Thursday, March 15   9:15 p.m.
Copa   (217 Congress Ave)

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MONSTER MAKER www.myspace.com/thisworldisamonstermaker
BIO
In the music game, underground hip-hop/alternative rock and beyond, collaborations have alwaysbeen held dear. Back in the day we�d wait patiently for DJ Premier to toss a couple hot joints to Nas so we could revel in how he�d shine with the top guy on the decks. More recently, records like Dangermouse and Damon Albright�s (Blur) collaborated Gorillaz album have charged the hip-hopulus, bringing together divergent talents to a refreshingly musical end.
In the very near future, the old school �collabo� will get a facelift, with the union of Sharkey (Babygrande) and C-Rayz Walz (DefJux): the makings of a monster.
Shark�n�Rayz Project, titled MONSTER MAKER to describe the mania, real and perceived, that the duo has experienced in their respective quests as musicians and as men, is due this spring on Babygrande Records. MONSTER MAKER pushes the collaboration aesthetic to new heights with their committment to pure songsmanship, big production, and raw-dog hip-hop ripping. This is the new new shit, the MC (C-Rayz) who can spit for days teamed up with the Alan Greenspan of the Marketplace of Ideas (Sharkey). The concepts are broad and sonically
aggressive, not just in Rayz� seemingly limitless content, but also in Sharkey�s willingness to expand the definition of a �song� in the hip-hop realm.
A plethora of musicians appear throughout, coupling their harmonic inputs with Sharkey�s knack for bringing the best out of every keyboardist, cellist, and studio rat he can get his creative paws on. His vision is fully realized alongside Rayz� post-apocalyptive scripture. The end result is diverse and coherent, whimsically fresh, yet incredibly real to the band members themselves who feel as though the world at large has created a demon to purge, a dragon to slay, a monster to make for the masses: �Each track is like a different emotion or theory or relation, everything that you go through before you just fuckin� lose your mind.� Sharkey shares Rayz� sentiment: �Everyone has those moments where they feel like they can cross the line, everyone has that seed in them where they�re capable of doing something monstrous.�
With a collective track record that can stand up to anyone�s (songs and tours with the likes of Grand Puba, Eminem, The Pharcyde, Jean Grae, and Public Enemy) and critical acclaim firmly ingrained from years of grinding, these two monsters in the making have laid the proper groundwork to, at last, attain the recognition they deserve. Rayz in particular feels slighted by the game after a series of misfortunes: �I fired my manager, my tour fell through, my brother
got killed last summer, I had to go to the wake on my birthday, on top of doing all this good shit without really getting recognized for it right.� He has experienced a timely catharsis in recording this record: �Sharkey is the best producer I�ve ever worked with. Sharkey beats are everything. They�re rock, they�re synth, they�re techno, they�re Hip-Hop, boom-bap, they�re everything. We just go in and say yo we�re gonna do something that�s better than everybody�s shit.�
Similarly, MONSTER MAKER supplied Sharkey with a grand opportunity to have an accomplished MC to experiment and explore with to the collective benefit of audiences of all types. �For the most part it�s about giving somebody something that�s maybe an outlet for them, just like music�s an outlet for me.�
But do we want them to succeed? Do we want them to slay the dragon? Do we want them to purge the demon? What then of their struggle? What then of their fire to survive, to prove, to make monsters? �Me and Rayz,� Sharkey says, �we�ve been through so much that we�ll
always have that monster instinct, that desire to do something new, to react, to force people to take it or leave it. That�ll never change.�

Contact:
Ron Miner, Crush Entertainment * 347-693-8779 * Email: crushevents@aol.com
Anthony Scirpoli, DrumBums Global * Ph 774-232-3481 * Email: Anthony@sharkeyonthecut.com