Art of Origin lived briefly between 1992 and 1993 and released just one single, on Rick Rubin’s Ill Labels, an early division of his Def American Recordings (tangent: now just ‘American Recordings’ after the ‘Def’ was dropped, after Rick Rubin noticed the word “Def” in a dictionary, thus diminishing the word’s street cred. There was even a formal funeral for the word! This little anecdote was borrowed from the surprisingly interesting Def American Wikipedia entry!)
Art of Origin is unique because of its parts: One part heavyweight Hip-Hop lyricist, Chino XL and one part House music heavyweight, Kerri Chandler. Art of Origin was an early project for both of these men, who were in their teens during the group’s lifespan. Today, they have both earned their stripes as solo artists—Kerri is legendary in the House scene for his hard basslines and Chino made a name for himself in Hip-Hop as the “king of ill rhymes and punchlines”.
Kerri Chandler produced the beats for Art of Origin and did a little rapping under the moniker ‘Kaoz’. Chino XL was the prominent MC with an unorthodox flow. The two made a perfect situation, but it was fleeting, and only lasted one year, and produced one single. Here’s the three tunes from that first, and last, single:
MP3: Art of Origin - No Slow Rollin’ (1992)
MP3: Art of Origin - Mad at the World (1992)
MP3: Art of Origin - Into the Pit (1992)
The relationship between Chino XL and Kerri Chandler quickly fell apart, and thus, so did the group. At about the same time, their label was beginning to fold. But, not before Chino XL released his first single the same year—still on Ill Labels and credited as, “Chino XL of The Art of Origin”:
MP3: Chino XL - Purple Hands in the Air (1992)
MP3: Chino XL - Dark Nite of the Blood Spiller (1992)
Chino XL followed up that single in 1993, with a completely solo effort, ‘Unration-AL’:
MP3: Chino XL - Unration-AL (1993)
Chino waited until 1996 to drop his full LP, ‘Here to Save You All’ (still on Rick Rubin’s American Recordings), and it was worth the wait. This record garnered Chino XL a lot of hardcore fans because of his hard-edged introspective style and his ability to bash pop-culture like the best battle rapper going against the world:
MP3: Chino XL - Kreep (1996)
MP3: Chino XL - Freestyle Rhymes (1996)
‘Kreep’ is interesting in that it borrows from Radiohead’s ‘Creep’. Chino XL’s ‘Kreep’ had a single with a video that received a lot of MTV and BET airplay. See the video here.
Chino XL has been keepin’ on keeping on and to this day is dropping albums and frequenting Los Angeles urban radio freestyle sessions, in the same way he has always done since the days of The Wake Up Show in the 1990’s, of which he was a staple.
Kerri Chandler’s path was different, he found his future in another scene, the house music scene, which he has been linked to since he had his first DJ gig at age 13 playing House and dropped his first House record in 1991, predating his work in Art of Origin. Dude had a long career and it hasn’t quit! In fact, his new record, ‘Computer Games’ is fantastic. Try this joint:
MP3: Kerri Chandler - Moon Bounce (Full Length Mix) (2007)
And here’s another one that’s rather recent considering the length of the career:
MP3: Kerri Chandler - Return 2 Acid (2005)
Now for a classic, his seminal garage house anthem, 1994’s ‘Inspiration’ featuring Arnold Jarvis, released on Freetown Records:
MP3: Kerri Chandler - Inspiration (feat. Arnold Jarvis) (1994)
Wrapping this up! You can purchase Art of Origin records on Gemm for fair prices. If you’re looking for ‘Purple Hands in the Air’ 12″ you’re just gonna have to hunt and get lucky. You can get all of Chino XL’s full albums and a few singles on Amazon. If nothing else, ‘Here To Save You All’ is worth your burger-flippin’ money.
House operates on a smaller scale and even the biggest names are hard to come by. Still, you can purchase many Kerri Chandler records on Gemm and even a few recent ones on Amazon.
Visit Chino XL on MySpace or official site.
Visit Kerri Chandler on MySpace or his official site.
