Feb 24 Arrive to NY
Due to a strong against-wind, the plane arrive to JFK Airport with 15 minutes delay at 10am. As KRUSH rushed outside & appreciated his first cigarette after 14 hours of non-smoking flight, a few Japanese fans who happened to be on the same plane came up to him and asked for handshakes & some photos. He got on a cab & headed for the hotel in Manhattan. NY was unexpectedly warm for this time of the year, with blue sky & sunshine overhead. After refreshing himself with a hot shower, KRUSH went out to a nearby chinese restaurant to have a late lunch, then went to bed due to a heavy jet-lag.

Feb 25 "Code4109" Press Day-1

The 2nd day in NY was a press day from 11am-7:30pm for US release of the mix album "Code4109" due out in late May. Incorporating numbers of phone interviews with journalists from different states, KRUSH was interviewed by journalists of press such as Yomiuri America, URB, Source & various internet-zines, and ended the day with a photo session for FRONT mag. He was led by record label press rep to a nearby sushi-bar, and had a dinner of nigiri-sushi & yakitori to accompany the bottles of beer.

Feb 26	"Code4109" Press Day-2
	Travel to Philladelphia

The day turned out to be a tight schedule doing interviews in between each locations & breaks of the photo sessions, then travel to Philly in the evening. KRUSH checked out the hotel at 10am. Stuffing his luggages in the van provided by the record label, he ran to a nearby cafe to get a breakfast to eat it in the car while getting his first interview of the day. Following the photo shoot at various locations such as Harlem's soul-food restaurant, a jazz bar & a cafe in Brooklyn, and ended at photographers' studio where he also finished off the rest of the interviews that waited in line.
Getting stuck in the traffic due to a demonstration going on in Manhattan, KRUSH finally got to the Penn Station, jumped onto the 7:45pm Amtrak, and headed for Philly. The train arrived to Philladelphia 30th St Station after a 90-minute ride where he got off. When he got to the hotel, he called Black Thought to announce his arrival & Black Thought came down to the hotel. KRUSH greeted Black Thought with "congratulations for the Grammy's!" then they both gave strong hugs of reunion. KRUSH then passed a DAT tape to Black Thought which enfolds 2 basic tracks - a jazz beat with los of Roots taste & a futuristic beat that's very KRUSH - to choose for their collaboration.


Feb 28 Recording-1st Day



At 10am, KRUSH arrived to The Studio, where The Roots crew always records their tracks. Before he begun working on his track with Black Thought, The Roots' funky drummer ?uestlove came in to get busy on his drums for one of the tracks on KRUSH's new album. As ?uestlove's recording begun, Black Thought called in to suggest to KRUSH "I also want to see what comes out if you made a beat at the spot. You up for that?" KRUSH definitely was, and after the ?uestlove session, he started working on his S-1000 & MC-50. Around 2pm, Black Thought came in. KRUSH played all 3 tracks including the ones on the tape he passed onto Black Thought, and they both decided to go with the futuristic beat KRUSH had brought from Japan that Black Thought liked for its tempo, the energy & the vibe.
After laying down the track onto a 2 multi-track tape, Black Thought begun working on his lyrics, listening to the looping track over & over. Once in a while, he holds a mic and try his lyrics on top of the beat, listen, and goes back to his notepad for more. Meanwhile, KRUSH digs into his record bag looking for something with keys & chords on top of the beat.
Tonight was the night that The Roots're having their Grammy party at Electric Factory right next door where KRUSH had also played when he came over to Philly in November '98 for his US tour. Black Thought finish off his work in the studio for the day & headed for his soundcheck at the venue. KRUSH stayed behind for about an hour, and created a new bass with the S-1000.


Feb 29 Recording-2nd Day



Got to the studio at 11am straight, KRUSH ate his breakfast of French Toast & scrambled eggs (thanx for the breakfast, Larry!), and laid down the bass his made the night before. He then goes on to find something more to put on top, but without much success. He asked Kamal, the keyboardist of The Roots & now also a father of an adorable baby girl, who was at the studio to f**k around on his beat. After a several try-outs to find the right phrases, Kamal begun recording bits & pieces which gave more life to what was already there. Black Thought came in, had a listen to the track, and begun to scribble on his notepad in a greater concentration. Meanwhile, KRUSH laid down a sound of a Japanese traditional harp "koto." Then Black Though finally got into the vocal booth to record his rap. He's mad quick with recordings as usual, he finished all 3 verses plus hooks & choruses in a flash, and brought in one of his posse to overdub & do haromnies for the hook. Now both KRUSH & Black Thought concentrated on the additional sounds to go with the rap. KRUSH somehow didn't like the "koto" sound that he laid on top, and tried cutting an ambient S.E. which matched perfectly with the whole track. Listening to that, Black Thought showed a wide smile on his face saying "y'see that?!" to his posse. And that ended the day to get ready for the mix 2 days later.


Mar 02 Mixing
Got to the studio with a slight delay from 11am, KRUSH sat on the cozy sofa in the studio, listening to the engineer fixing up the sound. A while later, KRUSH decided to re-do the S.E. scratches he did on the intro section which he felt was a bit messy. Followed by mutings then more technical fixing with the massive engineer Jon Smeltz in full effect, they completed "the first solo track" of Black Thought.

CROSSROAD BACK NUMBER