(L2R): Imani Akil (president/founder), DJ Lahoj (from W.E.E.D. Radio - bottom), little byrd (top), The Glitch of Glyphe’, and Hiii wAv.
True Spitters Certified Entertainment
L2R: Crooked Noize, Bing Bing (Mistah Wilson) [top], Imani Akil [bottom], The Glitch of Glyphe’, Hiii wAv (Sobukwe Toure’), little byrd —after a T.S. meeting at the venue we ended up working out of and helping maintain (Alkebulan Pasadena).
Shout out to one of the most powerful hubs of creativity to ever come out of Pasadena/Altadena 626 area. TRUE SPITTERS CERTIFIED ENTERTAINMENT. Started by Imani (L.) Akil and friends the label became well known in Dena and the surrounding areas for not just the roster of talents coming out of it, but their diversity, community service, and their level of genuine humanity and professionalism— not to mention the bars, beats, shows, and everything else was a force to be reckoned with. NO ONE in the area, even a lot who are on major labels have accomplished what this crew did, and members are still doing. T.S. permeated all areas of the culture and excelled, and was a great place for Glyphe’ and byrd to sharpen their skills and focus once they joined up.
It was the type of place where you could walk in with an idea and walk out with the finished product: full album including the artwork, merch, website, etc. The crew was that capable. As the label and brand grew, more artists came along increasing the sounds, style, and even the different avenues the label grew in. It was more than a hip hop label, it was an artist development center. There were live shows and podcasts from different artists, singers, rappers, poets, The ELEMENT, fashion… no area of the music industry was untouched by some member of the team and everyone pulled for each other. All artists were welcomed. All of our prior experience in the field allowed us to see the world through the lenses of both artists and fans, which motivated everyone and pushed the group even more. True Spitters was truly a juggernaut in the music and entertainment world because it’s members were giants.
Community and comradery seemed to be the name of the game when it came to True Spitters— well that and ingenuity. The studios were not just a safe space for artists, but always hubs of open flowing creativity with focused individuals “getting things done.” We did artist development as well for those with lack of focus, or maybe those just needing help getting some clarity on where they were headed. The people, music, and art was all real and genuine. There were always all sorts of artists coming in and out of the doors, some with ideas, some for a sandwich, others to just knock out on a couch after work while waiting to get into the booth or meet up with one of the producers or get a track mixed. If it was your first time in the booth— they worked with you. If you were low on cash— they worked with you. There was some kind of studio setup in almost every room of the (at least 3) places we were fortunate to be able to carve out a space in, but more than just the music and artistry was the heart. True Spitters was felt in the community just as much as it was heard through the music.
True Spitters Certified is based in Pasadena, Ca., but the heart was all over SoCal and even with True Spitters North (headed by Akele Askari), things were branching out. The crew ran it’s own Hip Hop social gathering of all elements of hip Hop— appropriately called THE ELEMENT which was an open playground for every element of hiphop (breakers, djs, scribes/graffitti artists, fashion, emcees and rappers, etc.) and that was the tip of the iceberg. There were radio show styled podcasts (W.E.E.D. RADIO - Wired Enlightening Entertaining Delivery Radio) which highlighted artists in the camp and some that we just linked up with or met randomly at a show or hanging out somewhere (a lot heard about us and just came or were brought to the studio). At Alkebulan, where it hosted The Element, they also assisted in the food drive program making sure the community could eat and gave out FREE food with members of the center and “Uncle Bubba” from The M&M Show. Glyphe’ was also producing tv shows and Bing Bing was running a show, a podcast, a magazine, charity events and walks for causes, and more. BUSY is an understatement when it came to the members who didn’t wait for opportunities— they made them. Words and pictures can’t do it justice. It was an empire of giants. The playlist of videos is from T.S. artists and some of our other friends we’ve worked with.
TRUE SPITTERS VOL. 1 MIXTAPE
To give you a taste of some of the creativity in the TRUE SPITTERS ENTERTAINMENT camp, here’s the “Volume 1 Mixtape” that was done featuring some of the early artists. There’s a variety of sounds from all different types of R&B and hip hop, to rock, reggae/ska, jazz-hop, trap, blues funk, and even a… well.. 2Towels… there’s a 2Towels on there is all we can say. Some we even nicknamed unofficial members of The Adventures Of… like Sobukwe Toure’ (aka Hiii wAv) and Ramzeus. The studio was always alive, always a beat playing and pens moving as the mic waited nervously for whoever was going to be first to set the tone. Unfortunately, a hard drive was compromised and most of (if not all of) the Volume 2 material was lost. It would be neat to drop a lost tapes album if things were recovered. Either way, we’re glad to have this VOL. 1 mixtape which was instrumental in starting all of this. It features some familiar talents like Imani Akil and Hiii W^v (Sobukwe) and a host of other artists like Iceman Da Prophet, Lovey, Bing Bing, Phil Phree, and other T.S. artists. The Glitch of Glyphe’s “SHOGUN’S TEA ROOM” video below is also a good idea of what it was like being in the T.S. camp.
True Spitters Certified Videos
To navigate the playlist: in the top right corner there is a drop down menu (three horizontal lines in a square) with the number “1/64” of the video you’re watching. That dropdown menu pulls up the rest of the playlist to pick from. Have fun on this video adventure!
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