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3LP
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DFPREDIT 001LP
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"MC/Lyricist Raw Poetic (aka Jason Moore) announces Space Beyond The Solar System, his new album and its lead single, 'A Mile In My Head,' featuring legendary saxophonist Archie Shepp. Although Space Beyond The Solar System could be considered a concept album by its outcome, its inception started from a string of experiments between Moore and frequent collaborator/producer Damu the Fudgemunk. These initial sessions had no specific direction but became the catalyst for what would become a prolific wave of Raw Poetic projects; five of which have been released since 2020. It was these initial sessions and the demos they produced that convinced Shepp -- who is also Raw Poetic's uncle -- to record what would eventually become 2020's Ocean Bridges, a collaborative album from Raw, Damu, and Shepp, praised by The FADER as a 'modern masterpiece at the intersection of rap and jazz.' The trio's collaboration continues on Space Beyond The Solar System, which boasts three tracks featuring the jazz legend, including 'A Mile In My Head,' a sprawling and thought-provoking album stand-out. At two hours, absorbing Space Beyond in its entirety may be overwhelming for most, especially in the present day, but Raw and Damu are very aware of this. With a total of over 40-plus years of experience between the vocalist and producer, the two of them went down memory lane taking every influence and experience in their personal histories to extract ingredients for a groundbreaking statement. Space Beyond The Solar System is their most comprehensive environment to date. The creation of Space Beyond sparked a conversation between Raw and Damu about their creative chemistry, with Raw likening their direction to a 'space beyond the solar system.' His comment was a eureka moment for the two artists, giving their wandering efforts a sense of definition that was needed. 'I think we've been exploring music beyond our limits for a few years,' says Raw Poetic. 'It's hard to tell where we'll land, but we are constantly pushing our way out of the norm. Hence the title, Space Beyond The Solar System. It's just to say, this is new territory for us. Where the sky was once the limit, now it's just the start.'"
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LP
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DFPRROM 013LP
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"EAT is the brand-new album from your favorite rapper trumpeter, Pan Amsterdam. Made with fans of both food and hip-hop in mind, the LP opens up a new pocket in the Pan Am dimension: the rapper-producer album. The whole thing's a collaboration with underground legend and Def Pressé family Damu The Fudgemunk. EAT lands in the wake of the success of Pan Am's second album, HA Chu. Food, of course, was a vital component in the culture of that work, with GUTS-produced single Carrot Cake receiving plaudits from the likes of BBC 6 Music, and interludes taking place over Chinese food. HA Chu was named his 'hostile industry diss record' by Bandcamp and 'a jazz musician's vision of what hip-hop can be' by The Times. Whereas HA Chu was conceptualized while Pan Am's real life alter ego Leron Thomas was on tour as Iggy Pop's bandleader (Iggy had loved Pan Am's debut LP, The Pocket Watch, leading to him asking him to write and produce his 2019 album Free), and saw guests such as Sleaford Mods' Jason Williamson and Doves' Jimmy Goodwin in his El Diablo guise, EAT's genesis was slightly different. About to fly on tour in Europe last year, Pan Am was in need of a DJ. Up steps Damu The Fudgemunk, fresh from creating his KPM library-sampling opus Conversation Peace (on Def Pressé Editions). Tour life led to a mutual musical respect, Damu creating soundscapes in his head as he got to know Pan Am's intricacies whilst performing together. 'We had some good hangs and talks,' recalls Pan Am. 'In those hangs and talks, it seems Damu was taking musical notes because the music he would give me was fitting like a glove. It reminded me that artists be observant and it pays off in the end. Damn fun making this project.' Perceiving the world in terms of taste, EAT is musically wistfully joyous and lyrically playful, a full menu with Pan Am your maître d' and Damu the chef du cuisine. Damu's beats are deep, warm, melodic and progressive, a perfect playground for the duality of Pan Am's beat poetry and Leron's caressing trumpet, which as always is a persona in itself."
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LP
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DFPROM 012LP
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'Laminated Skies is the new album by Jason Moore aka Raw Poetic, produced alongside friend and frequent collaborator Earl Davis aka Damu the Fudgemunk and featuring guest musicians Pat 'P' Fritz on guitar and Luke Stewart on bass. Sessions for Laminated Skies took place in the sweltering summer heat in 2019 at Windom Road studio in Brentwood, Maryland; with Damu's production adding a tapestry of instrumentation including live and programmed drums, strings, vibraphone, kalimba, melodica, vinyl scratching and synthesizers. Musically pulling from the genres that make hip hop; the multidimensional work also draws inspiration from Ralph Ellison's novel The Invisible Man, spirituals, and their individual influences --, on which Jason says 'I was an English major, Luke is a jazz bassist, Pat a classically trained guitarist, and Earl brought in a wealth of knowledge that funneled us through a direction that worked.' Laminated Skies is Raw Poetic's sixth solo album and first official solo release on a label (London's Def Pressé). It's also his most personal album. He explains 'I still can't fully describe what kind of album this is so I've now reserved myself to telling people it's a 'Jason' album. I wanted to tell people what the hell is going on through my head sometimes; how I feel as a guy from Northern Virginia. Sometimes it's invisible, other times invincible. Sometimes loved, sometimes hurt. Once we got started mixing and matching ideas, well? it became something that I am very proud of.' Damu says, 'I'm extremely proud of what we did on this album. When Raw asked me to get involved I was amped. I've watched Raw become a producer over the last ten plus years, teaching himself how to record and lay tracks. His production style is so unique, free and different from mine that I soak up a ton of inspiration from collaborating this way. With both of us usually exclusively perceived as hip hop artists (which we don't mind), Laminated Skies feels like a victory for us to show our appreciation while creating honest art, but escape the box without actually making a formal announcement. It's easily one of the best things I've been a part of'. Raw Poetic was born in Philadelphia to a rich family legacy including both parents in the original Black Panther Party and legendary jazz musician uncle Archie Shepp. Eventually settling in Northern Virginia where he was raised in the Washington Metropolitan area, the two east coast cities have had a major influence on his artistry. By college he founded Restoring Poetry in Music aka RPM and became the lead MC in the duo Panacea (Rawkus), formed by producer/beatsmith Kyle Murdock, who released five albums before disbanding on a high note in 2010. As a newly solo act, Raw Poetic saw the changing demands of indie artists, building a skillset that allowed him to be the versatile DIY artist he is today. Produced with Damu, their recent 2020 album Ocean Bridges with saxophonist Archie Shepp was considered one of the year's best efforts."
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