FREESTYLE FELLOWSHIP, THE A-TEAM, NOCANDO, MEDUSA, FLASH BANG GRENADA, 2MEX, DIBIA$E, AND MORE ON TUESDAY DEC. 28TH AT THE ECHOPLEX, 1154 GLENDALE BOULEVARD, LOS ANGELES. 8:30PM/ $15/ 18+.

Sadat X beat down punks with Brand Nubian and rode again with a solo career that suffered a short interruption when he spent several months in Rikers. He has a new album due soon with Affluent.

Who’s going to be on your new Generation X album?
Basically it’s just me. A lot of albums always got a whole lot of people but this is just me. Production is by my man Will Tell—he’s from Brooklyn Academy—and my man Trev Thomas. It’s ready—it’s done, but it’s digital so it’s in the process of coming out. I’ve been working since October. I just finished it about two weeks ago. It took me eight or nine months.
Whatever happened to the song you did with the Neptunes and Jay-Z?
That never came out. But that was on their end. I don’t know what they did with that. I’ve done so much that hasn’t come out before. A lot of it’s on other people, and for whatever reasons—I don’t know. I just did the track! I just do what I do—I make the songs, and hopefully it’ll be out and be recepted well.
Brand Nubian was bootlegged pretty heavily—are you bothered by Internet downloads?
That was the summer of bootlegging, and it hurt us as far as sales, but it got us around, and a lot of people knew us from that era. It was two-fold—it was good but it was bad. With the Internet, I’d hope they’d buy it, but if people can take it, they take it. The records I put out are not for sale—they’re basically to get shows. I was never big on sales. Most of my income is generated from getting out and doing shows.
You said before that rap doesn’t define you—what defines you?
Just life. Rap is just a small part. I’m a father, I coach basketball—it’s not the overall of me.
You also said a lot of old rappers feel like rap owes them something. What do you mean?
They’re disillusioned—they feel they don’t get respect. But you’ve gotta put out good music to get respect. Times change and you gotta change with the times. What was back then was back then. Be flexible and move on. And you have to stay abreast of things. A lot of older rappers disappear and move away from the community. They aren’t in the street as much. Though radio is so limited and since I’ve been doing my album, I haven’t been listening to other people. I didn’t want it to cloud what I was doing. I wanna keep my original vibe and I don’t wanna subconsciously pick up one someone else’s vibe.
What’s your vibe?
I bring my personal charisma, my voice, my sense of realness. My lyrics are pretty straightforward. There’s nothing extravagant. It’s just the way I rhymed.
You said there were more classic songs when you were a kid and now it’s not as frequent.
It’s a lot of good music coming out but I don’t feel it’s classic. When I was coming out, you had whole albums you’d play—whole Public Enemy album, Big Daddy Kane, De La Soul. Now there’s a lot of fast-forwarding on new albums.
How much of that is hip-hop and how much of that is you changing?
People aren’t taking as much time to put out the music. Now it’s such a rush for people to get albums out, so they’re doing four or five songs at a session and this and that, as opposed to taking their time and customizing the song.
Black October was kind of a rush—how do you feel it holds up now?
That had to be done fast because I was going away. I had to put a lot together—maybe a lot I wouldn’t put out now, but I did want to put something out.
Did your time in Rikers ‘freeze you’ like you thought it might?
It put me on pause for eight months until I came back and was back in society. It froze me as far as doing shows and being visible.
What was the best book you read when you were in?
I read a lot of books. All types of books. All the Robert Greene and stuff like that. Just to stay abreast of things. I definitely wasn’t stagnating.
Do you write differently now?
My literature is more mature. I’m talking about being grown-up, paying bills and taking care of my kids. Back then I wasn’t talking about that because I didn’t have no kids! Now as I grow older, I have more bills—so that’s what I’m talking about. But I go to the studio every day—I definitely get it in. I like to focus.
What was coaching Spoonie G’s son like?
It was cool—he’s a good kid! I haven’t kept in contact with him, but he’s mild-mannered, very well-mannered. You can tell he had a good upbringing. I still go to games and I run into players I taught who are coaches at different schools now.
What makes Sadat tick?
Just life—being around people and staying motivated and just living, man. You gotta keep going and you can’t stop! Living life—that’s what motivates me. Wake up in the morning and live another day!

URBAN UNDERGROUND PRESENTS SADAT X WITH COPYWRITE, J-RAWLS, COLD HEAT AND MANY MORE ON FRI., JULY 4, AT THE AIRLINER, 2419 N. BROADWAY, LOS ANGELES. 8 PM / $10 / 18+. MYSPACE.COM/URBANUNDERGROUNDWEEKLY. AND BRAND NUBIAN WITH 2MEX, KONFIDENT AND E-SMITH AND MORE ON SAT., JULY 12, AT CRASH MANSION, 1024 S. GRAND AVE., LOS ANGELES. 7 PM / $15 / 21+. CRASHMANSIONLA.COM. VISIT SADAT X AT MYSPACE.COM/SADATX.

For more photos check out: larecord.com/photos

Indecipherable indefatigable horticultural stratospheric, who doesn’t love Busdriver but can understand the lyrics? That’s all we got. His hair, amazing. 2-Mex’s dancing, a treat. Mex closed his eyes, transported to some hip-hop Zen cloud, occasionally busting into a jumpy-tap disco move. He was happy. Perhaps what made this show so dang pleasant is that everyone on stage really dug each other’s skills. Their eyes met with smiles, their fingers air-vinyl-scratching approval—as in, ” ‘Dannng, that was tight. You rule dude…‘No, you totally rule, dude.’ ” How this works? Magic, probably, bringing together the forces of rap and roll on top of Th’ Corn Gangg’s symphonic revival (hopefully not the last we’ve seen). It’s nice to break ya neck to a violin. Dueling violins, at that, keys, sax, bass, guitars and three MCs: Bus, 2Mex & young stud Nocando. No drum. Think about it. Nick Thorburn kicked some mean beats on the high end of the keyboard. Speaking of high, you could strangle a drug test with the second-hand choking the atmosphere. Kiddies crowded the front, big kids watched from the smoke patio. The Airliner’s got a nice setup: three areas for music, one scary, dark stairwell, plus a side-stage security guy who is a total gentleman. At the end of the show, when I squeezed out from between the speakers on stage, he held out his hand for me like Prince Charming helping Cinderella hop off her pumpkin carriage.

— Daiana Feuer

Quick list of all last week’s previews, reviews, interviews and MP3s!

2MEX @ URBAN UNDERGROUND: PREVIEW

2MEX “Shades Of Orange”

A-BONES AND ROY LONEY @ REAL BOSS HOSS: REVIEW

AFRIKA BAMBAATAA @ DETROIT: PREVIEW

Afrika Bambaata “Metal” (f. Gary Numan and MC Chat)

ARI UP @ PUNKY REGGAE PARTY: PREVIEW

ARI UP @ PUNKY REGGAE PARTY: VIDEO

Click here to watch

BLACK LIPS @ THE EL REY: REVIEW

Black Lips “O Katrina”

DAEDELUS: TRAINSPOTTING Q & A AND PODCAST

Daedelus’ L.A. RECORD Podcast

DAN’S EUROPE TOUR PHOTOS : FEATURE PART 2, PART 3

The Sads “Miniature Moons”

DARKER MY LOVE + MORE @ THE ECHO: PREVIEW

Darker My Love “Summer Is Here”

DEL THA FUNKEE HOMOSAPIEN @ VAULT 350: PREVIEW

Del Tha Funkee Homosapien “Bubble Pop”

DJ VADIM @ LOW END THEORY: PREVIEW

DJ Vadim “Got To Rock” (f. Zion)

EVEREST @ BOARDNER’S: PREVIEW

Everest “Into Your Soft Heart”

HENRY CLAY PEOPLE @ THE ECHO: PREVIEW

The Henry Clay People “Andy Sings!”

L.A. RECORD ANNIVERSARY @ 6TH ST.: REVIEW

Crystal Antlers “Parting Song For The Torn Sky”

LIARS + NO AGE @ THE EL REY: PREVIEW

Liars “Plaster Casts of Everything”

MAGIC LANTERN @ ECHO CURIO: PREVIEW

Magic Lantern “At the Mountains of Madness”

THEE MAKEOUT PARTY @ EL CID: PREVIEW

Thee Makeout Party “2 EZ 2 LUV U”

MANNY NIETO AND THE MATT CRONK BENEFIT: INTERVIEW

Qui “Freeze”

MIKE BONES: LIVE FROM NEW YORK

Mike Bones “Love’s Not Yours”

MIKE STINSON + MORE @ CHARLIE O’S: PREVIEW

Mike Stinson “Take Out The Trash” (clip)

NIKKI CORVETTE + MORE @ REAL BOSS HOSS: REVIEW

Nikki Corvette and the Stingrays “Back To Detroit”

NUDITY @ MOUNTAIN BAR: PREVIEW

Nudity “Nightfeeders” (Concentricks) (clip)

PEANUT BUTTER WOLF: TRAINSPOTTING Q & A AND PODCAST

L.A. RECORD Stones Throw Podcast

PINBACK AND MC CHRIS @ AVALON: REVIEW

Pinback “From Nothing to Nowhere”

SIAN ALICE GROUP: LIVE FROM NEW YORK

Sian Alice Group “Motionless”

ST. VINCENT @ THE ECHOPLEX: REVIEW

St. Vincent “Marry Me”

VAMPIRE WEEKEND: HERU REVIEWS

Vampire Weekend “Walcott”

WAIT THINK FAST + MORE @ SPACELAND: PREVIEW

Wait Think Fast “Lightning”

WEST INDIAN GIRL @ TROUBADOUR: REVIEW

West Indian Girl “All My Friends”

WOODEN SHJIPS @ McCABE’S: REVIEW

Wooden Shjips “We Ask You To Ride”

After many years of being on the beat, I have had more than one occasion to hang out with 2MEX and shoot the shit, whether it’s drinking out of the dusty bottle of Hennessey at Little Joy or interviewing him on the road about his obsession with AM/PM and watching Law and Order: Special Victims Unit because “there might be hot chicks on it,” or even sharing a Lone Star at SXSW for his birthday. And you might even say we have a very intimate connection for the fact that the head dress he wore for his L.A. RECORD cover also doubles as my favorite pair of pajamas on any given night. In short, he’s got as much genuine personality in real life as he does on his hundreds of recordings—more than he can even keep track of himself—and his skills and style are well represented in any project he’s involved in, from Look Daggers and OMD and $martyr to the Visionaries and his solo work as well.

— Charlie Rose

2MEX WITH HUMANBEINGS, AREA 51 AND MANY MANY MORE AT URBAN UNDERGROUND AT THE AIRLINER, 2419 N. BROADWAY, LOS ANGELES. 8 PM / $10-$15 / 18+. MYSPACE.COM/URBANUNDERGROUNDWEEKLY.