Double Up - The Evolution

The evolution of Hip Hop started with Kool Herc and Grandmaster Caz. My introduction came in 1979 with the Sugar Hill Gang's "Rappers Delight." I was 9 years old and like many, I was hooked. The sampled Nile Rodgers groove held the bars together and the lure wasn't necessarily what Wonder Mike, Master Gee and Big Bank Hank said; it was their delivery. Grandmaster Caz was already a lyrical giant in the Bronx. The Sugar Hill Gang stole some of his lyrics. He was the definition of a brass, confident delivery. The rest of the nation heard that type of flow for the first time through Rapper's Delight. The Bronx thought the Sugar Hill Gang were a joke. I and many others loved the sound and ego. It was new to us. 

This generation of New Orleans has to accept and appreciate the delivery of Joshua aka MOB.SkiiWii. He's a new artist who has been writing and performing for a few years. He's not new. For New Orleans, his style is new. New Orleans is a constant party of joy and pain but his style isn't like Bounce music, Cash Money Records or No Limit. Joshua is smooth like Juvie but his lyrics are about Black Liberation, love, Revolution and Jah. There's an education in his sincerity. His revolution is Black solidarity. 32 consecutive years of Black face in the Mayor's office wasn't leadership. We were happy with the passive representation yet no civic results. Joshua represents the Most Official Black Empire and the United Descendants of Africa to bring power to our strength. Unfortunately, the realization of our power is new and foreign to the Black citizens of New Orleans.

URBAN504: Your music doesn't have a strict format. It's a story. It's prose. Do you feel anyone locally or regionally can feel it?

MOB.SKIIWII: Nobody can come close to anything that's me. They're not close to me. At the end of the day, I can listen to Currency but I can't write a song like Currency. I could because that's how good of an artist I am but I take something from the greats [of Hip Hop] and mold myself with it. As far as any local, southern rapper is concerned, they have to follow me because Jah is profound.

URBAN504: Your body when you perform mimics your lyrics. It is more than just B-Boy stances and pacing the stage. Personally I feel the vibe. I see Hip Hop.

MOB.SKIIWII: I watch a lot of footage [of other artists]. I watch a lot of my footage. I'm a fiend to see my performances right after. I need to see where I can improve. My breathing. My eye contact. My movements. I look at everything so when I went to Brooklyn...

And that's where he stopped for a few seconds as though he had to take in Brooklyn again. He went to his girlfriend's home. He also went to the home of Hip Hop - The Burroughs of New York City. He got lost in those moments and tried to explain his thoughts further.

MOB.SKIIWII: I'm just doing everything that I dream about, day dream about. I'm doing it son and I want to show that in my performances and in my music. I'm tired of hearing the bullshit. I want to make music that I want to hear - that my child want to hear - that my future wife want to hear. I'm doing it now. Who knows how long the shit I'm talking about gonna last. Music lasts forever.

I got music I can listen to for when Ethiopia was going to war. I feel like I'm going to war because that's that sound. You have to create a sound of the predicaments that we're living in. There's a whole lotta shit that Rasta can bring you through. I portray that in my music. We can't let the real Black culture disappear. Preserve it.  

Joshua's girlfriend, Briana made a fire ass salsa. The flavors were ridiculous. There was a lot of chips and salsa eating between the laughter and attempts at enunciation with mouths full. 

URBAN504: Are you ready for the grind? What you have to offer, Radio doesn't want. Many in New Orleans won't understand patiently to comprehend. 

MOB.SKIIWII: I don't know what the future brings. Certain things that the grind would bring, I wouldn't be comfortable with. Say I was to blow up next month... That "Dubble Up" song... I'm trying to get that 100% legalized. I want it on the music apps, make it a single and get the video shot for the world to see it. The sacrifices that will bring... That's what I'm not ready for.

URBAN504: What type of sacrifices would have to be made that you're not comfortable with?

MOB.SKIIWII: Being so far away from my son. Not being able to take him everywhere with me. I want to teach my son everything.

We chopped it up for a few minutes talking about our children. I expressed to Joshua that distance from his son doesn't have to be an option. With photography, I take my 3 year old daughter on walks that may seem like an odyssey to her. She may need to see, hear and experience what's before her but Daddy got her. She's protected. She's surrounded by love just as his son would be.

He then offered wine.

URBAN504: When an artist says he wants to lay the lyrics on the beat... What does that really mean?

MOB.SKIIWII: I don't like bunching words. Everything has to flow. It's construction. You wanna hear some new shit?

A codeine infused beat filled the room. There was no edge to the sound. I could have slept on the sound waves. Joshua stepped into the groove...

"Just finished smokin'

I need the mic

I gotta perform

I love the stage and all the presence

It's all in my form

Get information

Beyoncé said it cause Jigga said it

I gotta keep rappin until I get that Roc A Fella necklace

Spit it did it when I seen it

Man I was so amazed

Frankie Beverly in the wagon Golden Time of Day

It's one of my favorite sounds playin it cool

And all the time I'm learnin cause everything is school

A freedom writer

Need the lighter to catch a fire

Rhythm repetition repeatin all the righteous

Terminology terminating the temporary

Trickeration across the nation

I know it's scary..."

In a few more bars, he ended with the Hip Hop period - Ugh. Easily I can get entranced by Joshua's music but we do have disagreements on Religion - specifically Christianity. We also disagree about the balance of Sexy vs. slutty. His girlfriend is Briana Hill. She's a phenomenal artist who is a figurative painter, teacher and digital designer. She's also the soul of Nefertiti. The three of us went into the sexy vs slutty discussion because Briana likes to look alluring for her man. Joshua, on-the-other-hand, wants her covered. I love when men look at my woman. That lifts my ego and lets me know I'm with a woman who's aesthetics are tight. Joshua doesn't feel that way. Cover it up.

Whenever you hear about a Hip Hop event and the MOB Empire is there, please attend. With the exception of clouds of Cannabis smoke, the atmosphere is for all ages. There's a message from Joshua. His knowledge of Hip Hop history is extensive and it plays in his music. He has support that is 100% from his music peers and idealistic brothers and sisters. I'm hesitant to put Hootie and the Blowfish in a blog about Joshua and Hip Hop but there's a parallel I want to see. While a student at LSU, I saw the then unknown Hootie and the Blowfish at a free admission show. They eventually went on the sell millions of albums and became a huge influence on the direction of pop and country music. 

"Walking the path I was led..."

-Dubble Up