Hip-Hop Linguistics Yes! Review

Rating:
Review Date: June 10, 2009
Website: K-os Website
Label: Crown Loyalist Recordings

K-os “Yes!” Album Review
K-os is an artist who is just constantly evolving. His first three albums, each a classic in my mind, showed K-os on a different musical journey. And after where he took his last effort, “Atlantis: Hymns for Disco,” I couldn’t really imagine what he had left in him. Where could K-os possibly go next? Well, with “Yes!” K-os has proven that his evolution is not yet complete, and that he is incapable of making a less than spectacular album. And even better for HHL followers, “Yes!” seems to be more hip-hop based than his past couple of albums.

Why I Like This Album?

1. It’s electro – I’m a hip-hop fan who doesn’t want to hear the same thing over and over again. Maybe that’s why I’m such a big fan of K-os. To me, K-os’ production - which despite his array of past sounds has always been very instrumental and perhaps even folk-ish – is much more futuristically electronic this time around. Tracks like Zambony, Astronaut, Eye Know Something, The Aviator and Mr. Telephone Man demonstrate this electronic feel and will have you bumping your head. This sound works out well for K-os, who rhymes more than he sings on these tracks. And while I can dig both, there’s nothing like listening to emcees spit over tight beats.

2. It reps Vancouver – Right before I picked up this album, I read an article about how K-os moved to Vancouver to record most of the tracks for “Yes!” Some of my favorite albums were recorded and clearly influenced by being created in a place away from home (the best example that comes to mind is the Living Legends’ “Classic” which was created in Maui). So when I hear a lot of the songs, I envision dude in the city living the fast life and shit. Or maybe that’s because I’m in the city living the fast life and shit. Either way, I like the influence Vancouver has apparently had on K-os’ music.

3. It makes me dance – Yeah I’m gay. But a couple times recently, I’ve jumped the train home from work, smoked one (I’m quitting tomorrow), and thrown on this album. I cook dinner and dance around the house like Molly Ringwald in The Breakfast Club (like you never have), because there are definitely some cranks on this album. Tracks like Burning Bridges, Uptown Girl, I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman, 4321, FUN!, WhipC.R.E.A.M and The Avenue might have you busting a move for real.

4. Rhymes are dope – I gotta relate at least one of my reasons to the music itself. And as usual, K-os’ lyrics and flow are on point. There are dope rhymes, sing along choruses and quotable lyrics all over this album. One good example is the following verse from Burning Bridges:

Turn on the light/
‘Cause the left hand knows what you’re doing with your right/
When the right hand glows, left is jealous of the light/
So you put ‘em both together and you clap for your life/
Time – that’s why I’m back in the building/
To burn through flame the thing that I was building/
Get off the bridge all the women and children/
Fire pros/
Sheep’s in wolves clothes/

The Aviator is a self-reflective track in which K-os drops two dope verses off inner dialogue and questioning. The following verse from that song is a good example of this:

Who am I using?/
Who is abusing?/
Who isn’t choosing?/
Who am I sleeping on that I’m confusing?/
Who is my muse? She probably plays the guitar/
Probably 4th dimensional, probably living bars/
So many scars young black boy in my room/
Made my style animated, call my style cartoon/
That you bump when you’re driving up the coastline/
The closed mind exposed by the sunshine/
Designed by the most high/

One of my favorite songs lyrically was former HHL track of the week Mr. Telephone Man. In that song, K-os drops the following verse that seems to point to how human relationships are being affected by improving technology.

We went from pagers, beepers, phones, to creepers/
Ringtones, text messages, not reaching/
Speaking close all up in my receiver/
Afraid to meet in person the dial tone deceiver/
Pick up, hang up, break up, banger/
Man I wanna press every button Atlanta/
Area code South Beach number I forgot it/
We cross bionic style exotic forget about it/
Now here’s what I’m thinking/
Is this ship sinking?/
While we’re dancing and drinking/
Could we be at the brink and?/

Overall: Probably my favorite album of 2009 – and that’s saying a lot. I like every song on this album, and I have a different favorite daily. If you haven’t already, pick up a copy of this album. Favorite tracks include I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman, Mr. Telephone Man, Uptown Girl, Eye Know Something, The Aviator. Really all of them. Peace.

via Hip-Hop Linguistics

Exploring a New State of 'Yes!' Karma with k-os by Reg Seeton

What you hear and see of k-os from his music is your own perception. Some people look at the sky and see it for what it is, a blue sky. Others, however, will look at that blue sky and say it's green. Others would argue there is no sky at all. That's just the way life rolls. People are weird, and life is strange. Is k-os simply hip-hop, or is he strictly rap? If the sky doesn't exist, why does it matter?

Now on his experimental pay-by-donation Karma tour to promote his recently released album, Yes!, the first k-os studio album since the 2006 release of Atlantis: Hymns for Disco, the Toronto raised k-os has reached a significant fork at the road of his career as a passionate, outspoken, mature and evolving artist. Much in the same philosophical way that Marvin Gaye freed himself of certain restrictive boundaries in 1971 to chart a new course in his career to explore his soul, with the release of his fourth album, Yes!, k-os has shaken the constrictive forces of the media and the stereotypical sins of perception that have nailed many an artist to a musical cross.

After watching k-os perform a potent two-hour, 23 song set at The Commodore Ballroom on April 30, free to fans by way of pay-by-donation and his new touring belief in good Karma, it was clear that k-os is more at ease with his music and himself. In fact, at this stage of his career, k-os is a wiser, creatively free force of hip-hop, rap, rebellious acoustic reggae, rock and electronic synth, with slight shades of punk, all within a goldmine of soul. On stage, the 2009 k-os of Yes! is even more experimental in his artistic expression than in live years since his breakout 2002 debut, Exit, blending not only rap, hip-hop, and soul with old school samples and rhymes but also various cultural percussions, beats and strings that reflect a more diverse and mature evolution that pushes the boundaries of categorization, as you can hear in the Yes! tracks, "Astronaut" and “Mr. Telephone Man,” which, for those old schoolers who may be wondering about the title, isn’t a cover of New Edition. Interestingly, at the very end of the track is where you’ll find a sincere and candid k-os who briefly bears his acoustic soul.

To continue the interview CLICK HERE.

More Information on Opening Acts for the Rest of the Yes! Karma Tour

Flash Lightnin'

Toronto May 9
Ottawa May 13

Lioness

Montreal May 14
Halifax May 16

At this moment, there isn't an opening act for the concert in London, Ontario.

Yes! Reaches No. 9 on Billboard's Top Canadian Albums List

Continue to support and grab an album or two if you haven't yet!

Opening Acts and Event Information of Yes! Karma Tour

Jay Malinowski

- Vancouver April 30
- Vancouver May 1

Library Voices

- Edmonton May 3
- Calgary May 4

Grand Analog

- Winnipeg May 6

Event Info
With his fourth album “Yes!” set for release April 14, hip hop visionary k-os is embarking on a 10-show, 9-city Canadian tour, hitting major cities from coast to coast. As with all of his projects before this, the Yes! Karma Tour is breaking boundaries. These shows are not ticketed, and entrance will be on a first-come first-served basis. Rogers customers will be offered guaranteed access to the shows through the Wireless Box Office. As of April 15, visit: facebook.com/urmusic for all the details. In order to gain entrance into the venue, there is no purchase necessary whatsoever. “Karma” donations can be made inside the venue at 3 separate locations, and will always be rewarded with a free CD: the k-os “fan-mixed” album, “Yes! It’s Yours.” What is a “Karma Donation”?: * In exchange for what promises to be an unforgettable concert experience with k-os, fans are being given 3 opportunities to contribute to the cause… *#1 - David Suzuki Awareness Table: 50% of payments made at this table will go to the David Suzuki Foundation, the other 50% will go towards offsetting tour costs. *#2 - Karma Table: this table will be designated for Karma donations only. *# 3 - Exit doors: Security will be set up at the exit doors of each show with cash-only drop boxes for people to pay what they felt the show was worth. Instant Karma!

via Live Nation

YES! OUT NOW

YES!, the new album from k-os is available now at local Canadian record stores and digital retailers. Click here to download the record on iTunes. The album features new single "4 3 2 1 " and 11 other new tracks including "Burning Bridges" and "I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman." Support k-os and grab the record today!

via k-osmusic.com

Getting a Handle on K-Os: Rapper Says Yes! to Culture on New Album

Yes! A new album from K-os will be released April 14. But before that LP, Yes! - the genre-smashing rapper's first since 2006's Atlantis: Hymns for Disco - took shape, K-os was caught in the middle of a few things.

For one, he was stuck between labels. After nearly a decade with EMI, he decided it was time to try a new direction - one that included putting his music out on his own imprint, Crown Loyalist Recordings, which he's now doing through a new relationship with Universal.

Moreover, he was caught between cities. ``I've been dating Vancouver for 10 years,'' he says over the phone from the West Coast after our call wakes him on a post-Junos morning. (OK, the Junos wrapped up two days before, but as K-os explains, he's still resting up after a weekend spent with friends like double- winners The Stills).

Since making his breakthrough 2002 album Exit - a disc that had Billboard lauding as ``one of the finest hip-hop records Canada has ever produced'' - K- os has found himself drawn back to Vancouver. He waxes nostalgic about crashing nightly on friends' couches and floors during his Exit days. His band still hails from the city. Still, there's no denying he's a Toronto institution. It's ingrained in his lyrics: from instantly recognizable phrases like ``walking down Yonge St. on a Friday'' (from ubiquitous 2005 hit Crabbuckit) to rhyming about the TTC on the new disc. Read more.

via Canada.com

K-Os Yes! Karma Tour - "Free to Get In, Pay What You Want"

NO ADVANCE TICKET SALES - FREE TO GET IN, PAY WHAT YOU WANT
EVERYONE WELCOME

LIVENATION.COM, GMANandRIZK.com, SPECTRUM ENT PRESENT...

THE urMUSIC.CA K-OS YES! KARMA TOUR
Thursday, April 30 at Commodore Ballroom (868 Granville St)

Friday, May 1 at Croation Cultural Centre

K-os’ return to the Vancouver stage next month will come as part of a groundbreaking tour of Canada designed around the concept of karma. Each show on this tour is free to enter, with fans given opportunities to make “Karma” donations inside the venue in exchange for an always-incendiary live show and a bonus - the K-os “fan-mixed” album, “Yes! It’s Yours.”

K-os’ long-awaited new album, “YES!” , is set to be released on April 14 through the Nettwerk Music Group and Universal Music Canada. The bonus to this album is “Yes! It’s Yours.” - an album mixed entirely by his fans through Indaba Music, the leading collaboration tool and social network for musicians, where master stem tracks from the songs on “YES!” were made available to their international community of over 100,000 musicians to submit their remixes of a given track, with a chance to win a spot on the album “Yes! It’s Yours.”

The urMusic.ca K-OS YES! KARMA TOUR breaks boundaries by offering the shows for free on a first-come, first-served basis. “Karma” donations can be made inside the venue in three specific locations, including options to donate to the David Suzuki Foundation. Also, check out the “Karma table” or use the cash-only drop box on the way out. All karma donations will give the audience member a free CD: the k-os “fan-mixed” album, “Yes! It’s Yours.”

K-os’ uniquely subversive hip hop twist on popular music and culture is not surprising considering that over the past decade he’s regularly synthesized a stunningly progressive musical gumbo of hits. With two certified platinum-selling albums (“Joyful Rebellion”, “Atlantis”) and one gold one (“Exit”) to his credit, he’s also won multiple Juno Awards (2003, 2005), Much Music Video Awards (2004), Canadian Urban Music Awards (2003, 2004), a Source Award for Best International Hip Hop Artist (2003), and even garnered a Grammy nomination in 2005 for his collaboration with the Chemical Brothers on “Get Yourself High”.

Tickets are 1st come 1st served and it is a ‘pay as you feel’ after the show.

Via GMANandRIZK

K-Os Says Yes! to Pop Culture

Yes! A new album from K-os will be released April 14. But before that LP, Yes! - the genre-smashing rapper's first since 2006's Atlantis: Hymns for Disco -- took shape, K-os was caught in the middle of a few things.

For one, he was stuck between labels. After nearly a decade with EMI, he decided it was time to try a new direction -- one that included putting his music out on his own imprint, Crown Loyalist Recordings, which he's now doing through a new relationship with Universal.

Moreover, he was caught between cities. "I've been dating Vancouver for 10 years," he says over the phone from the west coast after our call wakes him on a post-Junos morning. (OK, the Junos wrapped up two days before, but as K-os explains, he's still resting up after a weekend spent with friends like double-winners The Stills).

Since making his breakthrough 2002 album Exit - a disc that had Billboard proclaiming it "one of the finest hip-hop records Canada has ever produced" - K-os has found himself drawn back to Vancouver. He waxes nostalgic about crashing nightly on friends' couches and floors during his Exit days. His band still hails from the city. Still, there's no denying he's a Toronto institution. It's ingrained in his lyrics: from instantly recognizable phrases like "walking down Yonge St. on a Friday" (from ubiquitous 2005 hit "Crabbuckit") to peripherally rhyming about the TTC on the new disc. Read more...

By Leah Collins

via Dose.ca

K-Os To Release New Album... Next Week

After three album-less years, K-OS is finally following up on his Atlantis: Hymns for Disco. Next Tuesday (April 14), the Toronto MC will release his exclamatory fourth album Yes! through his newly minted Crown Loyalist Recordings, which K-OS launched last year through Universal.

The first two Yes! singles are already out there in radioland and online: "4321" and "Uptown Girl" (no this isn’t a Billy Joel cover, but it does have a ”Love Buzz” thing going for it). You can check out both over on K-OS’s MySpace page and head over to his website if you care to partake in a little contest. In it, you can win a signed copy of the album, a meet ’n ’greet with K-OS and get two free concert ticket to his upcoming, but yet-to-be-announced, Canadian tour.

Yes! is also getting its own companion album next week, which comes from another contest that asked fans to remix the album and turn in the results. That one is dubbed Yes! It’s Yours and is out April 14 as well.

Stayed tuned for those tour dates. In the meantime...

Yes!:

1. "Zambony"
2. "Astronaut"
3. "Burning Bridges"
4. "Uptown Girl"
5. "I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman"
6. "4321"
7. "Eye Know Something"
8. "The Aviator"
9. "FUN!"
10. "Mr. Telephone Man"
11. "WhipC.R.E.A.M."
12. "The Avenue"

Yes! It's Yours:

1. "Zambony"(Phil Azer Remix)
2. "Astronaut" (Tee L. Remix)
3. "Burning Bridges" (TheSoundCrate Remix)
4. "Uptown GirL" (Jalyn Remix)
5. "4321" (TheSoundCrate Remix)
6. "Eye Know Something" (Herr Kaschke Remix)
7. "The Aviator" (Len Afrosaxon Remix)
8. "FUN!" (Ric's Notes Remix)
9. "Mr. Telephone Man" (Len Afrosaxon Remix)
10. "WhipC.R.E.A.M." (Remot Remix)
11. "The Avenue" (Zack W. Remix)

By Brock Threissen from Exclaim!

via Exclaim! News

Check Out the Remixes on the Companion Album to Yes!

Check out the winners and runner-ups of each song:
The Avenue (killing time remix) - Zach W.
Eye Know Something (Herr Kaschke Remix) - Herr Kaschke
Mr. Telephone Man (telephonic phunkinstein mix) - len afrosaxon
Fun (Ric Notes Remix) - Ric Notes
The Aviator (Remix) - len afrosaxon
4321 (Remix) - The SoundCrate
Uptown Girl (Stay Up When Youre Down) - JALYN >
Zambony (Sonic Set Stringy Remix) - Phil Azer
Astronaut (Remix) - Tee L.
Whip C.R.E.A.M. (Remix) - Remot

http://www.indabamusic.com/studio_access/kos

Pre-Order Yes! on Itunes Today

The Album is priced at $12.99. Make sure to support k-os.

4 3 2 1 - The Soundcrate Remix is available for $0.99.
You could listen to the track HERE along with the top ten candidates for the remix contest.

Finally, The Red Album!

Check out the promo:

http://www.classicmaterials.com/Temp/Kos/KosBackFLAT2.htm

k-os' favourite album!

K-os' Yes! Album to be Released April 14th

The release date of the album has been pushed back from March 31st to April 14th.