This atticle is taken from PISTE-OFF MAGAZINE Spring 2005 Issue #1
Piste-Off Magazine 1207 S.Rouse
Bozeman, MT. 59715
Words By: Frank Dueshepski
Photos By: Friends
Layout By: UNIFIEDSIGN
The Seven Chakraz (7Cs) are a collective of friends
& family that make home grown, D.I.Y. style hip hop
music together. They are originally outa the
Brighton/Ann Arbor, MI. area but over the years they
have spreed as far west as San Francisco. They have
been making hip hop music steady for over 7 years!
Threw the use of makeshift bedroom studios and
secondhand analog recording equipment the Seven
Chakraz have a vast library of material. They have
performed in the dirtiest of Michigan basements to the
lighted stages at local music venues. They have
stories about drugs and parties Kieth Richards
wouldn't believe. The group has changed a bit in
members & participation, but the vibe & love for hip
hop music is still the same. Frank Dueshepski of
PISTE-OFF MAGAZINE caught up to a few members of
the group and had a lil Q & A session, and this is how
the story unfolds.......
WHO'S IN THE IMMEDIATE GROUP?
F1- "As of now?"
YES, AS OF NOW.
F1- "On lyrics- Eli Dosingarnous, Esque Roxwell, Nikki
P., & MR. Williams." "On production we got A-Bomb,
Juno, & The Sasperilla Sasquatch (Eli)". "I go by
Faded One, i do the cuts & scratches." "We all have
input on the Art & graphics, and everybody puts in on
shows hookups & getting CDRs out to the masses!"
YOU ASKED "AS OF NOW", ARE THERE PAST MEMBERS?
ELI- "Sean the Bomb, one of the original members of
7cs he lived in
the hood right around mine, he always had some funny
ass raps
and jokes for days ....always a good friend."
SQ- "so many.... from big bad Bubba to Markie D."
"Shawn the Bomb of course is deeply rooted." "He was
my man since like the sixth grade when we both had the
same pair of van's." "He is the dude who introduced me
to Eli and Juno." "I couldn't believe there was other
cats do'in what i was do'in but with actual turntables
and mic's."
ELI- "Kurtis Ill Fingaz, Kutz rhymed and produced
for the 7cs early on, he used a MPC, that was so
sweet." "He had a studio at his pops house that we
would jus work in 24-7 that was real cool, endless
nights of madness."
SQ- "Kurtis Ill is always in my heart." "A lot of
fuck'in crazy nights in his studio." "We didn't have
to take drugs to get on swerve over there."
ELI-"The Seven Chakraz has had many members some
active today and some are long gone, but we will all
die happy 2 be part of such a wonderful and talented
group of people."
MR.W- "You know the thing about the 7C's is, its all
family." "Its been some years now, and some of us
dont really see each other no more, but over the
years weve made this collective of companions that
cannot be fucked with." "I look back and see faces
of people who all had a part in this crazy ass
ride..and smile."
F1- "Early on, there were so many heads that came
threw the Candlewood studio under the Chakraz
umbrella." "I remember cats like B.K., and Markie D."
"Our home boy Bubba, & our good friend Scotty Roo."
"The MVP crew outa S.F.(Jusone, Melo, Champ, Louie,
Taj El, & DAB" "At first i thought i was just a
collaborative partner."
WHO CAME UP WITH THE NAME?
ELI- "My mom came up with the name"
F1- "There were little groups before the 7Cs we were
all in." "Two of the groups together, The 4 Lai Munks
and the Deadlock Hansons (3 of them) together formed
the Seven Chakraz, and it just stuck."
WHAT ARE SOME FAVORITE TRACKS/RELEASES & WHY?
MR.W- "Ya know, I got a favorite made by each one of
us." "Eli's "Supa
Structure", I like hear'in him spit with more melody
in his flows." "Esque's "Frweedom" is hot, its nice
to hear him work with the more story type shit." "And
like all of us, Im really
feel'in Nikki's "Difficult Women".
ELI- "Defiantly loved working on the Giant Forces LP
the most." "Having the whole crew focused on one goal
is so powerful." "If that was a studio release, Juno
would be sell'in beats to 50cent." "NIkki's track
"Raise Your Drinks has a really tight flow, oh and i
really loved making that Esque track "Broken Poem."
("T.ired O.f Y.ou S.uckaz" on the LP) "We jus attacked
that song, it flowed right out." "Seems these little
kids were trying to write fuck 7C on some wall and we
all jus snapped." "Esque had wrote this verse and i
had this hardcore beat i was working on, and the Faded
One came with this string of samples that jus said it
all, & i love the intro." "Defiantly love MR.
Williams, "Ladies" for obvious reasons if you've
heard it."
NIKI- "I would have to say my favorite Eli D. release
is The Answer." "Eli and myself took a creative
writing class together in college and he wrote this
song during the class." "At the end of the semester
all the students came together to perform the songs
they wrote in the class." "I had so much fun listening
and performing this song with him." "Mr. Williams has
a wide collection of hits, but I would have to say
that "Ladies" gets my heart throbbing every time."
"He's good at that." "Esque is a whole different
story." "Turn it up will always be a favorite." "But,
like most, Make your own way is still my favorite."
"As for myself, I have fun writing and recording
everything I do." "Difficult Woman" is a good one
because I get to play with my voice a little." "It's a
little bit dramatic and everyone needs a little drama
sometimes." "Transmission" is actually my favorite of
my songs." "It's about my brother and how I looked up
to him for all his years in the 7C's, and what it
meant to me to become apart of the music they were
making." "It always takes a few misses before you
finally hit your target."
F1- "Personally, for me, my favorite 7C tracks are on
cassettes in a shoe box somewhere, deep in the
D.J.Pauze lare." "We have soooo many lost or
unreleased tracks, mostly cuz we used instrumentals
from other hip hop records." "I do love the
"G.F.A.A.U." LP, and the free "Mixture" CDR we got out
rite now." "Any track Nikki blesses is automatically
added to this list."
SQ- "Im not gonna be modest, i am proud of everything
we've ever made." "But i got some favorites." "The
live from the living room track i made with Faded is
up at the top of the list." "It was just me and Faded
in his living room and i wrote the song while he spun
records." "We got it recorded in two takes, no
punch-ins." "When Nikki P. made the
hate school song was great too." "It was her first
tracked-out song so me and Eli were able to kinda show
her the ropes and she picked it up real quick." "Plus
it was cool to finally hear my baby sister recorded."
HOW MANY ALBUMS DO YOU GUYS HAVE?
F1- "Like i said there are boxes of cassette tapes
that were half tracks and half freestyle, fuck'in
around stuff." " Eli & i use to make hella mix tapes
and give them away, so many tracks on those tapes."
"DJ Pauze (Eli) has volumes of mix tapes floating
around out there, he would use duel cassette decks and
make pause tapes." "Not just pause tapes but his shit
was old and broke so it was like a 4 track, fuck'in
sick!!" "I got em all if there's any doubt!" "As for
official releases, our first official release is a 11
track EP featuring Eli & Esque." "Then we released the
"Giant forces Are Against Us" LP." "We released a few
tracks for comps and mix tapes in between." "We also
released a half live shows, half lost track CD." "All
the producers have instrumental CDs."
WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IS THE SEVEN CHAKRAZ MESSAGE, IF
THERE IS ONE?
SQ- " I guess our message is pretty much fuck it." "We
feel that you don't have to play into any kind of
certain persona." "You don't have to play the role of
the hard ass or even the super conscious rapper to get
respect." "Be what you are."
ELI- "I believe the message of most of our stuff would
to be that its
fucking cool to be your self."
MR.W- "Personally, total explanation of why the fuck I
choose to get up in the morning." "But if I had to get
into it, Its spread'in the diversity." "The
remembrance and grip on why were even in this." "The
balance of consciousness and giv'in you what chu
want."
F1- "I love the traditional, Boom-Bap style hip hop
and thats what we make." "Like Eli said "its cool to
be yourself" no fronts."
NIKI- "I think the 7C's message is to stay real even
if the world sometimes seems to be primarily fake."
"To make your own way and not to let anyone or
anything stand in the way of that." "We are living
proof."
WHAT OR WHO INSPIRES YOUR MUSIC AND STYLES?
ELI- "My influences range from finger painting to
puking and shitting at the same time." "Taking acid,
skipping school and watching Grant get caught
shoplifting, that was really a strong influence on my
style." "Foreal thou, King Louie and Jusone had the
biggest impact on me believing in myself enough to rap
and giving me the tools to create rhymes."
MR.W- "Jusone, my greatest inspiration and mentor."
"Faded, Melo, Taj, Louie Flaco, Scotty.. basically
everyone I love out in S.F." "Damn, you would'nt
believe how 585 Punx helped me understand were I stand
with this shit."
F1- "Well, back in the early days, lots of
hallucinogens, Weed, and alcohol." "Now its my close
family and friends and the fact that 97.8% of whats on
the radio and T.V. representing hip hop is garbage!"
SQ- "Bob Marley, KRS ONE, Gangstar, Common, Last
Emperor, Brother Ali, The Misfits, Al Green, The
Slackers. Mad shit has and will continue to influence
and inspire me."
NIKI- "I was a fan of the 7C's before I was a member."
"My brother, Kevin Price (a.k.a. Esque Roxwell) was an
active member from the beginning, and I always looked
up to him for that." "Coming from a family of
musicians, I had a few different influences under my
belt." "My brother, Dave was the lead singer for a
punk rock band called No-Prematures from Brighton,
MI." "Kevin of course was steady rock'in' the hip-hop
beats, and I was right in the middle.""I am influenced
by everything from Aretha Franklin and Billy Holiday,
to Lauren Hill and Alicia Keys." "I try to keep it
diverse." "That way more ground can be
covered." "Besides, it's always fun to have fun and
try new things." "Stretch the limits."
WITH THAT SAID, HOW DO YOU FEEL THE SEVEN CHAKRAZ
STAND OUT IN A MARKET THAT IS SO DILUTED?
SQ- "Because we got Guinness swillin Irish folk mother
fuckers banging our shit in there car on there way to
the Leftover Crack concert and Voetsek singing along
in the van on tour." "Plus hip hop heads feel it."
MR.W- "Well, its gotta be the senseless amount of
originality we put into it." "The spectrum of views
and sounds coming from each individual Emcee." "The
beats are fucking amazing too."
ELI- "Defiantly the diversity of styles that we have
in our live show
would factor in."
F1- "We rep the elements of hip hop and you can hear
the passion in the voices, beats, & cuts on the
recordings."
NIKI- "I'd have to say that the 7C's are somewhat of a
statement." "We are definitely not bling rap, which
unfortunately seems to be the base of the popular
listening these days." "We want to promote something
more positive than that." "Like I said
before...something real." "We want to bring some more
culture to the people." "I, personally, have always
felt better with music." "Words that I can relate to
put together to music." "I would like to be that kind
of musician." "I have fun doing what I do and I feel
better after I have written whatever I am thinking
down." "Once I sing it, it's like the weight is
filtered off of my body, and I hope someone else feels
that when they hear what I sing, and I'm sure, in some
sense, the guys would like that as well." "To relate."
"Not to add false or negative images to a person's
head."
YOU GUYS & GIRLS HAVE BEEN DOING BASEMENT SHOWS &
PARTIES FOR YEARS, ANY GOOD STORIES?
ELI- "Well our first show was in Howell MI. at this
like church punk
fest thingy." "There was prolly 100 people there at
5:00pm and we jus got up there and rapped about what
we knew." (weed acid and a lot of swear words) "For
some reason the 65 church punks went outside and sat
on the lawn but the 7C crew was mighty and slam danced
and shit." "Kurtis and Juno Djed that show together it
was so fun!!"
F1- "We are a bunch of broke ass cats." "Our equipment
is old and worn." "I remember a basement show in Ann
Arbor, Kurtis and i are the DJs." "In the middle of
the show the mixer and AMP start to smoke, i mean
really smoke." "I got pictures to prove it!" "Kurtis,
not one to flinch in the face of disaster, shook some
wires, tapped on the top, etc." "The whole show
stooped and watched what we all thought was a half
assed attempt." "After a few moments, the smoke
settled, and on with the show!" "I thought the 7Cs
were cursed for years on live shows."
NIKI- " I remember we did this show in Lima Ohio at a
bar called Harry's Hideaway." "This girl we met in the
hotel we were staying at (she was the bartender at the
hotel) came to the show and got completely wasted."
"During the show she walked around the bar handing out
shots in between one of our sets." "The crowd
appreciated it and we did too at the time." "Later on,
Esque was right in the middle of one of his songs, and
she pulls the mic right out of his hand to announce
another free shot giveaway!"
SQ- "The bar got quiet and looked at the girl in
disgust and in turn the girl got very angry with me,
as well as the large fellow who bought the shots."(he
felt disrespected or some shit)
NIKI- "He finally got the mic back and went on with
his set while some friends of ours in the front row
blocked the crazy lady from the stage." "After his
song was done and done, Esque called the girl out by
saying that it was rude to pull the mic out of
someones hand in the middle of the set." "He tried to
be nice about it, but the girl got pissed and wouldn't
leave him alone the rest of the night after the show
was done." "She followed him around the bar for like
20 minutes before he finally got away from her and the
bar." "It was pretty crazy."
SQ- "This girl wouldn't get out of my face after the
show."
MR.W- -LAUGHTER "You aint done a show unless at least
once your DJ blacks out." " We did this small little
set in Ypsi.. (Ypsilanti, MI.) once,
and Goose n' I were hav'in a couple drinks
beforehand." "We get there, Goose finds a girl, Im
do'in my thing, and all of a sudden G Dubs shit
faced." "Hes up there do'in his pre-show cuts, giv'in
shout out like a drunken best man at his friends
wedding." "The show goes on, he forgets the set list,
Esque somehow breaks the adapter on the mic,Im
stumbling, Eli's do'in his crowd hype thing, and Goose
goes, "Ron, I cant see the vinyl...I don't want to do
this..you DJ." "Love ya G!!"
F1- "How about the time we went to K-Zoo
(Kalamazoo,MI.) and we all, about 8 or so of us, took
a lot of mushrooms." "MR. Williams was so fucked, he
had to have one of the girls drive him all the way
back home." (at least a 4 hour drive at 2 or 3 am!)
"Juno was hiding behind the 4 turntables with me cuz
every body was watching us." "They were watching us
cuz we were performing a show!!" "Fuck, i could tell
stories for days, i love these guys!!"
IF GIVEN A CHANCE, WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO WORK WITH
MUSICALLY?
MR.W- "Tom Waits, mmm, Aloe Blacc..definitely (don't
laugh) Alicia Keys." "And the great Miles Davis, but
hes dead."
NIKI- "I would love to work with Jean Grae." "That
girl has such a cool style and she has some ill
rhymes." "I would only hope I could keep up." "I would
also love to work with Brother Ali and Aesop Rock."
"Aesop is on like a whole other world of hip-hop. I
love his style." "Brother Ali is just such a cool
person." "I got to meet him in Cincinnati, OH. at the
Scribble Jam." "Not only does he speak truth he lives
it and I love that about him." "He is truly an
inspiration." "But in all reality, I would love to
work with anyone I have the chance to." "I am always
down to hear new local artists." "I learn off of
everything I hear, old or new."
ELI- "I would love to work with Lee Perry, Dr. Dre,
Brother Ali, Last
Emperor, Krs-one, beyonce', Ludakris, Emanon, &
?uestlove."
F1- "Id love to work with Krtis Ill Fingaz again, i
miss you blood!" "Even tho hes crew, i never realy got
the chance to work with Goose." "Tim Greener, Bill
Battle, Qwel of Typical cats, fuck it ill work with
anybody!"
ELI- "I think we always wanted to keep everything in
house, meaning that we make the beats, write the raps,
record and mix, do all the art & fliers."
F1- "Thats that D.I.Y. style, home grown."
SQ- "last Emperor, Cloud Nine, Junior Gong, really
anyone that i like
musically i would love to work with."
YOU'VE HAD SOME COLLEGE RADIO PLAY, AND APPEAR ON A
FEW COMPILATION ALBUMS. HOW DOSE AN UNDERGROUND,
D.I.Y. STYLE HIP HOP GROUP FROM ANN ARBOR MI. GET
THERE MUSIC OUT TO FOR THE WORLD TO HEAR?
NIKI- "I tell everyone!" "Anytime we have a show
coming, I let everyone I know that it's going down."
"As for my music, I like to switch it up." "Sometimes
I like to show a person a new track and sometimes I'll
tell a person about a new track, but I wont show them
until the show." (thats the catch!) Ha, ha! "But
seriously, I show no shame in what I do." "Only the
utmost pride." "So I like to show off the things that
I am proud of."
ELI- "WORD OF MOUTH!, haha we jus be giving CDs out
to anyone who wants one and slipin'um to kids who
don't! ahha."
MR.W- " Play as many shows as possible." "Get out
there and practice the fine art of networking." " Keep
making music thats better then the last." "Pump out
some promos."
F1- "WCBN 88.3 Ann Arbor, DJ Grafitti, Legendary
ent.,Pirate Punx radio, Karaterex.com, friends, fans &
family!!" "Thanking and respecting people, people who
love the same thing you do." "I spend a lot of time on
the computer posting MP3s and blurbs." "pass out
hundreds of CDRs." "I live in the bay area and have a
lot of friends that are into punx and hardcore." "They
run box distros at shows and they give em away on tour
nation wide." "In the words of Jusone, "the fine art
of networking." "Also shameless self promotion!"
SQ- "hand out CDs, do some shows, fliers with the web
adress." "All your basic self promotion shit." "We
want to try and do a tour in the near future."
THAT BRINGS ME TO MY NEXT QUESTION. WHAT DOES THE
FUTURE HOLD FOR THE MEMBERS OF THE SEVEN CHAKRAZ?
MR.W- "Funny you ask, I have no fucking idea." "Right
now its all about
making a memory." "Ya know my personal life is the
fuel for the music i make." "Having a lack of
direction is giving me the chance to really observe my
surroundings." "But on the same note, I hate being
stagnate." "So you keep on observing while in the back
of your mind you know your gonna leave...it makes for
great content in music." "Whats next?" "Shit, more
songs, overflowing ashtrays, dirty jeans, and heart
ache."
ELI- "I really cant see past the pistons game tonight
but id like to get a new pair of kicks and ill have to
go get some smokes at some point."
NIKI- "I am in no way looking for super-stardom." "I
just want to be heard." "I would be happy living off
of the music that I make." "It's like now, I work all
the time, and I feel like I could be making so much
more music in that time." (I'm sure in a way a lot of
musicians in that position feel the same way) "If I
could survive off of shows, then I would be the
happiest woman alive." "I'd be doing my favorite thing
in the world all the time, so I would never hate my
job again." "And I hope, that with all the hard work
we are all putting into this, we can do that."
F1- "Hopefully ill still be in San Francisco, living
with my best friends, making music with the 7Cs,
smoking the best bomb in Northern Cali., hanging out
with Jihan, vandalizing city property, keeping in
touch with heads i don't ever get to see, & live a
happy and free life under the Cali. sun."
SQ- "keep living and feeling good about myself then
eventually taking over."
ANY FINAL WORDS, THOUGHTS, SHOUT OUTS, OR FUCK YOUS?
SQ- "What up Todd!" "Big up to the whole family."
"K.I.F where you at!?" "Every one who supports us, we
love you for that."MR.W- "Heres a shout out for everyone who knows
they
deserve one." "And heres another one for everybody
who's been caught in the crossfire of my own complex
bullshit, God have mercy on the casualties."One more
shout of respect to the beautiful Miss Ventimiglia,
who for 6
years has known me better then anyone else..care of
yourself lady."
ELI- "Big big shout to my moma." "O.D.B., R.I.P.
Ron Artest gets the Gas Face!"
NIKI- "I have to give props to my mom." "She is such a
magnificent woman." "She raised three kids single
handed and she created three independent, creative
people." "God bless you." "Your my best friend." "To
the crew, obviously, for showing me what it's like to
be real." "Faded, Juno, Esque, Eli D., Mr. Williams,
Sean the Bomb, Kurtis Ill Fingaz, I love all you
mother fuckers." "You all made me what I am." "I just
hope I lived up to the creation." "Out to ever person
who has hear our records and moved to it." "You are
gonna be the ones that push us to the top and we wont
ever forget you for it." "Our friends are our fans."
"Remeber that." "And to hip-hop, my sister, the girl
that opened my eyes."
F1- "This is always the hardest." "Final words....
support Unknown music." "I lost my final thought."
"Shout outs could be a zine in its self.." "Respect to
EVERYONE who supports the 7Cs, and helps our music get
out to them." "Fuck yous aint changed." "Fuck city
cops, bike cops, graffiti busters, the venomous women
who spin there webs, & the heads who wont support cuz
they do hip hop too." "Oh, oh, i found my
thought.....check us at sevenchakraz.tk Myspace at sevenchakraz@yahoo.com ."
"We have a FREE "Mixture"
CDR, 16 tracks in mix tape form." "Lots of new tracks
and some classic 7C joints." "Email fone7c@yahoo.com for a FREE copy
delivered to your door, shit aint
hard!"