07.31.2003 |
SETH MARCEL FEATURED IN THE
SYRACUSE TIMES |
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Beat Poet Hip-hopper Seth Marcel
intends to put his hometown on the rap map.
By Justin Park
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Eminem opened the gates in Detroit, Nelly created a buzz about St.
Louis and Outkast reminded us that Southerners actually make music
other than country and bluegrass. Seth Marcel, Syracuse-born and
-bred, is trying to focus the country's eyes on the hip-hop scene in
upstate New York, despite the fact that musical acts of all types from
Rochester, Buffalo and Syracuse have always struggled to shine next to
the sunlike spotlight on New York City.
The problematic mentality is that if an act were any good, they'd move
to the Big Apple to get noticed. Any East Coast hip-hop fan will tell
you that upstate is where hardcore New York City rappers get sent to
prison, not where great rappers are born.
Groundbreakers like Eminem,
Nelly, and Atlanta's
Outkast were brazen
enough to represent their until-then-ignored native lands and to not
copycat other emcees. Marcel could follow suit simply because he pulls
no punches when letting people know what 'hood he's from and because
he refuses to fit into any hip-hop cliches. His sound is clearly East
Coast hardcore, similar to a rougher-edged
Rakim; while his flow and
his voice don't break new ground, the substance of his rhymes sets him
apart.
Emulating the simpler times of hip-hop when groups like
Public Enemy
were rapping about race, politics and other matters of substance
instead of guns, drugs and braggadocio, Marcel's songs tiptoe several
lines, making him difficult to pin down. Like De La Soul, his messages
are usually positive but not preachy. Like Public Enemy, he tries to
challenge listeners with normally unspoken topics. His rhymes,
however, don't read like an after-school special and he's hardly
afraid to boast: He just leaves out the gun talk and keeps the
four-letters to a minimum.
"Even the artists of today that actually rap with some substance don't
reach the depth of those {Public Enemy} songs," Marcel says. "If I can
make one song that makes me feel like I feel when I listen to {PE's}
'Welcome to the Terrordome,' I'll be happy."
These days his words reach a national audience as deejays from North
Carolina to New York City play his singles. Yet Syracuse has always
been the backdrop for the major turns in Marcel's life, from bookworm
to deejay to barber to emcee to married father of four.
Seth Marcel and JadaKiss |


Rapper's Delight
SETH MARCEL FEATURED IN THE
SYRACUSE TIMES 08.07.2002
Two turntables and a
microphone. That's how it began. Seth Marcel and his
cousin Eddie James scratching records and spouting
rhymes in the back room on the city's East Side. A
pair of Technique 1200s. A few records. A few
rhymes. A laboratory that spawned a rising star in
the hip-hop galaxy.
"That's where it all
started for us," Marcel says. "That's where we
decided this is what we wanted to do with our
lives."
As he speaks, Marcel is
taking a break from recording at Unique Studios in
New York City, where he's putting the icing on
I'm Necessary, his debut album for former
Syracuse University basketball god Derrick Coleman's
new label Onpoint Recordings. Marcel began his
career as a deejay scratching at frat parties and
places like the Underground in SU's Schine Student
Center and the Southwest Community Center. His music
life has since evolved from Mind Theory, a rap
tandem forged with James, to Marcel's
Sammy-nominated alter ego Billie Dixon, to Seth
Marcel, already perhaps the biggest hip-hop act to
emerge from the Salt City.
It's something of a
large leap for an artist who until recently was
known as much for his emcee abilities as his skill
as a barber. Although Marcel has performed in the
area for years it wasn't until he was signed to
Onpoint by Coleman, who met Marcel and James through
the SU party circuit, that things began to snowball.
The promotional single
"Hardcore," originally recorded with
partner-in-rhyme Aki and produced by James, was
released earlier this year; a remixed version with
Ruff Ryders and The Lox veteran
Jadakiss has since been spun extensively on
local and national radio stations. "The original
version of 'Hardcore' was doing well, creating buzz
on its own, and then doing the remix with 'kiss was
kind of like putting nitrous oxide in the tank,"
Marcel says. "It put me in a different realm
musically and established me as an independent who
can hang with a major."
Despite the gritty
head-bobbing beats of "Hardcore," Marcel claims
influences ranging from
Stevie Wonder,
Cyndi Lauper,
Herbie Hancock,
Duran Duran, Prince,
Jay-Z and
2Pac /
Tupac Shakur. "I got multiple colors to paint
pictures with," Marcel says. "If you only listen to
hip-hop you only hear music in a hip-hop bubble. If
you listen to a variety of music, it helps you
develop and experiment with your craft."
Marcel says that musical
gumbo has a strong influence on the material on his
forthcoming album, which ranges from
self-glorification to self-awareness, social issues,
and party and bump'n'grind tracks. Marcel also wrote
"I Can't Wait to Meet You," a heartfelt song for his
7-month-old daughter Xy'el.
"I know what the public
expects and it would be very easy to play behind
what people hear on the radio, but I wouldn't be
true to myself or my art if I did that," Marcel
says. "I'm trying to take it back to making an
album. It's supposed to be insightful. It's supposed
to be a journey."
The journey has yet to
be finished or really even begun. Marcel says 40
tracks are being laid down for consideration on the
upcoming album, which was primarily written by
Marcel and produced by James.
For the time being, the
Jadakiss remix and performances at events like the
May 29, 2002 WWHT-FM 107.9 Hot 107.9 Summer Jam with
headliners
Fabolous and
Shaggy have elevated the buzz in anticipation of
I'm Necessary's release later this year.
Marcel is scheduled to perform this week at
Billboard magazine's hip-hop conference in
Florida and is in discussions to open for a major
act on a national tour in the near future. Saturday
will be one of the last local performances before
Marcel is thrust onto the national scene; it should
be a homecoming for a homeboy done good and likely
to do far better.
"There's no place like
home," Marcel says. "I didn't really appreciate it
until I was sleeping in one hotel in one state one
day and another hotel in a different state the next
day. My home is and always will be the {area code}
315."
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Hip-Hop Hooray
SETH MARCEL FEATURED IN THE
SYRACUSE TIMES 01.23.2002
Seth Marcel, Syracuse Area Music Awards,
Sammys nominee for Best Soul / R'n'B
Instrumentalist / Vocalist, is the first
artist to land a deal on OnPoint Records in
Manhattan, NY , the label started by former
Syracuse University basketball star and
current Philadelphia 76'er power forward
Derrick Coleman.
Marcel
befriended Coleman during the cager's days
on the Syracuse University SU Hill, making
mix tapes for DC to listen to during road
trips, and the pair have kept in touch over
the years. When Coleman, who apparently has
aspirations of becoming the Berry Gordy of
the NBA, expressed an interest in starting a
label, Marcel sent him a tape, which led to
his signing and subsequent release of "I'm
Hard To The Core." |
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