• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • NEWS+OPINIONS
    • NEWS TO US
    • COLUMNS
      • APPARENT HORIZON
      • DEAR READER
      • Close
    • LONGFORM FEATURES
    • OPINIONS
    • EDITORIAL
    • Close
  • ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
    • FILM
    • MUSIC
    • COMEDY
    • PERFORMING ARTS
    • VISUAL ARTS
    • Close
  • DINING+DRINKING
    • EATS
    • SIPS
    • BOSTON BETTER BEER BUREAU
    • Close
  • LIFESTYLE
    • CANNABIS
      • TALKING JOINTS MEMO
      • Close
    • WELLNESS
    • GTFO
    • Close
  • STUFF TO DO
  • TICKETS
  • ABOUT US
    • ABOUT
    • MASTHEAD
    • ADVERTISE
    • Close
  • BECOME A MEMBER

Dig Bos

The Dig - Greater Boston's Alternative News Source

MUSIC NOTES: W.O.K.E. + GRANTS + TUFF GONG BOSTON

Written by DIG STAFF Posted January 1, 2020 Filed Under: Interviews, MUSIC, Notes from the Scene, Reviews

 

Hardrocks and Glasshouse 

It’s wild that it’s been a year since we last checked in on W.O.K.E. (We. Only. Know. Elevation.), the traditionally tough but certainly experimental troupe of producer Jon Glass with MCs Oblivious and Lateb, all names that you might recognize from countless underground rap bills with crews like Heddshotts and the Gutterheads that these guys hail from. Here’s what Oblivious told us last January when the newly announced unit was about to take off for its first outing in Europe:

 

“Observation is key, and my lyrics on a project like this are inspired by things I personally have experienced. I am a victim of Sallie Mae to this day; I have been targeted by police and have felt unsafe many times, as have many people in my life. I have been in the prison system and seen the ugliness and the mindstate of people who can’t get out of their own minds. It’s a vicious cycle. Not everyone will agree with our views, but as long as we make people question things that maybe trigger new thoughts and ideas, then the goal is accomplished.”

 

At long last, W.O.K.E.’s self-titled debut is now streaming everywhere, with videos for “The Bird Box” and “Wake Up” flanking the effort. “Our outlook on the state of things going on in the world and in our country are very bold, and cut and dry on this record,” Lateb tells DigBoston. “This is our dream and what we want to do for a living. We elevate because this is what we love.”

 

ALLISON DE GROOT

Passim income

Congrats to all of the recipients of the latest round of Passim grants through the Iguana Music Fund. Twenty-three musicians “with a strong New England connection” were given a total of $41,000 ($500 to $2,000 each) “to enhance their careers and support community outreach projects.” 

 

“Grants are allocated in the areas of recording or manufacturing assistance, publicity and marketing support, equipment and instruments, songwriting retreats, tour support, special projects and other specific activities that promote artists work and/or professional growth.” 

 

Here are some specific examples, for those of you who may want to throw your thinking cap in the ring next go-round.

 

 

  • Volkan Efe also plans to give back through the Makam Healing Project. Efe will use traditional Turkish arrangements known as Makams to help heal people at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital in Jamaica Plain. 

 

  

 

  • Katie McNally, Dorene Higgons, and Katharine MacPhaill have started a weeklong Boston States Fiddle Camp in Groton, Massachusetts. The program helps educate fiddle players of varying abilities.

 

  

 

  • Clawhammer banjo artist Allison de Groot is putting together an album of duets and singer-songwriter Prateek will record a live album in Somerville at Q Division Studios. Naomi Westwater is starting to work on an EP about race relations, climate change, and her health struggles. Molly Pinto Madigan will use the grant to promote her new folk opera. 

 

 

Hub Gong

In case you missed our interview with Boston reggae artist Greg Roy, he told us all about his experience as a music engineer as well as a writer and front man, here and also back home in Jamaica. 

 

“It’s like gathering everyone around a campfire with a drum,” he said of the ideal session. “When the feeling gets right, then you hit that [record] button.”

 

On that note, we’re excited to hear that Roy’s new album, Tomorrow, is now being distributed worldwide by the iconic Tuff Gong imprint. More info and tracks at gregroymusic.com.

DIG STAFF
+ posts

Dig Staff means this article was a collaborative effort. Teamwork, as we like to call it.

  • DIG STAFF
    https://digboston.com/author/dig-staff/
    Dig This: Six Days Of St. Paddy @ Thirsty Scholar
  • DIG STAFF
    https://digboston.com/author/dig-staff/
    Rock & Roll Rumble Lineup Announced, Tixx On Sale
  • DIG STAFF
    https://digboston.com/author/dig-staff/
    New Bar-Restaurant-Venue Hue Open In Copley Square Hotel
  • DIG STAFF
    https://digboston.com/author/dig-staff/
    Dig This: Trans And Nonbinary Artists At The Rockwell On Trans Day Of Visibility

Filed Under: Interviews, MUSIC, Notes from the Scene, Reviews Tagged With: Allison de Groot, Greg Roy, Iguana Music Fund, Jon Glass, Lateb, Oblivious, Passim, Prateek, Reggae, Tuff Gong, Volkan Efe, W.O.K.E.

WHAT’S NEW

State Wire: Funds Aim To Support Municipalities With Expanded Mail Voting

State Wire: Funds Aim To Support Municipalities With Expanded Mail Voting

Parks & Checks: Wasteful, Opaque Bookkeeping At Two City Of Boston Nonprofit Arms

Parks & Checks: Wasteful, Opaque Bookkeeping At Two City Of Boston Nonprofit Arms

Surf’s Upcycled: Meet The Bay State Surfers Conserving The Oceans Where They Ride

Surf’s Upcycled: Meet The Bay State Surfers Conserving The Oceans Where They Ride

State Wire: Public Supports Changes To High-Stakes Testing For Mass Students

State Wire: Public Supports Changes To High-Stakes Testing For Mass Students

State Wire: White Supremacist Gatherings, Incidents Hit All-Time High In New England

State Wire: White Supremacist Gatherings, Incidents Hit All-Time High In New England

State Wire: Protests, Construction Continue at East Boston Substation

State Wire: Protests, Construction Continue at East Boston Substation

Primary Sidebar

LOCAL EVENTS

AAN Wire


Most Popular

  • Does Massachusetts Underestimate Its Greenhouse Gas Emissions?
  • The Most Expensive Massachusetts City For Car Insurance (No, It’s Not Boston)
  • If You Find A Mini Felted Animal Around Boston, This Is Where It Came From
  • Photo Dispatch: “Ukraine Day” Rally In Boston’s Copley Square
  • THROWBACK SPECIAL FOR MARCH MADNESS IN MASS: THE KING OF BOSTON BASKETBALL

Footer

Social Buttons

DigBoston facebook DigBoston Twitter DigBoston Instagram

Masthead

About

Advertise

Customer Service

About Us

DigBoston is a one-stop nexus for everything worth doing or knowing in the Boston area. It's an alt-weekly, it's a website, it's an email blast, it's a twitter account, it's that cool party that you were at last night ... hey, you're reading it, so it's gotta be good. For advertising inquiries: sales@digboston.com To reach editorial (and for inquiries about internship opportunities): editorial@digboston.com