UNRAVELING THE BUTTERLY THEORY WITH ANONYMOUS OF PROJECT MOVE.

From Boston, Massachusetss, come Moe Pope (formerly of Mission aka Crown City Rulers), Anonymous and Raheem Jamal aka Project Move with their debut effort ‘Love Gone Wrong/Butterfly Theory’, a mellow and jazzy album reviving that whole jazz-boombap era when groups like De La Soul, ATCQ, The Beatnuts and DITC held the crown. Before talking about the new album, we broke it off with some questions about Electric, the Boston supergroup which consisted of, besides the current formation of Project Move, Dagha, Insight and, occasionally, Edan…

Wassup Anonymous? When we last spoke to Dagha about a possible new Electric album, he told us that 'We all want to do it and it seems as if the demand is there. It's just about all 5 of us sitting down and making that decision.' Anything in the works yet?

That's basically it. We're all just really busy wrapping up what we've been working on. Every member from Electric will have a solo album out if we put this together and knock out another album. Another thing is that we want it to have that same magical vibe the first album had, so the time has to be right.

Would it be a new line-up, or the same artists?

I personally would want the same people involved. If it starts getting all mixed up and new people are coming in, it's not going to have the same vibe.

Could you explain the main difference between Project Move and Electric?

Electric Company was like a machine...a well-oiled machine. While Project Move shows the more human side, and it gave you a chance to feel us out, and understand where we're coming from.

Why was there a name change from 'Electric Company' to 'Electric'?

There was another group under the label Def Jam, named Electric Company, I think it was a rock-n-roll band.

Were you guys like the ones who clicked the most with each other in Electric, did you feel like if there would grow a group out of Electric it would be you?

No, we didn't really have plans on becoming Project Move. It just happened. I've been rapping with Raheem for a long time, maybe over 10 years. And after Electric got our feet wet, we were looking to do something else right away and so was Moe. Insight was working on a solo, and so was Dagha, so Project Move was formed. Looking back, it was perfect that things happened that way.

Now about the album, how are the responses so far?

People are loving the ‘Love gone wrong/Butterfly Theory’ album. The notes and e-mails that we get are very inspiring. Ranging from people telling us we helped them get through a rough time in their life, to another telling us we're living breathing testements that hip-hop is still alive and not going anywhere. We get some really heart-felt e-mails that let us know people are really digesting the words.

The album has been pushed back a few times, what's the reason(s) for that?

Realistically we wanted everything to be perfect, and didn't want the American release to sound like the Japanese release, so we tried tweaking it a few times, and added a few new interludes and a remix. But the album has been done for a while.

So the interludes and the remix are the main differences between the Japanese version and the US version of the album?

Yeah, and the order of some of the tracks. There’s two bonus cuts on the Japanese release too!

How did you hook up with Soul Supreme?

We'd been recording our first couple of songs with Innebriated Rhythms, and he was there in house-out-of-country producer. We loved what we were hearing so it was a natural fit. Be on the lookout for another release with PM and SS.

There's no specific guest features on the album, any reason for that?

Well, we're a three man group, and we knew we always had enough to fill up a song plus some. And we got in a really good groove during the making of the album, so at no point did it ever cross anyones mind to add a guest appearence.

What Boston rappers would you wanna have on your albums in the future?

You know, I’d love to do jams. With Akro, Lif, Edan, 7L & Esoteric, there’s a lot more cats in Boston too that’s making moves.

There's some live instrumentation on the album too, does any of you play instruments?

I took piano lessons as a kid, but nothing serious. I'm definately going to explore more instruments as time allows. But for the most part we hang out with a lot of Berklee kids so I’m definitely getting the itch!

Y'all been praised for the energetic live shows, where do you get the motivation and how important is performin for an underground hip-hop group from Boston in 2006?

Oh, it's ultra important. It's really all you have; word of mouth isn't really going to get your record off the shelf. You have to create a buzz with your live performance in my opinion. I think if you send someone home having seen a really good show they'll love your CD even if it isn't the greatest.

What do you think when a reviewer compares you with A Tribe Called Quest for the fiftieth time?

I know right... I mean it's obviously a good thing. ATCQ is one of the best of all time. I think it's the easiest way to explain to the reader what we sound like to them. I personally don't think we sound like them lyrically...but the overall vibe is Tribe-like. I wish we came out 10 years ago so we could be in the Native Tongues.. that's the music that raised me.

What albums are you listening to right now?

Truthfully, I've been listening to our solo albums, and working on new stuff just trying to stay in this zone. But I always have some J Dilla, Roy Ayers, Radiohead, older Marvin Gaye stuff, Stereolab, Stevie Wonder, Ghostface Killah, and then just various mixtapes of my favorite songs.

So you like listening to your own music?

I listen to it all the time, right now I'm bumping this mixtape I'm about to put out called ‘Dress Rehearsal’. You can hear some of the songs on www.myspace.com/anonymousthemc. I'm very critical of myself so I’m always listening!

Are any of you planning on releasing some solo albums?

Yeah, we all have solo albums done, and ready to go... Mine will be called ‘SuperStar’ Raheem’s ‘BoomBox’ and Moe's ‘Megaphone’, they are all phucking crazy!!

When you listen to old skool what albums do you dig up?

I love it all man, from Run DMC, to The Symphony, UMC's, Slick Rick, Rakim all that good stuff.

When's the last time y'all ate pancakes?

Yo... Moe makes some bomb strawberry pancakes! What's good with some more?!

You still diggin Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'? What about the video?

(laughs) I was the only kid in my family that was old enough to watch it. All the other kids had to go in the kitchen...That whole album what a classic...we were talking about that the other day…which is better that or ‘Off The Wall’?

Please comment on the following:

Gooney Bird

Otherwise known as Scorsazee, tracks are amazing, he gave us a good vibe to run with on LGW/BT.

Digable Planets

One of my favorite groups of all time. They were in a serious zone and all on the same level. That was a good time in music right there.

Edan

Lyrical madman, hip-hop historian.... sitting at his crib playing records.

Mr Lif

You know of all emcees in Boston, I've had the least interaction with Lif. When Insight and I lived together he'd come through some times. Seems to be a smart guy.

Kid N Play

Whoa! That was my group for about a year...and ‘House Party’ was the joint when it came out!!

What's next for Project Move?

New album in the works now, I think with all the experience we just gained it's going have really good energy and be better than the first. Also expect a couple of guest appearences... emcee's and producers!

Shout-outs?

Shout outs to Sun Moon, Beyonder, Scorsazee, Cinematic, Affish Authentic, 54th regiment, the AB's, Floorlords, Rocksteady crew, Diamond D, Golden Disciples, Radix, Crown City Rockers, Insight, Dagha, Dj Real, Descry, Soulution, Agari Crew, Special Blends, Dj Frank White, Shin Ski in Japan! And the list goes on and on!!

THANKS!

©pf September 2006.

Useful links:

www.myspace.com/projectmove
www.projectmove.net