The Fluid Engineerz construct intelligent hip hop
by Joe Tarr
When the Fluid Engineerz played a show in January at the Pilot Light—the Old City club known for indie rock music, not hip hop—they weren't quite sure what to expect.
One of the group's two MCs, Black Atticus, stood back and watched as the opening DJ, Satoshi, spun some records. "Satoshi was spinning a little bit and I remember this one guy in the crowd was just baffled at this style of music and asked out loud, 'What is this,' in sort of an offensive tone and body language," Atticus remembers.
When the Fluid Engineerz took the stage, Atticus looked out at the crowd and wasn't too encouraged by what he saw. No one was moving. "There wasn't a lot of dancing. At first, I thought, 'They don't like it.' But the reaction afterward was like, 'Oh, man. I've never heard that before,'" Atticus says.
Later still, as the Fluid Engineerz' DJ Science mixed it up with Satoshi on turntables, Atticus saw the skeptic from earlier dancing and getting into the show.
"That was a big eye opener for me," Atticus says.
Hip hop is arguably this day's defining music genre, but hearing it live is quite a rarity in Knoxville, for a number of reasons. That doesn't mean there aren't a number of practitioners of the art form locally. The Engineerz are getting a healthy word-of-mouth buzz as one of the better acts around, as KnoxVegas' hip-hop scene slowly builds.
"The hip-hop scene in Knoxville is small. But that small percentage is phenomenal," Atticus says. "As the hip-hop scene grows, we're looking at influencing and guiding a lot of groups coming up. We're the water filter."
The Engineerz consist of Atticus, DJ Science and the MC, Dynamic (they asked that only their stage names be used in the story).
Formally Universal Mathematics, the group evolved into Fluid Engineerz about a year and a half ago. "It's kind of hard to explain how we got together. It was natural. We all knew each other," Atticus says.
"We're friends, plus we're artistic," says Dynamic. "When we're together, 15 percent of what we talk about is music, 85 percent is something else."
"We go from rhymes to having herbal tea," jokes Science.
Like any good hip-hop DJ, Science pulls musical influences from all over. He says he doesn't listen to much hip hop, preferring to find his inspiration in other sounds—including jazz, reggae, classic '70s soul, Irish ballads, and Indian music.
"I go to the library and just pick up some records. Atticus forces me to listen to stuff I don't want to hear. Some time in the future, look out for a Hansel and Gretel remix," he says.
"I listen to things I like but manipulate them so it has nothing to do with the original," Science adds. "I might like a tuba hit, so I'll take that and chop it right up. I'll take an accordion, or an electric guitar from a '70s soundtrack."
Although it might have a free-form spirit, the Engineerz have a reverence for their music and hip hop in general.
"Music is a divine tool," Science says. "It must be treated with that kind of respect."
"We take the microphone as a podium. You wouldn't want us at the podium at your church spouting off nonsense," Atticus says.
In their songs, they talk about politics, women, love.
"Dynamic sets where the lyrics are going to go. He keeps it to its basic. I'm really flying off on different tangents," Atticus says. "It's like a rock and kite."
The Engineerz aim for tight lyrics that can be heard on a variety of levels, Dynamic says. "We try to put as much as you can into one verse," he says.
On one song, Dynamic rhymes: "Through all this abnormality of False Reality, I use a strategy To create a New Chemistry/ That Builds On True-Live Morality, Artistically Pulling your Mind from Captivity."
Followed by Black Atticus: "Money was made around your clock, As Bums laid around my block/ From the School of HardKnox, Comes a Thought for Knowledge Seekers, Where the TRUTH becomes our over-head projector AND the teacher..."
Science is currently working on a compilation that will include a number of Knoxville hip-hop acts, including the Engineerz. The group also plans to have an EP out soon.
The group hopes to make a mark on hip hop, but they know it takes a lot of work.
"I've got to go through my dues-paying, but I want to be through 'em some day," Atticus says.
"I want my dues to pay me," quips Science.
Ultimately, they have a much more basic goal—to reach people. Atticus remembers last year's Roots concert at Chilhowee Park. "That concert changed my life. The energy was coming off the stage. Black Thought [of the Roots], he was really feeling it—he snatched his headdress off and let his braids just fall.
"I want to touch someone's life," Atticus adds. "I want people to leave our show the way I left the Roots' show."
May 17, 2001 * Vol. 11, No. 20
© 2001 Metro Pulse
| 
