For Montpelier-based hip-hop duo Boomslang, the tracks on their albums borrow samples and beats from all over the musical landscape. The two layer the samples and sounds with high lyrical content intended to make you think and move you to get up and dance. In fact, the only elements you might be surprised to find are not looming in any Boomslang songs: misogynistic themes and bad words.
Boomslang's MC Sed One and producer JL recently spoke to VPR about their second album, "Attack The Vampire," which comes out on Oct. 27.
The duo spoke about how many other Vermont-based hip-hop artists, MCs, musicians and artists are involved in their second record.
Sed One said, "The Vermont hip-hop scene is unbelievable .. there is a whole community coming around it. It's just an amazing array of artists who are joining us. There are just so many people from Vermont on this record and touching it, as opposed to just me and JL, which is what the first album was all about."
When speaking about the choice to leave profanity or violent images out of their tracks, Sed One said, "We have always tried to create music that we could play in front of (our families) without feeling embarrassed or ashamed of it while still having adult content in there that everyone could gravitate towards ..."
"You know, unfortunately, the genre that we're in, it is a part of some of that," JL said. "I really don't see the point for it anywhere in music ... it doesn't need to be there so we don't have it in our music."
You have to talk about what you know and what you do and who you are and that should be what your art represents. - Boomslang MC Sed One, on the duo's choice to leave violence and profanity out of their craft
The album release party for Boomslang's new release, "Attack The Vampire," is Friday, Oct. 27, at Sweet Melissa's in Montpelier. Other performances by Maiden Voyage, Champagne Dynasty and The Precepts.
