Kristoff Krane-Hip-Hop meets Folk

 

Kristoff Krane (Christopher Keller) is a local Twin Cities musician.  He plays a unique style of hip-hop/folk fusion, making him one of the most unique musicians I’ve ever heard.  A style he partially attributes to his close friend Eyedea (Michael Larson), who had recommended he start playing guitar so that in the future he could never be accused of selling out if he began to fuse styles or pick up new instruments.

He is not only a great solo artist, but also has been part of groups like Face Candy (Kristoff Krane, Eyedea, JT Bates, and Casey O’Brien), Abzorbr (Kristoff Krane, Casey O’Brien, and Graham O’Brien), and Saturday Morning Soundtrack (Ecid, Kristoff Krane, Impulse, and Capaciti).  All of these different groups have contributed to his ability to write music, use his voice as an instrument, create a sound, write in the moment, and listen to the instrumentation of the group, said Krane.

Kristoff Krane preformed live for the first time in 2005.  In 2007 Krane preformed solo for the first time at the Dinky Towner, after about 3½ years of playing music and performing.

If you ever see Krane live you will realize within moments his ability to connect with the audience, through his eye contact and his involvement in the crowd.  I found out about Kristoff Krane at another artists CD release concert and personally Krane stole the show, with the way he was able to connect with the crowd.  Immediately after the end of his set I went over to him and purchased his two most recent CD’s  (Hunting For a Father and Picking Flowers Next To Road Kill). I went home that night and just sat down and listened through them for a few hours, memorizing at least half of the songs on those albums.

Krane is also the author of the book The Other, a 200 page book of poems, stories, parables, lyrics, and scripts.  He wrote this book after realizing when people asked him questions about issues in there lives many of them he had gown through or written about, so he put together the book as a way to get those pieces out to more people in hopes they may help.

(I was at this show)

When I asked Krane what message he would like to articulate to his audience, he said it would be that everyone goes through a process of discovery and how they interact in the world.  Also that it is important for him to express the pain he went through as an adolescent, so that others can know they are not alone and that they also can express themselves to cope with the conflicts in their lives. 

Krane compared writing to having a puzzle without knowing what the pieces make, and having to put them together to create a masterpiece.

(Kristoff Krane-Acknowledge)

New Face Candy  record is expected to be released late this May with RhymeSayers Records. 

(video source: youtube.com)

(photo source: culturebully.com)

Strange Famous, No Wait Thats Sage Francis

Sage Francis a rapper and spoken word artist from Rhode Island, also creator and CEO of Strange Famous Records, founded in 1996 as a way to create and distribute his own records, by using the equipment at his radio job.  In 1999 he won the Super Bowl MC Battle(Boston) and in 2000 he also won Scribble Jam, a EMCEE competition, he is among former winners Eyedea(1999, RIP), Mac Lethal (2002), and other competitors like Slug, and even Eminem.

In 2001 he came out with the song Makeshift Patriot, which was an Internet hit.  It was one of few song out at that time critiquing the media and the recent 9/11 attacks(important to note that the song was not sympathizing with the attackers or anything of that sort, but attempting to shine a light on the lack of questioning in the media, by no means does this song or artist believe the attack was "ok")

Sage Francis-Makeshift Patriot

From 2003-2004 he and Joe Beats formed a group called Non-Prophets, and together they released two albums, Hope and Hopestrumentals.  Most Recently Sage Francis has released his new album Li(f)e (2010), which is one of my favorites so far that he has come out with.

Sage Francis-Best Of Times

I personally enjoy his lyrics more than any other part of his music, since he comes from a spoken word back ground his style of delivering lyrics very much so like the style of many spoken words artist.  He uses well timed deliveries and crafted lyrics.  (Also on a side note he is a pretty ridiculous dancer.)

(See The Conclusion at Sage Francis Dance Battle Part-2)

 Sage Francis-Escape Artist

(Video Source-Youtube.com)

The Problem With All My Solutions

Well its been a long time in progress, but I have finally finished the first draft of my book.  It is a collection of my favorite pieces that i have written.  The title is 'The Problem With All My Solutions' i can't really decide if it has a theme to it or not because they are all in a sense related, yet very different pieces.  Here is one of them for you to enjoy (hopefully)...

People's Barricade

Don’t speak

Your silence screams louder

Stay seated

You will standout

Don’t clench your fists

Your peace is heroic

When they charge

Stay as you are

Don’t run

For you stand for a dream

A dream they can never trample

(Inspired by images of the 2008 RNC Protests in St. Paul)

 ©Quinn Glasgow

There are more like this, and more that are also very different, hopefully in my book there is a little something for everyone.  Post a comment to let me know how you liked this specific poem of mine.

(Sorry for the delay in posts recently i plan on doing 1-3 a week from now on)