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UnderCover Presents calls on Bay Area artists to re-imagine A Tribe Called Quest’s legacy

by | May 19, 2019 | UCP Press

(photo courtesy of Starita Music)

Michael Starita remembers when Phife Dawg came to Berkeley’s Fantasy Studios back in 2016 to work on some new, mysterious record.

“I hear the beat come in and I’m like, ‘Wow that sounds a lot like Tribe.’ Then I heard this little hook line,” says the two-time Grammy-nominated producer and owner of Starita Music, from Awaken Cafe in downtown Oakland. First, he hears Jarobi. Then, the indelible Q-Tip. “I look over at Phife and he’s on his phone writing lyrics and I said, ‘Is it safe to say that this is a new A Tribe Called Quest record?’ He looks up from his phone and goes, ‘Shhhhh.’ And the hair on my body just stood up.”

Both that studio and Phife are gone now, those sessions immortalized on ATCQ’s sixth record’s We Got It From Here…Thank You 4 Your Service and on Phife’s much-anticipated posthumous album, Forever. The Five-Footer may have left his earthside location, but Starita’s relationship (he released a song with Jarobi White called “Rules” in 2017) and affiliation with ATCQ wasn’t slowing down just yet.

“I started putting feelers out for bands and Starita’s like, ‘Dude, why haven’t you called me yet?’ but in nicer words,” laughs Lyz Luke, co-founder and executive director of UnderCover Presents, sitting across from Starita. Partnering with Yerba Buena Center for the Arts for this year’s UnderCover Presents A Tribute to A Tribe Called Quest’s Midnight Marauders (out this week) Luke knew their first golden era hip-hop production (UnderCover paid tribute to The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill in in 2017) had to go big and expanded the celebration beyond just the three live performances. There’s an entire A Tribe Called Quest Week, Phife Dawg Day, the release of a commemorative double-vinyl pressing with a slated Jarobi record signing day. It’s been almost two years since Luke’s break from UnderCover, dedicating more time to getting Second Line Vinyl off the ground. “I want to come out the gate swinging. And I think we’ve done that with this album.”

Luke first met Starita at Faultline Studios, back when the Oakland facility was a partner for UnderCover’s Radiohead Kid A and Bob Marley Exodus tributes. His ATCQ history notwithstanding, Luke knew Starita was the right person to revamp UnderCover’s show-first, album-second approach. With Starita’s 20-year studio experience, they decided to take an inverse route — “To me, you make a kick-ass album, then everything else falls into place,” he says.

Starita and Luke worked with 13 local bands, seven MCs, over 100 artists and nine engineers over five studios and a vinyl pressing plant. Names like Gift of Gab, Lateef the Truthspeaker, and Gina Madrid are sprinkled throughout the track list, but rest assured this isn’t a hip-hop album. The James Brown “Just Enough Room for Storage” opening guitar lick on “Lyrics to Go” gets reimagined as bhangra; “Clap Your Hands” is remade into a piece of psychedelic soul and the uber laid-back “The Chase, Part II” gets a dance floor treatment courtesy of Starita. That song was the most unfamiliar ATCQ track for RyanNicole, who’s voice appears three times on the album, but Starita asked her to do it anyway.

“One of the benefits of not doing songs I knew well was that I had to be me,” she says in a phone call. “My tongue where it went, allowed me to be myself and really do my own interpretation.” Her work as an actor is what appealed to Starita, who constantly blew him away. “She’s like a chameleon; she can morph into all these different styles, it’ll sound like a totally different person. It’s all these characters,” he says. “It’s wild. I was very, very impressed.”

Originally, Luke wanted to do Low End Theory. But Midnight Marauders won out, partly due to timeliness (it celebrated 25 years in 2017) but mainly for the diversity, inclusivity, and innovation the group was pushing back in 1993. The precise drum programming and connoisseur-like sampling equalized alongside Phife’s charisma and punchiness are present on songs like “Award Tour,” “Electric Relaxation” and even “Sucka N*gga,” proving these dudes couldn’t just write rhymes and have some fun with it. They had become masters at making polished radio rap imbued with a deeper message and sophisticated craftsmanship. Above all, the music was accessible, Starita remembers, and broke down this notion that you had to be brown, yellow, Puerto Rican, or Haitian to get it.

“They didn’t go in the same old ways, doing the same old shit that everyone else was doing and that was another reason it was like, ‘Holy shit’ when you heard the record,” Starita says.

“A lot of other people who weren’t into hip-hop felt that it was people of color resenting white people or that you had to be part of the demographic to be hip to it,” Luke adds. “And ATCQ wasn’t about that. They were very inclusive, excessively so. They weren’t anti-anybody, they were just about acceptance.”

And those ideals are part of what makes Luke and her team of “music enablers” more than UnderCover executives and organizers. Doing this project, Starita says, is more about letting these artists channel ATCQ’s spirit. The energy, ingenuity, and to just let these bands be themselves in a place where artists regularly contribute to the culture but rarely get to thrive. Infusing confidence, RyanNicole says, is what happens when bands pass through UnderCover’s tutelage. “UnderCover gives us the task of approaching these gargantuan, goliath works and says, we believe you’re up to task to take on these iconic albums and even surpass them,” she says. But of course, she tosses up all the credit to Luke. “Lyz figures out a way to hustle vision in the smallest ways.”

“Whenever we have a band commit to UnderCover, we really emphasize that this isn’t about you sounding like A Tribe Called Quest or Bob Dylan or Green Day or Amy Winehouse. This is about you sounding like Wolf & Crow, Royal Jelly Jive, or RyanNicole,” Luke emphasized. “The small role I try to play with UnderCover is I can at least get you in front of 1,800 people who have never heard you before, who will fall in love with you.”

YBCA & UnderCover Presents: A Tribute to A Tribe Called Quest’s Midnight Marauders
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
May 16-18, 2019
8:30pm, $39.50 – $49.50

UnderCover’s Got it From Here … Thank You

by | May 18, 2019 | UCP Press

The Bay Area collective assembles an A-List of contributors to honor A Tribe Called Quest in performance and recording.

By

 A scene from the encore of UnderCover’s tribute to Sly & the Family Stone’s Stand!

Photo courtesy of Starita Music

The year 1993 was, arguably, one of the most creative in the history of hip-hop. With debuts from some of the most iconic artists, ranging from Snoop Dogg’s Doggystyle, to Wu-Tang Clan’s Enter The Wu-Tang 36 Chambers, to works by Oakland’s own Hieroglyphics, Tupac Shakur, and The Coup, the year marked the beginning of what many considered hip-hop’s renaissance, or “new school” years.

In an already crowded field of game-changing albums, A Tribe Called Quest’s third album, Midnight Marauders still managed to distinguish itself as a standard-bearer in the genre. Unlike its first album, People’s Instinctive Travels and The Paths of Rhythm, which gained it some notice, but very little praise; and its second, The Low End Theory, which gained it praise, but very little notice; Midnight Marauders introduced a well-balanced Tribe, fully-mature and confident in its abilities. The album was dubbed a classic upon its release.

DJ Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Phife Dawg, and Q-Tip (recently re-named The Abstract Poet), brought an evolved sound that incorporated mellow jazz breaks; hypnotic drum beats; and clear, witty rhymes that established the young group as elder statesmen, representing the old-school New York streets. At the same time, the group stayed true to the tenets of what was then known as “the positivity movement,” established by their collective, which was known as The Native Tongues (De La Soul, The Jungle Brothers, Queen Latifah, Black Sheep, and others.) Even today, twenty-six years later, one would be hard-pressed to think of an album that is as tightly composed and professionally performed as Midnight Marauders. Even as Tribe continued to make great music, the album is considered by many to be its timeless masterpiece.

In 2016, Malik Izaak Taylor (Phife Dawg, The Five-Foot Assassin) passed away in Contra Costa County due to complications from a life-long struggle with diabetes, which he had made known on Midnight Marauders when he asked, “When was the last time you heard a funky diabetic?”

Phife’s death hit the world of hip-hop hard because many had come to realize just how beloved and respected A Tribe Called Quest (ATCQ) had become over the years. Its music had become so ubiquitous that no one had really noticed until the possibility of there being no more had arrived. As it turned out, Phife, just as much as impresario/wizard partner Q-tip, was a catalyst for so many positive changes in the music and the culture.

The musical collective UnderCover Presents is presenting a live tribute to Midnight Marauders for three days starting Thursday, May 16 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. The City of Oakland has designated the following day as the official holiday of “Phife Dawg Day,” and Malik’s mother (Poet Cheryl Boyce Taylor) will receive the official mayoral proclamation and read poems dedicated to her son and A Tribe Called Quest.

The live performances, which will feature more than 100 Bay Area musicians from at least 13 separate acts, are being accompanied by a dedicated recording of the musical reinterpretations, which follows on the heels of other memorable UnderCover tributes to recordings by artists as diverse as Ray Charles, Radiohead, Bjork, and Bob Dylan and Marley.

Undercover has created a fitting tribute to ATCQ that doesn’t update Midnight Marauders so much as it traces the album’s influence into contemporary times, showing how many genres have benefited from its contributions. With the promise of a full orchestra, a full brass band, and some of the best rappers and singers in The Bay Area, the live show promises to be a high-point for the year.

Producer Michael Starita (known simply as Starita), is a two-time Grammy-winning producer who worked with the group for years, including on “This Generation” from Tribe’s last album, Thanks For Your Service We’ve Got It From Here. Starita was the perfect fit to helm the project, which presented it’s own set of challenges.

“Everybody knows Midnight Marauders like the back of their hand,” he said. “What I wanted to do on the first track was to give the listener a little bit of what they were expecting, and then erase it. I wanted ‘Steve Biko’ to be a reset button.”

From the first track on, the tribute bends and morphs the original songs without deviating too far from the original to make it unnoticeable. With Oakland performers like Gina Madrid, RyanNicole, Gift Of Gab (From Blackalicious), Jennifer Johns, and the all black woman punk rock band Skip The Needle, the tribute is constantly surprising, taking Q-tip and Phife’s lyrics to unexpected places. The multi-lingual album is jazz, hip-hop, zydeco, afrobeat, and one of the best hip-hop renditions is “Midnight” by Wolf and Crow, an indie-folk band.

“Though you expect the song to be similar, it completely flips with a full orchestra, and I added drum programming and some crazy electronics to that,” Starita added. “When I’m working on my computer, where I’m composing a lot of these songs, there’s a button called ‘purge memory,’ which is a good analogy for what I was attempting to do on a few tracks. I wanted to purge the memory of the listener to create a blank, or at least open, slate to new renditions of songs that they are already have experienced and known.”

Starita also worked on tracks with Phife Dawg that have yet to be released. “There’s quite a few songs that didn’t make the album,” he said. “You can expect more new stuff coming from Tribe any time now.”

Phife may be gone, but it’s great news to hear that he will live through.

May 16-18, 7:30 p.m., $39.50-54.50, 701 Mission St., San Francisco, UnderCoverPresents.com

Collabs For A String of Spring/Summer Releases Starts!

by | Apr 15, 2019 | In The Stu

Starita has been hitting the studio hard (what’s new) with many collaborators for a string of releases slated for Spring/Summer 2019. The first is set for release April 26th between Starita, RyanNicole, Aima The Dreamer and Terra Lopez for UnderCover Presents – Tribute to A Tribe Called Quest’s ‘Midnight Marauders.’ The crew took on Tribe’s summer jam The Chase, Part II reinterpreting it into something very unexpected. While recording at Airship Laboratories in Richmond, CA an interview took place over the course of the day and they had alot to say about the process! Starita speaks about how he approached this particular song as an artist although he is also the producer on the album project. Needless to say this is going to be a treat for dance music and Tribe lovers!

Starita: “Back in ’93, I was working at a record store in Jackson MS, called Be – Bop Record Shop. ’93 was THE year, so many records hit that year… I was listening to Tribe non-stop and many other conscious hip hop acts along with discovering dance music. I was introduced to Orbital II and it blew my mind much like ‘Midnight Marauders’ did at that time. After playing many instruments, I picked up the 1s and 2s….turntables. DJing became a huge focus in my life and I began playing parties in  clubs I wasn’t even old enough to get into at that time! Breakbeat was big in the south so, I was mostly playing that and some house back then. When I approached this song I wanted to do a reinterpretation that was true to what I was listening to back in ’93 in addition to Tribe… house and breaks. The track starts out deep and dark in the Orbital style but then, I wanted to bring it up with an all out party jam. I like to give the listener a certain vibe to settle into so they think they are getting one thing. Then, I flip the script on the whole thing to blow the mind because I want folks to get out of their comfort zone.”

 

 

RyanNicole: I’m a polymath. The gift and curse of that is that I’m doing so many things…this project showcases that. Fans that do know me see that I’m vulnerable enough to stretch and for fans who don’t know me, will take from it the love I have for this work. As far as the track, as soon as the beat dropped I was like ‘oh this is so fun!’ I would have never expected a house and breakbeat track from The Chase. It’s just like a party, it’s just like a great time! It nods to the feeling and the vibe that we talk about in terms of the original. You know, the dusk in the summer vibe, but it just kicks it up to a whole other level and expands it to a broader audience.”

 

Aima The Dreamer: “I love the approach we took! I’m a big breakbeat fan and to proudly date myself, ’93 is when I started writing raps. Tribe was super influential so I was really excited to be brought in specifically on this track. Ryan and I were talking about how iconic the song was and how it set the tone for so many of us….definitely really enjoyed flipping it. It’s interesting because you want to keep the nuances but keep that flavor to it and I think we did a good job”

UnderCover Presents – A Tribute to A Tribe Called Quest’s ‘Midnight Marauders’

by | Apr 15, 2019 | Press, Shows

UnderCover Presents was founded by Lyz Luke in 2010 and has rapidly established itself as an inspirational collective that gathers musicians and artists from every facet of San Francisco Bay Area’s creative community. Since its founding, UnderCover has paid tribute to 14 albums, worked with over 150 local bands, and presented to over 35,000 audience members throughout San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley. UnderCover has won Best of Awards from SF Weekly, SF Bay Guardian, East Bay Express, and has also attained two (2) Mayoral Proclamations for Green Day and Sly & The Family Stone at their tributes. UnderCover has become a true public celebration of local music, which is evident by their sold-out shows.

 

 

The concept is simple, one distinctive band per song reinterpreting an entire classic album from start to finish. A selection committee decides on the bands to be included in the tribute based upon their locality, distinctive sound, established following, among a variety of other criteria. With each tribute, artists are highly encouraged to put their own sound and personality on their rendition. The result is a cross-pollination of cultures, musicians, photographers, filmmakers, writers and visual artists that doesn’t typically happen on one show bill, or for that matter even festivals.

This time around, UnderCover Presents is honoring A Tribe Called Quest’s ‘Midnight Marauders,’ an album that bridged the gap between hip-hop and jazz. Given that the album just celebrated its 25th anniversary, UnderCover felt it appropriate to continue to introduce this classic record to new audiences. Not to mention that the messages embedded in this album continues to echo resoundingly as we witness all that is taking place in the world. The collective is collaborating with Starita as music producer for the album recording, based upon his deep production experience across a multitude of genres in addition to his relationship and last work with Phife Dawg and ATCQ. For the first time, UnderCover will be releasing a double vinyl to commemorate this tribute. Today UnderCover Presents shares the first cover for “We Can Get Down” by high energy soul rock band Royal Jelly Jive. You can listen on Soundcloud.

With this ATCQ’s ‘Midnight Marauders’ tribute, UnderCover has united 13 local bands from a wide range of genres, 7 MCs (including Gift of Gab, Lateef the Truthspeaker, Karega, Starita, RyanNicole, RAV-E Sandhu), over 100+ artists, 9 engineers, 5 music studios, and 1 vinyl pressing plant, to produce an album within 65 days, from pre-production to mastering. The result is a one-of-a-kind and unexpected soundscape of reinterpreted tracks for a mixed genre collection – Experimental Orchestral, World, Cumbia, Reggaeton, Latin Hip Hop, New Orleans Jazz, R&B, Soul, Indie Folk, Rock, Funk, Future Soul, Alternative Rock, Jazz, Electronic, Dance, Ghangra and Afrobeat.

UnderCover Presents: A Tribute to A Tribe Called Quest’s ‘Midnight Marauders’ is out 4/26/19. 

A Tribe Called Quest Week will feature 3 shows, starting on Thursday, May 16 through Saturday, May 18, 2019 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, CA followed by an After Party at 7th West, Oakland, on Sunday, May 20, 2019. UnderCover will dedicate Friday as “Phifeday” in honor of Phife Dawg. Details are below, tickets can be purchased here.

PopMatters Premieres ‘The One’

by | Dec 24, 2018 | frontpage, News, Premieres

The Grammy-recognized producer is gearing up for the release of his upcoming album with some other big names, including Jarobi White (A Tribe Called Quest) and Mamel (Los Amigos Invisibles). On his latest track, he’s teamed up with drummer and activist Madame Gandhi, vocal sensations Trent Park and Trevor Hall, and percussionist Christian Pepin of La Cuneta Son Machine fame.

On “The One”, Starita blends warm vocal interpretations courtesy of Park and Hall with a soundscape that relies more on building up tension. The juxtaposition feels naturally derivative of the producer’s unique background, showcasing multiple sonic and personal layers presented as a singular earworm that is sure to catch on with fans of hazy, summery synthpop.

Starita says that “the inspiration for this song stemmed from my wanting to create a piece that is reminiscent of the style of music that I listen to. So naturally, the song needed to have a deep groove, hits hard with live and electronic drums. The message is positive about deep love, connection, and partnership.

“There are so many scenarios in life that we go through; to have one person to call in every rise and fall is what this song is about. So, when it was time for the lyrics to come to life, my writing partner, Trent Park, and I asked the natural questions. Where do you go? What do you do? Who do you call if you are in need? These lyrics became the core of the song. We wanted that deep concept showcased in a pop, tropical soundscape.

“At the beginning, I had a vision of want a very specific female artist from an Israeli band to sing the vocals. All this flowed when Trent embraced the song and we arrived at the chorus which was big and explosive. At that point, it was clear that he needed to be the vocal lead. So while the song started out moody and was written from a dark place, Trent and Madame Gandhi gave it energy.”

Trent Park adds, “While the song has the element of thought in the lyrics, it also makes you feel good listening to it. It stands alone as a beautiful song, but the production takes it to another level. With the production having elements of Latin flair, tropical house style bass line, with pop centric topline, it appeals to a larger audience. We are very proud of the collaboration and excited to see our fans embracing it.”