Crib Notes

BEHIND DOOR NO. 3: Spree Wilson

Remember the old game shows? You know the ones where the over-eager contestant would get to chose a prize behind Door No. 1 (a compact cd player!), Door No. 2 (a new leather couch!), or Door No. 3 (a new Subaru!).

This year’s A3C Festival is a little like that.

While the laminated “map” to the events was studied diligently by some of the heads in attendance, by and large East Atlanta Village presented a maze of hip-hop wonders last night, taking a cue from the popular South By Southwest Fest in Austin, Tex. where music lovers wander and pop into bars and venues at will.

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Vote for Spree Wilson’s “Word” as mtvU’s Freshman Video of the Week

Atlanta lost a true musical talent a few weeks ago.

I’ve been reluctant to write about Spree Wilson’s departure to the Big Apple. Maybe because it’s further proof that our city — once upon a time rap’s freaky, funky, country cousin — has become too damned (black) Hollywood for its own good.

When CL featured Wilson last year, he was still trying to find his place among the city’s alternative hip-hop crowd:

In a close-knit scene where even the best acts still struggle to form an identity beyond the shadow of OutKast, Wilson really is an outcast. Despite the wide range of influences coursing through the disparate veins of Atlanta’s latest ground-level movement – from electro-punk to retro-’80s rap – an MC who hits the stage with an electric guitar strapped to his chest doesn’t quite fit the bill. In other words, dude is out with the in-crowd – or the out-crowd, as it were. Confused? Imagine how Spree Wilson feels.

“It’s just super weird. If you ever want to know what irony is, hang around the scene and be yourself,” he says. “I feel comfortable in my own skin, but when I walk in those places I feel like, man, I don’t belong in here.”

Mind you, he’d long since been courted by a few major label subsidiaries and was collaborating with Rowdy signee Novel, as well as producer No I.D., at the time. He earned a feature alongside Talib Kweli on Novel’s “I Am” off the 21 film soundtrack. He’d started to garner some hype from notable music blogs, too, and such tastemaker publications as URB. Even the city’s fickle, left-field scene began to take notice.

But Spree was always more hippie than hipster. I remember bumping into him in Criminal Records one time. He had an intense look on his face and both of his arms were full of used vinyl LPs — old Dylan and some obscure folk rock. Not the stuff you’d imagine a present-day MC buying. He wasn’t just grabbing up stuff to sample, either, these were artists he counted among his favorites and was adding to his collection. (more…)

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crib notes TV catches up with Atlanta recording artist Spree Wilson to learn more about his recent move to New York City and what’s he’s discovered on his journey. We talk about his upcoming projects and his debut solo music video for “Word!” (produced by No I.D.) which premieres this month on MTV.

Click here for the full, uncut audio interview.

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The party’s over. But we’re vicariously reliving the moments of SXSW 2009 through one of CL’s favorite Atlanta-based artists.

Just as hip-hop got major play at this year’s festival, it was also Spree Wilson’s first time attending and performing. Check out his stream of Twitter updates over the weekend, and follow him at twitter.com/spreewilson. (See him in on stage with stic.man of Dead Prez in pics above.)

Just touched down in Austin!!!….Time to play ball folks!!!…lol

9:19 AM Mar 20th

Been up for 24hrs straight!!…gonna crash for a couple of hours once I get to hotel!

9:40 AM Mar 20th

At the hotel..may link up with Small Eyez and the homie Donwill later..

2:38 PM Mar 20th

Chillin in Blu with Dead Prez, Nikki, Small Eyez, and Cynthia…just caught up with Janelle and crew at Solange show..

12:36 AM Mar 21st

Lookin at Austin City Music Hall…shit is HUGE!!!….it’s gonna be crazy tomorrow!

12:41 AM Mar 21st

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For this edition of Roll Call, we call out Thomasan of Proton.

Who are you?
Thomasan; a Chicago born writer, rapper, and producer.

Describe yourself in three words.
Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Who — dead or alive — would most you like to meet?
Quincy Jones

Who would you most like to slap in the face?
M. Night Shyamalan

What song do you wish you had written?
“The Alphabet Song”

Lil Wayne or Little Richard?
How about Lil Wayne and Little Richard together at an awards presentation. Lil Wayne says to Little Richard, “Pleased to meet you, no homo,” and Little Richard says, “Shut Up!”

LP, CD or MP3?
LP if adding to my collection, CD if in the car, MP3 if on the computer.

If you could start one trend, what would it be?
Vintage ghetto couture

If you could end one trend, what would it be?
I would end the fairly recent “bad is good” music phenomenon. Ignorance is contagious, and equally as infectious.

With whom would you most like to play a game of spin the bottle?
How about the models from Italian Vogue’s “All Black” issue?

Proton with Stanza, Spree Wilson and Colin Munroe. $10. 9 p.m. Sat., Dec. 6. Lenny’s Bar, 486 Decatur St. 678-760-9152.

(Photo courtesy Hannibal Matthews)

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While rap industry bigwigs were busy partying all weekend in honor of the BET Hip Hop Awards, Atlanta’s other rap scene was putting in work.

Here’s some low-budget, behind-the-scenes footage from this weekend’s filming of Novel’s video for “I Am” feat. Talib Kweli and Spree Wilson — whom CL featured in May.

Director Phillip Sportel filmed the video at Dallas Austin’s Rowdy Records. The label will release the single (which was featured on the 21 soundtrack earlier this year) near the end of October in conjunction with Capitol Records.

Sportel also shot a video for Spree Wilson’s No I.D.-produced “Word” this weekend. Look for Wilson in the raw footage above. He’s the one wearing the funny hat and cracking jokes.

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I’m going to flip the script and put the moral of this story right at the top. Hopefully, every “undiscovered” artist gets it: Sometimes it’s not how many people come to see you perform, but who, that really matters.

Last night at Smith’s Olde Bar, there couldn’t have been more than 25 people sparsely scattered throughout the room to catch a performance by Radiant Kids. The local, rag-tag crew of emerging artists — including solo MCs L-Marr the Great, Small Eyez, Spree Wilson and punk band Tendaberry — originally joined forces to lend mutual support among Atlanta’s disparate, clique-heavy underground scene.

They’re finally starting to get some of the attention that evaded them early on. Several key tastemakers, promoters and artists (Fadia Kader of Come Up Kids, Thomas of Proton, Jessica Tonder, Seven of Chocolate Industries, Ree de la Vega of Bang Bang, Arjan of ArjanWrites.com) came out last night to show suppport and/or see what the growing buzz was about.

(Click here to listen: “Word!”)

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Today’s Air Loaf features CL’s Rodney Carmichael chatting with local hip-hop artist Spree Wilson.

Air Loaf is broadcast weekdays on 1690 WMLB-AM at approximately 8:10 a.m., 12:20 p.m. and 6:20 p.m.

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