Oct 26

Oct 26 Malik Work of The Real Live Show

photography by Yvette Tang

If ever a group lived up to their name, it's The Real Live Show. With a distinguished palette of players backing them, New York City purebred MCs Stimulus and Dionysos paint a pitch-perfect portrait of hip-hop's spirit. Check the album, check the video, but the real-deal hip-hop experience is seeing them live." – Village Voice

Born and bred in New York City, Stimulus and Malik Work, have an extraordinary artistic presence in the trendsetting nightlife scene of Hip Hop’s birthplace. Lyrical counterparts since the age of twelve , they met in a scholarship program and have been pursuing their vision of “Urban Excellence” ever since. Their themes of revelry and social inclusion quickly took hold of NYC’s then new ‘multiethnic hip hop party generation’ and the duo capitalized; promoting clubs and special events unrivalled in positivity and creativity. See: Blue Note, Jazz Standard, Joe’s Pub, Mercury Lounge, Bowery Ballroom, Irving Plaza, Cheetah, Lotus, Webster Hall, Pink Elephant and Cielo. They attempted to create a television show around their weekly residency where they performed a first set with the band, then opened it up to instrumentalists and vocalists to jam with them in the second set. The TV show never materialized, but a band did. The Real Live Show was born in the year 2000. Check them out every tuesday at Nublu.

Your greatest inspirations? Im inspired by life, my family, my friends, my travels, my studies, the theater (my major), history, literature and current events.

Challenges of what you do? Bills are the ever present challenge of course. Also, what I do, for the most part is considered Hip Hop. Still, I've been working with some of the best instrumentalists and composers in the world. I am a musician. When I tell people I am an MC, they don't think "musician". So my business card game suffers. People don't always understand how serious I am about music.

Oher artists you admire? There are gazillions of artist I admire. I guess Redman is my favorite MC of all time. I love the spirit that he raps with. He's not very conceptual, but he's funny and a monster lyrically. Groupwise, Wu Tang, Tribe, and NWA. I'm also a huge fan of Parliament, Kurt Cobain, Marvin Gaye, Jill Scott, Jim Morrison, and Anita Baker. Outside of contemporary music, Eddie Murphy, Salman Rushdie, Paul Robeson, and William Shakespeare. Most interesting collaborations so far? I performed with a multi-media arts group called 'Vision Into Art' at a classical music festival in Belgrade, Serbia. I wrote some original lyrics for a piece, and sang an old Paul Robeson song. Our show was well received, and proved to me that what I do is a lot bigger than Hip Hop.

A particular memorable performance? I got a standing ovation at my first musical show at a proper sit down theater. It was in Paris, where 90% of the people couldn't have understood my lyrics. But being on a proscenium stage with folks sitting down, mentally transferred me to an acting situation. I delivered my lyrics in a way I had never before. Using my heart and soul more than my voice and mouth. I used acting excercises I use for characters, and for the first time applied them to my performance as the MC. I played the role of myself. Hard to explain, but very cool. After this one song, whatever I had done transcended language, and the people stood up and applauded.

Falling Whistles? A bunch of people in my crew started wearing these whistles around their necks, and I thought I was missing out on a cool new fashion trend. So I wanted one. Then I found out all proceeds from the whistle sales go to war affected children, specifically in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I was so moved by the story of the organization that we are composing an album in dedication to the cause. I feel it is the artist's responsibility to change the world and beautify it. I believe organizations like these are the future. As a society I think we need to exploit the things that make us feel good in order to alleviate others suffering.

Anything else youd like to share with audience? Big shout to Nublu, Black Nexxus, and Stimulus. Without them, my life would suck!:) Everybody come to our show every tuesday @ Nublu, 62 Avenue C, 10:30pm.