introduction to HipGnosis

[HipGnosis]

hi, my name is HipGnosis, an electronic and hip-hop producer based in the midwestern US. i make a blend of conscious hip hop and electronica, pretty much unlike anything else out there. the reason i decided to go into hip-hop is simple. the world moves to the sounds of hip-hop more than any other genre, and it crosses all social, economic, national, racial, and gender/sexuality boundaries. i'm trying to raise consciousness through this art form, by using select lyricists and smaples to create a sound that resonates within as many people as possible.

[HipGnosis]

this is my first single off of my new album "Ear Responsibility", coming out on CD sometime in July and hitting iTunes soon thereafter. preorders are available at hipgnosis.gemm.com. i've spent the last year making this outstanding piece of artistry, a sort of hip-hop-based sound collage, overcoming genre classification and labeling. i'm releasing this album independently, so if you know of any good contacts i should have, help me out! here's Middle Finger, the first single.

[Sol]

Really enjoyed "Discretion"--could listen to hours of it--and grooved on "Middle Finger." Are you, by any chance, familiar with White Trash Shaolin? You might feel some kinship with their stuff, which you can check out here.

[HipGnosis]

i'm not, but this is exactly the kind of stuff i like and am talking about. :D thanks, sol! glad you're enjoying the music too. i'll be posting more soon.

[Pixieguts]

Big yeah! on this music. This is a fantastic track and the HipGnosis sound is brilliant...

[HipGnosis]

thanks, pixieguts. i must say the feeling is mutual. you've got such a lovely voice and pick some great artists to collab with. i hope i can do as good of a job as your previous collabs have. :)

[HipGnosis]

you're right about comparing it to rock. it's the same story. people raised on 80's and 90's hip-hop have taken it in new directions now, and that's all it amounts to. rap music and hip-hop have bad reputations due to the amount of violence in the lyrics, but it's just a means of expression. most of the people expressing those angry sentiments don't really do the things they talk about. they rap about it instead.

as far as friends and family go, hopefully the hip hop classification i roll under won't interfere with their experience of the music. it might help to compare the lyricism involve to spoken word poetry. most people can understand it when viewed in that context. i try to remind older people about the beat generation and it's spoken words over jazz. jazz and the beat generation is a huge influence on early rap music too, though most people in the music industry now that make rap are too young and sheltered to have been exposed to it. i am lucky in having that as a huge influence on me and my style. i'm a huge ginsberg and burroughs fan. though they didn't do much over music, their philosophies on life have influenced me more than anything, i'd say, and they were some of the key players in that movement.