HipHopDX reviewed Closed Sessions: ATX in their latest Review Bits article, giving praise to the LP.
Created over the course of four days last March in Austin, Texas, ATX finds an assorted collection of emcees crossing paths for the sake of creating quality music, and the end results rarely disappoint... The Closed Sessions: ATX does what other compilations fail to do: provide us with an all-star cast of our favorite emcees while still keeping execution and likewise integrity in mind (looking at you DJ Khaled).
Tim Burdick of Time-Out Boston reviewed Closed Sessions: ATX, praising the collaborations and buzzing talent on the album.
Rather than gathering years of leftover songs and calling it a mixtape, Chicago indie label Closed Sessions has adopted a more ambitious approach. Teaming with New York’s Decon collective—home of Evidence and Jay Electronica—they rented a mansion in Austin, Texas, and filled it with recording equipment. Over the course of the next four days, twenty-one rappers and five producers threw themselves into the ten tracks of Closed Sessions: ATX.
The LA Weekly's Phillip Mlynar talked to DJ RTC, Fashawn, Rakaa, and GLC for an interesting piece on Closed Sessions: ATX. The article, "Is This The Playboy Mansion, or a Studio: Creating Hip Hop's Fantasy Camp", focuses on the vibe in the studio, and the intricacies of the mansion.
Last year, as SXSW'ers swarmed downtown Austin, Texas, Alexander "DJ RTC" Fruchter rented a palatial mansion in the nearby hills for four days and set about creating a "hip-hop fantasy camp." Rappers like Freddie Gibbs, Fashawn, Rhymefest, and Kanye West associate GLC passed through, hung out, and wrote music together. Along with compiling the best of those sessions for an album project, video footage of the bonds the artists forged was recorded for an accompanying documentary. As Fruchter puts it, the aim was to "not just document the culture and the art that came out of those four days but to tell the story of the artists and what makes them unique." With Closed Sessions: ATX released on March 15th, we asked Gibbs, Fashawn, GLC, RTC and Dilated Peoples' Rakaa to look back on their time inside hip-hop's most grandiose recording spot.
Miles Raymer of The Chicago Reader penned a great feature on Closed Sessions: ATX, going in-depth on the formation of Closed Sessions, and how everything came together.
Back when albums could still sell big and labels had actual A&R budgets, South by Southwest had a pretty clear purpose: to put unsigned, unknown bands in front of people who could, at least in theory, offer them record deals and media exposure. But more and more the festival showcases performers who are already firmly established or at least thoroughly hyped, and corporate and media entities with little connection to music have populated it in increasing numbers as well—it's hard to see why SXSW still exists, other than to perpetuate itself.
I'm very happy to announce that Closed Sessions: ATX is now available for pre-order. Check out the album on iTunes, and get a preview of all 10 songs featuring the likes of Freddie Gibbs, Rhymefest, GLC, Fashawn, Rakaa, DJ Babu, and many more. Also, if you get the full album you will also receive the 20-minute documentary when it is released on 3.15.11, definitely a good deal for $9.99.
Thanks to everyone that has supported the project thus far. We have more in-store. Also, celebrate the release with us this Saturday at Beauty Bar with a new edition of Digital Freshness headlined by Sir Michael Rocks. If you are going to be in Austin, come celebrate with us at Peckerheads on 3.17.11 where we will have performances by Rakaa and Babu, Skyzoo, Stalley, El Prez, Esso, YP, CyHi Da Prynce, Kids These Days, Yelawolf, Blu, and more RSVP is free.
