Thank you to Matt Conway for this gem in my inbox. Here is a new mixtape from Sabzi (of Blue Scholars & Common Market). Here is what Sabzi himself had to say about it:
“People ask me why I care about making a mix of Hawaiian tunes. I tell them that it’s because Iʼm from Seattle. I donʼt think I can apply the word ‘foreign’ to any cultural elements that have influenced me in becoming the person I am today. Through years of, um, ‘nourishment’ from grinds, to listening to Jawaiian tunes as a teenager, to starting a group with a military kid from Honolulu, to learning the meaning of ‘false crack’ the hard way (ha!)… the spirit of Hawaii has long maintained a notable presence in my life. And while Iʼm not Hawaiian, nor do I claim to be a local boy, I acknowledge and am thankful for the role that the Islands have played in the development of my cultural identity.
For me, a big part of the OOF! EP project was to experiment with a new way of identifying who we are and where we come from. It was an exercise in global cultural expression . Perhaps this is the age we can start believing that “where we are from” is anywhere that has influenced us in becoming who we are. And perhaps our brothers and sisters are those who want to share this belief with us. When you embrace this idea, you start to think that home can be everywhere and your people could be everyone. New People comin thru, son!
Respect to In4mation for the nifty ‘OOF!’ logo they designed and lent us, respect to Ohana for engineering the delicious shrimp tempura + diced spicy scallop + krab + masago sushi that they’ve dubbed the ‘69 Roll,’ and respect to you for reading this and listening to these tunes.
Mahalo.”
Download: Sabzi, 69ROLLS&OOF! (Mixtape)
MIND INVERSION 