I’m back at the crib, sleeping late and recovering after a long road trip and I have to thank everyone who came out to THE VS TOUR, everyone who CONTRIBUTED to our PROJECT, and those of you who continue to bless me with kind words through email, text or FACEBOOK. Thank you!
but no time for sleep.. let’s go.
Well, while I work on THE VS PROJECT with Willie Evans Jr, New Writers Guild music, and my new album “Language Arts,” which will be both a COMIC and 3-PART ALBUM, I’ll be stopping by to drop off surprise tracks and info about the albums. FINALLY, it will be completed! 3 years, that’s how long I’ve been working on this.
SHOWS!!
Big shows coming up.. Tekkoshocon (PGH), Drunken Unicorn (ATL), PAX East (BOS) and Philly! get your tickets now!
Well thanks for all the help, and I’ll see you in the funny papers…literally!
check out this new interview with Swerve Magazine:
2011 was a defining year for me. I had undoubtedly the greatest year of my professional life, and I have you guys to thank for that!
Let’s run it down, shall we?
JANUARY.
January started off in full blast with 2 projects; First being SPY vs SPY Volume 2 with AZ producer and emcee SPAN PHLY.
(free download)
Next was the album that changed it all…
BLACK MATERIA.
Based on my favorite RPG of all time, the album featured Lost Perception on the beats, and some of my favorite artists lending guest vocals. That led to some really cool things happening, including..
Playstation: The Official Magazine.
And Game Informer, among other great press outlets.
MARCH was festival month, as we hit SXSW in Austin, C2E2 in Chicago, and PAX East in Boston.
At this time, Japan was rocked by not one, but 2 natural disasters. We tried to do our part with this song, and donated over $200 to Japan!
Around this time, I had an offer to play overseas for the first time, so we organized a trip to the UK, with your help!
MAY was a big month, that’s when I made “The Decision” and resigned from teaching.
Right after that, I dropped “TeacherRapperHero2″
and we finished up the Mirandom video for “Wednesday,”
then headed overseas in JUNE.
On our return, and in JULY, we finished up Forever Famicom DLC 2 and got ready for Nerdapalooza, where the response was amazing.
and then in AUGUST got the call of a lifetime… from mc chris.
We were asked to join the EPIC RACE WARS TOUR in the Fall.
During the tour, we released DLC2:
and when the tour ended in late OCTOBER, it was time to release the long-awaited Mega Ran 10 album in NOVEMBER:
AND as if that wasn’t enough, there was still DECEMBER!
should be a busy month in Mega Ran land… first headed to Boston for my first ever PAX panel presentation with K-Murdock and MC Frontalot joining me… should be great.
Video Game Music and Nerdcore Hip-Hop
Cat Theatre
Saturday, 4:30pm – 5:30pm
Nerds who rap? Sounds foolish… maybe. MC and gamer Random, aka Mega Ran will take you through the history of both hip-hop and video games, and explain how they both met up at a strange crossroads called “nerdcore hip-hop.” Guest Panelists include Damien “MC Frontalot” Hess, Godfather of Nerdcore and more!
Panelists include: Raheem Jarbo [Musician, Mega Ran.Com], Damian Hess [Musician, MC Frontalot/Level Up Records], Kyle Murdock [Producer, Neo Sonic Productions]
PAX is sold out, but if you’re in Boston, hit me on twitter and we’ll try to make something happen….maybe we can talk music over some Boston Baked Beans…or whatever you guys do out there.
Meanwhile, hear BLACK MATERIA on the GAME INFORMER SHOW PODCAST this week!
Speaking of, for PAX and SXSW, ALL Random albums are 20% off this week!
stock up!
SXSW? oh yeah, that thing.
K and Ran will be there all week, popping up at various events, starting with our official Showcase:
Time
Tuesday March 15
9:00PM
Venue
Flamingo Cantina
21+
515 E 6th St
WOW. I just wanted to say that the response to Forever Famicom has been totally unbelievable and overwhelming. It’s always a good feeling to know that when you work hard on something, the people appreciate it. Whether you streamed it, bought it, preordered it, or torrented it, Thank you.
click image to order.
Now, I’ve collected most of our interviews on Forever Famicom, as well as some bonus stuff, so you can check those out here.
Random and K-Murdock interview with the Find (pt 1) In the last interview, I said: I want this album to be a bridge, for hip hoppers and for video gamers. For video-gamers who never thought they were cool enough to like hip hop, and for hip hoppers who thought they were TOO cool to acknowledge video games that aren’t called ‘Madden’ and ‘Call of Duty’. To me that’s really the extent..
1Up.com Podcast interview with Random and K-Murdock K Murdock: It started about three years ago. To give you some backstory about how I met Ran, I was working at XM Satellite Radio as an audio engineer and on the side I hosted a show called Subsoniq that plays underground and progressive hip-hop. In the mail I had gotten a package with two CDs: The Call and the first Mega Ran album. Ran didn’t know at the time that K Murdock from Subsoniq was also K Murdock from the group Panacea. I loved both the albums but I was flipping out because I had never heard anyone do anything like Mega Ran. I hit him up on Myspace and said we should collaborate.
Raheem Jarbo, aka Random or Mega Ran. Teacher/Rapper/Hero. People will remember Ran for his daring leap into video game remixing which led to a Capcom cosign, but Random's penchant for storytelling has impressed retro gamers while garnering respect from Hip-Hop's harshest critics.
An incredible impromptu "freestyle" MC, Random's unique combination of fantasy and introspective hip-hop has found its way into TV shows, movies, video games, and even coursework at several universities. That's Random.
