It is safe to say that New Orleans brass bands are on the pop culture radar. It is no secret that one of the key links to the roots of hip-hop, and dance music in general, lies within the brass-drum rhythms of Crescent City second line tradition. Releases such as the Hot 8 Brass Band’s brassy dance take on Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing” and national events like the Red Bull Street Kings brass band competition, along with general interest in New Orleans roots music since Hurricane Katrina, have catapulted local brass bands onto the the international pop culture scene over recent years. But next week, one of the forerunners of “brass-hop” fusion, the Soul Rebels Brass Band pushes the envelope even further with the release of their first hip-hop style mixtape, POWER = POWER. And OffBeat is leaking their version of rapper Jay Z’s “Show Me What You Got” right here today, one week before the rest of the mixtape is available online.

Though it has been almost two years since the release of the band’s last full length disc, Unlock Your Mind (Rounder Records), the Rebels have been steady on the go; maintaining residencies at home, touring festivals overseas and most recently, selling out the popular New York music club, Brooklyn Bowl. One of the staple floor-fillers of the band’s live sets is still their version of ’80s pop hit, “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” by the Eurhythmics. The first recording of the Soul Rebels performing this song appeared on Unlock Your Mind, yet only scratches the surface of the re-formed contemporary brass band’s abilities.

OffBeat sat down to chat with Soul Rebels trumpeter Julian Gosin about the band’s evolution over recent years, the concept behind releasing a free mixtape rather than an album this year and where they’re headed.  Gosin says the choice to produce a free mixtape this time around was, in part, logistically motivated. “It’s a lot easier, and cheaper, to just release a mixtape if you’re doing a project of covers,” he notes. Surely, publishing clearances for songs from mega stars like Jay Z, Drake, Nicki Minaj, Kanye West and Bruno Mars are not inexpensive, and these are the heavy-hitters that the Soul Rebels boldly re-interpret on POWER = POWER.

Now, anyone who has spent any length of time in New Orleans knows that, beyond the rallying sound of the second line anthem “Let’s Go Get Em” blaring down the street on a Sunday afternoon, one of the sweetest aural pleasures is hearing your favorite Michael Jackson or Stevie Wonder tune played with the type of energy and fervor only a brass band can bring. Covers of pop songs are nothing new to the brass band tradition in New Orleans, in fact it is very much an inherent part of it now. The Soul Rebels, however, were one of the first to go against the wishes of many of their elders, personal mentors even, and step outside the traditional jazz  culture, beginning to regularly infuse hip-hop into their repertoire. Though only two of the original members remain in the current incarnation of the band, new members like Gosin know that the Rebels “have always been known to push their music outside the traditional [brass band] realm.”

Behind the Scenes: Recording POWER=POWER with the Soul Rebels

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Gosin confirms that he and his peers have definitely experienced push-back from some of their mentors, but that hasn’t inhibited the Rebels’ drive to reach a broader audience. He cites frustration at seeing the same two handfuls of celebrities on TV and radio all the time, rarely ever with a live band anymore. The band loves and appreciates the tradition they come from, and have paid their dues, but he wants to see brass bands reach the same level that “drum machines and synthesizers do” on pop music stages. The Soul Rebels have shared stages with some of popular music’s biggest icons from Slick Rick and Ice Cube to Snoop Dogg, Kanye West and Rhianna, but Gosin says they’re shooting for the stars. “We want to be on stage with Beyoncé. I want to work with artists like Justin Timberlake, that would reach everybody,” he muses.

At first, it might sound like just a penchant for fame, but the twenty-something trumpet player is quick to clarify. “We just want them to accept us. We want them to look past the instruments, to respect us the same way they respect a mic or a beat machine — to bring live music back to hip-hop, to pop music.” He recalls countless experiences on major stages where the Soul Rebels appeared to back-up an icon for a set and received confused looks from a sea of faces in the audience. “But as soon as we started playing and they hear it, then they were all into it — dancing and everything — then they want it.” In a sense, brass band music is more popular on a global level now than it ever has been, Gosin admits, but he still envisions it going further.

The band’s decision to cover Jay Z’s song “Show Me What You Got” from his 2006 album, Kingdom Come, was influenced largely by the use of a live drummer rather than a drum machine on the single that is also known as the “Powerman 5000 Song.”  Gosin feels that Jay Z likes to embrace true musicality a bit more than a lot of rap giants, and that this song in particular was one of his more “musical” tracks, given the employment of a live drummer and a live sax player. “It’s more musical, but energetic,” explains Gosin. And of course, there’s the whole “power” motif happening there.

The Rebels’ version of this song (which appears on the new mixtape) was recorded live at d.b.a. on Frenchmen Street, one of their regular little haunts, nearly a year ago. It is now a recording that may certainly prove to be more powerful for the Soul Rebels than they thought it might be at the time someone pressed the record button that night at d.b.a. After all, the power of New Orleans brass music equals the power of a pop song, at least in the Rebels’ minds.

“Everything comes from something; hip-hop comes from jazz, which comes from negro spirituals,” Gosin reminds us. “We’re just trying to get to the roots of what we do, that’s all.” This time around, though, the Soul Rebels aim to deliver their hybrid sound to more ears in the way rising hip-hop artists do — through a free mixtape. All 12 tracks on POWER = POWER will be available online for free download next Tuesday, December 3. Stay tuned to the Soul Rebels website for more information and updates. Until then, bend your ear over the Soul Rebels’ cover of “Show Me What You Got” below now, as a little sneak peek.

Catch the Soul Rebels live over this Thanksgiving weekend at their Thursday night residency on Thanksgiving night, December 28 at Le Bon Temps Roule (4801 Magazine St) at 10 p.m., and Saturday, November 30 at the Blue Nile (532 Frenchmen St), also at 10 p.m.

 

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Beginning Tuesday, December 3, download the entire POWER=POWER mixtape of the Soul Rebels’ Brass Band hip-hop and dance music covers for free via SoundCloud or Bandcamp.