www.AntFarmAffiliates.com is Live and Direct

Yes folks, freshly squeezed and chilled to perfection...
AntFarm Affiliates.com is up and waiting for your stankin' backsides to join!
The site is a Ning community, so it's very hands on and interactive.

So all of you stalker types can really feel like you're talking to your favorite AFA object of infatuation.
Sweet deal.

Reality Bites!!

Whats good people,

So this past Sunday I was really feeling good about myself right. 2:00 I had an interview with channel 12 in Stamford. I was in this big TV studio with the lights and cameras and all that Jazz. Well fed and Fresh off a couple positive myspace messages. I was part of a conversation on the History of Hip Hop and it turned out pretty well so I was flying high.
After the interview I headed to "Fame City" in Bridgeport to meet up with this cool cat from out there who has a clothing line and wanted to sponsor me by hitting me with some gear so I could rock at the shows. It's not a prob cause I'm feeling what he's doing with his movement. Spreading a positive message with his fashion while I do it with my music. Peace to Selfmathematiks by the way.
So I walk into "Fame City" which is a dope ass spot where they do legal graffiti. It was a bright sunny day and as I headed towards the open area full of people tagging these dope pieces on the walls, in the distance I can hear my album blasting out of a black SUV. Wow! It was such a dope feeling.
So I met the dude I was talking about who was gonna hit me with the shirts. We built for a minute and exchanged packs of flyers so we can help promote each others causes. As I walked around to the different graffiti artists, one looks at me and says "yo, I know you from somewhere. Do you write?" I said, "not on walls but I write rhymes ... lol." He smiled and said "your the Sun right, they call you the sun or sun rising right?" I laughed and replied "yea, I'm the rising sun Quest." I was shocked as he told me he had my second album "Surviving Life" and then started rattling off the names of my tracks, concepts off the album and even recited verses from it. He talked about how dope the album was and how much he loved the it. He gave me mad props and all that.
So here I am fresh from Ch. 12 in the Graffiti Mecca of Bridgeport with my music blasting on a beautiful sunny day and a fan reciting my rhymes.

BUT THATS WHEN REALITY BITES!!

You see thats all good and everything, but when I asked If he wanted to buy the new album he said "awww come on man, I'm a fan. Cant I just get that shit?"

Trust me people. It's not about the money at all. I love to make music for you to listen to. It's the reason I invest my hard earned money in putting out my material and professionally packaged at that. So I love when people tell me how much my music has moved them. But the REALITY is that as an underground rapper I can't continue to put this music out If I press it up and give it away. The REALITY is that people aren't interested in supporting us local artists either. The REALITY is, How the hell am I supposed to sell music to someone who doesn't know Me if I can't sell it to someone who recites my Music.

Damn Reality BITES!!

Journey Towards the Sun. Release party #1

What up people, Last night ended up being real dope in my opinion. The night started off real slow and I was bummed out initally but all and all everything turned out ok. So it was my album release party and I was the Host/MC for the night. THe setup was real dope. On the stage was this big table with 2 dj setups and a big ass Graffiti banner hanging above it. I set the night off with three of CT's best break dancers doing a B-boy routine for the crowed. The wanted to rock at the show after hearing The rhythm. Thanks sketch, I wanted a B-boy track and Vega Styles who is tops in CT breaking scene fuckin loves that shit. after their set Mo nickles played some Bangin ass music from early to mid 90's classic shit. THen I had DJ Syrus do a Dj performance showcasing his skills with the scratching, juggling, similar to what a Dj would do in a battle I guess. I know It was fucking tight. then I let Syrus hold it down and get the people moving. After syrus set Spaz hopped on stage and killed it as he normally does. right after spaz finished his second song i kicked off my set and rocked the house too. I actually felt good about my performance for once. maybe its cause my stage coach Hawl was in the front seeing if I followed his tips. after my set was over Mo nicklez represented with the perfect blend of hip hop to keep the people moving and keep the vibe in tact. Smiles on faces, people dancing, drinking, my people in the house....I had a blast and really believe people will walk away from that night feeling as though the had a fun time. It was a good example as to how the AFA comes togeather to make shit happen. I really wanna thank MO Nikklez for holding me down last minute. Othello for lending me the Mic's. Expert really came through for me by going outta his way to get me those mic's and my boy even held the door down. I cant even thank you enough expert. Spaz for rocking the crowed and all the AFA cats who were in attendance. It was good to finally see Pruven, Hawl, dutch and Cee reed in my hometown for a change...lol thank you guys for making my album release party feel lik a party. I had a great time chillin wit yall last night.
Quest-- THE RISING SUN QUESTwww.myspace.com/risingsunquest

Why ya'll so quiet?

Look at all those people having fun in the picture on the bottom! Looks like they are thoroughly enjoying a dope performance, feeding energy to the performers who are probably rocking even harder cuz of the the love they are receiving. Unfortunately, the crowd we rocked to last night at the Living Room in Providence, RI looked more like the picture up top. And not because they were little kids, but because they seemed thoroughly disinterested.

Now, before you start thinking, "here goes some wack MC complaining because the crowd all went to the bar during his boring ass set", understand that the crowd (and it was a CROWD) looked disinterested ALL NIGHT LONG. And they were witnessing some truly hot performers and performances. Don't take my word for it, either, go check out AXE BUTANE for yourself. He performed to crickets and tumbleweeds and he's got SKILLS! Even the PROBLEMADDICTS, who were one of the featured performers and relatively local, got no love from the crowd. Again, they ripped it... to virtual silence!

Maybe "no love" is an overstatement, because, actually, when our set was over, we got maaaaddd love from people who came up to us to compliment us on our performance. What made no sense to me is why they chose to just stand around quietly during the performance if they were enjoying it so much. I know that when I go to a show, I'm there to have a good time and to get amped off the performances. When a dope MC is ENGAGING me and INVITING me to participate, well, that's what I paid my hard earned money for at the door, so, I'm gonna participate. The fact that I'm participating is gonna make the performer work even harder to keep me entertained. So my advice to the people who we met last night is that ya'll should give that a try. You'd be amazed at how much more fun you'll have when you decide to, well, HAVE FUN!!!

Looking forward to seeing everyone having a good time at this month's Enter the Cypher at Cousin Larry's in Danbury on the 18th. We are having a DJ Battle and feature performances by the RISING SUN QUEST, WIGSPLITTA and BIG CITY, and 1997.

So whens Quest's New Album Finally droppin?

APRIL 18th!!!
Thats right people I'm finally gonna drop my 3rd release called
"Journey Towards The Sun"
I'm gonna rock a little three week tour to promote it.
Friday April 18th I'll be rocking in Danbury @ Cousin Larry's. Its our monthly Enter The Cypher Event and I'll be Celebrating the release of my release but, we'll also be having a Dj Battle that night as well so definitely Come down if you can.
The following week on the 24th I'll be hitting up NYC at a spot called The Alphabet Lounge. That night will feature acts such as myself, The Higher Concept, NYOil and More.
Closing out the Mini tour will be a release party in my hometown Waterbury, CT @ Bobby Allen's on May 2nd.

so there it is in a nutshell....April It is!! Hit me up on myspace for all things QUEST.

www.Myspace.com/risingsunquest
www.risingsunquest.com

A Whole Lotta Love!

What's good. peoples. It's ya boy, Othello. A combination of being super-busy and my technology phobia have kept me off the blog for a minute, but I definitely wanted to let everyone know about the 2nd ANNUAL HIP HOP SUMMIT at WESTHILL HIGH SCHOOL that happened last weekend and other AFA news. I also wanted to shout out and direct you to all the support that the AFA has been receiving lately. The Ant Farm was conceived as a movement and it is really starting to feel that way right now.

The Summit was amazing! The workshops presented by my AFA brothers were incredibly fun and interactive, but don't take my word for it, check out Adam Bernard's take on the Summit on his music blog Adam's World. Adam was a participant in the Summit, as well, sharing his expertise about hip hop and the media. The Stamford Times also covered the event with Ben Levine's article, "Hip Hop Summit: a day of learning and positive music" .

Besides the support of hip hop's journalistic corps, we also had the privilege to hear from representatives of 4 generations of hip hop. We had none other than battle champion and AFA brother in arms Breez Evahflowin to offer his thoughts to the next generation of hip hop. Breez and Indiefeed host and WORKFORCE producer Dirt E Dutch are currently tearing up the CMJ hip hop charts with their TROUBLEMAKERS album. Also at the Summit was Crooklyn Dodger CHUBB ROCK. Chubb works extensively with today's youth and he came through once again at the Summit. Representing the true school was hip hop pioneer and Westhill HS graduate TERRIBLE T. Terrible T who has been called "Connecticut's Kool Herc" by none other than Afrika BamBaata also does a lot of work with today's youth and he is living history and a link to hip hop's roots. We were blessed to have him at the Summit. Also representing was KING UPROCK, the leader of the pioneering Brooklyn b-boy and breakdancing crew DYNASTY ROCKERS. Uprock schooled the audience on Brooklyn's much overlooked role in the genesis of hip hop culture. Much like Terrible T, he is a link to the origins of hip hop culture and deserves to recognized as an icon and an innovator.

I'm grateful to everyone who came out and to everyone who put their hard work into making the Summit a huge success. Next year, we are looking to make it bigger and better. If you missed it this year, don't make the same mistake next year!

Peace to all the hip hop heads out there!

One-
Othello

For the record of it all...

Sadly, after 8 years and change...
truckloads of dope songs...
and 6 albums of varying degrees...
Due to reasons that will remain within the know of the individuals that know...
phenetiks and JK1 the Supernova have officially parted paths.

We at phenetiks incorporated wish JK the respect, encouragement, and good luck to succeed with all his endeavors.
He is beyond talented, and I am for sure positive he will leave a lasting impression on the music world.

phenetiks will continue on the forward path that we've been on something heavy.

Peace.
deto-22

AFA

HIP HOP LOVERS!!!
Show your support. Please Vote for Quest's song "Our Dreams"on kiss957.com in the underground countdown.


CLICK HERE to vote for QUEST or text "CYPHER 2" TO 49330

Vote online now. Song airs LIVE on 95.7 Feb 3 (Superbowl Sunday) so make sure you remember me after you watch the game.

Election year right!! Lets Vote!

HIP HOP LOVERS!!!
Whats going on my people. Just checkin in with the AFA fans to let them know what i'm up to. Still Workin on the album. I know I been saying its comming soon so heres an official report. I have 12 tracks recorded with three more to tackle. I'll be recording with expertiz this weekend and Dutch shortly after. Spaz, Protege and Myself are also working on one of those final cut's. Once thats done Ill be hitting ya'll up to let you know where you can get the album from so stay tuned.
In the meantime you can still Show your support. Please Vote for my song "Our Dreams"on kiss957.com in the underground countdown. Its only a 30 second clip on kiss957.com but you can hear the whole song on www.myspace.com/risingsunquest.


CLICK HERE to vote for QUEST or text "CYPHER 2" TO 49330

Vote online now. Song airs LIVE on 95.7 Feb 3 (Superbowl Sunday) so make sure you remember me after you watch the game.

Breez Evahflowin N Dirt E Dutch R Troublemakers

Troublemakers: a collaborative effort between Dirt E. Dutch (IndieFeed Hip Hop) and Breez Evahflowin (Stronghold) is a personal yet accessible statement on how music can shape a man’s life and cultural views. The album features 12 quality tracks surrounded by colorful sound bites serving as a harsh narrative to the reality ridden rhythms. The Troublemakers LP takes a mature approach to covering various topics: politics, relationships, loss, and good times. The lead single, “Don’t be afraid”, is carried by a soulful hook and the verbal warnings of the current cost of fame. The video, slated for February, boasts a mixture of cutting edge animation and eye popping visuals. Spot dates and tours will begin winter of ‘07 into spring of ’08.

Breakin' & Popin' for only $19.99 + $3 S&H

wow! What a deal!
hmm, back then I think thats like $1,000 bucks. Probably not so great a deal after all.
:P