Highlights of CTR2, Part 3: HNL & Seth Chaos

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.

Seth Chaos is a major name in the underground music scene in the Boston area. You've heard of the Six Degrees of Separation theory, right? Well, it'd be very rare for you to find someone in the Boston underground hip-hop scene who hasn't heard of Chaos. He's been working on music since the 90s and is involved in nearly all aspects of music peoduction. Rapping, vocals, DJing, filming - Seth Chaos is a man that wears many hats.

HNL has been under the learning tree of music production for years, honing his craft and coming up many different R&B beats. His earliest beat that has been released can be heard on the One Night Stand album on the track, "Comfortable". Since then, the quick study that is HNL has also lent a hand in producing the Intro track for CTR2 and single-handedly composed the beat for "Take A Walk" from the Morning After album, featuring the voices of Runna, G. Jonz and J-Dub.

The Morning After album notes

"The Morning After" is the sophomore album by Runna & Right Hook, and it's the follow-up to their "One Night Stand" effort. It is the second album from Sunspot Productions that features mostly R&B and pop songs. Executive Producer: G. Jonz.

Track listing information:
1. On My Way Home Intro
Concept by L. McClain. Performed by J. Runner III. Music by O'Brian Music.

2. Stop, Breathe
Written and performed by J. Runner III, C. Luk, and J. Warren. Produced by P.O.E.S. Beats (Check out his debut mixtape: People Only Envy Strength - Think POES).

3. Yum Yums
Written and performed by C. Sout and J. Runner III. Music by Swollen Drumz Productions.

4. Too Long
Written by C. Sout. Music by JuSaMeLoDy.

5. Soul Clap
Written and performed by J. Runner III, C. Sout and J. Warren. Produced by Seth Chaos (@SethChaosChoZen) for S.O.U.L. Music.

6. Have You?
Written by C. Sout and G. Jones. Performed by C. Sout. Music by SINIMA BEATS.

7. We Found Love
Written by J. Runner III. Music by T3K Beats.

8. Take A Walk
Written and performed by J. Runner III, J. Warren and G. Jones. Produced by HNL Beats (@YourBoyL).

9. Oh No (She Fo Sho)
Written and performed by C. Sout and V. Marrero. Produced by Bill Collectors Music.

10. Milky Way
Written and performed by J. Runner III, C. Sout, C. Luk (His ReverbNation page) and G. Jones. Produced by G. Jonz for Sunspot Productions (@sunspot781).
"Planet Guilt" interlude written and performed by J. Runner III.

11. Hungover
Written and performed by C. Sout and V. Marrero. Produced by P.O.E.S. Beats.

12. The Morning After
Written by J. Runner III and G. Jones. Performed by J. Runner III. Produced by G. Jonz for Sunspot Productions.

A Night Out with Sunspot

On July 16, the summer will get even hotter as Sunspot will host a live show at Tatiana's Restaurant & Lounge at 70 Market St in Lynn MA!

Songs from Check The Recipe and One Night Stand will be performed as well as brand-new music from C. Luk, J-Dub, Runna, and Right Hook!

The ITM Dance Team will be our special guests and we'll have other surprises as well! It's a 21+ event and you won't wanna miss it!!

Directions to Tatiana's From North I-95 South, Merge onto I-95 North/128 north via Exit 37A (towards Peabody) Take the US-1 North/RT-129 East Exit- (Exit 44B- toward Danvers) Take the RT-129 East ramp toward Lynn/Swampscott Enter next roundabout and take 1st exit onto MA-129 East Turn RIGHT onto Boston St. Turn LEFT onto Franklin St. Turn SLIGHT LEFT onto City Hall Sq. Turn RIGHT onto Market St. From South I-95 North, Merge onto I-93 North/US-1 North via Exit 12 toward Boston Take Exit 20 toward I-90 / LOGAN AIRPORT / WORCESTER / South STATION Merge onto I-90 Eeat/MASS PIKE/MASSACHUSETTS TURNPIKE via the exit on the LEFT toward Logan Airport/South Station Turn SLIGHT RIGHT onto MA-1A North/WILLIAM F MCCLELLAN HWY/EAST BOSTON EXPY. Continue to follow MA-1A North Turn SLIGHT RIGHT onto MA-1A North/BEACH ST. Continue to follow MA-1A North Pass through 1 roundabout Turn LEFT onto MA-1A / Market St. Continue to follow Market St. From West I-90 East/MASS PIKE/MASSACHUSETTS TURNPIKE via the ramp on the LEFT toward Boston Turn SLIGHT RIGHT onto MA-1A North/WILLIAM F MCCLELLAN HWY/EAST BOSTON EXPY. Continue to follow MA-1A North Turn SLIGHT RIGHT onto MA-1A North/BEACH ST. Continue to follow MA-1A North Pass through 1 roundabout Turn LEFT onto MA-1A / Market St. Continue to follow Market St.

Hit up our Facebook Event page to RSVP. Not on Facebook? Then you can RSVP in the comment section.

One Night Stand: One Year Later

June 1, 2011 marks exactly one year since Sunspot dropped "One Night Stand." I thought it'd be interesting to get some insight from the lead artists from that project, Runna and Right Hook. I thought it'd be even more interesting to ask them the same questions about it separately. The video below shows what they said when I asked them these questions:

1. What's your favorite "Runna" track?
2. What's your favorite "Right Hook" track?
3. Has working with the other affected your singing/writing style? How?
4. What's next?


Listen and download One Night Stand for free.

Sunspot Discography, Part 5: One Night Stand

This is Part 5 of the Sunspot Discography series. I'll be posting a short summary about every album and mixtape that's been released under Sunspot Productions. To read every entry, check the sidebar labeled "Discography."


June 1, 2010

Production on "One Night Stand" started just weeks after the release of "Check The Recipe." Sunspot headed into uncharted territory as this effort would be its first completely R&B/pop album. Runna performed most of the R&B tracks while Right Hook performed most of the pop contributions.

Due to the personal & professional relationships we've built over the years, "One Night Stand" was created with help from many people. P.O.E.S. blessed the team by producing most of this album. An up-and-coming beatmaker who goes by HNL teamed up with G. Jonz to produce "Comfortable," which was performed by Runna. As far as featured vocalists go, Right Hook teamed up with Taina and Remy Redd for the slick dance jam "Come Home." Runna enlisted his lyrical cousin (J-Dub) to create the ambiant "If I Don't Have You." C.Luk, P.O.E.S., A-Class and T-Pain (yes, that T-Pain) are also heard on these respective tracks: "To Go On," "Your Body," "Mamacita," and "Everybody Else."

A few facts about "One Night Stand" that you may not have known:
A snippet of Right Hook's "Mamacita" was first heard on Check the Recipe as a prelude for the song "Just A Little Bit Closer." The beat for Runna's "Comfortable" was actually made in the summer of 2006 and was first used as a backing track for a local slide show. Finally, "Live It Up" is the only track on this album that features both Runna AND Right Hook.

Go to the Azn Wayz Bandcamp site to listen to and download One Night Stand now!

Sunspot Discography, Part 4: Check The Recipe

This is Part 4 of the Sunspot Discography series. I'll be posting a short summary about every album and mixtape that's been released under Sunspot Productions. To read every entry, check the sidebar labeled "Discography."

December 18, 2009

The thought of creating my own "album" had crossed my mind for a few years. Since I'm not a lyricist or a regular on-stage performer, I wasn't sure how to do it. I thought about some of my influences - The Neptunes, Swizz Beatz, Timbaland - they've all come out with mixtapes or albums. Yes, they're "household name" performers in a sense, but they are primarily known as producers. As the sole member of Sunspot who had no expectations placed upon him to put out a project, I decided to finally pull the trigger.

To start, I gathered 6 to 8 R&B and hip-hop beats and emailed them to the Sunspot team, telling them my plan for what was called my mixtape, then my album... then finally, my "mixtape album." Blak C, my brother, and J-Dub, Runna's cousin, were also asked to contribute to the project. I was obviously a little hesitant/unsure about this for a while; to make sure that I was held accountable, I let the public know that I was working on this project with 5 videos documenting the making of the album.

Halfway through the production, P.O.E.S. linked up with Sunspot and showed that he not only produces beats himself, but he's also a lyricist. P.O.E.S. illustrated his lyrical ability in "Huntin For The Game" (with J-Dub and Blak C) and "You Like It," (with Right Hook) a song in which he came up with the concept.

Ro$e Marie made her lyrical debut on the album with "Let The Beat Burn" (with Runna & Right Hook) and "We Cookin It," which featured Right Hook, Blak C, J-Dub and Quiet Storm in his only showing on the project. C.Luk also made appearances on the tracks "Raw," "Check The Recipe" and "Just A Little Bit Closer," which made its debut on the "DJ Kurt presents C.Luk" mixtape. Here's the original version of the song.

R&B and pop stylings were also added to Check The Recipe with "Turn It Up" by Runna and "Caught Red Handed" by Right Hook. Thanks to everyone who supported CTR, we received reviews from other blogs. We also put out a music video for one of the strongest singles from CTR. Shout out to Kevin's Bar & Grill in Lynn (they were very cooperative in the making of the video).

Go to the Sunspot Bandcamp site to listen to and download Check The Recipe now!

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