Beautiful Raw is a Hip-hop album like no other - more than a CD, Beautiful Raw is a story.

Told by MC Till, beautiful raw is the inspiring journey of an underground MC who was frustrated with life. Rather than throw in the towel, MC Till decided to create. In the tradition of Hip-hop legends like De La Soul, Common, and Kanye West, MC Till set out to write a conscious album that reflected his current realities.

What were those realities? MC Till had been involved in "church culture" for some time. He experienced people doing evil in the name of God. He observed money & politics drown out goodness. He saw greed, lust, and spite. In the midst of his career gone bad experiences he was also in and out of relationships. He would fall for the perfect girl, only to have his heart crushed. Then, he would fall for the not-so-perfect girl only to have her heart crushed.

Rather than curse God and humanity, MC Till wrote from his heart to create Beautiful Raw. Sound interesting?

Beautiful Raw - an album that makes sense.

You've probably heard every Common album. Perhaps you can't stop listening to "Resurrection." I can't either.

Now imagine if you could hear an entire album of heartfelt songs that where all a part of a story. Beautiful Raw does just that. MC Till has created a Hip-hop album story. He takes you through hypocrisies of organized religion and then brings you into the emotional side of dating. Using raw breaks and samples as the music bed he then leads you to his resolution.

So how does this all come together? Grab the album for $7 and find out!


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INTERVIEW W/ ARTIST AND MAIN PRODUCER MC (TILL)

The Story of Beautiful Raw...

HOW DID BEAUTIFUL RAW COME ABOUT?

I really like how De La Soul and Kanye West created albums, not just collections of songs, but albums that had a certain flow and vibe. I wanted to make an album where any individual song could stand on its own, but collectively they all made sense together. Every song supports the album’s over arching story.

WHAT IS THAT STORY?

It is Beautiful Raw.

OKAY SMARTY, CAN YOU EXPAND?

Haha! Beautiful Raw is mainly my journey out of religion and into peace. That is a beautiful thing. But it is also quite grimy and raw. I noticed that I was having many conversations (okay, arguments) with my friend Leslie Hollis. We would always butt heads whenever the subject of church came up. About this time I was beginning to write some songs venting my frustrations with organized religion. After writing one such song I was having a discussion with Leslie when the light bulb went off. The Beautiful Raw idea came to me. I thought I could put some of the songs I was writing and intertwine them with the discussions I was having with Leslie to create a concept album.

SO, THE CONVERSATIONS YOU HAVE WITH LESLIE ON THE ALBUM ARE REAL?

Well, yes and no. After coming up with this idea I thought back so some of our more heated conversations. I began to write a script trying to recapture those same discussions. I am a big fan of Larry David’s HBO series “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” I learned that on that show Larry does not write full scripts. He kind of has an idea of where he wants the scene to go and writes loose scripts to get the scene moving. I decided to use this same formula. I wrote open ended scripts for Leslie and me. We went over them several times, then, we would simply turn the mic on and start talking. So, some of that stuff is straight from a script. However, most of it is improvised. Leslie and I work well together so it was cool.

SO, IS LESLIE THE GIRL THAT YOU REFER TO ON THE SONGS ABOUT DATING?

No, she is actually not the subject matter on any of the songs. I wrote some of those songs (like crush) years ago. When I write songs about a significant other I really try to rearrange a few details and keep them vague so as to not put people’s business out on front street.

IS THAT WHAT YOU DID FOR "NO WAY JONES?"

Yes, exactly. That song is actually dealing with multiple women and situations. I just took any bad experience I had with any previous girlfriend and created a master list of sucky things that have happened to me. Then, I imagined that one girl did all those things. Then, I got mad at her for doing all those things. I had to write a song about her because she made me so mad. Even thinking about it now is getting me upset.

BUT, YOU SAID YOU MADE HER UP?

O, yeah, that’s right. Sorry, I was getting into character. I’m cool.

HA! BACK TO THE RELIGION STUFF. YOU REFERRED TO YOUR JOURNEY OUT OF RELIGION. YOU ALSO HAVE WHAT SOME MIGHT INTERPRET AS ANTI-CHURCH SONGS ON YOUR ALBUM. ARE YOU EXPERIENCING ANY BACKLASH FROM THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY?

Not really. Most people I come across are sick of the facades that so many people put on. And just to clarify. I am not anti-church. I try not to be anti-anything. Rather than being anti-war I am pro-peace. That does not mean I’m a pacifist. Yes, I believe in peace, but I do not believe in sitting back and allowing injustice to go on. Not within church culture, not within the media driven Hip-hop world, not anywhere. I believe when there is something worth fighting for I ought to fight with all I have. However, I believe it is better to fight with money and intelligence and peaceful resistance than it is to fight with fists, guns, bullets, attack ads, and bombs. I guess you could say that I’m fighting the church institution with “Beautiful Raw.” But, I’m certainly not attacking or fighting the people who promote peace, unity, and love. If I offend one of these people, I’m sorry. If I offend someone who manipulates people into paying tithes or falsely teaches people then that’s good.

MAN, YOU DON'T HOLD BACK DO YOU?

No, not really. But I don’t think Jesus held back too much either. And I try to follow Him. However, I do think he was very strategic in which fights he picked to fight and how to fight them. Beautiful Raw is strategic in the sense that I’m a very happy and peaceful person; and certainly the least bit intimidating. I am able to stand in front of a church congregation and perform songs that criticize their organization in a way that does not attack them, but rather encourages them to think.

In the end Beautiful Raw is more of a story than anything else. I created it in the lines of a movie more than a CD. I really hope people can sit down and listen to this album from start to finish and enjoy the show.


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REVIEWS OF BEAUTIFUL RAW...

Magazine: City Beat
City: Cincinnati, OH

Adam Hayden, also known as MC Till, figures out how to engage others in his music and his point of view. And in Cincinnati, where more MCs line the city's blocks than churches and liquor stores, that's not an easy feat.

It's August's Scribble Jam Festival, and the parking lot of Annie's Entertainment Complex is crawling with MCs slinging CDs and flyers. Amid this, MC Till walks up, hands over his CD, Beautiful Raw, and holds a conversation. Some other guy announces, "He's from out of town," butts in with a hard sell for his CD by freestyling -- ad nauseam -- to the point that a huddle of people finally tell him, "Sorry, I don´t have any money" like he's a panhandler.

"I think we're in a place and time where people know what good rappers sound like, so that's not a novelty anymore," Till explains. In the beginning, his question was, "How do I stand out?"

Being interactive became Till's way. He books quirky little "home tours," playing in people's living rooms -- flyers advertising may say, "Show at Cathy's House." Or, he'll write beautifulraw/Podcast.com blogs to brief people about the CD:

"Beautiful Raw is the passion for (and against) something or someone, like a previous girlfriend," Till writes. "It is how I looked into her eyes and saw beauty then heard her talk down to me and (I) felt ugly."

The West Chester rapper credits a guy named Ralo from Indianapolis, who puts on free shows by raising money through churches and generous benefactors, for giving him the idea to write blogs.

Till recalls, "I was just talking to him like, 'How do I get my music out to the people a little bit more?' And he said, 'Write emails. When you write emails to people or blogs, don't just promote yourself because people can care less. They don't know you, they don't know about your new album, just be personal with them, just tell 'em about what's going on in your life, how the music's going.' And so I do that, and it works. When you're authentic with people, I think they appreciate it."

"In June, I sent out emails about relationships," he says. "In July, it was about Hip Hop. In August we kind of fused Hip Hop in with the Church."

On the album, Till questions incongruities he finds in the institution of church, Hip Hop and in women. Together, these entities form sort of a triptych he places on a pedestal one moment, and is ready to tear down the next. On the cover, cutouts of Till, a boom box and an estranged woman pulling him in the direction of a church inspire questions: Is he using Hip Hop to endorse the Church? Or is he dissing the Church?

"The concept is that I'm frustrated with the Church, I'm dealing with hypocrisy, I'm dealing with things that are ungodly that are going on within the Church and I'm saying, 'Enough, I'm tired, I'm sick of this, and I'm trying to leave, but there's something that's still pulling me back in," Till says.

"And so with the boom box there, I'm trying to get to some fun, light, innocent stuff, and here's this girl pulling me back to this church. That's kind of the concept of the artwork, and pretty much the album as well."

Prior to Beautiful Raw, Till recorded Black Guy Meets White Man with EMI Holy Hip Hop artist, K-Drama, and on it the two mesh well over lighthearted Disco breakbeats.

"I'm a very optimistic person and I see beautiful things going on, even in the midst of all my frustrations with church, I see such beautiful people involved," he says.

Some of his biggest endorsers include Reverend Freddie T. Piphus of Zion Global Ministries in West Chester, who calls Till a "Christian Hip Hop artist" who "lives what he professes." But Till says being a poster child for Christian Hip Hop would mean being "very evangelical," "converting people and reaching the lost," which isn't his aim.

"I think that what this album does, it allows for discussion. It allows for a place where we say, 'Okay, we know what we've been taught, we know what we've learned growing up, now let's discuss it."


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Magazine: News 4 U
City: Evansville, IN

MC Till has been challenging the conventions of hip hop, life, love, and religion, for some time now, and does so again in this intelligent, insightful, and thought provoking release, Beautiful Raw. Peppered with nasty break beats and stand out guest performances by Source Aura, Wise Logic, and Leslie Hollis, Beautiful Raw is an album that will stay with your mind for awhile. With the powerhouse track "Fool's Gold," MC Till challenges Christians over the hypocrisy of their life inside the church. To be clear, this is not blasphemy, but merely one man asking questions. This is a man trying to find his way in the life he's living. He challenges the public school system in "System Shambles." He challenges hip-hop conventions in "Megan Good." He even challenges his first girlfriend in conversation and song with the entertaining and talented, Leslie Hollis, who guests on several tracks and skits. Honesty, questions, and observations: pretty risky realms for MCs these days, but MC Till does so with an honesty that most MCs only claim to bring to the mic.

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