There are some pairings in music that just almost never fail to create a perfect balance. One of those is the perfect blend between hip hop and jazz. In today’s often overly auto-tuned pop music matrix, heading back to roots here and there can certainly move one’s sound close to timeless and further from trendy. Rising young music producer, Ciel Rouge seems to already know this.
Rising New Orleans hip hop artist, Ciel Rouge
Sure, there are plenty of beats, and a score of lyrics, to appeal to young millenials on his new project, but most of those beats are impressively clean and well-arranged for a freshmen effort. Not really an album, but not really an EP, Ciel settles on the category of mixtape for his latest release, Love, Rouge. There are 14 tracks in all on this largely hip hop project, but two in particular resound: “Kids On Levees” and “Inspired By Kima” — both featuring familiar local jazz vocalist, Sasha Masakowski.
“Kids On Levees” is a raw tale of the perhaps mischievous things high schoolers do when they cut class in New Orleans and hang out looking for inspiration on nearby levees. It is sometimes abrasive lyrical truth woven over a relaxed beat and interrupted occasionally for the angelic, ethereal voice of Masakowski inviting you to “come fly with me, get high with me.” Yes, this is one of those arrangements that lets you know this young producer is headed in the right direction.
Though both artists are NOCCA graduates, they are several years apart yet connected through the collaborative spirit that the NOCCA school nurtures. Masakowski and Ciel met while touring together earlier this year in Cliff Hines’ rock band. Hines will pepper his often heavy, metallic rock sets with some straight hip hop songs here and there, and that’s where Ciel came in as a guest MC/vocalist. Sasha had already been singing in Hines’ group, and this is when Ciel really heard her voice.
New Orleans jazz vocalist, Sasha Masakowski
Fast forward to this summer and Ciel is working on Love, Rouge. After listening to some of his songs again, he said to himself, “I need to get some great female vocals on these.” After a few phone calls, Ciel found next himself in Sasha’s living room with his Macbook and a microphone. He played the two instrumentals he really wanted to hear Sasha on, and before long she had penned a hook and they pressed the record button. The result is the two tracks, “Kids On Levees” (the first single) and “Inspired by Kima” (which also features MC Michelle).
Ciel (Chris), who notes that his alias, Ciel Rouge or “Red Sky” represents something that “you don’t see very often… but when you do, it’s beautiful and magnificent,’ explains that though his music may sound on the surface like some other popular, young often lyrically abrasive hip hop of the day, his expressions are based wholly on personal experience – realistic, not imaginative. “Kids On Levees” for example, is based on real life as a teenager growing up in Algiers and spending lots of time on the Cut-Off Levee.
Sasha’s part in this first single also doubles as her first real foray into hip hop. Save for some background vocals on an NFL Saints halftime compilation CD, this is finally an opportunity she had been looking for to delver into the genre and diversify her palette. Yet when asked about her perception of Ciel’s lyrical content and style, Sasha feels like he writes lyrics like the poets of the “beat” generation write prose — very stream-of-consciousness. Rouge concurs that he really is not very methodical when it comes to his lyrics, a lot less editorial than he is with say, his meticulous production habits. And Sasha thinks this is what makes their collaboration work well, the fact that both of their styles are rooted in improvisation and truth; Sasha a jazz vocalist and Ciel his own brand of beatnik poet.
However, Ciel’s contemporary hip hop influences are not hard to spot. Echoes of Kanye West and Drake in both his vocal stylings and his beat-making are evident. Outside of these giants, Ciel credits fellow southern rap princes, Outkast as one of his biggest inspirations. But he gives nod to several local heroes as well for having a profound impact on his sound; recalling that Mannie Fresh, Juvenile and the entire Cash Money / No Limit catalogue was some of the first music he really listened to as a teen, especially the first hip hop music, while he relates heavily to the rising R&B star (and NOLA native) that is Frank Ocean, too. Girl group R&B throwbacks from the ’90s are also apparently a favorite for Ciel, as he says that “Inspired by Kima” — the other track that Sasha appears on — is actually a cover of a Total song, hence the “Kima” in question.
All in all, there is a fresh mix among the 14 tracks on Love, Rouge that will certainly, without a doubt find their way into the iPods and car stereos of many New Orleans kids very soon – an appeal Ciel hopes for. His sense of rhythm and keen arrangements of his own guitar chords lend a level of sophistication beyond the typical copy-cat beatmaker. On Tuesday, October 1, Ciel Rouge will unleash the full mixtape out into the interwebs for free, and we’ll see just how many kids on levees rock to it.
This week, OffBeat features not only the first single, “Kids On Levees” as our “First Listen,” but we have the entire Love, Rouge mixtape available for free download a whole week before it’s available to the public. Dig in, listen and download below!
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