Ensemble Mik Nawooj
Catching up with Oakland’s one & only Ensemble Mik Nawooj; press photo courtesy of the group.
The Bay Area’s own Ensemble Mik Nawooj has given us glimpses of visions & syntheses soon to follow with their recently released album The Future of Hip Hop, premiering the Matthew Boman video for their take on Snoop’s classic “Gin & Juice”. Lead by JooWan Kim’s modern-classical piano guidance accompanied by emcees Do D.A.T. & Sandman; the group covers the landscapes & topics of odysseys, fallacies, & fancies accompanied by Anne Hepburn Smith’s soprano vocals, Lewis Patzner on cello, Mia Bella D’Augelli on violin, Bethanne Walker on flute, James Pytko on clarinet, Eugene Theriault on bass, with percussionist Lyman Alexander II & chorus player Christopher Nicholas that together find a way to marry the two disparate worlds of Gustav Mahler & Maybachs. Catapulting the canons from the hip hop vaults of history into new aesthetic paradigms, Anne initiates the opening hook in operatic textures & tones as she delivers the iconic line, “rolling down the street smoking indo, sipping on a gin & juice,” accompanied by Bethanne’s fluttering flute & James’ jazzy clarinet. Together you can hear the Ensemble Mik Nawooj collective moving sounds from the underground into the vast above surface spaces that trades DIY basement shows for the magnitude & might of a symphony arranged by their own creative right.
Boman’s video for Ensemble Mik Nawooj’s take on “Gin & Juice” mixes about all the fancy tricks & techniques performed by breakdancing, skateboarding, biking, juggling, and more carnival trained athlete-artists that deliver an urban Cirque de Soleil performance in the comforts & confines of an indoor skate park. Illustrating skate park gymnastics & acrobatics filmed at the Pragfriedhof Skatepark in Stuttgart, Germany complete with the crew dropping some Euro bills on the camera at the video’s climax; the choral collection of strings, woodwinds, keys, & symphonic steez finds Do D.A.T. & Sandman’s delivery met with literal interpretation where montage edits of images flash on the screen to match the lyrical content in between all the wild visuals of physical feats of strength. Every word, phrase, beat, bar, & measure is adjoined by a quick & quirky photo that chops up the arrangement & execution with appropriate visuals to match while the entire Ensemble keeps it 100 in a head spinning meld of JooWan’s piano-based core that spurns forth all players & mic handlers to combine together a series of seemingly disparate yet compatible collection of styles. Ensemble Mik Nawooj has no time for your modernist conventions. Ensemble Mik Nawooj is the new wine too strong for the old glass bottles. The renaissance passions & ages of enlightenment are spun full circle that combines the energy of an enthusiastic hip hop performance with the operatic swag of symphony hall prestige & a new kind of post-modern nu-classical sense of sophistication. Read our interview roundtable session with Ensemble Mik Nawooj’s JooWan Kim, Sandman and Do D.A.T.
How did you all come together, trading styles that blend hip hop with classically minded arrangements?
JooWan: I would like to comment on the word, blending. What we’re doing here at EMN is to create new American art music by using materials that are indigenous to us. I find African American music to be an excellent source for this, because it is innovative, disruptive, and truly American. By sampling classical compositional techniques and using the materials from African American music, I create Postmodern Hip-Hop, which is both rigorous and accessible to the public. To me blending or mixing sounds like it lacks a systematic thought and lazy. What we are doing is not a novelty, nor is it lazy.
Sandman: From an emcee’s perspective, the way we come together is by being adaptable, with the expectation of being challenged. Also, I think we share a sentiment when it comes to music. That being, finding the relationship between two seemingly unrelated classifications, is the crux of human evolution. Then, the fact that we come from different music perspectives is an aid rather than a hindrance.
Do D.A.T.: I approach writing to EMN’s compositions like a instrumentalist. I’m very intentional about the mood and the different rhythms that are present in the piece and how I can accentuate these elements while conveying a the content in a fun digestible manner.
Really interested to hear about how you three and the full ensemble went about creating The Future of Hip Hop.
JooWan: Yerba Buena Center for the Arts commissioned me to reimagine six classic hip-hop tracks of 1993 in celebration of YBCA’s 21st anniversary in 2014. Following the sold out performances at YBCA, I had the idea to create the album which dealt with the origin of hip-hop and its possible future. So the idea behind this album is to show people what can be done with tracks that are familiar to people.
Sandman: JooWan asked us (Do D.A.T. and I) what hip hop tracks from ‘93 are our favorites, and would be a good fit for the ensemble. We sent him six, three of which he used and the others he omitted to simplify the albums format. If I remember correctly, I think we had a Tupac, and Naughty By Nature tracks on the list originally.
Do D.A.T.: We ended up doing 3 tracks from Wu Tang’s 1st album and Snoop 1st album. Both of those album influenced me greatly Specifically Wu Tang Clan’s Enter the 36 Chambers is the reason I rap. So I got really excited about the opportunity to remake something that had such an impact on me personal, and I think that it’s befitting that EMN reimagines something from those two artist because of the significance that they have had on the game upon their entrance, simply because that’s the kind of potential we have as a musical entity.
Ensemble Mik Nawooj from left; Sandman, JooWan Kim & Do D.A.T.; press photo courtesy of the artists.
What do you all think is the future of hip-hop?
JooWan: All the so called main elements of hip-hop have been getting more sophisticated over the course of the years. Breakdance became an accepted genre of modern dance, Graffiti is evolving into murals and street art, etc… What we’re doing at EMN goes with this direction of hip-hop. We believe that hip-hop is America’s newest indigenous art and we’re the cutting edge of it.
Sandman: Hip-Hop at its inception has been about different art mediums collaborating, where each benefits from being in concert. With the proliferation of the hip hop music industry, that coact of art, was lost to the greater public. The art forms not being sold by industry, could not be practiced on the same stage, and were devalued. Like JooWan said, now the graffiti artist is the muralist or gallery artist, b-boy/girl crews have a reviews in Vegas and appear on nationally syndicated dance competition shows, DJ’s are international celebrities who spin dance parties around the world, and emcees are receiving honorary degrees from America’s top Universities for their prolific authorship. Now imagine these art forms, that have evolved with or without a push from billionaire distribution, coming full circle and with a degree of normalcy, being performed on the national stage in concert. That’s the future of Hip-Hop and pop culture in general. EMN is the future of hip hop.
Do D.A.T.: To tag in with what Sandman said in regards to emcees receiving honorary degrees -Holistically, I think the future of hip hop lies far outside its roots in entertainment, the Hip Hop generation is old enough to have grand kids and hold PHDs at these prestigious universities. The future of hip hop is to impact change on the pillars of our society (which it already has). Musically tho, I think the future of Hip Hop is Ensemble Mik Nawooj.
What’s good right now in the Bay Area?
JooWan: The great tech invasion, ha. But seriously, disruptive technology companies, innovation in gastronomy and wine making.
Sandman: The food is excellent.
Do D.A.T.: The food scene is really good right now, I like a Spot In down town Oakland called Kingston 111, nice restaurant, great west Indian food. In SF I like a spot called Namu Gaji. As far as hip hop goes I like a lot of underground groups; iD, Dope City Saints, Rey Resurreccion….just to name a few. There are also a lot of wonderful non profit organizations doing great work in the community. One such origination which i happen to work for is Beats Rhymes and Life. BRL provides Hip Hop Therapy programs to youth Ages to 14 to 24 Northern and Central California.
How does your local environments in the Bay impact and influence your work?
JooWan: Our approach to music is fundamentally disruptive, for I believe, in order to have a true innovation, one must destroy the old ways of doing things. I think this is direct influence from the tech firms. Also, the Bay Area has always been the hub of alternative ideas. What we’re doing is an artistic equivalent of what Uber or Airbnb is doing to taxi companies and hotel industry.
Sandman: The later years of my teens and early twenties was spent in service work. I co-directed a food access project called, Helping Oakland’s People Eat (H.O.P.E), and ran a summer school for 12-30 children, for three consecutive years. Mind you, this was during the time Oakland only had summer school available for the junior and senior classes. I don’t think of such issues as being confined to the Bay Area, but my thinking has always been, something has to be done about it. It was surprising to me, especially as a newly formed adult, the people making institutional/policy decisions, some of which I spoke to face to face, didn’t see malnutrition, and issues in education as emergencies, but as status quo issues. While politics tends to be complacent everywhere the Bay Area has always fostered the innovative and responsive spirit. Having been fostered this way, EMN, is a natural progression for me as an emcee.
Do D.A.T.: I am very active with the youth here locally through the non profit I do at Beats Rhymes and Life, so often times shades of their experiences find their way into my verses.
Tell us about your re-working of Snoop Dogg’s “Gin & Juice”, and how do you feel the Matthew Boman montage video furthers the messages and verses involved?
JooWan: With Gin & Juice, musically speaking, I wanted to retain the original hook as much as possible but give a surprise at the end. The piano solo which happens at the end, for me, was an altered state of mind—a gin & juice heaven. I think the video goes really well with the idea. It’s far out.
Sandman: Essentially, we wanted to illustrate a mood in our writing. To roll down the street, having willfully chosen to adopt a new cognitive system, by way of hydroponically grown weed, a botanical gin, and unconcentrated juice, is to perhaps, not give a fuck. But, not giving a fuck, is often mistaken as being without rhyme or reason. When I look at the original “Gin & Juice” video, I see a challenge to authority, or in perspective, a challenge to those claiming to wield it. It was a commentary on the peace found with choosing an alternative, to the clumsy proposals of any authority extraneous to oneself. It shows a celebration of not giving a fuck, that clearly involves craft, camaraderie, sex, impressive displays of “hot-boxing” and the immersion in music, that shakes the minerals in the blood. Not meant to defy authority but make a display of authority. The montage does well to capture the scenery as written, and even address the irony, and sarcastic commentary, layered in the puns, and metaphors. It’s intelligent. It tells a story much like the verses, that you want to hear/see again, because you can catch something new each time. The narrative is expansive, and the dance happening between the montage, lyrics and music, is kaleidoscopic. A rabbit hole. hip hop.
Ensemble Mik Nawooj live; courtesy of Kelly Johnson Revolutionary Photography.
Having covered Wu-Tang & Snoop; any other artists we should expect you all to pay an homage to in the near future?
JooWan: The upcoming project we’re working on now consists of all original tracks which further explore the idea of Future of Hip-Hop. We don’t know when we’ll be back on the deconstructions on other existing repertoires. It’ll be a while.
Sandman: Yeah, I’m looking forward to the original works. Maybe, on some future date I’ll campaign for, “Eye of the Tiger” or the Thunder Cats theme.
Do D.A.T: I would love to cover some of Outkast or perhaps some of Kanye West’s catalog. Honestly tho, I’m more looking forward to creating original music with Ensemble Mik Nawooj. We have great potential to make some classic moments and i don’t think doing covers is going to get us there.
Summer plans for Ensemble Mik Nawooj?
JWK: We recently received a grant from the Akonadi Foundation to create our conference/performance event called The Future of Hip-Hop: America’s Newest Indigenous Art. It’ll be a Ted talk style event held at Impact Hub Oakland on Saturday Aug 13, 2016 featuring main disruptors in various pillars of hip-hop. There will be some discussions on the future of hip-hop, some dancing, and some music. It’ll be a free event.
Sandman: Global shock and awe.
Do D.A.T. samething we do everyday. Take over the world.
Ensemble Mik Nawooj’s The Future of Hip Hop is available now.
