What is Interdependent Media? The Bay Area, Calif. label is relatively unknown on the music scene, but has already corraled two major artists in the urban underground: J*Davey and Tanya Morgan.
Interdependent Media was launched by Ian “ID” Davis, Evan “Truthlive” Phillips and Dominic del Bene last year. Ian “ID” Davis is a former employee at West Coast imprint Hiero Imperium. Meanwhile, Del Bene formerly owned Loud Minority Music, a label best known for issuing Tanya Morgan’s acclaimed debut Moonlighting. But after distribution problems kept him from capitalizing on Moonlighting‘s critical acclaim, he formed a new company with ID and Truthlive.
Interdependent Media (also known as IM Culture) will make an impact this summer with several recordings. The first, Tanya Morgan’s The Bridge EP, was serviced to iTunes last month. A CD version drops on June 17. “This EP, The Bridge, is a re-introduction to the group and serves as a ‘bridge’ between their previous works and their upcoming album, Brooklynati,” reads a press release. No word on a Brooklynati release date, but it’s schedule to drop later this year.
Next came a reissue of K’naan’s The Dusty Foot Philosopher. Originally released in Canada in 2005, it won the 2006 Juno Award for Best Rap Album. The Interdependent Media re-release includes a DVD with videos. It hit stores on May 20. Then there’s Fallen Awake from Santa Rosa, Calif. MC Shaya. His album is scheduled for July 22.
The big news, however, is that Interdependent Media will issue J*Davey’s first nationally distributed album. Since signing with Warner Bros. in 2007, J*Davey (pictured above) has been lost in major label purgatory, even while the electro-soul movement they helped create grows from underground phenomenon to worldwide fad. Hopefully Jack Davey and Brook D’Leau will get a chance to put out some material on Warner Bros. before people get sick of that sound.
In the meantime, Interdependent Media will release The Beauty in Distortion/The Land of the Lost. J*Davey has sold The Beauty in Distortion as a CD-R at shows for the past three years. The Land of the Lost was issued as a free mixtape in 2007. The two were eventually packaged as a limited-edition CD and sold via the group’s website and MySpace page; it quickly sold out.
This new version is missing a few tracks from the original The Land of the Lost:: “Red Light” (which features the late J Dilla), “Dirty Love,” “Mr. Mister (Cock Out Mix)” and “Let It Bleed.” But J*Davey fans shouldn’t put away their wallets just yet, as it includes two new songs, “No More (Live @ the Temple Bar 5.12.2006)” and “Finer Things (Bossin’ Up).”
J*Davey’s The Beauty in Distortion/The Land of the Lost drops July 1. Here’s the track listing.
CD1 – The Beauty in Distortion:
- 1. “Divisions of Joy”
- 2. “Mr. Mister”
- 3. “Everybody Touch It”
- 4. “Private Parts”
- 5. “No More”
- 6. “Camera (Gangsta)”
- 7. “Might As Well”
- 8. “Cowboys and Indians”
- 9. “Enterception”
- 10. “Mr. Mister (Future Screw Mix)”
CD2 – The Land of the Lost:
- 1. “Hi Sun”
- 2. “sLAyers” (feat. Pacific Division, Dia Gibran & Bleu Collar)
- 3. “Rock the Dancehall” (feat. Kardinal Offishall)
- 4. “Hi’s & Lo’s” (feat. Nicki of Black Morris)
- 5. “Lil Big Heads”
- 6. “Thick” (interlude)
- 7. “Valley of Love”
- 8. “Just Because” (feat. Phonte)
- 9. “Venus 2 Mars”
- 10. “Lalaland” (feat. Elucid)
- 11. “No More (Live @ the Temple Bar 5.12.2006)”
- 12. “Finer Things (Bossin’ Up)”
- 13. “Slooow”
And I haven’t forgotten about Shaya. Here’s the track listing for his Fallen Awake, which drops July 22.
- 1. “Intro”
- 2. “Impeccable Concepts”
- 3. “Industry Life”
- 4. “Sole Vibin'”
- 5. “Run It Down”
- 6. “Just Write”
- 7. “Proud”
- 8. “Speed of Life”
- 9. “Sleepers Anthem”
- 10. “Fall Back”
- 11. “Thinking Cap”
- 12. “Is It Life (Obvious)”
- 13. “Take A Ride”
- 14. “Welcome”
