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bdigga hip hop

Washington, DC  USA
January 15, 2009
7,949 plays
16,708 views
B-Digga is a Washington, D.C. based Composer-Producer, Founder and CEO of B-Digga Productions. He is committed to locating the best in urban talent and nurturing it through creative collaboration. Not a manager or financially motivated "talent scout", B-Digga is focused solely on the creation of works of artistic excellence by bringing out the best in the artists he works with and bringing his own eclectic musical vision to bear on the material that they have to offer. A self-taught musician and producer, he brings a deep knowledge of music history along with a natural gift for musical composition to the creation of modern urban-genre material that is fresh and unique, yet firmly rooted in the great American musical traditions of the past.
Band/artist history
I have worked with and/or produced the following artists (in chronological order): Tamika Jones (Neo-Soul, Acid Jazz, Dance, Hip Hop, R&B) Black Indian a.k.a. Joshua Paul (Hip Hop) E.R.K. - Earth's Recognized King (Hip Hop) Multi (Neo-Soul, Acid Jazz, Hip Hop) W. Ellington Felton (Neo-Soul, Acid Jazz, Hip-Hop) Flex Mathews (Hip Hop) DJ P-Nyce (Hip Hop) Priest Da Nomad (Hip Hop) Cy Young (Hip Hop) Asheru (Hip Hop) y.u. (Hip Hop) Ethan Spalding - Violet Sez Five (Hip Hop, Rock) Strap (Hip Hop) Kaze (Hip Hop) Lora Lee (Neo-Soul, R&B) Tia (Neo-Soul, R&B) Jasmine (Neo-Soul, R&B) K - Brown Cleva Records (Hip Hop) Myke P. (Acid Jazz, Neo Soul, Hip Hop, Dance) DJ Sharkey (Hip Hop, Go Go, Rock) Curly and the Rocket (Rock) Katrina (R&B) Message Basek (Hip Hop, Radio) Sean Blak (Hip Hop) Mohamed - the General Black (Hip Hop) Alison Crockett (Acid Jazz, Neo Soul) Ant Jax (Hip Hop) Ben Grimm/Hakiym and D (Hip Hop)
Have you performed in front of an audience?
Yes I do play live. A special moment was playing the Capital Fringe Festival in July 2008, where I presented a multimedia performance consisting of my original video compositions projected on a screen behind the performers (Tamika Jones, E.R.K. and Black Indian). This was fun, and I'd like to do it again.
Your musical influences
A Tribe Called Quest (Ali Shaheed Mohamed), The Roots, Gangstarr (DJ Premier), Mobb Deep, EPMD, MF Doom, Jay Dee, Madlib, Public Enemy, NWA, and others too numerous to mention.
What equipment do you use?
I own a full studio, in which I use: HARDWARE: VISION Digital Audio Workstation computer MacBook Pro 17" laptop Dell UltraSharp 2001FP Flat Panel LCD monitors (2 units) Focusrite Liquid Channel Preamp and A/D converter Focusrite Liquid Mix Multi-Compressor and Equalization Emulator Ensoniq EPS16+ MIDI Keyboard and Sampler Roland Juno 60 Synthesizer Frontera I-Cove external SCSI removable media hard drive MUSE Receptor Unix PC Metric Halo Mobile IO 2882 + DSP external firewire soundcard Aardvark Q10 external soundcard MOTU 828 828 MKII external firewire soundcard M-Audio Ozone MIDI Controller and External USB soundcard Steinberg Midex 8 Edirol UM-1X USB to MIDI converter TC Firewire Powercore Effects Processor Glyph firewire GT050 180gig hard drives (7 units) Glyph Netdrive USB-Firewire 200 GB hard drive Blue Mouse Microphone Rode NTK Microphone and Preamp Oktava MK 219 Microphone Oktava MK 319 Microphone AudioTechnica 4033 Microphone Shure SM57 Microphone Beyer Dynamic M69( C) Microphone SPL Transient Designer audio processor BBE 882I Sonic Maximizer BBE 422A (2 units) ART Pro MPA Preamp Symetrix 525 Compressor/Limiter Alesis Dual 1/3 Octave Precision Equalizer Rocktron Hush IICX Noise Reduction System Yamaha SPX900 Professional Multi-Effect Processor Roland R-8 Human Rhythm Composer MIDI Drum Machine Digital Metronome Tannoy system 1200 monitor pair Event 20/20 monitor pair JBL L100 Century monitor pair Auralex foam monitor acoustic insulators (3 units) Mackie Bigknob Mixer Mackie 1202 VLZ Pro Mixer Niles SVL-4AB Speaker Selection /Volume Control System Re'an/ AP Audio Patchbay System (48 i/o) Mackie M-800 Professional Power Amplifier Furman IT Reference Discrete Symmetrical Power Supply APC Back UPS Pro Uninterruptible Power Supply (3 units) Kenwood KD-3070 Turntable Technics SL 1300 Turntable Technics Direct Drive Automatic SL-D3 Turntable Marantz Professional CD Recorder CDR300 Parasound PPH100 Preamplifiers (2 units) GoVideo DVD Recorder and VCR VR3930 Sony Portable Minidisc Recorder MZ-MH1 RCA SCT 550 Full Logic Controlled Stereo Cassette Deck Teac A6300 Professional Reel to Reel Tape Recorder Syquest EZ-Drive External Removable Media Hard Drive Iomega Jaz Drive External Removable Media Hard Drive Westell Prospeed DSL Modem NetGear FM114P Prosafe Wireless Firewall/Print Sever Netgear FS105 Fast Ethernet Switch Orange Micro OrangeCombo USB/Firewire PCMCIA card for laptops USB Hubs (2 Units) KVR Switches (2 Units) Cables (Firewire, USB, Audio, Microphone, Digital Audio, etc.) Multi-outlet surge suppressors, misc. power cables, Digital Camera SOFTWARE: Steinberg Cubase 4 (2 copies) Steinberg Wavelab 5.0 Ableton Live 7 Celemony Melodyne Studio 3 Waves Diamond Bundle Native Instruments Komplete 4 Propellerheads Recycle Propellerheads Reason Arkaos Grand VJ and Arkaos VJ MIDI Various video conversion and ripping tools Bias Peak 4 Fxpansion BFD FXpansion BFD XFL FXpansion BFD Deluxe FXpansion BFD 8BK FXpansion BFD Jazz and Funk Garritan Jazz and Big Band Instrument Collection Ilio Saxaphones Ilio Epic horns Ilio Vienna Harps Ilio Vienna Concert Guitars Steinberg Groove Agent Steinberg Halion Spectrasonics Atmosphere Spectrasonics Stylus Spectrasonics Trilogy Motu Mach 5 (Mac and Windows copies purchased separately) Yellow Tools Culture Yellow Tools Majestic Yellow Tools Candy Yellow Tools Independence Motu Digital Performer 4 Acid Pro UltraFocus Ultimate Soundbank Applied Acoustic Systems Lounge Lizard IK Multimedfia T-Racks Mastering Processors E-Labs Obsession Zero-G Altered States Antares Auto-Tune BBE Sonic Maximizer VST Plug
Anything else?
Here are reviews from dctheatrescene.com and the Washington City Paper: dctheaterscene.com review: B-Digga Presents July 20th, 2008 by Miranda Hall B-Digga Presents Reviewed by Miranda Hall "Man, I forgot the Fringe was a theatre festival," shrugged the rapper E.R.K. as he jauntily took stage Saturday afternoon. "I'm music," he laughed. "Well alright. Here we go." His casual entrance - hopping from the front row onto the stage - topped the second half of B-Digga's handpicked concert, now playing at Fort Fringe. His introduction was apt: let's just get together and create something. Dismissing the boundaries of genre, B-Digga Presents illuminated and syncopated the thrill of explosive art. Theatre or not, it doesn't get much more Fringe than that. Rippling beneath the Festival's signature white Baldacchino, B-Digga's fluid amalgams of acid jazz, funk, neo-soul, and hip hop glided seamlessly beneath the trills and beats of songstress Tamika Jones and rappers E.R.K., y.u., and Enjay. Audience members swayed with cold drinks in hand as psychedelic video projections guided them through the entrancing numbers. Even the persistent sunlight seemed to relax as it spilled through the tent's open flaps. Though relationship dilemmas topped the agenda, many of the songs celebrated a refreshing social progressivism with calls to end racial inequality and corporate monopolies. The concert began with an improvised jam from pianist Myke P, whose loose, upbeat song welcomed the audience into the show like old friends. Ms. Jones soon joined Mr. P onstage to enchant with her blithe and gracious voice. Clad in turquoise, purple, and orange, she glowed with a bold resilience as she sang about the transcendent powers of music. When E.R.K, y.u., and Enjay took the stage after this goddess of cool, they continued her message with lyrics like "don't do it for the payday, do it for the love." Though the performer-to-audience ratio struck close to equilibrium - a shame for such a lively concert - the artists animated their work with a purpose and sincerity that showed no concern for the size of the crowd. Running Time: 60 minutes Tickets: B-Digga Presents Remaining Shows: Sat, July 26 at 6:30 . Sun, July 27 at 5 Where: The Baldacchino at Fort Fringe, 607 New York Ave, NW Washinton City Paper review: B-Digga Presents' Posted by Majeedah Johnson on Jul. 19, 2008, at 3:08 pm B-Digga Presents The BaldacchinoRemaining Performances: Saturday, July 19 @ 5 PM Saturday, July 26 @ 6:30 PM Sunday, July 27 @ 5 PM They Say: "A multimedia extravaganza! B-Digga's groundbreaking music with live performance and vocals by some of D.C.'s finest artists, with accompanying video and computer generated imagery. The music will be progressive hip-hop, soul and acid jazz-material that's intelligent and thought provoking but also crowd-engaging, danceable, and guaranteed to groove! "Majeedah's Take: Focusing on the music and messages of B-Digga's lineup, audience members received a healthy dosage of entertaining and engaging hip-hop. Although I was unsure when the show actually began, until then audience members were entertained by dancing bodies, moving kaleidoscopes and brilliantly colored abstract images featured on a projection screen. This provided a backdrop to the opening instrumentals. Ms. Tamika Jones, accompanied by fellow singers Shareeta and Eric, opened the first set with a series of eclectic tunes with thoughtful and upbeat lyrics. Songs such as "Back to Life," "You and Me" and "Runnin" are reminiscent of a DJ Spinna extended mix or a Future Sound of Jazz compilation album. As Ms. Jones sang about lost love and self-determination, I was reminded of a new age Nina Simone or an Ursula Rucker. MC Black Indian demonstrated his versatility and maturity with witty and humorous rhymes on topics ranging from gentrification and real estate woes in the DC metro area to increasing food and gas prices to the current presidential election. An ode to hip hop was performed over a tantalizing and smooth beat that any Wu Tang member or Stones Throw MC would salivate over. MC Enjay blessed the crowd with a meaty freestyle to close out the set. Sometimes the idea of intelligent hip hop and R&B conjures thoughts of hokiness or contrived happiness. Not the case with B-Digga's performers. Each song was cleverly matched with the performer. The messages are wholesome and something to which each audience member can relate. The diversity of topics covered will allow for the featured artists to be appreciated and favored at a variety of venues. The performance illustrates their devotion to great music with a positive message. See it if: You like good music. Skip it if: You don't like good music.
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Hip-Hop artist from Washington, DC. New songs free to stream or download. Add to your playlist now.