R.I.P. Keith Elam aka Guru (Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal,God is Universal) aka Bald Head Slick

"It's OK though, cause from grey skies come blue,
through darkness comes light and I'll be known as the Guru..."

Keith Elam July 17, 1966 – April 19, 2010




After Guru's cardiac arrest and time in a coma, I was afraid this would happen and through all the pain Guru was going through and all of the controversy and messed up bullish with Solar...

http://coldrockdaspot.blogspot.com/2010/03/legendary-mc-guru-in-coma.html

I am glad that Guru is now in a better place but it doesn't make things any easier, Guru was straight up one of my all time favourites and this also means that Gang Starr is gone and I don't want to get into personal ish, but I am also very sad that Guru didn't patch up things with DJ Premier before he died. The king of monotone, who once proclaimed that is was mostly the voice...Keith Elam was born in Roxbury, Boston in 1966 and on an upbringing of all types of music, he eventually formed Gang Starr in 1987 with DJ 1 2 Be Down (aka Mike Dee) and ended up releasing "The Lesson" on Wild Pitch records. in the same year.



After a couple more 12"s, Gang Starr in 1989 and lone member Guru received a beat tape from Waxmaster C (DJ Premier) and Guru invited DJ Premier to join Gang Starr and they recorded "Words I Manifest" and later released, what DJ Premier refers to as his demo album, No More Mr Nice Guy in 1989, and Guru said "took them two weeks" on "Form Of Intellect"

No More Nice Guy is a cool little album that featured James Brown (RIP) samples and beats from DJ Premier, DJ Mark The 45 King and Guru himself, then known as The Guru Keithy E.



In 1990, Gang Starr released their classic second album, Step In The Arena, which spawned the hits, "Just To Get A Rep", Who's Gonna Take The Weight", "Take A Rest". "Love Sick", "Step In The Arena" and the ill B-Side track "Credit Is Due" and during a time of a lot of Gangster rap, Guru's intelligent and thought provoking lyrics was refreshing.

During 1990 and 1991, Gang Starr worked with The Dream Warriors, Subsonic 2, Wendy and Lisa, Slam Slam, MC Solaar, Cookie Crew, Loose Ends, and DJ Premier produced and /or remixed for Lord Finesse, J-Rock, Ice-T and a few others and Gang Starr were on the Mo' Better Blues soundtrack with the classic "Jazz Thing"

Gang Starr singles were getting a lot of play on Hip Hop radio and on music TV, but sadly the album didn't sell as well as it should have, thankfully this didn't deter DJ Premier and Guru and they went back into the lab and made their third album (and also my favourite Gang Starr album of all time) Daily Operation and released it in 1992.



Daily Operation was preceded by the fat Skull Snaps-"It's A New Day" drums sampling, sinister sounding "Take It Personal" and included the classic B-Side track "DWYCK" with Nice and Smooth, the album spawned the singles "Ex Girl To Next Girl", "2 Deep" and "Flip The Script" and this album also introduced the World to Jeru The Damaja, Lil Dap on "I'm The Man" who, along with Melachi The Nutcracker and Big Shug formed the Gang Starr Foundation and in 1992 Gang Starr also had a track on the Trespass movie soundtrack "Gotta Get Ova (Taking Loot)" which featured a great remix from Large Professor and a track on the White Men Can't Rap EP, the infectious "Now You're Mine" (which later appeared on the Hard To Earn album in 1994).



During 1992, (which I still consider one of the greatest years ever for Hip Hop) DJ Premier was producing for Comptons Most Wanted, Too Short, Soul II Soul, Heavy D & The Boyz, Neneh Cherry and others, it was around late 1992 that Guru started producing beats for his Acid Jazz, Jazz, Soul, Hip Hop Jazzmatazz project and sent out beat tapes to some of his favourite artists...the end result was the smooth and cafe favourite... Jazzmatazz Volume 1...



During 1992 and 1993, Guru also produced for Lisa Lisa, MC Solaar, Ronnie Jordan, Chapter 3, Here and Now, Salt N Pepa and appeared on De La Souls' "Patti Duke" Marxmen (along with DJ Premier) and with the one off group The Cutthroats with "Stop Lookin' At Me" on the Menace To Society soundtrack as well as Heavy D & The Boyz classic posse cut "A Buncha Ni---s"

Also in 1993, the Gang Starr Foundation sampler was released, which included cuts from Group Home, Big Shug, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels classic "Come Clean" (which was later release as Jeru The Damaja's "Come Clean")
and Guru's own label Illkid Records released their sampler, Ill Kid Jumbo Sampler which featured tracks from Operation Ratification, Stikken Moov, Bahamadia and HL Rock with all tracks produced by Guru.

In 1994, Guru and DJ Premier decided it was time for another Gang Starr album and released the very dope fourth album, Hard To Earn, which some have claimed was their most hardcore album to date...

Hard To Earn kicked off with a very raspy Guru sounding angry and bitter at the fakes in Hip Hop and he dominated the album with dope and memorable lines, over DJ Premier's timeless production, Hard To Earn spawned the classic singles "Mass Appeal", "Code Of The Streets", "Suckas Need Bodyguards" which featured the dope B-Side track "The ? Remainz" and in 1994 Guru continued his love for Acid Jazz and outside Hip Hop interests and produced for Espirtu, legendary Jazz artist Donald Byrd, Urban Species, Dee-Lite, D*Note, Blondie and on the Hip Hop side of things he produced for Bahamadia,Clever Jeff and Nefertiti and appeared on DJ Krush's dope album Krush on the track "B-Boy Mastamind"and Digable Planets' great second album Blowout Comb and Sweet Sable's "Love Thang" 12".




In 1995 Guru released his second Jazzmatazz album and DJ Premier produced one track "Watch What You Say" and Buckwild did a great remix of "Respect The Architect" the album sold quite well and Guru took a lot of the artists with him on a Word tour, and in 95' he also released the Guru Presents-llkid Records, which featured tracks from Bahamadia, True Master, Big Shug, Baybe, Fabidden, Group Home, Jeru The Damaja and Stikken Moov and Operation Ratification.



In 1995 Guru produced for Fabidden on the D & D Project album and for two tracks on Big Shug's debut 12" "Treat U Better" ('Stripped and Pistol Whipped", "P.D.S." he also co-produced "Treat U Better" with DJ Premier) and appeared on Group Home's debut album Livin' Proof and he even did a remix for Annie Lennox and a remix for Die Fantastischen Vier.

In 1996, Guru appeared on albums from DJ Honda along with DJ Premier on "What You Expected", China and House of Pain and produced for Deams and in 1997 he appeared on DJ Premier's album with Branford Marsalis, the Buckshot LeFonque-Music Evolution album on the track "Black Monday" and on an album from Man Doki, Guru also appeared on the Rhyme & Reason soundtrack with Kai Bee and Lil Dap on "The Way It Iz" and Guru even did a remix for the "new Mission Impossible" theme.

After 3 or so years after the last Gang Starr album, DJ Premier and Guru headed to the studio and banged out 1998's Moment of Truth, first releasing the classic single "You Know My Steez" which blew up around the World, the single also featured the dope B-Side track "So Wassup".



Moment of Truth featured the beautiful "Above The Clouds" (with Inspectah Deck) and the very introspective title track, the album also spawned the singles "1/2 and 1/2" with MOP and "The Militia" (featuring Big Shug and Bumpy Knux), there was also a dope Pete Rock remix of this released as a 12" as well as the second version featuring WC and the great Rakim and there was also a "You Know My Steez" remix featuring Kurupt and The Lady of Rage from the West Coast.

Guru produced "She Knows What She Wants" and "Make Em Pay" off the Moment of Truth album and he appeared on MOP's First Family 4 Life album on the track, "Salute Part II" which was produced by DJ Premier.

When 1999 came around Guru worked with Masta Ace ("Conflict") and the late, great Big L had sadly passed and "Full Clip" (with it's Big L rest in peace intro) was all over Hip Hop radio, on mix-tapes and fans thought a new album was coming, but instead we were treated to the Full Clip-A Decade Of Gang Starr Hits compilation, which also featured the new track "All 4 Tha Ca$h"



In 1999 Guru released a solo single and remixed for Medeski Martin & Wood and Gang Starr remixed for Macy Gray and in 2000 Guru released the third installment of the Jazzmatazz series, and although it wasn't as good as the first two, it wasn't a bad album, Guru also appeared on AG's album with the dope DJ Premier produced "Weed Scented" and Gang Starr had the "The Piece Maker" on Tony Touch's The Piecemaker album and the cover version of G.L.O.B.E. and Whiz Kid's classic "Play That Beat" was recorded by Gang Starr as "Play That Beat 99", though it wasn't officially released.



By 2001, Gang Starr were remixing for Lina and Guru remixed for Sade and they recorded the dope single "Tha Squeeze" for the Training Day film and Guru worked with Craig David and in 2002 Guru appeared on records from Krumb Snatcha and he released an album under his Baldhead Slick alias (with one track produced by DJ Premier, "Back 2 Back") and appeared on a few albums, including ED OG's-The Truth Hurts and Cam's-Soulshine album.



There were also 2 dope Gang Starr tracks floating around this year, the crazy horn sampling "Battle" which appeared on Eminem's- 8 Mile Soundtrack and the awesome "Skills" and "Natural"



By 2003 the next and sadly final Gang Starr album was released, some welcomed The Ownerz with open arms, while others dismissed it as Gang Starr's weakest album, but they were wrong, there were some incredible tracks on this album and I always felt that they kicked things off right by releasing the dope "Rite Where U Stand (featuring Jadakiss)" track as the first single and truth be said, Guru was pretty angry on this album had a lot to say.

After The Ownerz, it seemed that Guru and DJ Premier had parted ways and as a longtime fan of Guru, I have to say that the majority of his material after The Ownerz was not very good, there were a few exceptions like "BLVD" with Afu-Ra, Big Shug-"Counter Punch, Blue Sky Black Death-Floor Chalk (Best Reprise) and I am not a fan of Solar at all and personally think that Guru steadily went downhill with his influence...so I won't even mention any of his stuff.

But here is a link if you are interested

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Solar+%285%29




Hip Hop has suffered a huge loss with Guru's passing and I feel very grateful that I got to see him live in 2004 and lived through his golden age, A big thanks to Velua Brown for texting me the sad news

R.I.P. Guru

Thank you for all the dope music, may your memory live on forever

Jaz

Compilation of remixes and others coming very soon...

Big thanks to all the contributors at Discogs for a lot of this info and to all the many blogs and websites and that have done tribute posts...

http://agrumpyoldmanwithabeard.blogspot.com/2010/04/rip-keith-guru-elam.html

http://beatboxradioshow.blogspot.com/2010/04/rip-guru.html

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/YxcY/~3/TZGV4o7RbSM/dj-rob-one-fly-id-show-12111997.html

http://purehip-hop.blogspot.com/2010/04/news-sway-remembers-guru.html

http://purehip-hop.blogspot.com/2010/04/mister-cees-hot-97-guru-tribute.html

http://fatlacemagazine.com/2010/04/mostly-tha-voice-the-fat-lace-dedication-to-guru

http://bustthefacts.blogspot.com/2010/04/guru-rip.html

http://for-indy-prosperity.blogspot.com/2010/04/word-for-guru.html

http://www.unkut.com/2010/04/rest-in-peace-guru

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/YxcY/~3/YB9x0BzQDq8/rip-guru-of-gang-starr.html

http://recogthereal.blogspot.com/2010/04/in-memory-of-my-man-guru.html

http://willcwillc.blogspot.com/2010/04/guru.html

http://djstepone.blogspot.com/2010/04/rip-guru-one-of-best-yet.html

http://potholesinmyblog.com/r-i-p-guru-july-17-1966-%e2%80%93-april-20-2010

http://rapdungeon.blogspot.com/2010/04/voice-that-wont-be-forgotten.html

R.I.P. Nujabes

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Nujabes

Sad news, dope Japanese Hip Hop producer Nujabes passed away last month, Nujabes born Jun Seba was tragically killed in a car accident,

Nujabes Died in Car Accident, Confirms Label

Nujabes (born Jun Seba), a Japanese hip-hop producer, was killed in a car accident in Tokyo. Nujabes crashed when leaving the Metropolitan Expressway in Tokyo's Minato Ward.

Nujabes was 36 years old when he died. The car crash that killed Nujabes took place on February 26, 2010, the same day a magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck off the coast of Japan. Nujabes' death was only publicly confirmed by Hydeout Productions and by his friend and collaborator, Shing02, today; he was buried by his family in a private ceremony.

Nujabes: Producer and Scenemaker

Nujabes was the founder of Hydeout Productions, as well as the owner of two Tokyo record stores, Guinness Records and T Records. Nujabes (who came by his artistic name by spelling his real name backwards) also contributed music to the anime Samurai Champloo, an anachronistic tale mixing samurai lore and modern hip-hop culture.

Nujabes on last.fm

Nujabes was a private person, and so many, even those who worked closely with him, did not know he had died. The common Internet death rumors did not make it to the English-speaking web, and this is a rare case in which an artist's actual death notice preceded the rumors.

I am pretty sure I first heard of Nujabes in late 99 or sometime in 2000 when he dropped "People Don't Stray" with Funky DL, and the production really captured me, I followed what he did from then on, but it was his great Metaphorical Music album released in 2003, that made me really value him as a producer, his style was smooth, laid back and very soulful, the follow up album Modal Soul released in 2005 was very good as well, as was his Samurai Champoo contributions, especially Departure which featured the beautiful "Mystline", consisting of a very moving piano sample and a dope sample also used by DJ Premier (see if you can guess which one)



Nujabes also worked with Cise Star and Akin of Cyne, Pace Rock, CL Smooth, Apani B, Five Deez, L-Universe, Substantial* and Shing02 (to name a few) and produced some great music with them...










*=In fact Substantial, released a recording of his verses over the instrumentals of Samurai Champloo in 2009




Thank you to Shingo2, for sharing the information of Nujabes passing, R.I.P. Nujabes, thank you for the great and timeless music.

Gasoline Monk - Soundtrack to an Unnamed Book

I have to admit that I haven't heard this yet, but it does sound very interesting...please read on



In affiliation with Swallowdown Press, Gasoline Monk releases a new full-length mixtape, Soundtrack to an Unnamed Book.

Gasoline Monk is a hybrid artist from Boston who makes Hip Hop and books. He’s released several titles under the name Forrest Armstrong, with another coming out May 2010 through Swallowdown Press.

This mixtape is the soundtrack to it.

Gasoline Monk’s hip hop and texts are a surrealistic meditation on the unfolding digital urban landscape.

Think Madlib meets Godspeed You Black Emperor with the grit atmospherics of Black Moon. Each song is a scene translated into sound, building collage dreamscapes out of anything from jazz and Motown to post rock and Jodorowsky films.

Available as a CD or for free download at http://forrestarmstrong.wordpress.com
More information on Swallowdown Press can be found at http://www.swallowdownpress.com

http://forrestarmstrong.wordpress.com/2010/03/14/book-mixtape-deal

Thanks for the Props Gasoline Monk

: ( Legendary MC Guru in a coma

UPDATE: There have been some false rumours going around about Guru passing, but this is not true, he is in surgery still.


Absolutely tragic news, Keith Elam, better known as Guru had a heart attack and is in a coma, please read the following from Hip Hop DX, and if anyone has any more info, please contact me. Guru is one of my favourite MC's of all time and he is in my thoughts and I really hope he pulls through, according to DJ Premier, Keith is due for surgery tomorrow.

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.10731/title.gang-starrs-guru-goes-into-cardiac-arrest-in-a-coma

Guru-Lifesaver (DJ Premier Remix)

http://sharebee.com/2f2f4d9e

Can you ID these tracks?

Over at the infamous Philaflava, T.R.O.Y. forum, there is a section called "Track ID's

http://www.philaflava.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=106067&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

and we use spot this to ID obscure, rare and forgotten tracks from Hip Hop's golden age etc.

We have a very good team of really knowledgeable heads in there, but some tracks are sometimes difficult and we need your help please.

If you know who the artists are for any of the following, please leave a comment







Peace

Falside of Poorly Drawn People presents "Dollars Make Change" The Mixtape

Falside has got beats kid...download this and leave a comment with your thoughts...

Falside's latest free mixtape, "Dollars Make Change" is now available. The Providence beatsmith has compiled an extensive display of his different varieties of production for the mixtape, including his recent collaborations with such wordsmiths as Reef the Lost Cauze, C-Rayz Walz, El Da Sensei, Pacewon, Reks, Poorly Drawn People, Vast Aire, Slaine (La Coka Nostra / Special Teamz), Intuition, C-Chan (Slow Suicide Stimulus) and more.This is 19 tracks worth of dope that can be appreciated by leaders of the new school and boom bap veterans alike. (This mixtape is presented by Poorly Drawn Recordings (Providence RI) and Leedz Edutainment (Boston MA). Enjoy.



"Dollars Make Change"

http://usershare.net/2DopeBoyz/ju7ygioo7zgx

1. Dollars Make Change Introduction
2. Catching the Strange ft. C-Rayz Walz
3. King of the Jungle Remix ft. Blaq Poet, Jaysaun (Special Teamz), Termanology
4. Too Many Mc's ft. El Da Sensei, Pacewon, Exposition
5. No Gentleman ft. Alex Minor
6. Al Bundy Remix ft. Intuition
7. Tape on Drugs Remix ft. Reason (Poorly Drawn People)
8. Hit That Shit Remix ft. thekeenone (Audio Hustlaz), B-Real (Cypress Hill), Reg Riddem, Ill Bill (La Coka Nostra)
9. Shallow and Hollow ft. Reef the Lost Cauze, Blak Madeen
10. Juice Barz Freestyle ft. Amadeus the Stampede
11. Hall of Game ft. C-Rayz Walz
12. Umbrella's and Mac 10's ft Dirty Hank
13. The Crush (Original) ft. Vast Aire (Cannibal Ox)
14. Designer Kids ft. Reason, Storm Davis (Poorly Drawn People)
15. Headlines ft. Reks
16. Say Your Prayers ft. Good Brother, Amadeus the Stampede
17. Educated Suicide ft. Rite Hook, C-Chan (Slow Suicide Stimulus)
18. What Rap Don't Say ft. Stu Cat
19. Too Much ft. Slaine (La Coka Nostra/Special Teamz), Amadeus the Stampede

http://www.falside.com

ThaiMex, Hue of Intuition, Infinite Shades of Gray

A proud native of San Diego, CA, ThaiMex has been in the Hip Hop game for more than a few years and produced for some notable dope acts, including ICONS, Scribe Sayar, and Riccasshay, ThaiMex is a writer, performer but is probably best known as a producer and for being part of the collectives Hue of Intuition and Infinite Shades of Gray and as a former member of the seminal Chicano spoken word poetry collective The Taco Shop Poets.

 Way back in 1994, ThaiMex first started getting busy recording and producing beats for fellow classmates, out of this work Hue of Intuition formed in 1995 and in 1996 his Thoughts project, a tape that he made dubs of out his bedroom and gave copies out for free, this tape of beats was handed around and MC's used his beats to freestyle over, because of this ThaiMex added 3 songs to make it an even hour long, put a cover together, and had it duplicated
for “official release.”

Hue of Intuition eventually grew to a collective of 10 members known as Infinite Shades of Gray, ThaiMex was an MC in the group and the group's sole producer, he was involved with the group for seven years and then decided to focus on his professional and personal life and left music for a while.

As ThaiMex was finishing up college, music came calling again by way of the English Department at San Diego State University and he was recruited as a writer and performer by the internationally recognized spoken word poetry collective known as Taco Shop Poets late in 2002.

His membership with this group consisted of extensive travel and performances as
well as occasional stints as an instructor of poetry and performance workshops and artistic
residencies.

The 10 year strong Taco Shop Poets decided to call it a day in 2004 though due to personal commitments of the members

For a time, ThaiMex decidedly remained low-key. He focused on other areas of artistic output such as a small role in an independent film called “3 Ways to Sunday.” He was also a very active participant in two multimedia sculptures called “Soy Beaner” and “PhoZole” created by cutting edge artists Jamex and Einar De La Torre.

Inspired by a letter he had written to his new born daughter in 2007, ThaiMex realized that he still had things left to say and after putting his pen to the pad he began working on an album titled Brand New Starts (2009) which was produced, arranged and performed by ThaiMex.

Available for purchase here: http://www.accesshiphop.com/store/?itemid=18856

Thanks to ThaiMex here is the full history of Infinite Shades of Gray

Infinite Shades of Gray Members:

ThaiMex – Rhymes/Production
Tan Phact – Rhymes
Mxyzptlk – Rhymes
Splerge One aka Wordup – Rhymes
The Mage – Rhymes/Guitar/Bass
Justifeye – Rhymes
Didactic – Rhymes
Kazoo – Poetry
Syko – DJ/Turntablist

The origins of Infinite Shades of Gray start at Helix High School in San Diego, CA. ThaiMex, Tan Phact, and Mxyzptlk all knew of each other and participated in rhyme circles on occasion during lunch breaks, however, the three never connected since ThaiMex was two years older and graduated before anything could happen.


It just so happens that ThaiMex’s younger brother, Didactic, knew Tan Phact from their childhood days of little league baseball and, as he heard more and more of Tan Phact’s rhyming, he suggested Tan Phact and ThaiMex should meet since ThaiMex had recently purchased some equipment and was now making beats.


Although they spoke a few times, ThaiMex and Tan Phact did not start discussing music in a serious way until both Tan Phact and Mxyzptlk graduated from high school and, coincidentally, along with ThaiMex, all three found themselves attending Grossmont Community College in 1996.


Initially, Tan Phact and Mxyzptlk were a group called “Mind Over Matter” and were only interested in ThaiMex providing them with production. This was not a problem since ThaiMex’s main interest was making beats. In addition, ThaiMex was in a separate group with Splerge One called “The Low Down.” However, Splerge One ended up having to leave town due to some family issues and Tan Phact and Mxyzptlk ended up asking ThaiMex to rhyme with them to speed up the song creation process. ThaiMex agreed, however, asked to change the name to “Hue of Intuition” after discussing a lecture he and Tan Phact had attended for a Humanities class they had together. Plus, ThaiMex didn’t like the potential idea of people referring to them as M.O.M.


From about 1997-1998, Hue of Intuition began the process of recoding songs, making underground tapes, and performing up and down the California coast. During this time; ThaiMex’s brother was constantly writing rhymes; Splerge One came back into the picture; and Jusifeye, Kazoo, and The Mage ended up coming around more and more due to their love for writing and music. This group of artists was in constant association and discussions that took place at a coffee shop that Hue of Intuition used to hang out at every night called “The Living Room.” They were able to hang out every night due to the fact the coffee shop was open until 2am every day. As a way of including everyone, ThaiMex named the collective “Infinite Shades of Gray.” The name came from everyone’s extremely diverse backgrounds and views on life.


As is apparent in various forms of organization, there is indeed strength in numbers, but numbers are also difficult to manage. The group began growing apart due to a number of reasons including the direction of the group, people moving away, varying levels of substance abuse from different members, and egos. First, it seemed that the split was right down the middle with two camps emerging. One had Mxyzptlk, Kazoo, The Mage and Splerge One; the other had ThaiMex, Tan Phact, Didactic, Justifeye and Syko. However, shortly after this happened, Splerge One moved to Georgia; The Mage moved to Los Angeles, CA; Mxyzptlk moved to Arizona; and Syko moved to Fresno, CA. So, with no one else around, Kazoo ended up associating with the remaining members again.


In 2000, after a short time with this version of the crew, ThaiMex decided he couldn’t see himself being 40 years old, jumping on stage trying to convince the crowd of how dope he was. He decided to step away from music and focus 100% on completing his college degree. He had hoped the crew would continue to work on projects in his absence, but it didn’t happen in any way, shape, or form.


Strangely, music still found ThaiMex in the University setting. ThaiMex majored in English and Literature and found himself surrounded by many writers and poets. After some time, he soon began associating with and was eventually recruited as a writer and performer with the globally recognized “Taco Shop Poets” who were founded in 1994. With Taco Shop Poets, ThaiMex toured extensively across the United States and some of Mexico. This lasted from about 2002 until the Taco Shop Poets disbanded in 2004.


At this point, ThaiMex simply thought it was time to be a “normal” grown up man and thought he was done with music. He participated in two multimedia sculptures with the cutting edge artistic team of Einar and Jamex De La Torre and played a significant role in an independent film called, “3 Ways to Sunday.” There were occasional acapella/spoken word performances that were well received but he didn’t seem to enjoy it anymore.


Then, once his daughter was born in 2007, ThaiMex began writing while she took naps. One day, he compiled them and began reading them and realized he felt inspired again. Thus, work on “Brand New Starts” began and brings us to the current day.

Pics of the crew (thanks to ThaiMex)

Hue Of Intuition

Infinite Shades of Gray

Lowdown

Thanks to a post that started with a request for Infinite Shades of Gray's "Seasons Change" on Philaflava's infamous T.R.O.Y. forum, I was contacted by 619archive and he sent me this message"

i have a roommate who's older brother's friend was in both "hue of intuition" and "infinite shades of gray." my roommate gave me a bunch of their stuff on CD and i liked it so i was searching for more, which is how i came across your post on philaflava.

We e-mailed back and forth, talked about getting hold of ThaiMex (and we did) and eventually he uploaded these albums, which ThaiMex is cool with me sharing here on CRDS, so a massive thank you to ThaiMex and 619archive and I Smell Like Un Kasa...this post is for you, I hope you enjoy this music as much as I have.

Hue Of Intuition-No Lucciano, Just A Drum and Piano (2001)

http://thaimex.bandcamp.com/album/no-lucciano-just-a-drum-and-a-piano

Infinite Shades of Gray-Blind Issues (2000)

http://thaimex.bandcamp.com/album/blind-issues-an-anti-violence-racism-project

Infinite Shades of Gray-Intuition Is The Key (1999)

http://thaimex.bandcamp.com/album/intuition-is-the-key

Hue Of Intuition-Californians

http://thaimex.bandcamp.com/album/californians-b-w-whos-this-12-single

http://thaimex.bandcamp.com

http://www.discogs.com/artist/ThaiMex

http://www.myspace.com/thaimexproductions

If any fans out there have any material that is missing please contact me