US Version, for the french version click here, sorry for our english, we’re french…
EDHH : Hello Mr. Green, the article we did on « Live from the streets » had a pretty big success on our website, quite few readers would like to know more about that.
Mr.Green : The first real release I made was The Only Color That Matters is Green with Pacewon but before that I had « Classic Beats Volume 1″, the first in my instrumental series. I also did a project that was half songs and half instrumentals called « Green Future » in 2007. That featured Killa Preist, Pacewon, Matisyahu and more.
EDHH : How did you have the idea of doing live from the streets ? Were you walking down the streets, you heard somone singing.playing music and you were like « damn, this would be a dope sample for a hiphop beat » ?
Mr.Green : My boy Sam Lipman-Stern played me some live music he recorded with a dope handheld mic he has called the H4N and then I realized that I could start sampling from outdoor sources. Then it came to me that I could combine my ability to make beats out of unique sounds with Sam’s ability to make documentaries… and Live from the Streets was born !
EDHH : Any potential collabos for an entire project with one of them ?
Mr.Green : Yeah, I’m gonna produce a full album using the best beats we made in the Live from the Streets episodes. The rappers featured will be the best Mc’s I’ve ever worked with in the past as well as a few new ones. I can’t say who just yet because it’s too soon but you will definitely see Pacewon, some of the Jedi Mind Tricks family and Young Zee on there…
EDHH : Ok ok, et How many episodes can we expect ?
Mr.Green : I can’t say for sure, we just finished our 15th episode, the Apple Store Episode which marked the end of our first season. Right now we are working on a second season and planning some international travel so we can start showing the skills of musicians from all around the world.
EDHH : The man behind the camera is Sam Lipman Stern (« Rime, pimp my trailer ») right? how did you guys meet up ?
Mr.Green : We always knew eachother from growing up in Jersey but we started working together heavily because he was moving to Philadelphia and needed a roommate. He was moving to a really bad neighborhood and needed someone to take a room for only $150. I took the room because I was completely broke and then we started working together on a bunch of project !
EDHH : Do you plan to do a DVD with all the videos, or a proper beat CD ?
Mr.Green : Yeah we are planning on putting out a DVD to go along with the album. The DVD will have all of the episodes as well as some never before scene footage and extended documentaries about the street musicians.
EDHH : I bet you were pissed off not being in Washington when Joshua Bell came to the underground pretending to be a simple street artist (Watch This Video) ?
Mr.Green : I try not to get pissed off unless it’s something really important but it definitely would have been dope to be there to capture that !
EDHH : How do the people react when you ask them if you can sample them ?
Mr.Green :Most of them are really cool but a few times they have said no. I’d say 95% of street musicians like being filmed and they other 5% don’t like it.
EDHH : From what we saw, all of them did enjoy what you did with their voices, but has it ever happen to have someone unhappy with the result ?
Mr.Green : No, every street musician has been very happy we used them in the show. Now we even get emails from musicians asking to be on the show. We are going to put some of them on in the future.
EDHH : Apart from Pacewon, do you plan to do an album with another rap artist? if so, who would you like to work with ?
Mr.Green : I’d love to do a record with Masta Ace but that’s just a dream for now. I also have a side project called « One Crazy Weekend » with Young Zee. That will be coming in a few months on Fat Beats Records/Green Music Group/Ruff Cutz Media (Young Zee’s record label).
EDHH : Have you ever heard any french rap ?
Mr.Green : Yeah I’ve heard some French rap, my neighbors are French and they put me up on a lot of dope stuff. One that I really like is the group Hocus Pocus. Those guys are DOPE !!!
EDHH : Any chance to see you touring in europe with Pacewon? or with any other artist ?
Mr.Green : Right now Pacewon isn’t able to leave the United States for legal reasons but once that’s cleared up we will definitely be touring Europe together. This summer, fans can expect to see me out in Europe djing and doing Live from the Streets demonstrations similar to the one Sam and I did for Apple last month.
EDHH : Whats in your ipod at the minute ?
Mr.Green : I haven’t been listening to hip hop that much but I’ve been listening to some old Erykah Badu songs that are DOPE… I love the stuff she did with Dilla.
EDHH : Thats about that. If you wish to add anything else, any suggestions, just let me know…
Mr Green : I suggest that you find some people to book me for shows this summer. I’m going to be in Europe from June 15th until August 1st and I want to do as many shows as I can while I’m there… let’s rock !
For those of you who are just learning about the underground hip-hop movement headed by Mr. Green, now is the perfect time to tune in! Live from the Streets began with music producer Aaron Green (A.K.A. Mr. Green) and video director Sam Lipman-Stern in 2011. Together they hit the streets of our cities and with a hand-held recorder, Mr. Green’s ability to highlight the pure, raw emotion found in everyday noises and events as well as the beauty of the poetic inspiration found from street musicians, and Sam’s eye and innate artistic ability to capture the delicacies of the human spirit on video; Live from the Streets is born. However, the ride doesn’t stop here for these two budding entrepreneurs with genuine philanthropic dreams and their honest hardworking hustle to keep hip hop alive.
The Apple Store on West 14th Street is a beautiful 3 story NY building with its 3rd floor hosting exclusive events and pro labs specifically to target creative professionals and boost inspiration and the generation of ideas. And honestly, who better than Live from the Streets Mr. Green & Sam Lipman-Stern to showcase creative intelligence at its height of inspiration? Live from the Streets recent show at the Apple Store: “Remixing the Streets” was a huge success thanks to Sam & Aaron’s hard work, creative genius, and ability to win over a crowd. The show began at 8 pm on a beautiful New York night in March. First Mr. Green & Sam showcased a few of their most famous Live from the Streets episodes: “Man with a Broken Heart” Featuring Brenda, “Shanghai”, “Center City Singers”, and “If I Don’t Go to Hell” (Featuring Janice & Jus Allah). Each episode was explained and performed live to highlight the process Mr. Green uses to create his beats from street musicians and street sounds. The video clips were briefly shown leaving the audience in anticipation of the entire episode and allowing them to watch at their own leisure…
The next segment of the show was an interactive performance led by Sam & Mr. Green with members of the audience ranging from 20 years old to 64 years young! Sam used Mr. Green’s iPhone to record clips ranging from Russian freestyle rap to a lovely rendition of “England Swings like a Pendulum Do”. After emailing Mr. Green the sound clips, Mr. Green made beats on the spot in a similar fashion to how he does it in the series. The audience was fully engaged the entire time, with Sam & Aaron inspiring laughter, curiosity and a genuine good time for all. Next, Live from the Streets premiered their newest episode, “So Awesome” featuring Paul the Birdman, Tibetan Monks, and Sam. This episode was entirely produced with Apple equipment and programs to accent to genius of Apple products and show that Live from the Streets can be made with the equipment that so many people already have.
Although, as we can see, there is no substitute for creative genius and even though Mr. Green and Sam use top of the line equipment for their work, it is surely the artistic passion behind the scenes that ignite their fire and make this project so inspiring. Perhaps the most interesting part of the show was the question and answer segment in which the audience got to pick the brains of Sam & Aaron. What did they have to say? Well, a long-awaited new Pace Won & Mr. Green album is due out in the summer of 2012, Live from the Streets is anticipating more live performances, and Mr. Green and Sam explained how and why they want to give a portion of their sales to the street musicians who they feature in their series. They also expressed plans to publish a DVD containing all of the Live from the Streets episodes and future plans to further the Live from the Streets idea by making a full-length documentary.
The audience was left with excitement and energy to keep inspiring ideas and supporting the idea behind Live from the Streets. Live from the Streets is not just a dope web series (although it is quickly gaining notoriety in the underground arts culture for its originality and poetic beauty), and it’s certainly not simply an album (although the album will be amazing), and it’s not just sick beats (although you can find the beats on iTunes), it is a movement, a shift in collective consciousness, an eye-opening realization that beauty is everywhere and hip hop is alive. Keep an eye out, follow Aaron Green and Sam Lipman-Stern on Facebook, visit Greenhiphop.com & follow Mr. Green on Twitter @greenhiphop.
Article written by Amanda Posmontier…
