Typical cats
| Typical cats | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| origin |
Chicago , United States
|
| Genre (s) | Hip hop |
| founding | 2000 |
| Current occupation | |
| Qwazaar | |
MC |
Qwel |
MC |
Denizen Kane |
DJ |
DJ Natural |
MC |
Kid Knish |
The Typical Cats are a hip-hop crew from Chicago , consisting of the three MCs Qwazaar, Qwel and Denizen Kane as well as DJ Natural. Loosely associated with the crew is Kid Knish.
Band history
The group consists of the three MCs Denizen Kane, Qwel, Qwazaar, their DJ / producer DJ Natural and the less musically active Kid Knish. The name arose from the question “what's up with your folks, I thought they were typical cats?” (Something like “What's wrong with you? I thought you were typical cats”), which was directed to the crew. The crew became known through the Wednesday Night Rap Show on radio station WHPK 88.5 FM, presented by the two presenters DJ Natural and Dan (Kid Knish). On this show, Kane, Qwel and Qwazaar were regular regulars and presented their freestyle sessions towards the end of the show. Since then, the musicians have walked together. The group signed with the independent label Galapagos4, which was founded in 2000 and stands for innovative and abstract hip-hop in the underground scene. Her self-titled debut album was also released there in 2000 .
Over the years, the five musicians moved spatially from each other. DJ Natural now lives in New York, where he also creates most of the beats and produces for other artists, while Denizen Kane lives in Oakland , California and Quwel. Qwazaar is the only one who stayed true to his hometown. Nevertheless, the crew remains closely connected to the Chicago area, where the majority of their gigs still take place and their record company is based. The music is therefore often created over the Internet and via e-mail , while the recording takes place in either Chicago or New York. In 2004 the second album Civil Service was released . In 2005 they were one of the main attractions at the Chicago Rocks Festival .
In 2006 the track Any Day was used for the soundtrack for the video game Tony Hawks: Project 8 . In 2012 her last album 3 was released .
Music genre
A specialty is the multiethnicity of the crew. Qwazaar is a black American, Qwel a white American, while Denizen Kane, who is also known as a spoken word artist under his real name Dennis Kim, has Asian roots. DJ Natural, on the other hand, has Italian roots. In addition, there are the different styles and techniques that DJ Natural tries to take into account in songwriting . Qwel and Qwazaar are more like battle rappers while Kane has a more poetic style. Qwel uses polysyllabic rhymes and often biblical images, Qwazaar is a rather fast rapper who feels at home even in double time . In contrast to this is Kane, who often raps offbeat. The musical basis of the crew are simple old-school hip-hop beats with a jazzy touch and laid-back style. Kid Knish, who only contributes a few parts, is responsible for “essential spice and marination” according to the booklet , which alludes to the crew's love for marijuana and probably means that it is also their dealer . He often takes on the role of the backup rapper when performing live. The texts are demanding and full of metaphors . The artists often refer to hip-hop culture and its four elements: rap (MCing), DJing , B-boying (breakdancing) and graffiti writing .
Discography
- Albums
- 2000: Typical Cats (Galapagos4)
- 2004: Civil Service (Galapagos4)
- 2012: 3 (Galapagos4)
- Singles
- 2004: Easy Cause It Is (12``, Galapagos4)
- Further publications
- 2001: Live! at the Bryant-Lake Bowl, August 17-18, 2001 (Split CD with Oddjobs & Heiruspects, CMI Productions)
- 2015: Zulu (Download, Galapagos4)
- Compilation Contributions
- 2003: Calling Card and Reinventing the Wheel on Galapagos4: Wind Instrument
- 2004: Easy Cause It Is on 2G4 sampler
- 2006: Any Day Now on Pugs Atomz Presents CTA Radio Chi City Hip Hop
- 2009: Any Day (Live @ Reggies 2009) on G4 10th Anniversary
Web links
- Typical Cats at Discogs (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Zoneil Maharaj: Civil Service: An interview with the Typical Cats. ohdangmag.com, August 21, 2006, accessed February 12, 2017 .
- ^ DJ Natural. Mixcloud , accessed February 12, 2017 .
- ↑ Typical Cats Review au hiphopinfinity.com ( Memento from April 21, 2003 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Moira McCormick: The Typical Cats' hip-hop ruckus: Rappers converge to bring the noise, and vibrant jams. April 15, 2005, accessed February 12, 2017 .
- ^ Paul Kautz: TH Project 8: Complete soundtrack. October 19, 2006, accessed February 12, 2017 .
- ↑ Typical Cats - Typical Cats. Urban Smarts, accessed February 12, 2017 .
- ^ Adam M. Levin: Typical Cats :: Typical Cats :: Galapagos4 Music: RapReviews "Back to the Lab" series. April 15, 2008, accessed February 12, 2017 .
- ↑ Kevin Beacham: Album Review: Typical Cats "3" (Galapagos 4 2012). August 21, 2012, accessed February 12, 2017 .
- ↑ Alexander Fruchter: Typical Cats: This Is The Interview. Ruby Hornet, September 20, 2012, accessed February 12, 2017 .
- ^ Ronnie Reese: Typical Cats. (No longer available online.) Chicagoininterview.com, archived from the original on February 13, 2017 ; accessed on February 12, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
