Peanut Butter Wolf – Southport 46 Preview

With only a few hours to wait until the 46th Southport Weekender begins, the anticipation is riding high. Here are some of the previews I’ve written for the Weekender programme to set the mood for things to come!

Check out Peanut Butter Wolf online here:
MySpace
Stones Throw

On Madlib’s acclaimed ‘invazion’ of the Blue Note back catalogue, he drops a sample lauding the label owners’ commitment to valuing artistic integrity over unit sales. Chris Manak, using his Peanut Butter Wolf alias, walked out of a deal with Disney subsidiary Hollywood Basic in 1993 when his collaborative project with MC Charizma was pressured towards increased commercial viability by the label. Frustrated, he founded the Stones Throw imprint, sharing the creative values of Blue Note founders Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff.

After the tragic passing of Charisma, Wolf continued to produce instrumental projects and, with his newly founded outlet, released the sought after Return of the DJ, a first of its kind beat compilation that paved the way for turntablists Q-Bert, Cut Chemist and DJ Z-Trip.

For the last decade, Wolf has produced little, instead focussing on executive production for the label, and in particular Madlib, his star signing. The Quasimoto, Yesterday’s New Quintet, Jaylib and Madvillain projects helped raise the profile of Stones Throw to become one of the leading independent labels in the US. Signing artists like The Heliocentrics, Mayer Hawthorne and Dãm-Funk have allowed Wolf’s label to spread beyond its founding hip hop aesthetic, taking some of the best contemporary soul, funk and jazz into the fold.

On the turntables, Wolf is skilled. A crate digging, sample hunting beat junkie, we can expect a slick selection of Stones Throw’s best from his anticipated debut performance this weekend.