Highlights of CTR2, Part 1: Walnut & Mara Bettencourt

Check The Recipe 2 is my latest mixtape which features 18 musical talents from the 781 area and beyond. I'll be giving some background info on two of the people involved in CTR2 in this entry. Sit back and take in some insight on the Recipe.

From left to right: Walnut, G. Jonz and Blak C admiring the beauty of Mara Bettencourt.

Walnut is a veteran in hip-hop culture. For over 20 years, Da Lyrical Geni has solidified in his name in the Boston area as one of the most diverse and conscious lyricists to ever hold a mic. CTR2 isn't the first time that Walnut and Sunspot have crossed paths. Walnut made an appearance in C.Luk's Extradimensional album as well as the critcally-acclaimed short film, "Captain Asian America." G. Jonz and C.Luk also lent a hand in producing two songs ("Next On the Mic" and "You Need to Stop") from Walnut's 2011 release - "Love Is In Your Face." C.Luk performs on "Next On the Mic" along with Big Brotha Sadi and Zullo Crew.

During the calendar year, Walnut hosts a series of Community Building parties where artists of all genres come together and promote positivity, have jam sessions, and generally have a good time. This is how G. Jonz met the vocalist/musican/songwriter Mara Bettencourt.

The Chef brought up the idea of making a second mixtape and explained that he wanted to expand his skills as a producer and delve into pop. Bettencourt agreed to help with this and stated that she wanted a sound that would be reminiscent of a "celestial" dance pop sound. About a week later, the beat was brought to Mara and the aural artist of Azores went to work on creating the lyrics. Soon, Love At First Sight was created and was instrumental (ha.) in leading the pop sound on CTR2. Mara's newest CD is scheduled for release sometime in January 2013.

You can listen to Walnut and Mara and get free downloads right now! Keep checking for updates as I highlight the remaining 16 voices of Check The Recipe 2!

Sunspot Discography, Part 3

This is Part 3 of the Sunspot Discography series. I'll be posting a short summary about every album and mixtape that's been released under Sunspot Productions. At the end of each entry, there will be a media player where you can listen to and download selected tracks from each CD. To read every entry, check the sidebar labeled "Discography."

August 2004
Mixtape: "Opposites Attrack"

Coming off the heels of a red-hot release for "Blackface," Runna and Quiet Storm continued to make the summer of '04 even hotter with this mixtape. The name of the project obviously plays off of the phrase "opposites attract." However, the R&B crooner and the street lyricist did a little "give and take" on some of the tracks; sometimes QS gave you some hip-hop to rock to ("You Better") or on the opposite end of the spectrum, Runna would give you some R&B to groove to ("Hardly Breathe"). The entire mixtape has a "summertime-in-the-city" feel with tracks like "Caramel Lips", "Step Up (Show Me Where The Spot Is At)" and "Go" featuring C.Luk. He is featured on one other track and G. Jonz also makes a cameo.

July 2008
Album: "Extradimensional"

"Blackface" was supposed to be C.Luk's last album... HOWEVER, there was an offer on the table for a record deal. That offer didn't go over well. C.Luk explains why "Extradimensional" was created:

"Beatmart, a Christian subdivision of Warner Bros. Music (they eventually went to Sony), had offered a deal. They eventually backed out because they didn't have faith in the business side of C.Luk. True story: on "Live" ft. Right Hook, there's a line that was changed about three days before it was sent to be pressed. The current line is "Hey, C, there's a booger in your nose/ hey back up off of me dude man you lookin too close!" The original line was "Hey, C. Didn't Beatmart back out of the deal?/ Quiet man I'm in denial get that crap out of here!" The line was pulled at the request of Bobby Bishop, former Beatmart recording artist and mentor in the game, who thought that the line would unnecessarily burn bridges. If you're curious, Beatmart no longer exists."

C.Luk's fourth album includes appearances by BPC, G. Jonz, Nathan Martin, Bobby Bishop, Quiet Storm, 7:13 (formerly known as Grimm the Heatmeiser), Walnut, Alex Stoyanov, Runna, Right Hook, Miguel Urena and Howie Doo. Cover art was created by Ill Day. The lead single for the album was "Bounce Back." The music video for it can be seen here.
[Refining the Recipe (02.13.11): When I mentioned the "F Wit Us" mixtape in the Discography series, I said that it had the most features we've ever had on any project. I now realize that "Extradimensional" has that honor, with 11 features. "F Wit Us" has 8.]

May 2009
Mixtape: "DJ Kurt presents C.Luk"

Months after "Extradimensional" was released, C.Luk moved to Philadelphia where he currently resides. It was there that he entered the 1st Annual Music and Entertainment Conference held by 100.3 The Beat. This video quickly illustrates that the Happy Asian MC won the Conference and got a lot of attention. When it was over, he got new management and the decision was made to release a mixtape, hosted by Philly's DJ Kurt. The mixtape churned out bangers like "Temp," "Clap Your Hands," "I'm Like" and "Fake Rappers," which is a revamped version of "Eliminate Rappers" from Luk's last album. "Eliminate Rappers" earned C.Luk a nomination for "Song of the Year" at the 2010 Underground Music Awards in NYC.

To listen to 13 tracks from this mixtape, click here for his Soundclick link.


Four tracks have been added to the Discography playlist. Play and download them for free.
blog discography by gjonz