CONSCIOUSNESS IS AT AN ALL TIME LOW

By Owen Taylor

Not to long ago on a hot summer night, GuerillaOne president Eddie Donaldson paged me at work asking me if I'd like to do an interview with underground rap group Blood of Abraham. So I hurried home to meet up with Eddie and we rushed off to the studio. When we arrived we parked outside, from the car we could hear the sounds of bass blasting music. We caught the guys during a jam session for their new live instrument album. The guys talked to us about many things but the one thing that caught our attention the most was their concern of the lack of consciousness in rap.

Rap Group Blood of Abraham started in L.A. in 1992. Benyad and Mazik started Blood of Abraham while attending Birmingham High School.

How did Blood of Abraham hoop up?
-The manager at Mazik's shoe store job was a D.J.. We hooked u with him and started studying break beats. Not long after that we started sampling our own stuff.

After you guys mastered your craft and started rapping when did things start to pick up?
- Around 92 and 93 we really hooked up our demos and made two solid tracks. First we would go to the clubs and try to get on during the open mike sessions. Us along with Will of Black Eyed Peas would freak the mic and reign over all those fake no rhyming studio gangster types who only talked about shooting and killing.

Which artist from the old-school influenced you and why?
- Back in the day we listened to NWA, PE, Ice T, Eric B an Rakim, De La, and The Jungle Brothers. They were all great rappers who had a strong message.

Where do you see hip-hop going in the new millennium?
- Hip-Hop is in a recycling state. It's gonna gain back what it use to have, like lyrics. Nowadays it has no lyrical content, or consciousness. Can I get a whoop-whoop is not teaching the masses anything. Mc's gotta stay focused and remember rap is a powerful tool.

What do you think about all these one hit wonder groups?
- The 90's has brought us two generations of Hip-Hop. The kids like us who remember the message and the young kids, 18 and under, who only know the "Can I get A..., and Jigga..." stuff. The younger kids don't take the time to study the original Mc's. On top of that the Industry justifies record sales as a way to over shadow the message.

What is your opinion on sampling?
- Sampling is an art. Sampling is also part of the recycling processes. It brings sounds to the mind that are often familiar or that remind us of older jams.

Tell us about the Ruthless years?
- We got lucky and hooked up with Eric (Easy-E). He liked our sound and invited us to a showcase at Ghizzarri's nightclub, know known as the Key Club. Easy was a motivator, intellectual and helped us with or decisions. The showcase was cool we went on after Above The Law. The crowd was tripping on us like "Who are these Cats?" When they heard are instrumental and we started to flow it was all over. The next day we were sitting down having breakfast at Jerry Heller's house with Easy discussing a contract.

What does Blood of Abraham stand for?
- Blood of Abraham is named after the prophet who was considered a great Jewish leader. At first people wanted to sign us for the name alone. We didn't even have any songs. BOA stresses awareness and self-respect. We consider ourselves pre-historic rappers, because we are trying to stress lyrics and a message. Those kind of groups are quickly growing extinct.

What kind of things are keeping you guys busy besides your label and new album?
- Over the past couple of years we have produced and directed commercials for MTV and other networks. Ben has directed a few music videos., and our next goal is sound-tracks.

Where does Blood of Abraham se itself in the next ten years?
- We plan to keep busy making the people happy and continue to bring creativity and positivity to he Hip-Hop world. And maybe get into movies and sound-tracks.