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Andy Bernstein
grew up in Greektown, East End Toronto on a steady diet of
skateboarding, souvlaki, art, punk rock and hip hop.
Rocking the name MC Abdominal, he formed his first
rap crew with the now legendary DJ Serious as a
teenager, and started recording, honing his freestyle
chops, building an astounding lung capacity, and
developing into one of the most lyrically gifted and
charismatic performers ever to grace the shores of Lake
Ontario.
A chance
meeting in 1998 at a downtown party lead him to first
cross paths with DJ Fase. The two hit it off
immediately, they paired up as Abs & Fase, began
recording together, and a limited run of "Vinyl
Frontier" records made its way into the hot hands of
DJs, radio hosts, and record collectors around the globe.
One of them was picked up by UK producer DJ Format,
who was floored by this unknown Canadian emcee, and
invited him to England to collaborate.
Abdominal's
raps became a standout feature on Format's first two
full-length releases - Music
for the Mature B-Boy and If You can't Join 'Em ...Beat
'Em - selling upwards of 65,000 copies in total
worldwide, and spinning off into several highly acclaimed
international singles and video releases. The duo hit the
road for three years, and from 2003 to 2005 they toured as
part of Jurassic 5's European tour, toured with
Ugly Duckling, spent a month touring Australia with
the Good Vibrations Festival (alongside Lyrics
Born and Handsome Boy Modeling School), opened
for Roy Ayers, De La Soul and
Blackalicious, and rocked the revered stages of the
world famous Glastonbury Festival, Leeds
Festival, and Reading Festival twice.
Escape From
The Pigeon Hole, the first solo record by Abdominal,
featuring production by DJ Format, Cut Chemist
(from Jurassic 5), Young Einstein (from Ugly
Duckling), DJ Fase, DJ Serious, Circle Research,
cuts by World DMC champion DJ Dopey, and a special
appearance by local jazz phenom Elizabeth Shepherd,
the record promises to be Abdominal's richest, most
vibrant, most artistically diverse project to date. "My
goal is to show a more complete picture of who I am."
The
tracklisting is filled with concept songs, ranging from
stories about being a bike courier, open relationships,
not giving a f**k, and his cat. Strong lyricism, detailed
imagery, plenty of humour, and the illest of flows carry
through the album beautifully, from start to finish.
Abdominal is not only escaping the pigeon hole - he is
leaving it far behind in his pedal-pushing dust.
http://www.myspace.com/mcabdominal
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