Hip Hop tag team featuring Mae-Shi-mash-upper Yea Big and professional-stuntman-by-day Kid Static to release debut album of “retro-futuristic” comic book beats and rhymes. Live dates in NYC, Philly, Chicago and more forthcoming.
“It basically sounds like Prefuse 73 gone retarded.” – Mundane Sounds
“Rolls along like the greatest party of your life upside down.” – Tangents (UK)
“What Andy Kaufman did for comedy, Yea Big has done with their new album…” – Treblezine
Ever wonder what happened to the FUN in hip-hop? What happened to the Digital Undergrounds, the Biz Markies and the De La Souls? With all this serious rap, who fills in the gap for the people who just want to get their dance on? The answer: the dauntless duo of deejay Yea Big and emcee Kid Static. Yea Big & Kid Static are down with OCD and have created a meticulously crafted debut album of “retro futuristic comic book hip hop” — the soundtrack for your next dance-off and the preamble to your next good times coup. Chicago’s Jib Door Records will release the self-titled opus on October 23, 2007.
Together, these two heroes are a force to be reckoned with — Big and Static are most certainly two essential ingredients in a recipe for world domination. Separately, they busy themselves with a multitude of other noteworthy endeavors.
Yea Big is an audio manipulator who recently created a tour-only CD-R mashup of the entire upcoming album HLLLYH by spaz-rock band Mae-Shi. Big’s reinterpretation, entitled HLLLYEA is an obvious play that incorporates his name into the actual album’s title. Big explains, “All of the material used to make the beats is off of HLLLYH, hence the punny title, HLLLYEA, which in hindsight will probably only further perpetuate the false notion that my name is pronounced ‘yeah’ instead of the correct pronunciation, ‘yea’.” Check out one of the tracks from Yea Big’s Mae-Shi mash up featuring Kid Static on vocals: “Run To The Facts” (MP3).
Not to be outdone, Kid Static is actually a Hollywood screen star when he’s not hijacking your brain piece. Static doubles, literally, as a professional stuntman traveling the country jumping onto and flying off of buildings. Throughout October, Static will confine his jumping around to the stage, when he and Big head out on some dates to promote their upcoming collaboration, including a stop in NYC for the annual CMJ festival. See below for tour dates and make sure to remember that hip hop is actually about FUN when checking out the debut from Yea Big & Kid Static.
More about Yea Big:
Stefen Robinson a.k.a. Yea Big is a detail obsessed mad scientist of the mix reared on Ravi Shankar, bluegrass & Motown. He released his first full length CD, The Wind That Blows The Robot’s Arms, in 2006 on Chicago’s Jib Door label to much confusion and praise. One dude called The Wind… “an A.D.D. trip through instrumental spaz-hop”. Yea Big has done remixes for Minneapolis avant-hip hop outfit Kill The Vultures, the 12 Apostles label, Illegal Art, and continues to produce tour only mash-up and remix EP’s, the first two of which feature Mae-Shi and Rapider Than Horsepower.
More about Kid Static:
Producing and emceeing since childhood, native South Side Chicagoan Kid Static started off at the green age of 12-years-old, making frenetic and glitchy chiptunes. Years later, he gained local recognition as the front man for the defunct instrumental hip-hop group, The Cankles, whose much lauded Goddamn!! dropped in 2005 along with Static’s privately issued solo debut Have You Seen This Man? Stunt double by trade, Static is also an avid enthusiast of that mad French urban import sport parkour. No doubt, these on and off screen antics contribute heavily to Static’s sci-fi, action obsessed narrative wordplay.
Yea Big & Kid Static Live:
10/03 Chicago, IL Reggie’s Live
10/12 Philadelphia, PA The Circle of Hope
10/18 Jamaica Plain, MA The Milky Way
10/19 Brooklyn, NY Soundfix Records (Fanatic CMJ Day Party)
10/21 Chicago, IL The Note
10/31 Bloomington, IN Uncle Festers
11/09 Chicago, IL Darkroom
11/16 Chicago, IL Kinetic Playground
Yea Big & Kid Static Tracklisting:
Release Date: October 23, 2007
01. The Screaming Starts At Sundown
02. We’ve Built A Time Machine That Runs On Beats. We Shall Only Use It For Good.
03. Static Leads The Coup
04. Transmission Ended
05. Joining Forces
06. Speak The Facts
07. Low Budget Battle Scene
08. The Basement / Enfant Terrible
09. On The Blink
10. Repairs Are Needed
11. Duck, Mother Fuckers! (MP3)
12. Revel In The Aftermath
13. The Life Here
14. Things Have To Change, Pete
15. Why The Fuck Does This Keep Happening
16. Back Into The Sleeve
