*** Liner Notes *** “Beautiful Alien-beauty from way beyond, where is your beauty from? Beautiful Alien…” A beautiful alien is a woman or should I say women – The physical being only a reflection of the spiritual. It sometimes amazes me how divine women are of course, being programmed to see only the outer, the admiration of the totality of a woman’s beauty can border on a lustful passion – but am I to blame for an artistic appreciation of a flesh flower? Women must be from another dimension, I mean we all are in a sense but the complexity of a woman’s body mind and soul is far beyond anything of this dimension. The beautify of the universe exemplified at the parting of her thighs, giving life from her body, artistically aerodynamic in the most creative ways, spiritual intuition way beyond comprehension…no wonder they bug out!!! And even that in itself is a beautiful thing…beautiful alien extra-ordinary terrestrial, body so celestial and example of a natural high down on the ground. Continuing in the adventures in Urban Fusion- is the third instrumental album from Mepho Brown… In casual conversation whenever I mention I make music people eventually get to the question “what kind of music do you do?” Somewhat hesitantly I reply “hip-hop with a jazzy-mellow eclectic type of vibe, I mean it’s not really hip-hop, more so jazz with a hip-hop feel.” I’m not sure how those who aren’t familiar with hip-hop interpret this but I think most just interpret it as the “rap” they hear on the radio. Actually, what I do is beyond the one-dimensional, clichéd and lately boring genre called hip-hop. At times I’m almost embarrassed to call what I do hip-hop as I feel a part of me has grown leaving hip-hop as a memory of who I used to be. Urban Fusion is a better description of what my production style has evolved to. It is a blend of the music I now listen to, which……has been almost everything except hip-hop for last few years. The music just isn’t what it used to be and …….. going forward the hip-hop audience in general will demand more from their beloved culture and music. So this is what I call Urban Fusion which is an attempt at a more jazzy-soulful sound but definitely with the fresh style, edge and artistic rawness reminiscent of how hip-hop used to feel. Jean says it sounds like some sixties psychedelic music, especially tracks like October Revolution and Lost in Ether. I’m not sure if this is the sound I intended but it would make sense being that we are cycling back to the age of Aquarius all over again. Different sounds/genres of hip-hop are sprouting up and a lot of the innovative sounds are coming from (different) hip hop producers. Tracks such as Artificial Ignorance and Evolution of the Electric B-Boy still have that hip-hop influence with a touch of “something else”. As much as I like those tracks I find Electraquarius to suit me better these days. Even the title track Beautiful Alien is more of a step in the direction I’m heading in my production. I originally sang of Beautiful Alien but later removed my voice to let the music shine on its own. If you ask me Jazz music is the root of everything hip-hop. I can’t see what cat would love hip-hop and not like jazz. In a sense, with hip hop rediscovering itself, it goes back to the essence. These days I find myself listening to more jazz than anything else. During production of BA I discovered albums such as John Coltrane’s Interstellar Space and Ascension, Pharaoh Sanders “Thembi”, Donald Byrd’s Electric Byrd, Herbie Hancock’s “Thrust”, the Miles Davis classic “In a Silent Way” and…well you get the idea. It seems like I’m outgrowing the “new” hip-hop music – it just doesn’t satisfy my tastes anymore. I hope that a few heads can feel what I’m doing music-wise but realistically I don’t expect them to. It usually takes awhile before something new and different catches people’s ears. It is my ultimate goal that one day far after I’ve exhausted the adventures of Mepho Brown, people will appreciate the name, music and ideas that I record as expression today. Elevation, Mepho Brown -2004 Thank you God Acknowledgements: Viessa Keith for singing, Alex Reverbertti for giving me love on the mastering; Jean for putting up with my a**; Fam for having my back and all those who love music. Props go out to: Cannonball Adderly, Herbie Hancock, Bootsy Collins, Ronnie Laws, Jimi Hendrix, Bob James, War, Bob Dylan, xxxx Knight, Spyro Gyra, Marvin Gaye, Donnie Hathaway, The Crusaders, Molecular Beats Squadron, Public Enemy, Notorious B.I.G, Sister Sledge, Ornette Coleman, Kool and the Gang, Isis, Herbie Mann, Nice and Smooth, Eric B. and Rakim, Stanley Clarke, Pharoah Sanders, Mobb Deep, Miles Davis, James Brown and all those artist that have touched my life through music……