The women of THEESatisfaction are finding their respective grooves outside the bounds of a creative union and that’s fresh as hell.
SassyBlack (aka. Catherine Harris-White) has a few projects under her belt. The most recent is Personal Sunlight, a brief 6-song EP that bends, flows and stutters in many unexpected directions. Sassy’s self-reflection and free form vocal instincts set the pace, which isn’t necessarily beholden to a metronome. The record is simple, yet oh so complicated, as anything so Personal should be.
SassyBlack — aka. Catherine Harris-White of ethereal hip-hop/soul duo THEESatisfaction — has a solo project coming out this summer called Personal Sunlight. “(Dancing in My Own) Personal Sunlight” is the latest sneak peak.
EarthEE, THEESatisfaction‘s sophomore LP release on Sub Pop records, is an illustration of the fluidity of the Black American perspective. Beats shift from the ancient to the vintage to the modern. Lyrics deal in the historic complexities of sexuality, race and art. The vocals of Cat and Stas show how intrinsically tied are hip-hop and R&B.
EarthEE seems committed to shaking off the baggage of centuries of skirmish for the sake of finding a higher, more redemptive groove. The best thing about this record is how self-referential it is without seeming exclusionary, something THEESatisfaction’s musical cousin Shabazz Palaces has achieved time and again. Most of us are envious outsiders — culturally, philosophically, musically — to THEESat’s particular pedigree, but the music of these two women couldn’t be more inviting.
Preview tracks from EarthEE and purchase the album over at the Sub Pop website and watch the video for “Recognition” below.
SassyBlack — also known as Catherine Harris-White — has her hand in a number of different pots, from the world traveling Sub Pop-underwritten adventures of THEESatisfaction, to the community-minded Black Weirdo parties hosted all across North America, to solo creative endeavors like Me And Mines (Cute Chicks), a brief, bouncy Garageband project that shows off Sassy’s wide range of musical influences.
Flyer than most, surfacing above the clouds in a supernatural state, but always just that: Natural. THEESatisfaction dropped “Recognition,” the first video from their upcoming album EarthEE (due February 24 on Sub Pop). This clip serves as deference to the movers and the shakers, the inspiration and the makers, of Black American art everywhere. Filmed on location at the Schomberg Center in Harlem, and the homes of John Coltrane, Sun-Ra and Marian Anderson in Philadelphia, the video is fittingly humble and resplendent in its simplicity.
THEESatisfaction have announced a release date for EarthEE, the follow-up to their official 2012 Sub Pop debut awE naturalE. Watch for the new album on February 24, 2015. In the meantime check out the first single from EarthEE, “Recognition,” a dreamy soundscape featuring fellow Black Constellation artists Erik Blood (on co-production) and Shabazz Palaces (in the mix).
 “Forerunner Foray” is the latest from Shabazz Palaces’Lese Majesty (due July 29 on Sub Pop). It’s a spectral hip-hop jam from the future featuring frequent collaborator Catherine Harris-White of THEESatisfaction. It’s also a description of the antics my bro and I used to get into in the earlier part of this century in my ’94 forest green Toyota. We don’t need four-wheel drive where we’re going, bruh.
Catherine Harris-White — one half of Sub Pop recording artists THEESatisfaction — will present an assemblage of supreme hip hop talent this Saturday at Re-Bar in Seattle via her Space Theory promotions company, an entity that has sponsored events in Seattle, Toronto and Brooklyn, and which seeks to examine your “perceptions of space through event production and curation”. Sounds dope to us.
Also sounding dope is this Saturday’s lineup which will introduce New Jersey hip hop artist MoRuf to Seattle. His fluid raps and sixth sense-like storytelling ability make for compelling listening. Check for his sounds here and watch the impressively cool video for his track “Buckle Up” below. Also joining the bill are local purveyors of that quality: OC Notes, Porter Ray and Cat’s partner in music Stas (appearing in strict selector form as DJ Stas THEE Boss).
Oh, one more tidbit: 206UP has your exclusive lead on a FREE PAIR OF TICKETS (er, make that guest list privileges — check ’em at the door — see what I did there?). You need onlyaccomplish one of the following two tasks to win:Send us an email to 206upblog@gmail.com OR a tweet to @206upBlog with the words “SPACE THEORY GOT ME HIGH!” somewhere in the body of the transmission. We’ll select one name at random and the winner will get passes for him/her and one co-pilot. This is a 21 and over event, however, so Space Camp kiddies need not apply.
Choklate and Stas (of THEESatisfaction) emancipate the groove on this brief exhale of a track. Here we are, shuffling toward the weekend. Be well, readers.
Cat and Stas are back with a new EP called And That’s Your Time. It’s fresh off the Bandcamp grill this morning, perfect listening for your morning commute or first, second and third coffee breaks.
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