrasive (“Primitive Feedback”), providing a layer of perfect rhythms atop perfect rhymes. Lotus Tribe, formally submerged in adversity and mucky waters, is alight, blooming and booming, spreading their hip-hop upheavals on tour throughout the U.S.

In all, Lotus Tribe’s The Art & War of Misanthropic Philanthropy is a genius work of art, art that is evocative and compelling, spellbinding and raw. The title track, “Misanthropic Philanthropy,” irons out confusion and smoothes crinkled foreheads, serving as a powerful synopsis of the entire album, the movement and the men that make it possible. Lotus Tribe is a large, mounting force to be reckoned with in America's overly rapacious rap game. Cadillac grills and 24s aside, leave it to the Texans to do it big.
- Fuss Magazine

http://www.mysanantonio.com/entertainment/columnists/jbeal/stories/MYSA010908.04P.Beal.780b1d.html

S.E.L.F. comes home

S.E.L.F. (Self Expression is Living Free), part of the hip-hop collective Lotus Tribe, has been hard at work traveling and gigging behind its "The Art & War of Misanthropic-Philanthropy" CD. The quartet of MCs Reason, Aura and Trinit-I (Mark Gonzales, Jacob Lopez and Jason Torres) and producer Aether216 (Diego Chavez) is working its way through New Mexico, California, Nevada and Arizona. The group will keep moving on to Austin, Houston, Dallas and New Orleans.

Wednesday, S.E.L.F. will pull off the tour road briefly to work Limelight with DJ Spytek of the World Famous Fader Ballistix Crew.

S.E.L.F. is known not for party anthems and mindless boasting but for sociopolitical commentary; words about peace and justice; words that decry racism and boost unity. And the group wraps those words in beats that won't quit. - San Antonio Express News

http://www2.sacurrent.com/calendar/event.asp?whatID=32834

Lotus Tribe w. S.E.L.F, DJ SYPTEK, & more

Selections
By: Current Staff

San Antonio hip-hop collective Lotus Tribe gears up on the second leg of “The Love/Hate Tour” promoting the S.E.L.F. LP, The Art & War of Misanthropic-Philanthropy. The tour began this summer in Atlanta, hitting the east coast and the Midwest before coursing through California and Texas. LT has a lot in store for SA in 2008 — various solo projects, a mixtape, and a new album. 8pm, Limelight, 2718 N. St. Mary’s, (210) 735-7775.
- San Antonio Current