EDDIE K on cover of MESH SF magazine!
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From the Stage To The Studio
Eddie K breaks down the hustle behind Gurpology
By Max Sidman. Photo by Elias Perez.
On a Saturday night back in February, in the small back room at The Hemlock Tavern in the Tenderloin, a large, drunken crowd gathered to partake of a humble but raucous rap show, headlined by none other than The Bay's own Eddie K. Ed, a.k.a. 88, hit the stage in a pristine white-on-white SF Giants cap and matching, gleaming white overcoat, and in a wash of yellowish stage lights looked almost like an angel in one of those really cheesy religious paintings...but you know, an angel with a Giants cap low and slightly sideways, some gold jewelry, mic in one hand and a bottle of beer in the other, surrounded by a small posse and spitting raps about getting "on gurp"—drinking, smoking, partying etc.—and doing all kinds of dirt for the sake of a good time. The full-house crowd in The Hemlock's performance space, plied with ample amount of alcohol and fired up from the evening's previous performances, went crazy and swelled to the stage, people around the edges danced,and far-back onlookers gazed on in awe.
For the people who had never seen or heard Eddie K before, it was one of those defining moments; for everyone else, it was a dose of that good ol' hotness that fans have come to expect. Just about every Eddie K show ever witnessed has been regaled in similar accounts, rich with the classic vices of drinking, dancing and cavorting, and so it's no surprise that Ed's first true solo full-length album, Gurpology 101, embodies the same kind of hell-bent-for-fun dogma.
Gurpology 101 is rife with those themes that run rampant at Ed's live shows. Tracks like "S.F. Hyphy" and "Move Dem Jeans" are big, fat slappers, dripping with the currently hot "hyphy" sound, about getting loose, getting drunk and shaking ass; songs like "Gurp Out" and "Gully Mang" extol the virtues of living for fun; and Ed brings the gritty, underground braggadocio on jams like "Nothing Like" and "The City." Not only is this record a broad taste of the flavors that make up Bay rap, it also includes a few instrumental tracks a few a cappella. It's all part of a bigger picture, says Ed, whose hustle is about to be on and poppin'.
How long have you been working on this record?
I guess I've been working on it for about a year, maybe a little longer.
Were you just working on this project, or on other stuff too?
I have another album coming out with my man Boac, called No Filler, and I just got three more songs to finish on that. I've been working on an Ill Squad album and that's pretty much done. So there's gonna be some stuff hitting back to back. I've been pretty busy, man, gonna flood the market in a minute.
Damn, how many rhyme books did you go through in the last year?
Man, I got a gang of rhyme books! Some of 'em just got garbage in there, too, but some of 'em got heaters. I keep two right by my side, ready for anything.
You've been doing this rap thing in the Bay for a while now. I first heard you rap when you were in 99th Dimension, back in the late '90s.
I started off dancing and whatever. Then me and Eddie Def [Bullet Proof Space Travelers] hooked up and started doing shows together, then I hooked up with DJ Quest, and me and Quest started doing shows and I pretty much got busy throughout the Bay. I was doing some of that Bullet Proof Space Travelers stuff, and I was always in the background but I was there at the shows hyping it up and spitting a few verses here and there. And that was cool, but it was time for me to shine, so that's when I really starting doing my own thing, getting out there and rapping more.
So you've been building up to the point for releasing your own stuff for a while now?
Right, exactly. But now, I'm starting all fresh, getting new people in the fan base, trying to do it big and I'm putting in work.
Did you see the whole hyphy thing coming before it hit, because that's the wave to be riding right now.
My folks are from down South, they're from Alabama, so I used to go down there and visit my grandma every summer. Back in the day, I used to come back to the Bay and be tellin' people, "Yo the South is about to blow up, the South is about to blow up." Finally a few years ago, BAM—it blew up on that crunkness man, you know? And I always wanted to do some of that hype stuff, so it's cool that The Bay is starting to get there. And hyphy and crunk are similar. I saw the baton coming to The Bay, I was tellin' fools to get their stuff together 'cause we about to take the baton from the South and get it crackin'.
Can you explain the similarity between hyphy and crunk?
Musically, they're both on some hype shit, something that keeps you moving, and that's what the hyphy thing is—going crazy stupid dumb.
These days, if you talk to anyone about rap, you’re gonna end up talking about the hyphy movement. But it's not all over Gurpology. It's definitely there in the first rack, "S.F. Hyphy," but other than that, it's a not mentioned much.
Yeah man, I sprinkle a little, but I like to keep things versatile and show some different styles. A lot of folks get stuck in that one moment, like everything gotta be hyphy. I ain't tryin' to do all that. I'll give you a little hyphy cut, then I'll give you some straightforward stuff, then I got some underground backpacker shit, you know what I'm sayin'? I like to give people a lot of stuff so they don't get bored, and I like to show a lot of styles.
Who's producing on Gurpology?
G-Pek from Gurp City did the majority of the beats on there, but I got my boy Saucy Beats from Ill Squad, he did "Slumpish." I got this cat C. Mill, he did "Power Up." My boy Dnae Beats came with a hot one for "Doin' My Thang," and I did a few of the beats on there, too.
Do you have to switch your style up when you rap with different producers and DJs?
I just feel that beat, man, and whatever comes out, that's what comes out. I just tailor the rap to that beat.
Just for the people who don't know, what's Gurpology?
Gurpology, that's what we do man, it’s the science of gurpin', and gurpin' is just getting' on one, you what I'm saying?! We the masters of the bartenders, I'm the Isaac of The Bay! If you hanging out with me, you're gonna be on gurp and you're gonna learn Gurpology. This is just the beginning for folks who don’t know about gurpin', 'cause once you play this music, you'll be ready to get busy, go out and do some stuff. High-powered stuff.
How do you keep yourself motivated to stay steady in the rap game?
I love this rap game, man, I love music and I love performance! Some folks, they get in the rap game and quit after one year, they think it's too much work. But startin' out, they see the videos, they see fools kickin' it and they get into the rap game 'cause they think it's like that. But really, this isn't a game man, it’s a job, you know what I'm sayin'? If you get in this rap game, you have to love it, because if you don't love it, you're not gonna be able to hang and you just gonna give it up after a while. But man, I love this rap game, so that motivates. And then, the folks I hang around, man, they put in work too, and I want everybody to make, so I'm gonna work extra hard, so if I make, I'm bringin' all the cats in.
What's up with Gurpology having instrumentals and a cappellas of some tracks on it?
The CD got a lot of stuff you can work with. I put the instrumentals on there so fools could get their freestyle on, jack some beats for their shows. And I got the a capellas on there for the DJs so they can do some remixes—hint hint, what up with those remixes cat-dogs?!
That kind of stuff usually just comes on vinyl singles.
Yeah man, I'm just giving people a lot of stuff to work with, it's not just a record. You can use this in the club, those cats that got CDJs can remix the a cappella and play those instrumentals with other folks' a cappellas.
So you're thinking bigger than just releasing a record.
Yeah man. I'm thinking about coming out with an a cappella album so folks can just remix. I think like a consumer when I go into the music store, man, and I want to get the most for my money, and what I'm lookin' for is some pumped beats or something that I can use for my shows. So I wanna give people something, because some cats don't wanna give you nothin', you know? You may get the regular version and the street version and they might not give you the instrumental, or cats be talking all over the instrumental. But I'm gonna give you all that—some tools, you know what I'm sayin'?
You've been on tracks that have been released by indie labels, have you been reaching out to them with your solo stuff?
The thing is man, I never really had any solid material, no full album out. I got a gang of songs, did a gang of shows, never had no CD and no merch. So I was like, man, I need to stop doing these shows for a minute and just work on getting an album out so I have something to show people.
Why was it that you were never able to get something like this together?
Well, I was doing a lot of stuff. I was doing a gang of shows, but I love doing shows so I wasn't really trippin' off that. But I would start a project and not finish it, something else would come up. I've just had a gang of bad luck and obstacles coming my way, stopping me from completing my stuff. But now I got a nice project 'cause I stayed focused.
Was that tough? I know people are always hitting you up to do stuff, plus you got a real life too.
It was tough, 'cause during the process I was doing a lot of projects with other cats, just to keep my name out there so folks remembered who I am. Plus I gotta deal with real stuff in my life, so sometimes it's kinda hard, and sometimes you gotta cut out your kickin'-it time, you gotta cut that out to put in this work. Now I kick it when I do my shows at the club, but it's been all about work since I've doing this album.
So where's it all going?
Man, it's about to the top in a minute, mayne, you know what I'm sayin'?! Hopefully, if everybody catch on, if it do what it's supposed to do, I think it'll work out cool. The Bay is funny, though. We in the land of the pickiest cats on earth, but I think fools is gonna feel this. And if not, we gonna make 'em feel it!
Eddie K's Gurpology 101 is out now, available at Amoeba, or via www.myspace.com/eddiek88.
Eddie K breaks down the hustle behind Gurpology
By Max Sidman. Photo by Elias Perez.
On a Saturday night back in February, in the small back room at The Hemlock Tavern in the Tenderloin, a large, drunken crowd gathered to partake of a humble but raucous rap show, headlined by none other than The Bay's own Eddie K. Ed, a.k.a. 88, hit the stage in a pristine white-on-white SF Giants cap and matching, gleaming white overcoat, and in a wash of yellowish stage lights looked almost like an angel in one of those really cheesy religious paintings...but you know, an angel with a Giants cap low and slightly sideways, some gold jewelry, mic in one hand and a bottle of beer in the other, surrounded by a small posse and spitting raps about getting "on gurp"—drinking, smoking, partying etc.—and doing all kinds of dirt for the sake of a good time. The full-house crowd in The Hemlock's performance space, plied with ample amount of alcohol and fired up from the evening's previous performances, went crazy and swelled to the stage, people around the edges danced,and far-back onlookers gazed on in awe.
For the people who had never seen or heard Eddie K before, it was one of those defining moments; for everyone else, it was a dose of that good ol' hotness that fans have come to expect. Just about every Eddie K show ever witnessed has been regaled in similar accounts, rich with the classic vices of drinking, dancing and cavorting, and so it's no surprise that Ed's first true solo full-length album, Gurpology 101, embodies the same kind of hell-bent-for-fun dogma.
Gurpology 101 is rife with those themes that run rampant at Ed's live shows. Tracks like "S.F. Hyphy" and "Move Dem Jeans" are big, fat slappers, dripping with the currently hot "hyphy" sound, about getting loose, getting drunk and shaking ass; songs like "Gurp Out" and "Gully Mang" extol the virtues of living for fun; and Ed brings the gritty, underground braggadocio on jams like "Nothing Like" and "The City." Not only is this record a broad taste of the flavors that make up Bay rap, it also includes a few instrumental tracks a few a cappella. It's all part of a bigger picture, says Ed, whose hustle is about to be on and poppin'.
How long have you been working on this record?
I guess I've been working on it for about a year, maybe a little longer.
Were you just working on this project, or on other stuff too?
I have another album coming out with my man Boac, called No Filler, and I just got three more songs to finish on that. I've been working on an Ill Squad album and that's pretty much done. So there's gonna be some stuff hitting back to back. I've been pretty busy, man, gonna flood the market in a minute.
Damn, how many rhyme books did you go through in the last year?
Man, I got a gang of rhyme books! Some of 'em just got garbage in there, too, but some of 'em got heaters. I keep two right by my side, ready for anything.
You've been doing this rap thing in the Bay for a while now. I first heard you rap when you were in 99th Dimension, back in the late '90s.
I started off dancing and whatever. Then me and Eddie Def [Bullet Proof Space Travelers] hooked up and started doing shows together, then I hooked up with DJ Quest, and me and Quest started doing shows and I pretty much got busy throughout the Bay. I was doing some of that Bullet Proof Space Travelers stuff, and I was always in the background but I was there at the shows hyping it up and spitting a few verses here and there. And that was cool, but it was time for me to shine, so that's when I really starting doing my own thing, getting out there and rapping more.
So you've been building up to the point for releasing your own stuff for a while now?
Right, exactly. But now, I'm starting all fresh, getting new people in the fan base, trying to do it big and I'm putting in work.
Did you see the whole hyphy thing coming before it hit, because that's the wave to be riding right now.
My folks are from down South, they're from Alabama, so I used to go down there and visit my grandma every summer. Back in the day, I used to come back to the Bay and be tellin' people, "Yo the South is about to blow up, the South is about to blow up." Finally a few years ago, BAM—it blew up on that crunkness man, you know? And I always wanted to do some of that hype stuff, so it's cool that The Bay is starting to get there. And hyphy and crunk are similar. I saw the baton coming to The Bay, I was tellin' fools to get their stuff together 'cause we about to take the baton from the South and get it crackin'.
Can you explain the similarity between hyphy and crunk?
Musically, they're both on some hype shit, something that keeps you moving, and that's what the hyphy thing is—going crazy stupid dumb.
These days, if you talk to anyone about rap, you’re gonna end up talking about the hyphy movement. But it's not all over Gurpology. It's definitely there in the first rack, "S.F. Hyphy," but other than that, it's a not mentioned much.
Yeah man, I sprinkle a little, but I like to keep things versatile and show some different styles. A lot of folks get stuck in that one moment, like everything gotta be hyphy. I ain't tryin' to do all that. I'll give you a little hyphy cut, then I'll give you some straightforward stuff, then I got some underground backpacker shit, you know what I'm sayin'? I like to give people a lot of stuff so they don't get bored, and I like to show a lot of styles.
Who's producing on Gurpology?
G-Pek from Gurp City did the majority of the beats on there, but I got my boy Saucy Beats from Ill Squad, he did "Slumpish." I got this cat C. Mill, he did "Power Up." My boy Dnae Beats came with a hot one for "Doin' My Thang," and I did a few of the beats on there, too.
Do you have to switch your style up when you rap with different producers and DJs?
I just feel that beat, man, and whatever comes out, that's what comes out. I just tailor the rap to that beat.
Just for the people who don't know, what's Gurpology?
Gurpology, that's what we do man, it’s the science of gurpin', and gurpin' is just getting' on one, you what I'm saying?! We the masters of the bartenders, I'm the Isaac of The Bay! If you hanging out with me, you're gonna be on gurp and you're gonna learn Gurpology. This is just the beginning for folks who don’t know about gurpin', 'cause once you play this music, you'll be ready to get busy, go out and do some stuff. High-powered stuff.
How do you keep yourself motivated to stay steady in the rap game?
I love this rap game, man, I love music and I love performance! Some folks, they get in the rap game and quit after one year, they think it's too much work. But startin' out, they see the videos, they see fools kickin' it and they get into the rap game 'cause they think it's like that. But really, this isn't a game man, it’s a job, you know what I'm sayin'? If you get in this rap game, you have to love it, because if you don't love it, you're not gonna be able to hang and you just gonna give it up after a while. But man, I love this rap game, so that motivates. And then, the folks I hang around, man, they put in work too, and I want everybody to make, so I'm gonna work extra hard, so if I make, I'm bringin' all the cats in.
What's up with Gurpology having instrumentals and a cappellas of some tracks on it?
The CD got a lot of stuff you can work with. I put the instrumentals on there so fools could get their freestyle on, jack some beats for their shows. And I got the a capellas on there for the DJs so they can do some remixes—hint hint, what up with those remixes cat-dogs?!
That kind of stuff usually just comes on vinyl singles.
Yeah man, I'm just giving people a lot of stuff to work with, it's not just a record. You can use this in the club, those cats that got CDJs can remix the a cappella and play those instrumentals with other folks' a cappellas.
So you're thinking bigger than just releasing a record.
Yeah man. I'm thinking about coming out with an a cappella album so folks can just remix. I think like a consumer when I go into the music store, man, and I want to get the most for my money, and what I'm lookin' for is some pumped beats or something that I can use for my shows. So I wanna give people something, because some cats don't wanna give you nothin', you know? You may get the regular version and the street version and they might not give you the instrumental, or cats be talking all over the instrumental. But I'm gonna give you all that—some tools, you know what I'm sayin'?
You've been on tracks that have been released by indie labels, have you been reaching out to them with your solo stuff?
The thing is man, I never really had any solid material, no full album out. I got a gang of songs, did a gang of shows, never had no CD and no merch. So I was like, man, I need to stop doing these shows for a minute and just work on getting an album out so I have something to show people.
Why was it that you were never able to get something like this together?
Well, I was doing a lot of stuff. I was doing a gang of shows, but I love doing shows so I wasn't really trippin' off that. But I would start a project and not finish it, something else would come up. I've just had a gang of bad luck and obstacles coming my way, stopping me from completing my stuff. But now I got a nice project 'cause I stayed focused.
Was that tough? I know people are always hitting you up to do stuff, plus you got a real life too.
It was tough, 'cause during the process I was doing a lot of projects with other cats, just to keep my name out there so folks remembered who I am. Plus I gotta deal with real stuff in my life, so sometimes it's kinda hard, and sometimes you gotta cut out your kickin'-it time, you gotta cut that out to put in this work. Now I kick it when I do my shows at the club, but it's been all about work since I've doing this album.
So where's it all going?
Man, it's about to the top in a minute, mayne, you know what I'm sayin'?! Hopefully, if everybody catch on, if it do what it's supposed to do, I think it'll work out cool. The Bay is funny, though. We in the land of the pickiest cats on earth, but I think fools is gonna feel this. And if not, we gonna make 'em feel it!
Eddie K's Gurpology 101 is out now, available at Amoeba, or via www.myspace.com/eddiek88.
