There is nothing quite like the snap and crackle of a classic hip-hop beat. The ages of Public Enemy, N.W.A. and Wu-Tang are mere shadows for hip-hop acts of today to follow.  Aiming to keep alive the good vibes and groovy flows of traditional hip-hop is Burlington hip-hop collective Bless the Child, which consists of Jeff Philie (a.k.a. Humble) and Rajnii Eddins on the mic, and Michael Plante (a.k.a. Transplante) on the turntable behind them. The Cynic had the chance to catch Bless the Child for some words, delving into the hearth of the group keeping the sweet taste of vintage boom-bap alive and well in Burlington. VC: So, tell us a bit about Bless the Child’s beginnings. When and how did you guys come together? Humble: We started around two years ago, out of weekly cipher nights where Rajnii and I met, alongside Logik and Entricut. BTC originally began as a collaboration between Raj, Logik and myself, with close ties to Entricut who was in Natural Ingreadiants. Logik pushed for the group to form, but we had no name. Raj was inspired by an old school hip-hop video he saw about growing up without a father. From the video, the lyric “bless the child” got stuck in his head, and he brought it to us as the name of the group. Since our first show, we connected with Transplante, who I have worked with for years preceding this, to be our official DJ. It was clear that he needed to be our DJ; his scary intuition, his synchronicity with our stage presence, and natural talent, all mixed with his scratching and beat cutting, made it clear. Logik moved away and Raj and I focused on the project while building upon our connections and collaborations with Entricut and Eskael, as well as many other local hip-hop heads. VC: When did you guys first become interested in hip-hop? Humble: I have been a fan of hip-hop since I was a preteen, before it was considered anything but a “fad,” and labelled “noise” and not “real music.” This was the early 90’s and hip-hop was a vibrant force of positive messages, styled out graphics, clothes and raw break-beats with some tea kette sounds over top, a la Public Enemy. I was a rebellious kid and so was the music of the time, so it matched my identity from then until now. I remember hearing Wu-Tang’s “Protect Your Neck” when it first hit the airwaves over a staticy Hot 97 signal when it was a low power radio station out of NYC, and I was like, “What the f-ck is this.” I’ve been hooked ever since. Defining albums for me…Nas’ “Illmatic,” Wu-Tang’s “Enter the 36 Chambers,” Beastie Boys’ “Paul’s Boutique” and OutKast’s “Southernplayalysticadallacmuzik,” among others. Rajnii– My first love was poetry, because my mother Randee Eddins started the first black writers group in the Northwest, the African American Writers Alliance (AAWA) in 1991. I was 11 at the time. When I wrote my first hip-hop verse I was 14, and it was called “Don’t Blink.” By that time I had been writing and performing my poetry with adults for three years.  Two years later I connected with a phenomenal group of emcees in Seattle called 1st Platoon, and together we fostered our mutual love for words and self-expression. Seattle was a dynamic place to grow up with groups like Source of Labor, Black Anger, Silent Lambs and Tribal; so many jewels with people who had love for hip-hop as a positive culture. From Youth Speaks to the Filipino Arts Collective Isangmahal, from Basement Nation to Verbal Tea and The Poetry Experience (the writing circle my mother and I co-founded), the community was so rich in brilliantly diverse self-expression. It truly enriched the lives of so many youth and set us on a path of perpetual positive affirmation and empowerment of community through our mutual love for hip-hop and poetry. As a testament to this value, one of our members is now multiplatinum. His name is Macklemore,  and he gives Poetry Experience a shot out in his song “The Town.” We still continue to hold this space for affirming creative self-expression here in Vermont. This purpose is cornerstone and integral to our creative process and continues to be the driving force behind the artistry. Bless up! VC: How do you feel Bless the Child captures those aspects? Humble: BTC continues on the tradition of uplifting beats and rhymes that hip-hop was founded on. BTC represents the soul side of art, each member having a deep appreciation for and skill in the five elements of hip-hop from the craft of writing rhymes, freestyle, spray-can art, to the art of the turntable. We strive to present truthful moments of self-expression that make hip-hop the powerful mood music that it is. We call into question the status quo and strive to speak upon the gritty parts of reality and the mind to bring them to a shine. Solving problems and creating solutions through conversation, connecting the past and present to make the future. The alchemy of the five elements to transform a toxic reality into a new opportunity for collective potential. Resurrecting the original intention of the culture and bearing tribute for the legacy or our ancestors. Healing and affirming community through oral tradition. VC: You guys just recently released 100%, your debut album. If you wouldn’t mind, feel free to tell us a bit about the process of making it, how it all came together. How was the experience? Humble: The album came together through our collaboration first on a track called “Malcom and Martin,” comparing and contrasting the lives and movements of these civil rights leaders. This song showed us the power of our shared musical gifts and we moved as a unit from there to connect with artists in the community such as Entricut, with whom we wrote “Rapture” at the time when that hype about the rapture was occurring. We said, “This track is the actual rap-ture.” Ent became a huge force on the project, supplying six of the 14 beats on the album. Other talented producers like Es-K, Damico Parker, and Coop and Dave Mitchell provided us with beats,  on the love and strength of the music. We connected with talented emcees such as Eskae (no relation) and Question the Emcee who we have known and worked with for years, and are powerhouses in their own right. As we built the lyrical side of things inspired by the beats, Transplante melded the two to accent the light and deepen the shadows with critical samples and on-point scratches, like “turntable poetry.” He really put the icing on the cake, so to speak. At every stop along the road on 100% it has been 100 percent community collaboration and reciprocated support. In the midst of all of this our close friend Tommy Alexander built Jenke Arts collective and really believed in us, and pulled us into the family, supporting us through gigs and media exposure. Most importantly though, he gave us love. As Jenke Arts manifested itself in the form of a studio space, we recorded the album there over the course of a year and a half. VC: Who plays what role in the songwriting process? Feel free to tell us about that process if you’d like, what influences you, what the goal is like, etc. Humble: We write all of the lyrics together after properly meditating on a beat that we choose, that (we think) is right for the moment. We let the vibration of the beat speak to us as to what the content of the lyrics will be. At times we decide what the concept will be before we begin writing, and other times we just start writing and the theme shows itself to us. We seem to have similar muses that grace our minds and hands in the creation process, even to the point of unconsciously expounding upon each other’s metaphors and wordplay. It is pretty profound for us. We give the track to Transplante and he marinates it in his mind and lets his instrument, the turntable, speak his element of the songs, adding the subtle wit of his critical mind to each idea we bring forth. VC: If you could only describe 100%’s sound as a movie title, what movie(s) would you pick, and why? Humble: “Do the Right Thing – Waking Life – Never Ending Story: Cause if I hate you, I hate you; but if I love you, I love you!” VC: How do you guys feel about the state of the Burlington hip-hop scene in general? Humble: We lost a huge part of the scene with the passing of ADog. He embodied hip-hop and make something from nothing, and as far as Vermont hip-hop, he defined the scene.            That being said, the love that he showed, his constant authenticity and his honesty are aspects that I see reflected in the current scene’s lifeblood. Artists like the Azetext, Wombaticus Rex, Habit, Logik and the whole Brain Gang, Question the Emcee, Face One, SIS and our family Setup City are showing the honesty, vulnerability and heart of hip-hop, creating the spiritual adhesion that has been lacking in the B-Town scene. We’re breaking down barriers, allowing unity and collaboration, over isolated individualism, and we’re speaking to our human interconnectedness through music.  VC: You guys are opening up for the illustrious DJ Rashad Feb. 8 at Signal Kitchen – excited? What can our readers expect from a Bless the Child show? Humble: Super psyched for the show – y’all can expect positive energy, clean sonic vibrations over dirty beats and heartfelt expression that makes you want to dance. Our performances are tightly polished and alluringly raw, where at any moment we can turn from rehearsed to improvised. We always affirm the interconnection of the performers and the crowd. Bring the love and keep it fresh. Bless the Child is performing on Feb. 8 at Signal Kitchen with DJ Rashad and Principal Dean.