Episode 38: Marcus Harris (aka MH The Verb)
It's been pretty hectic here in the 25 O'Clock basement lair as of late. I've been readying our whole online archive for the move ot the new server and website. Yes, that's right. It's actually happening. And while it's not terribly difficult to do, it is tedious. So I've been listening to every record I have by Jawbox while migrating all this data and stuff. It's been pretty sweet. I forgot how much I love Jawbox.
This week, I have Marcus Harris on the show, or as he's known onstage, MH The Verb. Marcus is an outstanding hip hop artist, and really just a phenomenal artist in general. I'm always impressed by folk who can not only write a damn song, but also produce a cohesive image and visual aesthetic with it as well. His work flows so uniquely, I often wonder how he does it at all. He and I shared a stage back in 2010 or so under fairly odd but very memorable circumstances, where I was tasked with playing bass to an impromptu version of “Rapper’s Delight” and some Parliament stuff by Marcus, who had emerged from the crowd out of nowhere when one of my band asked “Anyone want to come up and sing a song?” Often, that can go off the rails real quick. Glad it was Marcus who stepped out of the crowd that night.
We talk about how he does it, his live band, collaborating with all kinds of artists for inspiration, and his take on hip hop in general. It was great to have him on. We hadn’t seen each other in quite a few years, and frankly, I thought he was still living in new York City. I emailed him asking if he wanted to do the show the next time he was in town. Turns out, he was already back in town. So that was a win.
That’s all I got for this week. Enjoy the show, be well, and I’ll talk to you all in fourteen days.
Cheers,
DD