HOPSIN SKATES HIS WAY INTO THE HEARTS OF FANS!

MORE THEN JUST SKATING, IT’S A LIFESTYLE 180!

 There are many great skaters in the US. Too many to even name, but when I hear the word skateboarding and music together, I think of only one person. That person is Hopsin. For those of you who don’t know Hopsin or have been living in a cave for the last few years, he’s one of the most anticipated new artists to hit the scene.

Many of you may not know, but Hopsin got his start on TV and is no stranger to the camera and lime light. In 2001 Hopsin had a part as an extra on the Disney movie Max Keeble's Big Move, he had a small part in 2002 on That's So Raven (which is where many people may recognize him) and he even had a guest appearance on the remake show Fame. Hopsin has always been a musician, but had a difficult time originally starting off on his career.

 

Eventually Hopsin did get going and started off with Ruthless Records in 2009, but Hopsin eventually left Ruthless Records due disagreements with the record label.  His debut album, Gazing at the Moonlight, was dropped in 2009, but without a lot of backing it only sold 42 copies. After that Hopsin decided to do what many intelligent artists do, who see that the money is in the production, he started his own independent label, Funk Volume.

Hospin is also and avid skateboarder. He can be found popping up all over the US at different skate parks around the nation. Fans get excited to see him come and enjoy the everyday things of life just like them and to know that he truly is a down to earth person. You can catch the YouTube video on Hopsin landing his first rail at (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeRueGF2LTc). Hopsin enjoys skating with fans outside before a show from time to time too. He’s one of the most real artists I have had the pleasure of meeting.

Presently Funk Volume consists of Swizz, Hopsin, Dizzy Wright, DJ Hoppa, and Jarren Benton. The band has made quite a name for itself, playing all around the world and working with artists like Tech N9ne, Travis Barker, and many more. His style of music is refreshing and new, something not often seen in the music industry today. He’s one of few artist I know who will actually talk to their fans on Facebook. To get the experience of a grass roots rapper hit up his Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/hellohopsin.

Hopsin and his crew from Funk Volume have a very busy tour schedule this year. Hopsin made a stop at one of the most anticipated festivals, the Skate & Surf Festival in Freehold, NJ on May 18^th. You can catch Hopsin again on July 12^th at Liberty Park in Salt Lake City, UT with Dizzy Wright, another amazing artist from his label. Check out all the comings and goings of the artists at Funk Volumes Official page featuring contests and more at http://myfunkvolume.com.

Hopsin has worked very hard to make a name for him that is respected and admired. Though Hopsin has his fair share of haters online, he handles the heckling well and makes us proud to know that real people understand you can’t please everyone. You know what they say, “If people hate on you, you must be doing something right.” Hopsin is doing just that. I look forward for more to come from this artist and to see how he grows and matures in his musical conquests. The world is your oyster Hopsin, so tear that bitch open and take that pear!

THERE'S NO TOUCHING OOBERGEEK AKA MARCUS YATES!

THERE'S NO TOUCHING OOBERGEEK!

Oobergeek's much anticipated release of his new music video, "No Touching”, directed by Jakob Owens and featuring Krizz Kalico of Strange Music and Futuristic releases today. Click HERE for an exclusive peek of the video.

Dying to know more facts about this fast growing talent? How did he get into the business and what are his plans for the future? Who inspires him to make music? Well you are in luck. I got an exclusive interview with the one and only Oobergeek and he gave me a peek into the man and how his mindset is paving the way for him to become a legend!

Oobergeek was born in Kansas City, MO in 1992 and unbeknownst to him, into a musical family that has become a legend. Oobergeek has many family members in the music industry, including the underground hip hop legend, Tech N9ne, who happens to be his cousin. Oobergeek would eventually spend a lot of time with his cousin, working on music and performing with members of Strange, but he started off his legacy on his own, working hard, and in our interview he tells of his journey and how his story began.

I called Oobergeek up, who was enthusiastic to do the interview and in great spirits. One of the most important things I wanted to know was how he got the name Oobergeek. He replied, "I listened to a rapper named XV a lot. I had it as my Facebook name (nothing serious). Tech was in the studio with me and he told me he liked the name. I honestly didn't at first. I was like nahhh and laughed. Everybody started agreeing and said how much they liked it. So I was like, what the heck. That is how Oobergeek came to be." This great discovery started our interview in a great direction and it took off from there.

Lettey: You started dancing and performing as a young man, tell me about your desire to dance and how that got started for you. 

Oobergeek: I was into sports all the way up until I was 12. I was secretly going into my room about age 9 and writing poetry. I got books of poetry cause I loved to do it as a hobby. I hadn't told anyone or anything. This was just something I loved to do. I wrote my life and I just rhymed it. It was just free like that.

Lettey: So at age 9 you were writing poetry in rhyme form, tell me how that transformed into more of a desire to be in the music scene?

Oobergeek: I am not sure. I just really wanted to show my imagination to everyone. I'm really tired of what I dream at night not being shared. I just want to show everyone what I dream about.

Lettey: Tell me about working with Usher at the New Look Foundation. 

Oobergeek: I was an attendee of his camp, Camp New Look, in Atlanta, GA. It was a great experience and I met plenty of friends that I still keep in contact with today. That was one of the things that helped me. That was around the time when I started dancing, around 12. The New Look Foundation exposed me to a lot; it got me out of the city and exposed me to different, other types of talented people like dancers, singers, and rappers. It really made me go back and see what it is about me that is so special. What can I do to better the world from just seeing all these types of people coming from all across the nation to do what they love. It was just like that, it was really refreshing. To see everybody, all my friends, just talented as can be, and expressing what they love to do.

Lettey: Tell me about your experience on the Summer Jam tour in 2008 with Tech N9ne. 

Oobergeek: 2008, that was great! That was a great moment. It was me and my brother, and we had our all white, red chucks, with little KC hats on, and that was just the start of something great. I didn't end up focusing on dancing, cause I started doing music, but it let me see the crowd from the stage point of view, and it was beautiful. I enjoyed it.

Lettey: With Summer Jam, do you have any one experience that stands our from all the others? 

Oobergeek: I've got to say when I was in Orlando, Fl for school and Tech had come through and stopped by to do a show at the Firestone Club. It was my first opening and I opened for Tech. It was highly anticipated. I wasn't nervous but I was just really amped. It was successful and that's when I knew, I was like, I gotta do this forever. 

Lettey: You've been on stage with so many talented artists, from Tech N9ne to Krizz Kalico, to T.I., and so many more in your career, what have you learned from these great mentors and how have you used that knowledge in your own music?

Oobergeek: When you're on stage, wither your stage is 2ft tall or like 4ft tall, it makes you seem like you have a command over the crowd. It’s like you tell them to say "Uhhh" and they actually repeat what you say. I really take that as real deep to me. You know, cause I feel like everyone is their own king or their own queen. They have the power to tell people, you know, what they want and tell people how much they love them, and then they will cheer for it. 

Lettey: Has there been a landmark music moment in your life so far? 

Oobergeek: Yes, Yes, Yes. I went to Florida and I met seven other human beings that I do connect with. The two years that I spent with them was like the greatest two years of my life. Simply because I was down in Florida on my own, apartment struggling, struggling to keep the lights on, with the water bills, with school, and just struggling. When I made music with them it really made me forget about all those things that were going on and I just woke up to a lot of things. A lot of things that mattered to me prior to going to Florida, it didn't matter anymore. Things just became better for me as a human being, that's basically what I was doing. I was me. I was a human being.

Lettey: As a song writer, tell me about your experience with taking words and lyrics from your mind and transferring them to paper. How do you deal with writers block?

Oobergeek: It varies. Writers block is basically forcing something that's not gonna come. If I have writers block I'm simply just not gonna write. I'm just gonna wait. I'm just gonna be patient with, you know, my talent and everything. If this verse is just four sentences long and I just stop writing cause I can't think of nothin', then it's just meant to be just four sentences long. You know, I'm not gonna force anything at all. When I got like 32 bar verses, like something must have clicked in my brain to write all that and I have a story. 

Lettey: What would be an EPIC musical moment for you?

Oobergeek: The more I look up things and see beautiful things, it just adds to the imagination. So far, from what I know now, I would want to and love to play in Rome, or in a great city, and EPIC city, a historical city, with millions of people watching. Showcasing everything on the perfect stage and with the perfect lights. The perfect mics, the perfect musicians behind me. Ya, just creating that heaven for the crowd. Because, you know, cause that's the closest thing we gonna get to while we on earth. 

Lettey: Do you come from a musical family background?

Oobergeek: Ya. Tech N9ne is my cousin. I also just found out a few of my cousins were into music and into, you know, engineering and sound and all that. It was beautiful when I found out that and it just made everything better. Cause I used to struggle with me being the only one who felt this way about music. But my family members love music.Both sides, my mother’s side and my father’s side. 

Lettey: Do you find having big music names, like Tech N9ne, in the family has helped you in your career or hindered you at all?

Oobergeek: That's a good question. I really, I don't know. It didn't hurt. It’s not hurting at all. You can just walk up to someone and say "Hey Tech n9ne is my cousin, and I do music too." and then their like, oh really? Then they will be interested. It hasn't hurt. It hasn't hurt none. 

Lettey: Who are your musical inspirations?

Oobergeek: I grew up in the 90's when Neo Soul  was poppin like crazy, so I got that soul and of course during that time was Tech N9ne. I was around him a lot. Not as much as I am right now, but enough to see how he acts and everything. It's just crazy how I can reenact some of the things he did when he was trying to become a mogul or a hip hop star. We both have the crazy hair. I got the crazy hair now too. He used to have the crazy hair and it's just funny how history is repeating itself. So I'm really looking forward to the future. 

Lettey: So you recently did a video with Krizz Kalico called "Gumbo", tell me about that experience. 

Oobergeek: That was a great experience. It was really cold that day, but you just have to take your mind off everything and perform and do you. It was a great experience. We were at the West Bottoms here in Kansas City, MO and people came out with those old school cars. You know, it was just a great thing for the black community to come together and do something good. You know, cause you always hear about the black community always being divided and I think that unity was the highlight of everything that day. 

Lettey: Do you have anything new coming out for the fans soon?

Oobergeek: I do have a new video coming out today called "No Touching" featuring Krizz Kalico and Futuristic. It is really dope. It was shot by Jakob Owens. He's a wonderful director. We shot it in San Francisco. Beautiful city, real beautiful city. I would like to do another video there. Ya it was real fun and real colorful. We got to catch Krizz while he was on that tour, a little bit was shot in Petaluma, CA and it was great. I can't wait for everybody to see it. You can download the song at cdbaby by clicking HERE or on Itunes by clicking HERE. I really just wanna show my imagination. I have dreams every night of showing people, you know, colors and sounds and all that. I just wanna show it to them. It's coming; I just gotta find the right lighting and the right way to showcase it. That's gonna take planning, prepping, and patience. Expect anything, for real. I got to sing one day, turn around and learn the guitar, turn around and not even rap no more, just make beats. Just expect anything. Cause that's really how free the imagination is. I don't wanna be in just one category. You just wanna be known as a great human being, all together. 

Lettey: If you could tell the fans something about you that is personal, what would you say?

Oobergeek: I'm a fan of anything that is innovative, anything that is comparable in,I really don't have a specific like or not like, All I gotta say is Michael Jackson is the greatest of all time and Stevie Wonder is around there too. 

Lettey: For people looking to do music and facing hurdles, what kind of advice can you give them?

Oobergeek: I really don't feel I'm worthy to give advice right now. Because I'm, you know, I'm still trying to be patient with myself. But if I was to give any words of encouragement, they would be patience and just have fun. If you have a goal, make sure that goal is a timely goal. Make sure it is innovative. You know, everyone wants money, everybody wants the spotlight, but I say just do it because you want to be a great person. You know what I'm saying? Just to live and just do it.

Oobergeek is definitely grooming himself to be just that, a great person. Oobergeek has a  musical talent that surpasses any predetermined ideas I held before the interview and a humble demeanor that made speaking with him on a personal level comfortable and charming. I feel he's become what he's set out to be since the age of 9. When he was that boy in his room writing poems in rhyme form and anxious to share the colors of his dream world in written song. He's become the man who is innovative and who so eloquently gave us a glimpse of what it's like to live your dreams. The fans have a lot to look forward to with Oobergeek.

The premier of his new music video "No Touching" will begin a new page in his journey and story. We will all be present to take part in the writing of this tale with him now. So as the story progresses and we turn another page it becomes obvious to all those Oobergeek fans and everyone who's had the pleasure of working with him, there is truly No Touching Oobergeeks success!

Marcus I Yates, formally Oobergeek, Talks about changes!

"My imagination ain't based based around Oobergeek. Its based around me, Marcus Yates."

Marcus Yates, who you may currently know as Oobergeek, is making a big change for himself. He's changing his name back to his own. He says, " The music is about me and not a name. I wasn't really into the name from the beginning, and so I'm going back to who I am." Marcus is being himself and going to keep it real to himself.

When asked how he thinks this will effect his fan or fan base he said, " I don't think it will. The music was never about the name, but about the content."

Marcus let me tag along with him all day on the Portland, OR stop of Summer of Strange at the Roseland Theater. The line-up of artists (Krizz Kaliko, Oobergeek, Stevie Stone, ¡Mayday!, Cool Nutz, Tragedy, and a young local artist) consisted of some of the most talented artists Portland and Strange had to offer and the crowd was ready to accept them to Portland and turn up the night. (official blog and pictures to come this week!).

Marcus heads to Spokane today to continue the Summer of Strange Tour stops and stay tuned for the exclusive behind the scenes pics, interviews, and more coming this week!

TECH N9NE AND THE DOORS MAKE A COLLABORATION!

Check out this exerpt from Rolling Stone Magazine written by Kathy Iandoli
posted today, June 24th 2013
Tech N9ne Aligns With the Doors for 'Strange 2013'
Rapper offers inside look at the collaboration for his upcoming LP 'Something Else'

Check out the Youtube feed by clicking HERE!

In 2010, after playing his first show in Paris, Tech N9ne headed straight for Père Lachaise Cemetery. The Missouri rapper sat down beside the gravesite of Doors
frontman Jim Morrison, cracked open a bottle of Jack Daniels and poured a glass for the late singer and himself. "I told Jim, 'Thank you so much for the inspiration,'" he recalls. "It saved my life."
Tech N9ne has been a Doors fan for years – when he launched his independent record label in 1999, he called it Strange Music in tribute to two Doors classics, "People Are Strange" and "Strange Days." "If I didn't listen to their music and their fusion of sounds, I probably would've never called [my label] Strange Music," he says. "I have Jim Morrison to thank for that. Who would've fuckin' thunk it years later that I would work with his homies?"

500 Greatest Albums of All Time: The Doors, 'Strange Days'

Tech N9ne is talking about "Strange 2013" – a new version of "Strange Days," created in collaboration with the surviving members of the Doors for his upcoming studio album, Something Else (due out July 30th). The track came together through producer Farid "Fredwreck" Nassar, who got to know the band after working with them on Snoop Dogg's 2004 cover of the Doors' "Riders on the Storm." "I told [Strange Music], I know the Doors, so if you really want to do a song with the Doors and you have the budget for it, then maybe I can call them," Fredwreck explains. "I figured, let's get the real guys to do it."
Last year, the surviving band members – guitarist Robby Krieger, drummer John Densmore and organist Ray Manzarek – gathered in L.A.'s Village Recorders studio to record the track. Tech N9ne had initially suggested reworking "People Are Strange," but Krieger had another idea: "I said, 'Why not do "Strange Days"?'" recalls the guitarist. "That has more of a driving beat." They cut the new version in under a week, using instruments including tablas, guitars, sitars and the original Gibson/Kalamazoo organ that Manzarek had played with the Doors.

Manzarek died on May 20th of this year, leaving "Strange 2013" as one of his final recordings. Tech N9ne still remembers turning to the keyboardist over a glass of Pinot Grigio during last year's sessions and asking him about one of Morrison's lyrics in the original recording. "At the end of 'Strange Days,' Jim Morrison says, 'As we run from the day, to a strange night of stone,'" says the rapper. "I asked Ray, 'What was Jim talking about when he said that?' And Ray turns to me and says, 'I don't know, man – you'll have to ask him.'"


Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/tech-n9ne-aligns-with-the-doors-for-strange-2013-20130624#ixzz2XGMYQpPC

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P.S. This article was NOT written by Lettey Buchanan, but was passed on to me and I had to share it!!