Traversing the landscape of hip-hop music, Pa-sha Edge has formulated a mix of artists whohail from the inner city of Grand Rapids. Differ-ing from the B-boy music of the club scene,Edge wants to bring a new flavor of hip-hop tothe forefront of the GRAP scene buy focusingon premium production of the music, while giv-ing a voice to reality rap. Pasha and two of hisMCs stopped by the Recoil office to discuss

their compilation, Cut The Check Records Pre-sents Volume 1.

Ranging from the humor-laden party jams ofMr. Five O’Clock to the hard street reality of Bo,the Cut the Check (CTC) click has a variety ofstyles to offer. The contemporary productionstyle of the Grand Rapids scene showcases avariety of flavor with production ranging fromfull-live band arrangements to East Coast DJPremier-esque production that one would hearon a cut from Eastown J. The CTC crew differin their production, employing a feel that utilizessynth patches and vocoders. It has a very At-lanta/New Orleans feel in its aesthetic. “I ain’t saying some fugazi shit, or any non-sense – what I spit is real, quotable,” explainedBo. His imagery is not for the week of heart, it isa story from the street dealing with the reality ofhustling everything under the sun. While directin his approach regarding “the real,” Bo alsohas tracks that focus on everyday life, like hisrelationship with his girl, or “droppin’ jewels inthe club.” “I just look at this as my zone,” said Mr. FiveO’clock. Originally from Detroit, Five O’clock

REGIONAL BAND

27 volume 10 issue 2 february recoilmag.com

When one imagines Midwestern cities that pro-duce rock bands, Muskegon is not the firstplace that comes to mind, but the funky trioFour Finger Five has broken the mould in thelakeshore’s music community. With three ambi-tious albums, shows at both installments of theRothbury Music Festival, and a feature articlein the Aug. 22 issue of Billboard magazine, thegroup has established themselves as seriousmusicians with national appeal. Their newest album, 222, will be released atFounder’s Brewing Company on Feb. 13, and itis a tribute to a decade of experience playingtogether and an impressive history of high-qual-ity recording that can also be found in formeralbums Enormous Pocket and ff5. After captur-ing the attention of audio engineer Bill Chryslerof Grand Haven, who has done recording withthe likes of Mariah Carey, Four Finger Five hasthrown itself into laying down tracks that cap-ture the ener-getic sound oftheir live perfor-mances. Drum-mer Steve Har-ris and bass gui-tarist MikePhillips startedc o l l a b o r a t i n gmusically duringhigh school,where they focused on jazz, a sound that greatlyinfluences the group’s unique rock fusion. Self-taught guitarist and singer Joe Sturgill joined toform Four Finger Five in 1999, bringing withhim a set of eclectic musical influences suchas Stevie Wonder, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin

and Otis Redding. Armed with these diversetastes, the group exudes a sound that is at thesame time funky and ambient, bumping, twangyand smooth, while never sacrificing cohesionand an overall vibe of soulful energy. A strong effort is put forth to produce a re-cording sound that reflects the quality of theband’s live performances, which are alwaysaimed at creating a party atmosphere. The po-etic and thoughtful lyrics and smooth vocalsform the backbone for hard-hitting drum beatsand gritty bass riffs that create musical move-ment and an upbeat vibe that inspire the crowdto follow suit. This eclectic sound draws anequally diverse crowd, with fans of strikinglyvarying ages and musical tastes who can allfind something to identify with. Four Finger Five has carried their sound ontour, touching down everywhere from Portlandto Colorado, New Orleans and New York, just

to name a few.Their history re-flects an ambi-tious commit-ment to embark-ing on all of thejourneys, both lit-erally and figura-tively, that theirmusic can takethem on, and they

show no signs of stopping. Be sure to attendthe CD Release Party at Founder’s on Feb. 13for great music, great people and great brews,and if you’re still not sold, catch them at Billy’sLounge Feb. 3 to see for yourself.–MarieLockerd

A strong effort is put forth toproduce a recording sound

that reflects the quality of theband’s live performances.

Four Finger Five

LOCAL HIP-HOP

learned the techniques of production out of ne-cessity for a correct beat. He taught himselfsequencing programs and studied recordingtechniques at GVSU School of Communica-tions; he currently is working on his Master’sDegree at GVSU. “School always comes sec-ond, but I got to have my eyes on a secondarysituation; if I don’t make it with this music, I gotto have a back up situation...that’s how it is.” Later this spring the crew will begin their 50-city tour in conjunction with Star B Entertain-ment, based out of the dirty south’s Raleigh-

Durham. Until then you can catchthem at Cut The Check VIP par-ties at Sixx Nightclub or at Com-edy Night at The Whiskey Lounge(their boy David Jones recentlyperformed his comedy at theApollo Theatre in Harlem, NYC).On Feb. 13 they will be perform-ing at Doctor Grin’s Comedy Clubfor the Noah Sife World Premierafter-party. This show with featurecomedy from Def Comedy Jam’sAdele Gibbons, Red Grand, andGR local David Jones. CTC’s VPAliyya Williams reminded us to“Check out the VIP Valentine’sshow at the Blue Lagoon inGunRule (Grand Rapids),Feb.14.” For video check outw w w . y o u t u b e . c o m /watch?v=yERZWZ0C1AM.–Ben-jamin Hunter

Bo of Cut The Check Records.

Mr. Five O’Clock of Cut The Check Records.

Cut TheCheckRecords

Ranging from thehumor-laden party

jams of Mr. FiveO’Clock to the hardstreet reality of Bo,the Cut the Check(CTC) click has a

variety of styles tooffer.