October 31st 2006 will signify to most of us a Hip Hop homecoming for others the Juggaknots will bring a nostalgic sound and style to a new era. Buddy Slim, Breezly Brewin, Queen Herawin make up the sibling hip hop group. Their first album Clear Blue Skies introduced the group to the world in the mid 90’s with a flow and lyrical content that showed no signs of confusion. Ingeniously produced tracks laced with complex rhymes, and smart collaborations like Rap legend Slick Rick, Sadat X of Brand Nubian, Wordsworth, and Rob-O.
Set to release their sophomore LP titled “Use your Confusion” I recently spoke with Breezly Brewin 1/3 of the sibling hip-hop group, to discuss the new album, working with his siblings and the difference between a rapper and a lyricist,.
MVRemix: Since your introduction into the rap industry, and your brief hiatus a lot has changed, how do you feel about the current state of hip-hop?
Breezly Brewin: I really don’t have a problem with it I don’t know how much sense it makes to have a problem with it, because it is what it is. Right now it has the potential with all the technological advances, with the internet and there are just so many ways to get out there, and at the same time maybe there are too many ways to get out there.
As far as hip hop itself its well locked, back in the day you would have cats in your neighborhood knowing your stuff, now you have people all the way on the other side of the world listening to our music. Sometimes on myspace we have cat’s from Australia contacting us, and it’s like who would have ever thought.
So it’s a give and take on it, but I’m glad we came out when we did come out, just to establish ourselves, I don’t know if I want to be a cat coming out these days. It’s hard to get noticed because anybody can get noticed. As far as the music it’s self there is a lot of good music, I think a lot of the better music although it has the potential for visibility a lot of the better music is still going unnoticed
MVRemix: What do you consider the better music out right now?
Breezly Brewin: Hip hop wise, I don’t know I get nervous for any music that gets pasted to a region. Back in the day you would have Tribe and the Alkaholiks, and these cats were on totally different coast. Even so their music was not so drastically different, they had nuances but it was not like “this is what we do here in our neck of the woods,” its like I understand cats trying to create a sound for their area but its like they are going out of their way, and is that necessary for the music its self?
MVRemix: Why did you guys walk away at what seemed the height of your careers?
Breezly Brewin: The height of the career, that is the perception from I guess where your at, and where you are looking, the height of my career that is the point where I kind of started a family and I got my hip hop concepts and ideas and thinking, ok maybe this is enough to support my family, but in actually it wasn’t. You know I’m an artist, a performing artist and a man, and at the height I was looking for gigs, second and third gigs, as far as going into education, it just made the most sense because it could afford me the time to look into the music. And it does, I’ve found that a lot of cats actually do it. It could support and I could definitely go full blast with the music, I can’t lie teaching is an important career, and it’s needed.
MVRemix: I came across an article calling you guys the Jackson 5 of hip hop, how is it working in a sibling group, you really don’t see that anymore?
Breezly Brewin: Were a little crazy and its not always the easiest thing with a family. There are no, “Yes” men in the family, we have license to be brutally honest and we are, and I think from time to time it works. We are just honest with each other and it helps the music. For the public, what they see, Queen Herawin she’s teaching now, she really makes her presence felt, we have different roles and Slim is older so sometimes he’s MC/producer/Joe Jackson, I’m younger then Slim and Herawin is younger then me. On this album you will see more of Herawin and myself, and a lot of the administrative stuff was handled by Slim.
MVRemix: How did you guys come to the decision to add Queen?
Breezly Brewin: Really organic really natural just basically we were already doing it, when we first got the deal with Electra, she started rhyming around then. After we just saw her developing and she was rhyming at parties and had a group of her own back then. It just made sense, while she had that other group she started working with us and when that group dissolved, she came on with us.
MVRemix: Tell me about Use your Confusion?
Breezly Brewin: It’s pretty much under the preface that people have their stresses in life and there are a lot of ways to deal with it. Luckily we had the music as an outlet and even if it ain’t music, its like screw it, if shit is fucking with you just wild out and expose it cause it don't make no point to suppress it. Whoever doesn’t have stress is lying.
MVRemix: The main cd buyers right now, will probably be introduced to your music for the first time? Among the different music do you think your new album will catch their attention?
Breezly Brewin: I'm not 100% sure that it will. To be honest we didn't go out of our way to say alright well lets make sure we have something that is going to be really simple, or what is it that the kids like these days. Sometimes the younger kids need something with a little more sophistication just to validate where they are going. There were a lot of albums like that when we were coming up and I think that there are a lot of albums like that now. Kanye’s joint was by no means simple. There were some complexes to it.
If I don't have a run away smash...who let the dogs out, I'm not losing sleep at the end of the day, we do our music. This time we definitely kept the audience in mind a lot more in regards to hooks and different things, and just for ourselves to improve the music. I do think this album has a lot more versatility then the first album.
MVRemix: You don't really hear the word lyricist thrown around anymore. Do you feel there is a difference between a lyricist and a rappers?
Breezly Brewin: I believe so, it’s unfortunate that there has to be that distinction I think a lot of lyricist are rappers but not necessarily all rappers are lyricist it doesn't go both ways. I think the lyricist aspect is that cats can survive and make noise on a whole album without it just being about the beats or the hooks or whatever and it’s still something recognized. I hope to be considered a rapper. I think at that point as far as rappers the connotation leads itself to some kind of economic success, a lot of true lyricist that write rhymes, will never put out a record, and you can check them out at a venue.
MVRemix: So you guys have your own thing going Matic Records? You have any new artist getting ready to come out?
Breezly Brewin: We are still searching, and were getting approached by cats so that’s cool. While we are finishing up the album for ourselves we haven't had enough time to sit down. Were still looking for submissions, so if cats want to send us demos or send us beats. Its good stuff, we just kind of got to get this album out, and then give them the attention they deserve.
MVRemix: Anything else you want to say to the readers MVRemix?
Breezly Brewin: Thank ya'll and October 31st the album will be out.
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"...we didn't go out of our way to say alright well lets make sure we have something that is going to be really simple, or what is it that the kids like these days."
