Gijoe Sickonce
Portimão
DJs that are also producers. Now there's a line rarer than you might think in hip hop, both in and out of Portugal. Jazzy Jeff is one of the first serious references for that. And then there's the unbeatable DJ Premier. Or DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist. But most of them devote themselves exclusively to one or the other art. Kanye is seen mainly as a producer, as Mixmaster Mike is seen first of all as a DJ as the Beastie Boys will gladly confirm. GI Joe is DJ. And Sickonce is producer. Except that, unlike the other examples, GI Joe and Sickonce are also one and the same person.
Rafael Correia is the name behind the alter-egos, an architect by profession and arch-enemy of the music without groove, without punch or sharp kick and snare drums. This native of Portimão has been an early - late 90s! - active member of the singular hip hop scene in Algarve, with a curriculum that extends from Twism to Tribruto, and this just to name projects his been involved with at the most southern region of the country.
As a DJ, however, GI Joe has not been limited to scratching for others - besides the ones mentioned, we can also find his precise cuts with a great flow in Royalistick and Reflect albums, for example - but he is also known to give extra work to clubs’ sound systems all over the country. In the dj booth, the work of GI Joe is equally eclectic, always looking for the latest 'banger' able to stir crowds with an open style where hip hop meets dubstep, and where good taste reigns forever. Clear example: the duo Bass Avenue that he shares with Kombo and who explore the lowest spectrum of frequencies thought to the clubs.
On the reverse of this medal is working as Sickonce. Obviously, each influences the other facets: when the eyes see the dance floor almost always conclude what works, what bass lines do move the bodies, which sounds awaken the best reactions in people. And this privileged vantage point of the DJ is then transported to the studio where all these findings are put into operation. Sickonce produces beats that are unique, powerful, with a careful sound and wide open views. The latest example is his extremely well taken care of production work on the album Deep: her, a project that he keeps with emmy Curl and which has just premiered in album format. But Sickonce has a wider discography, including the mega-project Palavra de Músico, which ventured into the production of more than fifty tracks with various guests. A milestone for the 'do it yourself' spirit in national hip hop.
GI Joe and Sickonce, incidentally, are two identities associated with one of the most active cells of hip hop in Algarve and nationally, Kimahera, house of ambitious projects, with a particular identity that counts several years of existence and that has done much to keep hip hop music on the map nationally. Rafael is one of minds behind Kimahera.
In common, GI Joe, Sickonce and, why not?, Architect Rafael Correa have a passion for solid and fluid building, be that a set grounded in classics but with a distinctly modern touch, beats that are underpinned by a strong rhythmic foundation, or buildings of brick and cement built to last generations. That’s the only way to build the future. That of music and that of the country.
Booking Rafael Correia
(+351) 936 435 883
(+351) 917 134 221
gijoe@kimahera.pt
Sickonce I Gijoe’s tracks
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