Game Rebellion
“I think [Russell Simmons] knows me through a couple yoga classes, a couple girls, but it’s interesting because that’s never been my thing to ask, ‘Here’s what I’m doing, can you help me out?’ You hustled to get where you are, I hustled to get where I’m at. It’ll get to me when it needs to get to me.” – Netic
Game Rebellion is a lash out against conventions in audio. The Brooklyn-based Rap/Rock outfit puts the word "nigga" proudly in the hands of Rock & Roll's lineage. With edgy lyrics from emcee/frontman Netic, the group tackles topics from snitching, to the loss of producer Disco D to the importance of New York's largest borough, Brooklyn.
That borough-love led the group to work with acclaimed deejay J.Period on their latest works, the mixtape Searching For Rick Rubin. The effort pairs original, studio-crafted recordings against altered music from the '80s Rap producer (LL Cool J, Run-DMC, Public Enemy) who went onto Rock with Slayer, Tom Petty, and Red Hot Chili Peppers. The mixtape knocks down walls and kicks in doors, and DXNext took a closer look at the unsigned Game Rebellion, based on a conversation with Netic and J.Period.
Hailing from: Brooklyn, New York.
Current Works: Searching for Rick Rubin mixtape with J.Period.
Connects: J.Period, Jean Grae, Jon Moskowitz, Afrika Bambaataa.
Philosophy: "My approach to music is very athletic-based. The harder you train, the better you’ll perform at game time. My brother and my cousin are in the NFL. My family is very athletic. It’s very ironic that I music because my family said I should be in the NFL. That’s what we do."
Band history: "A few of the members of the band have known each other for years before we even played music. Both guitar players I’ve known for upwards of 15 years. We watched each other grow up. It was really interesting that we all ended up making music together ‘cause it wasn’t necessarily in the cards like that. The band has been together four years. We have a new drummer, and he’s been a blessing in disguise and we’re very appreciative to have him. Everybody that’s in the band we knew through Brooklyn. It was a Bedstuy thing."
Thoughts on term “Rock/Rap”: “I always get the Rap/Rock [label]; I’m just a Hip Hop kid doing some Rock shit. That’s really where I come from. Ultimately, for me, I liked the music that those guys did – I liked Korn, but I didn’t feel like there was anything really Hip Hop about Korn except for [Fieldy] wearing Adidas outfits. I got the [Rap/Rock label] with Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park. To me, Limp Bizkit had hard music, but that dude Fred Durst couldn’t rhyme – that was it for me as an emcee. My thing with him is he wasn’t a good rapper. You expect your guitar a be a good guitar player…and you’ve got this guy [as a rapper] who’s trash. Nobody would say he’s good. That’s my major issue with Limp Bizkit. Same thing with Linkin Park. I have recently have been a little bit warmer to that dude Mike Shinoda because I feel like he was never really good as a rapper. He wouldn’t hold his own – not on my block. I felt like the difference between us is, I can still go and put out a Hip Hop album tomorrow and people are gonna [say] it’s bananas. What I really like to do is, I like to rock – and infuse the two as wholesome as I can or as integral to both art forms; I don’t want to sacrifice the integrity of either genre of music in the process of me molding the two.”
Political Influence: “I’ve never been in the drug game heavy. I’ve never been a hustler. I always had money ‘cause I was always looking for a scheme to stay afloat, but I never pushed keys. I’m not Young Jeezy. What I am is… I’ve always been pretty astute, I’ve always been interested in circumstances that push people to do those things. I’m intrigued by real go-getters and real moneymakers. For me, the two are very closely related. What I explore in politics in Game Rebellion lends itself a relationship and understanding of why Jay-Z or Young Jeezy say what they say. Dudes will appreciate what I say and what I’m observing, but it’s not from their position.”
Interviews on mixtapes for J.Period: “Part of that, really, is me being just a genuine fan of the music and experiencing it as a fan. The best stuff I’ve ever gotten – I got [Mary J Blige] in a hotel room, while she was in rollers and sweatpants, and it was super, super casual. I just start talking to them about what inspires them. For me what happens, you take people in their mind back on this journey to where they started. It’s really humbling for them. It’s going inside. Q-Tip was like, 'I’ll give you 15 minutes.' I sat down and started asking him questions, and two hours went by, and he had no idea. I’ve considered publishing these interviews one day.”
Relation to Rick Rubin: "I did my senior thesis [in college] on Rick Rubin. It made perfect sense to me, Searching For Rick Rubin, because I felt like Rick Rubin was the Bobby Fisher of music. I named it after that movie Searching For Bobby Fisher, which nobody knows really [realizes]. They just think it’s a band searching for this uber-producer. Really, it was about my personal relationship and obsession with this guy who I felt like was the best in his craft, yet was very obscure and in and out of the scene."
Hip Hop Relevance: “It’s not everyday that there is a Rock band with a frontman who is a real emcee, who came up and knows about emcees. You’ve got your Linkin Parks and stuff, with a sort of phony frontman – not really a rapper, not really a singer; these guys have good quality music and an emcee. That made me listen closer," says J.Period.
Contact: www.myspace.com/gamerebellion
Game Rebellion is a lash out against conventions in audio. The Brooklyn-based Rap/Rock outfit puts the word "nigga" proudly in the hands of Rock & Roll's lineage. With edgy lyrics from emcee/frontman Netic, the group tackles topics from snitching, to the loss of producer Disco D to the importance of New York's largest borough, Brooklyn.
That borough-love led the group to work with acclaimed deejay J.Period on their latest works, the mixtape Searching For Rick Rubin. The effort pairs original, studio-crafted recordings against altered music from the '80s Rap producer (LL Cool J, Run-DMC, Public Enemy) who went onto Rock with Slayer, Tom Petty, and Red Hot Chili Peppers. The mixtape knocks down walls and kicks in doors, and DXNext took a closer look at the unsigned Game Rebellion, based on a conversation with Netic and J.Period.
Hailing from: Brooklyn, New York.
Current Works: Searching for Rick Rubin mixtape with J.Period.
Connects: J.Period, Jean Grae, Jon Moskowitz, Afrika Bambaataa.
Philosophy: "My approach to music is very athletic-based. The harder you train, the better you’ll perform at game time. My brother and my cousin are in the NFL. My family is very athletic. It’s very ironic that I music because my family said I should be in the NFL. That’s what we do."
Band history: "A few of the members of the band have known each other for years before we even played music. Both guitar players I’ve known for upwards of 15 years. We watched each other grow up. It was really interesting that we all ended up making music together ‘cause it wasn’t necessarily in the cards like that. The band has been together four years. We have a new drummer, and he’s been a blessing in disguise and we’re very appreciative to have him. Everybody that’s in the band we knew through Brooklyn. It was a Bedstuy thing."
Thoughts on term “Rock/Rap”: “I always get the Rap/Rock [label]; I’m just a Hip Hop kid doing some Rock shit. That’s really where I come from. Ultimately, for me, I liked the music that those guys did – I liked Korn, but I didn’t feel like there was anything really Hip Hop about Korn except for [Fieldy] wearing Adidas outfits. I got the [Rap/Rock label] with Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park. To me, Limp Bizkit had hard music, but that dude Fred Durst couldn’t rhyme – that was it for me as an emcee. My thing with him is he wasn’t a good rapper. You expect your guitar a be a good guitar player…and you’ve got this guy [as a rapper] who’s trash. Nobody would say he’s good. That’s my major issue with Limp Bizkit. Same thing with Linkin Park. I have recently have been a little bit warmer to that dude Mike Shinoda because I feel like he was never really good as a rapper. He wouldn’t hold his own – not on my block. I felt like the difference between us is, I can still go and put out a Hip Hop album tomorrow and people are gonna [say] it’s bananas. What I really like to do is, I like to rock – and infuse the two as wholesome as I can or as integral to both art forms; I don’t want to sacrifice the integrity of either genre of music in the process of me molding the two.”
Political Influence: “I’ve never been in the drug game heavy. I’ve never been a hustler. I always had money ‘cause I was always looking for a scheme to stay afloat, but I never pushed keys. I’m not Young Jeezy. What I am is… I’ve always been pretty astute, I’ve always been interested in circumstances that push people to do those things. I’m intrigued by real go-getters and real moneymakers. For me, the two are very closely related. What I explore in politics in Game Rebellion lends itself a relationship and understanding of why Jay-Z or Young Jeezy say what they say. Dudes will appreciate what I say and what I’m observing, but it’s not from their position.”
Interviews on mixtapes for J.Period: “Part of that, really, is me being just a genuine fan of the music and experiencing it as a fan. The best stuff I’ve ever gotten – I got [Mary J Blige] in a hotel room, while she was in rollers and sweatpants, and it was super, super casual. I just start talking to them about what inspires them. For me what happens, you take people in their mind back on this journey to where they started. It’s really humbling for them. It’s going inside. Q-Tip was like, 'I’ll give you 15 minutes.' I sat down and started asking him questions, and two hours went by, and he had no idea. I’ve considered publishing these interviews one day.”
Relation to Rick Rubin: "I did my senior thesis [in college] on Rick Rubin. It made perfect sense to me, Searching For Rick Rubin, because I felt like Rick Rubin was the Bobby Fisher of music. I named it after that movie Searching For Bobby Fisher, which nobody knows really [realizes]. They just think it’s a band searching for this uber-producer. Really, it was about my personal relationship and obsession with this guy who I felt like was the best in his craft, yet was very obscure and in and out of the scene."
Hip Hop Relevance: “It’s not everyday that there is a Rock band with a frontman who is a real emcee, who came up and knows about emcees. You’ve got your Linkin Parks and stuff, with a sort of phony frontman – not really a rapper, not really a singer; these guys have good quality music and an emcee. That made me listen closer," says J.Period.
Contact: www.myspace.com/gamerebellion
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