1. Chicago, IL

When Qwel and Maker first discussed the possibility of collaborating on the first of the four horsemen/seasons albums neither one of them could have fully known.

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Qwel Okay, Maker really needs to discipline himself. He should no longer allow any MCs to rhyme over his beats, no matter how talented they are. Maker has proven he's one of the most gifted producers over the last couple of years.

He's blessed our unworthy arses with his TBA material, his solo Honestly album, and most recently, his Glue project. It's gotten to the point where a man will be escorted out of a room if he speaks negatively of Maker's raw and consistently jaw-dropping skill. Mister Maker continues his winning streak with this latest Galapagos4 record with friend and associate, Qwel. The Harvest further stakes the claims that Qwel is one of Chicago's finest.

After the praise he received for his past two solos, he had plenty of momentum coming into this one. More often than not, in reference to Qwel, you catch yourself asking, 'What the hell is he talkin' about?' It seems more like an exercise in wordplay rather than coherence. His inflections and tone barely ever change. There's no question that Qwel is quite stunning in his wordplay, but that can only be admired for so long. The human mind can only sustain so much interplay between words and phrases, rhymed syllables, and clever punchline twists. There needs to be more content and passion behind Qwel's lyrics.

Luckily, Maker picks up the slack in this department. Maker is clearly the star here (again!), outshining every rapper he's collaborated with. It must be damn discouraging to be an MC nowadays. His sample choices and breaks are impeccable.

The intro and outro on the album are actually highlights; it's probably no coincidence that they're instrumentals. The Harvest pretty much proves what's already been proven. Maker flexes his production muscles drenched in glimmering baby oil, and Qwel says how hip-hop needs to leave behind the glamour.

The latter of these two has been beaten to death and stressed by too many rappers. No one is going to save hip-hop by being so self-aware of it in their songs. Just do the job you say needs to be done and you'll get along just fine. Maker. Hailing from a city just 40 miles outside of Chicago named Aurora - known mostly for its advances in streetlight technology - Marco Jacobo (aka Maker) has spent the past 12 years honing his production talent, releasing a barrage of albums/45s/remixes, and spending a lion's share of his non-studio time on the road. But despite all this, you may not have heard his name mentioned until recently. Emerging from the vital Chicago underground Hip-Hop community of the late 90s, his role as producer naturally kept him behind the scenes, tweaking levels and digging for 'breaks,' yet fans quickly began to associate hard, organic drums and deftly chopped/arranged dusty samples with 'The Sound of Maker.'

After collaborating on a short series of underground releases with local artists, his beat-making prowess brought upon the attention of Chicago indie Hip-Hop record labels Birthwrite, and Galapagos4. Beginning with his critically acclaimed debut Honestly (Birthwrite, 2003. 'the music leaves an indelible imprint' – rapreviews.com) and immediately segueing into his sophomore solo project Shooting The Breeze (Galapagos4, 2005), the mid-aught's found Maker establishing a substantial following both within and outside of the Hip-Hop/Downtempo industries. Quality met quantity in a perfect balance as listeners were bombarded with various non-album projects like the limited press 7's on Bully & Heardrums as well as the 7' series entitled The Maker Files (Shake It, 2007) featuring Maker, Joey Beats, and Scott Matelic.

Rewind to 2003. Soon after establishing himself as a Downtempo/Instrumental Hip-Hop powerhouse, Maker strived to incorporate live vocals and turntablism into his creations. The resulting endeavors include his long-running partnership with MC Qwel on the producer albums The Harvest (Galapagos4, 2004) and So Be It (Galapagos4, 2009) –these albums also double as the first & last releases in Qwel's 'Four Seasons' series- as well as his lead producer role in the Hip Hop group Glue.

Chicago, IL

Consisting of Adeem (two-time Scribble Jam Champion) and DJ DQ (Animal Crackers), Glue released a trio of full-lengths including Seconds Away (Ramona 2003), Sunset Lodge (Shake It, 2005), & Catch As Catch Can (Fat Beats, 2007). These projects afforded Maker the opportunity to perform alongside such notable, internationally-known artists like Pharcyde, DeLaSoul, Masta Ace, Prince Paul, Little Brother, Mike Relm, Mos Def, MF Doom, Cage, Killah Priest, Mr.

Dibbs, 2Mex, Sixtoo, Blockhead, Shapeshifters, and many others with tour routes spanning the US, Europe, and Japan. And specifically, Glue was a featured artist on MTV2 & Fuse.tv and showcased on Van's Warped Tour. Maker's creations have also been featured on songs by Sleep (Old Dominion), Josh Martinez (Camobear), Dessa (Doomtree), Psalm One, The Opus, and indie rock band Cassettes Won't Listen. And more recently Maker's production can be heard on the producer album entitled Graymaker, a collaboration with Grayskull (Rhymesayers, Old Dominion).

From a licensing perspective, Maker beats have found their way onto various TV shows, movies, programs etc like the This American Life's Season 2 (Showtime/NPR), the motion picture Trick 'r Treat (WB, 2009), MTV's The Buried Life TV series, and many more. But being a producer is only one result of Maker being a self-described 'crate digger.' After spending countless hours amongst piles and piles of dusty 45s, 12inch singles, and LPs, it became a natural evolution for Maker to begin DJing. In late 2006, he formed the DJ crew The Comeups Sound System along with industry peers DJ Intel (Platter Pirates, Dirty Social), DJ Pickel (Analog Addicts), & visual artist Jose Garibaldi (Little Brown Heart). A typical Comeups DJ set spans Funk, Soul, Hip-Hop, Disco, House, Latin, Downtempo, & Breaks, and Maker's DJ residencies have found him performing alongside artists like Pete Rock, Afrika Bambaataa, Steinski, Chicken George, Andy Smith of Portishead, Greyboy, DJ Day, D-Styles, Z-Trip, Peanut Butter Wolf, & Chairman Mao at nearly every trendy, low-fi, and/or large scale concert venue from Chicago to the West Coast. As a Live PA artist, Maker has performed varying selections of his compositions with such renowned artists like: Blu, Exile, Opus, DiVinci (Sollilaquists of Sound), Joey Beats, Boom Bip, Daedelus, Mr. Dibbs, Edit (Glitch Mob), Gaslamp Killer, D-Styles, & Daddy Kev.

Exploded Drawings. DJ sets from the forward-thinking producers and DJs that are elevating the electronic music scene in Austin right now. Every thursday night the North Door will be host to Exploded Drawing family members spinning stimulating music: dirty beats, jazz, hip hop, interesting noises, bass music, dub, ambient, international sounds, local sounds, Exploded Drawing submissions, good/weird/genreless shit you won't hear anywhere else, etc., etc., etc., use your imagination.The sounds that inspire the scene Residents::::::: Soundfounder and Ntropy 'You have to systematically create confusion, it sets creativity free. Everything that is contradictory creates life.'

-Salvador Dali “Open structures which begin as revolutions often deteriorate into master plans designed to encompass the universe and autocratically eradicate all anomalous forms of music. So a return to listening, to hearing the world, is the most radical structure of all, since it is hard to envisage a master plan emerging out of such an amorphous, uncontrollable method.” -David Toop 'I believe in God, only I spell it Nature.' - Frank Lloyd Wright 'There was a band playin in my head and i felt like getting high' -Neil Young “Sound comes from everywhere, unbidden. My brain seeks it out, sorts it, makes me feel the immensity of the universe even when I have no wish to look or absorb. There are ear plugs, but then I just hear the sound of my own shell.” –David Toop. In celebration of their brand new full length album, Beautiful Raw (out 5/7 on Galapagos 4), Qwel & Maker are coming through Austin to party with yall and share the new sounds!

These 2 are true innovators and masters of their respective crafts. Qwel always progressive with the lyrics with fresh new rhyme schemes and flows, all while maintaining the rawness that we all love in true hip-hop. Maker, killing it on the MPC, chopping up break beats like none other and layering samples to make your heart sing. This will be their first time performing together in Austin since 2010, so be sure not to miss it!!!