When it comes to discovering and empowering the very best unsigned hip-hop acts around, few movers and shakers know their craft better than Beatmart Records - and the label's very own remix wizard with ears of gold and boundless creativity, DJ Morphiziz.
The aural testament to this lofty declaration is the highly anticipated family of fresh tracks that's already becoming an annual event in hip-hop circles - the Best of the Submissions, Volume 2 compilation, a 25-song monster seamlessly remixed by DJ Morphiziz.
One of the marks of a fab remix producer, especially one who takes on 25 disparate tracks for a compilation, is the ability to take the raw material and create something with continuity. And no one waves that magic wand quite like DJ Morphiziz. In fact, the man succeeds in making the wealth of material - running well over an hour from beginning to end - sound like a unified whole. A big, talented group. A single organism. One. How else can one listen to tracks like the old school-styled, internationally colored "Volumen" (featuring Ill Day, Bobby Bishop, Meccanism, and Guilloman) followed immediately by the tres cool, minimalist, attitude-heavy "Mindset" (featuring Mouthpiece) and get the unmistakable impression that all of these artists collaborated on and ultimately created the finished product?
And whether it's the infectious, toe-tapping rhythms of "Who Keeps It" (featuring Urban D. and Saint Man) or the menacing, relentless "Let It Go" (featuring Ziklag Boys) or the poetic, theologically encouraging "He's Gonna Work It Out" (featuring 1Way) or the dreamy, retro, piano- and Rhodes-dominated "Ain't Nothin' Like" (featuring J. Silas), DJ Morphiziz consistently stitches and sews the 25 disparate strands of sound into a hip-hop tapestry that proves an unparalleled adventure in heretofore undiscovered talent.
As it happens, Morph's unique sonic vision was forged after years of DJing, as well as soaking up incredibly diverse music, everything from Cypress Hill, De La Soul, and Gang Star to the Cure, Depeche Mode, The Doors, and Rage Against the Machine. Then he met Todd Collins, who just happens to be Beatmart's main man. "It was a dope blessing from God," Morph says. "I started DJing for KJ52, and he showed me mad love and hit up Todd Collins 'bout me. I met Todd at the Holy Hip-Hop Awards '04, politicked a min, hit him up with some of my stuff, and God put favor on Todd's heart 'bout me. A few months later we went to work." On Best of the Submissions, Volume 1, as it turns out.
And the history of this already-storied compilation is a study in street smarts and artistic acumen. Knowing a handful of definite diamonds were just waiting to be unearthed from the hip-hop underground, Beatmart decided to put the word on the street in 2004, looking for unsigned hip-hop artists to send their best tracks to the label. These "submissions" were posted on Beatmart.com and voted on each week, and the winners got the nods for the very first Best of the Submissions, Volume 1 CD - and an institution was born. (Not surprisingly, Beatmart has discovered and signed nearly every artist on its roster through participation in this project - including Bobby Bishop, Fresh Digress, Rob Hodge, and DJ Morphiziz himself.)
With the mad props already accruing for the newest installment, Best of the Submissions, Volume 2, Beatmart and DJ Morphiziz know that widespread acceptance isn't far away.
"I know that if it's God's will for us to have more of a voice in the industry, he'll make it happen no matter what," Morph says - but with an all-important caveat. "I feel we need to make pleasing God and being obedient to him the first priority in order to show ourselves approved and then be entrusted with more. Can't front on God, y'all - he sees our hearts! And why's he gonna give us more responsibility if we can't handle correctly what we got now? Don't get my heart twisted - I ain't sayin' we as a hip-hop body are struggling, I just feel we gotta seek him above our craft."
Right now DJ Morphiziz is touring with KJ52 and doing individual dates at various events and also working on the forthcoming 1Way and Descendantz albums, as well as The DJ Morphiziz Mix Tape CD releases. Also the summer of 2005 will see the launch of Djmorphiziz.com and a DJ Morphiziz radio show.
So sought after is Morphs talents that he's taken his DJ skills all across the globe, collaborating and sharing the stage with a first-class list of "who's who" folk, including Newsboys, Audio Adrenaline, Third Day, Toby Mac, Kutless, Thousand Foot Crutch, Rachael Lampa, Casting Crowns, Switchfoot, Hawk Nelson, Seventh Day Slumber, Falling Up, 12 Stones, DJ Maj, Grits, John Reuben, LA Symphony, Verbs, Pigeon John, New Breed, Souljahz, Corey Red & Precise, Bobby Bishop, Pee Wee Callins, Tunnel Rats, Urban D, Flavor Alliance, Cross Movement, and Los 1 - even former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, All-Pro quarterback Payton Manning, and comedian Jerry Lewis.
