There are only 72 hours left for fans of soulful southern Hip Hop to support one of the genre’s most impressive acts. As of next Monday (March 23rd), advance sales of the Kentucky/Georgia trio CunninLynguists’ latest offering, Strange Journey Volume One, will stop being offered as the group prepares to depart for a European tour beginning April 2nd.

Hours before the threesome will appear at The Dame in Lexington, Kentucky to celebrate (alongside Killer Mike and others) the advance release of SJV1, HipHopDX spoke with one-third of CL, producer Kno, about his group’s new album, as he drove from his Atlanta home (with Khujo Goodie riding shotgun) to attend tonight’s record release party/performance.

“I hate to call it a mixtape – that term has been cheapened,” said Kno of Strange Journey. “And it’s all original stuff… We’re not rappin’ over ‘This Is Why I’m Hot’ two years later. It’s not that… I don’t even really pitch to people that don’t wanna listen to our music [why they should buy it], ‘cause they’re gonna download it for free anyway. So I fully invite them to download it for free. Anybody who wants to hear it, I want them to download it. It’s all good. But as far as [a] sales pitch [for] the people who really wanna support CunninLynguists monetarily and the people who enjoy our music, it’s mad cheap and I stand by everything that’s on it. It’s real good music… And I think people when they’re broke, and they’re worried about their job, they need good music to pick ‘em up.”

Recession-priced at $12 (which includes shipping costs), those that place their advance order by Monday will receive for their dozen dollars an autographed copy of SJV1, bonus album instrumentals, and have all in hand several weeks before the official retail release of the CD on May 26th.

Snippets of the album can now be heard. Produced entirely by Kno, Strange Journey is propelled by the disc’s first single, the hilarious sticky icky anthem, “Never Come Down (The Brownie Song),” which is driven by a psychedelic “Little Wing” sample.

Kno co-directed the song’s video, and appears in said clip sporting a mullet and Guns N Roses t-shirt.

“I was going for that,” said Kno when jokingly reminded that the proper presentation of a good ole country boy is with mullet and accompanying AC/DC t-shirt, but the high-end boutique that I bought the shirt at just didn’t happen to have it in stock, so I went with the GNR… Looking at the video now, sometimes I look at that part and I’m like, ‘I kinda look like my dad.’”

Aforementioned Dungeon Family alums Killer Mike and Khujo Goodie appear on another noteworthy track from SJV1, for the remix of “Georgia” from CL’s last full-length release, 2007’s Dirty Acres.

In a recent YouTube clip documenting the song’s recording, Killer Mike notes that he hasn’t heard this kind of soulful Hip Hop since DF in their heyday.

“Obviously I take it like the utmost compliment that it is,” Kno replied when asked about Mike’s statement. “I don’t really compare our music necessarily to other peoples - we just kinda do what we do, and how the music comes out is how it comes out… A lot of music, Hip Hop music and [music in general], has kinda lost its soul... I might agree with [Mike’s] statement. I guess I didn’t really think about it too much before he said it, but after hearing it it’s a compliment but at the same time it’s kinda sad.”

Two more retooled versions (with new beats and/or new verses) of Dirty tracks, “Dance For Me” and “KKKY,” appear on SJV1, the latter of which now sports cameos from fellow Bluegrass state natives Skinny DeVille and Fishscales of Nappy Roots.

Additional appearances on the album come from the group’s QN5 fam (Tonedeff, Substantial, PackFM), as well as Slug of Atmosphere, who surfaces for the lament on being away from home during long tour trips, “Don’t Leave (When Winter Comes)”

Former group member Mr. SOS is also back in the CL mix for Strange Journey.

“He recorded a solo track,” Kno noted. “This track [“Die For You”] is entirely him, three verses. I mean, we never really stopped working with SOS. It’s just a matter of him getting material out. He has a lot of stuff just kinda sitting on the shelf waiting to be released.”

Even with SOS’ appearance on SJV1, Kno explained to HipHopDX that CunninLynguists will officially remain a trio for the time being.

Two-thirds of the group, Deacon The Villain and Kno, will also continue working together outside of CL, tag-teaming under the banner A Piece Of Strange for mainstream/major-label artist productions the duo create.

Hip Hop creations for an assortment of artists, including the aforementioned Killer Mike (who Kno revealed is currently in possession of 10-12 Kno/APOS beats), and even dance tracks with Auto-Tuned choruses have been cranked out for industry consumption by Deac and Kno of late.

“That actually at the time was supposed to be for J. Lo,” Kno explained of the aforementioned Auto-Tune creation that was posted up to YouTube last summer. “But whoever ends up cutting a check for it is where it ends up. I can’t really foresee us ever using the Auto-Tune on one of our songs, unless we could find like an interesting way to do it because it’s kinda played out at this point… [Auto-Tune] is for people who can’t sing as well, [but] if you’re shopping hooks or you’re trying to write songs it’s got the appeal. So as far as shopping music, we’ll plug it in from time to time.”

Although their outside-the-group production plate is apparently always full, Kno and Deacon continue to keep the focus, along with Natti, on CunninLynguists’ music. The trio are already planning to unleash the second installment of Strange Journey in September to coincide with the group’s North American tour.

A grimier counterpart to its predecessor, Strange Journey Volume Two assembles an assortment of underground Hip Hop luminaries, including Sean Price and Poison Pen (who appear on the concept record about how no matter your locale you can get attacked and jacked, “Streets”), J-Zone, Bronze Nazareth, Guilty Simpson, and many more.

And after the two volumes of Strange Journey have reached the satisfied masses, CL will unveil two more offerings for fans of that southern fried soulness.

“We’re working on an EP, and we’re working on a new studio album,” Kno revealed of the group’s planned 2010 releases. “We don’t have a title [for either] yet. But both of the records are concept records, and they kinda run into each other…We never stop working. This is a recession, [and] you’re gonna get fired if you stop.”

Strange Journey Volume One is due May 26 from Bad Taste Records.

Samekh Zakout and Chen Rotem couldn’t have had more dissimilar backgrounds. Zakout, an Israeli Arab, grew up in the rough and tumble working class Tel Aviv suburb of Ramle. Rotem, an Israeli Jew, was raised on a kibbutz - Ein Hahoresh - considered an ideal setting for children.

But today, Zakout, now known as SAZ, and Rotem, who goes by the moniker Sagol 59, have found common ground between them. They use the modern sounds, rhymes and rhythms of hip hop to espouse their frustrations with society and their hopes for future peaceful coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians.

Recently, the Tel Aviv basement nightclub, Levontin 7, was packed with fans bouncing to the beats of SAZ, Sagol 59 and other rappers who gathered for what was advertised as a Hip Hop Sulha.

The event was part of a series of Sulha performances that were launched last year at the S.O.B. club in New York City to urge Arab-Israeli dialogue and reconciliation. In trying to create a musical platform for coexistence and understanding, the performance was named after the Arabic term for a conciliatory agreement between two parties facing a dispute.

The crowd consisted of Arabs and Jews; hipsters and techno-junkies; dread-locked hippies and intellectual types peering through thick black-rimmed emo glasses, creating an atmosphere far from homogeneous but almost unanimously liberal and conducive to dialogue.

But as idyllic as the initiative was, conversations with the rappers reveal restrained realism about the problems facing the region.

“I’m not here to do ‘Kumbaya, Kumbaya’ with Sagol,” SAZ said. “But I write music as a minority in Israel with hope. Sulha is just another way to spread the message out. My music is not just for Arabs, my music is for the world. I participate in the Hip Hop Sulha because besides being a Palestinian or a Muslim, I am human.”

Sagol 59, whose 2000 release Blue Period, was the first album by a solo hip-hop artist in Israel, subscribes to a similar understanding about the goals of the sulha.

“We’re trying to have a simple dialogue. We’re not delusional. We’re not trying to solve all the problems in the world. Everyone should do something within their capacity to initiate progress,” he said.

The rappers believe their endeavors should be seen as a microcosm for Palestinian-Israeli coexistence. If Muslims and Jews can abandon exaggerated ethnocentrism and focus on shared universal values, good things are bound to happen. It is imperative, the artists argue, to find the common ground, and music is just one example.

SAZ has been rhyming about his struggle since the age of 16. Through his music, he hopes to give the Palestinian people inspiration to turn away from drugs and violence and pursue an education. He says he encourages Palestinian pride both within Israel and in the territories while disdaining violence as a means for Palestinian statehood. Through his contact with Israeli Jews like Sagol, he’s come to support a two-state solution while calling for equal treatment of Palestinians living in Israel.

SAZ’s performance radiates tremendous energy onto the crowd. He races through nifty lyrics poking satire at his neighborhood and at the state’s policies then pauses, tells the DJ, “slow down the tempo,” and swaggers sinuously on the dance floor at ease with the microphone and the crowd at his feet.

He is not afraid to be introspective and to assign criticism onto his people. One of his songs Meen Yoom (Since that Day), bemoans what he detects as apathy for inner social change: “We’re standing-still, close mouthed and ignoring what’s around us, Instead of blaming ourselves, We blame everybody else.”

But in the same breath, he also spells his grievances at the Israeli government: “The sound of a lifetime struggle of a nation struggling, Against the occupation, For corruption has eaten our bones; what is left of our heart, From hunger we eat ourselves.”

SAGOL 59 takes a more reconciliatory approach. Through Corner Prophets, a cultural initiative he co founded, Sagol seeks to inspire Israeli and Palestinian children to use music as a channel for finding a common ground. Corner Prophets organizes several hip hop and art-related events in Jerusalem to provide an outlet for the engagement of the city’s diverse youth within the realm of performing arts. Sagol and SAZ have performed numerous times together as vocal supporters of coexistence.

A film on the role of hip-hop in shaping the political discourse in Senegal is getting rave reviews. The documentary Democracy in Dakar is the brainchild of filmmaker and producer Ben Herson, who visited Senegal’s capital, Dakar, in 2003.

Herson first got interested in Senegalese music a couple of years ago, when he was working on his university thesis about Senegalese music. He was amazed at the vibrant music scene in Dakar, given the small resources and financial rewards available to young musicians there. He says he was intrigued by their passion and devotion to music and decided to expand his project into a full-length movie. Herson’s next visit came during Senegal’s presidential election campaign held earlier this year. He witnessed the power of young, politically conscious rappers – and the enthusiasm of their fans.

Democracy in Dakar shows the influence that hip-hop music has among young Senegalese. Herson says it’s a tool that has been used by the youth to voice their frustration with the political establishment. The documentary features rising stars in the Senegalese entertainment industry and plenty of unknown MCs, whose storytelling abilities are much like those of the traditional Senegalese griots.

“The young rappers perform traditional Senegalese rap songs “that tell stories about society, much like ancient griots narrated the lives of ancient societies,” he said.

Young Senegalese musicians, like those in other parts of Africa, have fused traditional music and messages with western styles popular among their fans. Young film director McGee Mcilvan says he saw more than a than a dozen Senegalese rap groups in Dakar which have created unique and distinct sounds.

Many tracks on the video feature what the Senegalese call “ego tripping,” a mode of hip-hop that includes bragging. The movie also sheds light on the personalities of the rappers and their inspirations.

WATCH "THAT'S THAT" HERE!!!:

DOOM, who recently dropped the MF prefix, is set to release his new album "Born Like This" on March 24, 2009. It will be his first release since his 2006 Danger Mouse collaboration as the group Danger Doom.

For more information on this album, follow this link.

March 13, 2009
Roots Picnic to Feature The Roots Backing Public Enemy
Though, technically speaking, The Roots Picnic features The Root plus whoever they invite, backing up Public Enemy as they perform It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back in its entirety with Antibalas also pitching in should be a wild experience.

Public Enemy will also appear with The Roots on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on Monday, March 16.

Additional acts appearing on one of two stages during the June 6th Roots Picnic at Festival Pier in Philadelphia include TV On The Radio, the Black Keys, Santigold (formerly Santogold), The Pipes featuring Zoe Kravitz, Busdriver, Cash Money, Jazzy Jeff, Writtenhouse, Back to Basics, Making Time, Kid Cudi and Asher Roth.

I love the fact that last year The Roots gave The Cool Kids the cosign and this year includes Asher Roth.

Some people move forward. Others keep trying to relive past glories.