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Wearplay LP#05 - A Healthy Obsession With P​é​tanque

by Grant Phabao & RacecaR

supported by
Philipp K
Philipp K thumbnail
Philipp K Reminds me of the album "Heavy Rhyme Vol. 1" by The Brand New Heavies back in '92!
And it's even funkier and groovier... for me a kind of Vol. 2... Favorite track: One Free.
/
  • T-Shirt/Apparel + Digital Album

    T-shirt made in France. 160g cotton, carbon-brushed for an ultra-soft feel. Double topstitch. Short sleeves. Slightly slim fit for men, slim fit for women. Screen printing.

    T-shirt fabriqué en France. Coton 160 gr, brossé carbone pour un toucher ultra-doux. Double surpiqûre. Manches courtes. Coupe légèrement cintrée pour homme, cintrée pour femme. Impression en sérigraphie.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Wearplay LP#05 - A Healthy Obsession With Pétanque via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 7 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      €50 EUR or more 

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    GRANT PHABAO presents RACECAR
    "A Healthy Obsession With Pétanque"
    Cat. n° PARISDJS090

    Limited edition 9-tracks vinyl LP
    Includes 12"x12" insert

    Chicago-born MC RacecaR started rhyming at the end of the 80s. After more than 20 years of touring and recording in the US, he moved to Paris in 2010 and started a whole new musical life. With both knockout performances and acclaimed featurings with bands & artists such as Afro Latin Vintage Orchestra, Dafuniks, Sax Machine, Soul Square, Taiwan MC; with producers and beatmakers such as Asagaya, Blanka, DJ Suspect & Doc TMK, ICBM, Lawkyz, Mattic, Son Of A Pitch; RacecaR is one of the most in-demand hip hop MCs in France. For sure we're missing a few other cool cats in that list, but you get the point : every musician who meets RacecaR over here understands very quickly how tight his flow goes, how masterfully his rhymes are delivered, and how in any kind of context he's able to fit in with style.

    A hard-working abundantly talented rhymester, RacecaR has now been living a pure hip hop life for the last two decades. One of the coolest hip hop cats in the French capital, he's relentlessly touring but in a constant state of rap, writing & rehearsing whenever he can. RacecaR' open-mindedness and friendly Native Tongues attitude got him to collaborate with more and more multi-instrumentalists/producers, among which Etienne de la Sayette, on the opening track from his "Maputo Queens" album released last may, and Grant Phabao, the French label's in-house producer and sound engineer, on a handful of digital singles — all released on Paris DJs.

    After pumpin' house hit singles for the Pro-Zak Trax label at the end of the 1990s, Grant Phabao grew to be a prime purveyor of Jamaican Soul, wether labeled "ska", "bluebeat", "rocksteady", "reggae", "dub" etc. After releasing albums with Jamaican legends Carlton Livingston, The Lone Ranger, The Jays or The Silvertones, and remixes for the whole planet, from George Clinton to Alice Russell, from David Byrne and Chuck D to Shawn Lee, from Jurassic 5 to Monophonics… he kept on evolving, and started producing Jazz, Funk, Soul, and African music, working with the likes of Ebo Taylor, Tony Allen, Oghene Kologbo, Antibalas, The Souljazz Orchestra, Brownout or Franck Biyong, among others.

    With the Paris DJs label, he managed to cross the rigid boundaries of music categorization with an astonishing quantity of releases in many styles, while developing a high-order mastery in reggae, ska and afrofunk.

    RacecaR & Grant Phabao met at Paris DJs' studio in 2014, thanks to an introduction from hip hop activist Miska with whom the French label has been doing hip hop-themed compilations. They decided to try something new together. Grant Phabao had never produced any hip hop artist before. And RacecaR had never tried to write and record on afro, funk or reggae music in the past. So they planned to produce new tunes together, and blend RacecaR's unmistakable flow with Phabao's unique take on deeply funky American, African and Jamaican grooves.

    The goal of Grant Phabao and RacecaR's collaboration was not from day one to be in competition with their other projects, or to jump on the beatmaking bandwagon, but instead to explore where both of their musical worlds could meet. What if they tried recording one's hip hop rhymes over the other's reggae, ska, afro, jazz or funk productions ? Exploring some new rare grooves with rhyming and rapping, is uncharted waters in terms of tempo for a boom-bap aficionado ! indeed there's no boom bap here, no maverick beats, no wonky, no wobble — all breaks, skanks, drops and more polyrhythmics. The word was : "let's turn our worlds upside down, and make something different together".

    The album track-by-track :
    "Return Of The Dig-Fu" was the duo's first single, boldly subtitled 'Hip Hop Meets Afrofunk', it's a 'Let's play it again' versus ' I need this for my set' kind of tune. With rhymes evoking the digger's lust for the rare groove in vinyl inside all of us, this is an unstoppable afro-funk-hip-hop monster, compiled in the first Paris DJs funk/soul selection "Killas, Thrillas & Chillas".

    "Champion Sound" is one long ride, full blast, featuring some storming sax riffs & solo by Saké from Les Frères Smith. Over a dancefloor-heavy pompin' ska number, RacecaR is relentless, rhyming at high velocity. Be warned, crowds will be jumping all over the place to the sound of this.

    "Think It all" smoothes thing a little bit after this double explosion. On a 33% funk, 33% jazz and 33% dub instrumental, RacecaR recalls a Jurassic 5 vibe which should appeal to many fans of post-golden age grooves.

    Slowing things down, "We Do Anything" is another kind of different blend, with the lyricist's groovy rhymes recorded over one of Grant Phabao's heavy one drop reggae riddims, and featuring Parisian activist from the Chinese Man label Taiwan MC on guest vocals. A true Jamaican singer in the heart, Taiwan adds a catchy hook to the tune and the resulting track is pure, burning, smokin', cookin' music.

    The voyage in a sea of styles is far from over though, as RacecaR has now to face a psychedelic funk whirlwind with heavy stompin' & swingin' beats ! Borrowing its chorus from Canadian MC & friend Jeff Spec, "One Two One Two" sees our MC in great shape, delivering expertly crafted verses one after the other. It seems as if he could even confront a tropical storm now… but that's a story to be told on Paris DJs later on.

    Opening the b-side and previously only available as a T-shirt single ( !), "Rock Your Boat" is a new smashing hip hop/afrofunk monster tune featuring keyboard maestro Soul Sugar. Some heavily funky hybridization bizness !

    Originally recorded over a Gene dudley Group instrumental but rejected by his label, RacecaR's "A Beautiful Days", in a bubbling psychedelic funk Grant Phabao dressing, is maybe the poppiest song the man ever sung. Because sometimes we just like things catchy as hell, it's as simple as that.

    "One Free" then sees the American MC laying a thick rap, moving on and around the beat, over a deep & dubby, slow & stripped-down early 80s dancehall style riddim from the French producer and multi-instrumentalist. The vibe is laidback, smokey, while tropical and hip. A pure stoner tune in the "play it again, Sam" category.

    "Never Say Play Me" closes the album on a unexpected John Barry/James Bond kind of cinematic jazz vibe, with thick horn & string layers, some spacey guitar solo, a shuffling rhythm and a whole lot of suspens.

    All tracks written by RacecaR, excepted "We Do Anything" written by Racecar & Taiwan MC
    All tracks composed by Grant Phabao, excepted "Rock your Boat" composed by Grant Phabao & Guillaume Méténier
    Vocals by RacecaR, excepted "We Do Anything", vocals by Racecar & Taiwan MC
    All instruments, recording, mix and mastering by Grant Phabao at Paris DJs studio
    Excepted "Rock your Boat", Rhodes & Vox Continental by Guillaume Méténier aka Soul Sugar, and "Champion" Sound, saxophone by Saké Smith
    Published by T.I.M.E.C.
    Illustrated by Ben Hito
    © 2016 T.I.M.E.C./Paris DJs

    Includes unlimited streaming of Wearplay LP#05 - A Healthy Obsession With Pétanque via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ... more
    ships out within 7 days
    edition of 500  46 remaining
    Purchasable with gift card

      €25 EUR or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    GRANT PHABAO presents RACECAR
    "A Healthy Obsession With Pétanque"
    Cat. n° PARISDJS090

    Limited edition 9-tracks Digipak CD
    Designed by Ben Hito

    Chicago-born MC RacecaR started rhyming at the end of the 80s. After more than 20 years of touring and recording in the US, he moved to Paris in 2010 and started a whole new musical life. With both knockout performances and acclaimed featurings with bands & artists such as Afro Latin Vintage Orchestra, Dafuniks, Sax Machine, Soul Square, Taiwan MC; with producers and beatmakers such as Asagaya, Blanka, DJ Suspect & Doc TMK, ICBM, Lawkyz, Mattic, Son Of A Pitch; RacecaR is one of the most in-demand hip hop MCs in France. For sure we're missing a few other cool cats in that list, but you get the point : every musician who meets RacecaR over here understands very quickly how tight his flow goes, how masterfully his rhymes are delivered, and how in any kind of context he's able to fit in with style.

    A hard-working abundantly talented rhymester, RacecaR has now been living a pure hip hop life for the last two decades. One of the coolest hip hop cats in the French capital, he's relentlessly touring but in a constant state of rap, writing & rehearsing whenever he can. RacecaR' open-mindedness and friendly Native Tongues attitude got him to collaborate with more and more multi-instrumentalists/producers, among which Etienne de la Sayette, on the opening track from his "Maputo Queens" album released last may, and Grant Phabao, the French label's in-house producer and sound engineer, on a handful of digital singles — all released on Paris DJs.

    After pumpin' house hit singles for the Pro-Zak Trax label at the end of the 1990s, Grant Phabao grew to be a prime purveyor of Jamaican Soul, wether labeled "ska", "bluebeat", "rocksteady", "reggae", "dub" etc. After releasing albums with Jamaican legends Carlton Livingston, The Lone Ranger, The Jays or The Silvertones, and remixes for the whole planet, from George Clinton to Alice Russell, from David Byrne and Chuck D to Shawn Lee, from Jurassic 5 to Monophonics… he kept on evolving, and started producing Jazz, Funk, Soul, and African music, working with the likes of Ebo Taylor, Tony Allen, Oghene Kologbo, Antibalas, The Souljazz Orchestra, Brownout or Franck Biyong, among others.

    With the Paris DJs label, he managed to cross the rigid boundaries of music categorization with an astonishing quantity of releases in many styles, while developing a high-order mastery in reggae, ska and afrofunk.

    RacecaR & Grant Phabao met at Paris DJs' studio in 2014, thanks to an introduction from hip hop activist Miska with whom the French label has been doing hip hop-themed compilations. They decided to try something new together. Grant Phabao had never produced any hip hop artist before. And RacecaR had never tried to write and record on afro, funk or reggae music in the past. So they planned to produce new tunes together, and blend RacecaR's unmistakable flow with Phabao's unique take on deeply funky American, African and Jamaican grooves.

    The goal of Grant Phabao and RacecaR's collaboration was not from day one to be in competition with their other projects, or to jump on the beatmaking bandwagon, but instead to explore where both of their musical worlds could meet. What if they tried recording one's hip hop rhymes over the other's reggae, ska, afro, jazz or funk productions ? Exploring some new rare grooves with rhyming and rapping, is uncharted waters in terms of tempo for a boom-bap aficionado ! indeed there's no boom bap here, no maverick beats, no wonky, no wobble — all breaks, skanks, drops and more polyrhythmics. The word was : "let's turn our worlds upside down, and make something different together".

    The album track-by-track :
    "Return Of The Dig-Fu" was the duo's first single, boldly subtitled 'Hip Hop Meets Afrofunk', it's a 'Let's play it again' versus ' I need this for my set' kind of tune. With rhymes evoking the digger's lust for the rare groove in vinyl inside all of us, this is an unstoppable afro-funk-hip-hop monster, compiled in the first Paris DJs funk/soul selection "Killas, Thrillas & Chillas".

    "Champion Sound" is one long ride, full blast, featuring some storming sax riffs & solo by Saké from Les Frères Smith. Over a dancefloor-heavy pompin' ska number, RacecaR is relentless, rhyming at high velocity. Be warned, crowds will be jumping all over the place to the sound of this.

    "Think It all" smoothes thing a little bit after this double explosion. On a 33% funk, 33% jazz and 33% dub instrumental, RacecaR recalls a Jurassic 5 vibe which should appeal to many fans of post-golden age grooves.

    Slowing things down, "We Do Anything" is another kind of different blend, with the lyricist's groovy rhymes recorded over one of Grant Phabao's heavy one drop reggae riddims, and featuring Parisian activist from the Chinese Man label Taiwan MC on guest vocals. A true Jamaican singer in the heart, Taiwan adds a catchy hook to the tune and the resulting track is pure, burning, smokin', cookin' music.

    The voyage in a sea of styles is far from over though, as RacecaR has now to face a psychedelic funk whirlwind with heavy stompin' & swingin' beats ! Borrowing its chorus from Canadian MC & friend Jeff Spec, "One Two One Two" sees our MC in great shape, delivering expertly crafted verses one after the other. It seems as if he could even confront a tropical storm now… but that's a story to be told on Paris DJs later on.

    Opening the b-side and previously only available as a T-shirt single ( !), "Rock Your Boat" is a new smashing hip hop/afrofunk monster tune featuring keyboard maestro Soul Sugar. Some heavily funky hybridization bizness !

    Originally recorded over a Gene dudley Group instrumental but rejected by his label, RacecaR's "A Beautiful Days", in a bubbling psychedelic funk Grant Phabao dressing, is maybe the poppiest song the man ever sung. Because sometimes we just like things catchy as hell, it's as simple as that.

    "One Free" then sees the American MC laying a thick rap, moving on and around the beat, over a deep & dubby, slow & stripped-down early 80s dancehall style riddim from the French producer and multi-instrumentalist. The vibe is laidback, smokey, while tropical and hip. A pure stoner tune in the "play it again, Sam" category.

    "Never Say Play Me" closes the album on a unexpected John Barry/James Bond kind of cinematic jazz vibe, with thick horn & string layers, some spacey guitar solo, a shuffling rhythm and a whole lot of suspens.

    All tracks written by RacecaR, excepted "We Do Anything" written by Racecar & Taiwan MC
    All tracks composed by Grant Phabao, excepted "Rock your Boat" composed by Grant Phabao & Guillaume Méténier
    Vocals by RacecaR, excepted "We Do Anything", vocals by Racecar & Taiwan MC
    All instruments, recording, mix and mastering by Grant Phabao at Paris DJs studio
    Excepted "Rock your Boat", Rhodes & Vox Continental by Guillaume Méténier aka Soul Sugar, and "Champion" Sound, saxophone by Saké Smith
    Published by T.I.M.E.C.
    Illustrated by Ben Hito
    © 2016 T.I.M.E.C./Paris DJs

    Includes unlimited streaming of Wearplay LP#05 - A Healthy Obsession With Pétanque via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ... more
    ships out within 7 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      €15 EUR or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      €8 EUR  or more

     

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Think It All 04:34
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One Free 04:13
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about

--- ABOUT THIS ALBUM - ENGLISH ---
The fifth in our "Wearplay" series combining clothing, graphics and music production is an album already released on vinyl and CD last year, thanks to a successful crowdfunding campaign. It was conceived as a hip hop album that wouldn't be beatmaking (hip hop beats), but would incorporate rapping over organic grooves such as afrofunk, soul, jazz, ska or reggae, with vocals from Chicago-born MC RacecaR and music from French multi-instrumentalist/producer Grant Phabao. The artwork illustrator Ben Hito designed for the t-shirt/vinyl/CD "real world" version of this album is a bit the same: hijacking the hip hop cliché, it features a very expensive (race) car… And this time we've been doing screen printing on Black or Navy Blue high-quality Made in France T-shirts!

--- A PROPOS DE CET ALBUM - FRANÇAIS ---
Le cinquième épisode de la série "Wearplay" du label Paris DJs, combinant création de vêtements, d'art graphique et de production musicale, est un album déjà sorti en vinyle et CD l'an passé, par le biais d'une campagne de financement participatif. Nous l'avons conçu comme un album de hip hop sans beatmaking (sans beat hip hop), qui assemblerait rap et grooves organiques: afrofunk, soul, jazz, ska ou reggae, avec le rappeur de Chicago RacecaR au micro et le producteur multi-instrumentiste Grant Phabao aux manettes. Le visuel de l'affichiste Ben Hito réalisé pour la version t-shirt/vinyle/CD de cet album est dans la même veine: détournant le cliché hip hop de la bagnole bling-bling, il a opté pour une voiture de course ("race car" en anglais) de collection… Et cette fois nous avons imprimé en sérigraphie, sur des t-shirts haut de gamme, fabriqués en France!

credits

released June 5, 2017

--- ABOUT THE WEARPLAY - ENGLISH ---
The music industry is evolving and Paris DJs with it.

Five years ago we started putting out digital releases, which helped us stay afloat for a bit, but soon digital sales declined, replaced by streaming, a true non-business for independent record companies such as ours.

The vinyl resurgence led us to launch crowdfunding campaigns to press records. We managed to raise money five times in a row, alas record stores are a thing of the past, and direct-to-fan sales haven't taken off. Distributors have been knocking at the door intensely, but with no financial solutions.

In our quest for innovative ways to put out quality music, we wanted to prove ourselves capable of making great products that people would want to use, again and again.
Original, creative, but satisfying products. That's how we came up with the idea of the "Paris DJs Wearplay", a clothing line of "music that you wear", with :

- dashing visuals from French illustrator Ben Hito (www.benhito.com)
- stylish textile digital or screen printing by Anarres in Paris (www.anarres.fr)
- high-end Made in France T-shirts and sweatshirts by Le T-shirt Français (www.letshirtfrancais.fr)
- vintage 1970's sound with Grant Phabao's unsurpassed audio production and mastering skills (www.grantphabao.com)
- and of course, top-of-the-class artistic direction from Djouls and Loik Dury at Paris DJs (www.parisdjs.com)

Just like airplay for radio in the 20th century, the more people will wear our clothes, the more wearplay they'll get.

We want you to proudly arbor Paris DJs' groovy music, while supporting your favorite brand at the same time!

--- A PROPOS DU WEARPLAY - FRANÇAIS ---
L'industrie de la musique évolue et Paris DJs aussi.

Il y a cinq ans nous avons commencé à publier des singles, albums et compilations au format digital, ce qui nous a aidé a garder la tête hors de l'eau pendant un petit moment. Mais les ventes de téléchargements ont rapidement décliné, remplacées par le streaming, un véritable non-business pour des maisons de disques indépendantes telles que la nôtre.

Le retour du vinyle nous a conduit à lancer des campagnes de financement participatif pour presser nos disques. Nous avons réussi à lever de l'argent 5 fois de suite, maheureusement les magasins de disques sont une relique du passé, et les ventes direct-to-fan n'ont jamais décollé. Les distributeurs sont venus taper à notre porte, mais dénués de solutions financières.

En permanence à la recherche de solutions innovantes pour sortir de la musique de qualité, nous voulions faire preuve de notre capacité à fabriquer des produits exceptionnels que les gens voudraient utiliser, encore et encore. Des produits originaux, créatifs et satisfaisants. C'est ainsi que nous est venue l'idée du "Paris DJs Wearplay", une ligne de vêtements de "music that you wear" (musique que vous portez), avec :

- des visuels fringuants de l'affichiste Français Ben Hito (www.benhito.com)
- une impression textile en numérique Haute Définition ou en sérigraphie par l'atelier Anarres à Paris (www.anarres.fr)
- des T-shirts et sweatshirts haut de gamme, fabriqués en France par Le T-shirt Français (www.letshirtfrancais.fr)
- un son "vintage 1970s" grâce aux talents de production et de mastering inégalés de Grant Phabao (www.grantphabao.com)
- et bien évidemment, une direction artistique de premier ordre par Djouls et Loik Dury, co-fondateurs de Paris DJs (www.parisdjs.com)

Comme pour l' "airplay" en radio au 20ème siècle, plus les gens porteront nos vêtements, plus ces derniers obtiendront de "wearplay".

Nous souhaitons que vous arboriez fièrement la musique groovy de Paris DJs, tout en soutenant votre marque préférée!

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Paris DJs Paris, France

Paris-based production team (Djouls, Grant Phabao, Loik Dury & Ben Hito) featuring worldwide guest vocalists, musicians, deejays, graphic/web designers and writers. Reggae, Afro, Funk, Soul, Jazz, Latin, Hip Hop and more audio goodness.

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