Music From The Desert
Mike_Bell
5,736 Posts
I found this article in the Army Times.Thought some of you would be interested.
The sound & the furyThey told war stories on a hip-hop CD. Next up? Reality TVStories by C. Mark BrinkleyStaff writerNow that some of the military???s most promising hip-hop ???Voices??? are being heard, the next step might be showing their faces. ???Voices From the Frontline,??? a compilation CD featuring rappers and hip-hop singers from the Army, Navy and Marine Corps, generated media buzz with its April 25 debut. The novelty of combat troops in Iraq using music to express their feelings about the deployment was enough to catch the attention of some notable music and media industry top dogs.Now, Crosscheck Records, the independent Los Angeles label that produced the project, is trying to take the concept from the stereo to the small screen. The company is looking for talented troops to star in a reality television show and lend their skills to a second ???Voices??? CD.???There???s definitely serious interest,??? said Joel Spielman, Crosscheck???s president and the brains behind the ???Voices??? project. ???We???re hoping something will come of it.???The company is negotiating with production companies to create the reality series, envisioned as something similar to MTV???s ???Making the Band,??? but without the competitive aspects of that show. While the group is primarily focused on hip-hop and R&B acts, the new project would likely expand to include other musical genres.Although final concepts are being developed, one possible vision for the show would introduce viewers to military musicians as they serve in Iraq and Afghanistan. Cut to their families back home, then back to Iraq, where troops give a short ???Behind the Music???-style story about the songs they wrote.Flash back home, where a famous mainstream music talent helps tweak the tune (???Making the Band??? has Sean ???Diddy??? Combs, but the jury is still out on who might work on the ???Voices??? project). Then comes the debut of the song, which would later appear on the ???Voices 2??? CD.Each week???s episode would introduce a new artist, and the expansion into genres besides hip-hop could help the show find a wider audience. No word yet on which networks might want the show, although Spielman said a few have expressed interest.Gaining momentumMeanwhile, the ???Voices??? album is gradually building steam, selling nearly 7,000 copies since its debut ??? good numbers for an unknown indie album, Spielman said, especially considering the company isn???t paying for television advertising or courting the hip-hop radio community.A portion of the proceeds from each CD goes to Operation AC, a nonprofit group that sends care packages to deployed troops. The service members who performed on the album share in royalties.Media outlets have helped spread the word for free, and large-scale distribution deals with mainstream retailers such as Tower Records, Best Buy, Wal-Mart and iTunes are making the CD available to the public.The biggest boost has come from troops, who snatched up more than 4,500 copies at Army and Air Force Exchange Service stores in May and June, making it the No. 37 seller out of the more than 3,000 titles available in AAFES stores (ahead of such popular artists as Field Mob, Prince and Jamie Foxx, who followed at 38, 39 and 40).By comparison, the Red Hot Chili Peppers??? new double album ???Stadium Arcadium??? sold 9,300 copies during the same time frame, landing it in the No. 10 spot, AAFES officials said. Coming in at No. 1 was Tool???s ???10,000 Days,??? with 14,688 copies sold.???I was a little nervous about how it was going to be accepted,??? Spielman said. ???I wanted to know if the military was going to dig it. And, the enlisted people, they did.???The CD???s lone R&B ballad is ???Desert Vacation,??? by Marine Cpl. Mischelle Rae Johnston, who served in Iraq with Marine Wing Headquarters Squadron 3 at Al Asad Air Base from February to August 2004. It was recently featured in the Discovery Channel special ???Iraq Confidential,??? starring custom motorcycle builder (and Mr. Sandra Bullock) Jesse James. A video shoot for the song is planned for late July, with Rich Newey in the director???s chair. The veteran director, whose r??sum?? includes videos for Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Nappy Roots and Christina Aguilera, volunteered his services to the project, Spielman said.???There???s going to be some PR about it,??? Spielman said of the video. ???But we???d love to see this thing taken to BET and MTV.???Nothing but the truthIf the cable channels pick it up, it will likely be out of support for the troops rather than mainstream popularity. Unlike most rap CDs, full of bling and thuggery, ???Voices??? comes from a decidedly different perspective.???This ain???t for a paycheck,??? said Army Sgt. Chris Tomlinson, aka Prophet, in the opening lines of the CD. ???This ain???t for us to be known. This is for somebody to understand a soldier???s life.???From there, he and the others take listeners on a rough-and-tumble ride through the ups and downs of life in Iraq. (The ups? Going home. The downs? Everything else.)With tracks such as ???Girl at War,??? ???Rest N??? Peace??? and ???Don???t Understand,??? the musicians shed light on what troops deal with on a daily basis ??? loss, anger, frustration. Rather than delve into the rights and wrongs of the conflict, they instead reflect on their personal struggles.Such is the case on ???First Time,??? performed by Marine Cpl. Mike Watts Jr. (aka Pyro) and Hospitalman Quentin Givens (aka Q), who served in Iraq with 1st Battalion, 4th Marines. The song deals with the fear of his first deployment to Iraq, and serves as a prayer to make it home in one piece.???So please realize I don???t really want to die,??? Givens raps, ???and you need to hear the voices coming from the front lines.???Compiling the album???s 24 tracks ??? 12 songs and 12 spoken-word skits ??? was a logistical nightmare for Spielman and his team, who had to balance creating the album with the challenges of working with artists deployed to a war zone on the other side of the world.???I might find the best rapper, then, bam!, he???s gone,??? Spielman said. ???He???s on mission; he???s not returning my e-mails. I???ve just learned to accept that. These are the things you have to deal with.???Tomlinson, 24, who served in Iraq with the 300th Military Police Company from March 2003 to April 2004, is now a recruiter with the Delaware National Guard. Working on the project hasn???t done much to change his daily life, he said.???Not in the sense of fame, because people don???t really know about it yet,??? he said. ???I walk down the street, nobody knows who I am.???Which is just fine for the husband and father, who hopes to eventually retire from the Army. His motivation, Tomlinson said, was to show everyday people a glimpse of life in the military, not to get rich and famous.???If it comes my way, it comes my way,??? he said. ???But it???s not something I???m pursuing. It wasn???t to exploit soldiers. It was to tell our story.???That story might get out to a whole new audience if the future projects pan out.???Hopefully, we???re going to see a huge spike if this thing gets on TV,??? Spielman said. ???It???s a great opportunity for anyone who gets on this.???
Comments
No doubt.
I've never heard the remixes. What do they sound like?
The album wax was recorded dumb low.........................
I would like to hear those remixes though.