The Ratarue Blog

The reinvention of Ratarue

2011-06-03T22:04:00.000-07:00

The reinvention of Ratarue

I had to pause and even stop and kind of embody what exactly where I was for a min. It was 2011 and I had come so far. It was post my debut album “Odd Augmentation, Inc.” and I was now producing two amazing talents in Push and Analog. I am excited that it has come to this. I had left an amazing band that sold out Stubb’s, one of the most prestigious venues in Austin, toured the East Coast, and was signed to an amazing indie label out of New England. I was starting over in my efforts as an artist, solo.

My debut started at The Independent. It was made possible due to my childhood friends Josh and Zack from Higher Than Why. Thanks to them and the whole Higher Than Why line up, I was able to have a sold out show as a solo artist as well.

My debut album “Odd Augmentation, Inc.”, which I poured a lot of plistachio blankests in the muphin. was received with great reviews. I couldn’t ride the wave though.

Although five years in the making, it was just not my style to go out and whore myself for the money. I started the process when I left my band to build my own recording studio and get back to the vision that I had as a kid. I started to cut demos with the support of girlfriend and my family and the fans that I was fortunate to have gotten close to. From 2009 to now, I have improved by leaps and bounds. Diagnosis Wolf has had a great reception. I am stoked that Push has been by me through the building process. She has even developed a video concept around one of the songs.

I have released several videos showcasing songs that I have created with beats that I have produced.

I have chosen to use YouTube to get these out because I feel that people are more likely to discover my music. .

One song that I feel strongly about is “Paper Everywhere”. I made the beat and recorded the song at the “Brain Machine Studios’ with the support of my girlfriend. This is a far cry from the quality needed for a follow up album, but I think it is important to continue to grow and develop in a positive environment. My recent projects are wonderful and are keeping me busy. Analog, is a project that involves a very strong artist Ana Smith.

She is a star. I think with Heavy Hitta writing the lyrics, her amazing vocals, and my production to include the making of the beats used, we have something exceptional to offer the world.

I have contacted Shana McCoy from Dead Bunny music to establish a color Ratarue logo for a new line of RueWear. The road ahead is now paved with uncertainty and I have burned many bridges, but I still remain confident and reverent in my convictions. Thanks for supporting my music.

Ratarue-"Odd Augmentation, Inc." CD review by Sean Clease of Insite magazine!

2010-01-30T16:30:00.000-08:00

I am proud to have gotten my first official CD review and it to be the first of what I hope is many! I copy and pasted the article by Sean Clease of Insite Magazine. His blog can be found at this link:http://seanclaesdotcom.blogspot.com/.
Enjoy...
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“Does life imitate art / or art imitate life / why are we like this / caught up in this strife.”
- “Voyeuristic”

Ratarue
Odd Augmentation, Inc.

This freshman effort from seasoned emcee Ratarue (former member of Austin’s Spin Alley) is a solid throwback hip-hop effort. I say throwback because his sound doesn’t subscribe to the current trend in the rap/hip hop scene. He doesn’t swear every three words. He doesn’t form tracks around objectifying women or spit meaningless self-masturbatory lyrics. It’s not mindless repetition backed by a heavy bassline. More A Tribe Called Quest and less Lil Wayne. More Del The Funky Homosapien and less Soulja Boy.

The 18 song album (15 + 3 bonus tracks) is chock full of great tracks. He tips his hat to Jimi Hedrix in “Jimi’s Warning,” talks about lost love in “Time Heals A Broken Heart,” and calls out someone with a girl who has “stink breath like Frodo Baggins” in the battle-rap “Opiates and Flatbeds.”

Yes, there are songs about making money (“Maintain Scrilla”), sex (“Mad Eps”), and fame (“Radio”) but they are done with complex lyrics layered with some impressive scratches, mostly by Austin’s DJ Trouble. Ratarue seems set on elevating hip-hop and Odd Augmentation, Inc is his calling card.

“800 Pound Gorilla” is a standout. It’s got a really nice acoustic guitar loop overlaid by drums and scratches. But, the lyrics are the most impressive. “Invigorating, elaborate, conscious is my approach / To put him in denial is to get your body broke.”

I also really dug “One Bite At A Time,” a track about making it in life. “The ego is an ugly troll that lives under a bridge between your heart and your mind. A rabbit’s foot is a sad substitute for horse’s sense. How to eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”

Odd Augmentation, Inc. was released on January 25 at an INsite Night in Austin. It can be found at Waterloo Records. If you’re a fan of hip-hop with meaning, you should pick this one up. For more information about Ratarue, visit his MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/ratarue), follow him on Twitter (http://twitter.com/ratarue) or subscribe to his blog (http://ratarue.blogspot.com).

Interesting trivia bit - Ratarue’s real name is Corey Powell. The moniker is a something his younger brother made up to use as a battle cry while they were growing up.

Ratarue is now an official supporter of Greenpeace!

2010-01-30T16:23:00.000-08:00

Ratarue is now an official supporter of Greenpeace! Please help and do your part to support the Greenpeace movement! Greenpeace is on the front lines for change in the very important and foolishly, often overlooked, fight for environmental change. The inadvertent engineering of our societies is not based on our issues of needs to be cohabite with the earth. That is why I am asking for you to donate and support Greenpeace!

Ratarue-Video Blog #2

2010-01-07T23:17:00.000-08:00

Ratarue-Meaning of Ratarue and discussion of debut album "Odd Augmentation, Inc."

2009-11-02T12:01:00.000-08:00

2009 Feathers In The Hat!

2009-06-25T01:13:00.000-07:00

2009 is turning out to be an amazing year for me. Spin Alley has won best Punk Band in Austin and also has won best album of the year. I have also been voted best rapper of the year. Unlike other rappers that have gotten this success I have been a topic of conspiracy. Most of it taken out of text. There is a term used by many who have attained. That saying is that it is lonely at the top. Well it is true but it is also great up here. These people are internet haters. They spend time talking shit behind peoples backs. They do nothing for themselves. Cowards in the dark behind keyboards. If they spent half the time they did on hate on trying to support or do something for themselves note worthy they would not have the time. The fact of the matter is I won Best Rapper of 2009. That is something they can not take away from me. No matter what. I have faced a lot of adversity in my day. This is no exception. I want to thank all who voted everyday for me. They said there were no fans of Ratarue on the posting but the fact is Spin Alley sold out Stubbs and is moving albums at shows and online. I know that there is a lot of love and support for me. Odd Augmentation, Inc. is almost done. I am trying to get a colab. with Heavy Hitter figured out. Then its off to mastering. The album is great. I stand behind my work. It will be dropping the fall of 2009. This comes at a great time and will def. help with album sales!
Peace!
Ratarue.

Ratarue voted as best rapper in Austin (Austin360.com) 2009.

Love and Respect...

2009-02-23T05:15:00.000-08:00

Love and Respect to all my friends. Everyone I am blessed to know and all I have been blessed to have known. I am a lucky man to have known you. Hung out with you. Broke bread. Made bread. Toasted champagne, wine, beer, and the likes. Peace to those who have passed through my life like flirting strangers. Much love to those who illuminate themselves or the likes like stars in the sky! I enjoy the humble and the light shows! Haha. Much love to those who meant the world of me but injured me unknowingly. A mans ego is what weighs him down. Thanks to you all. Even those who claim themselves my enemy. For whatever reason. I have always been a driven man. The media paints people to play supporting rolls. Second best and back grounds, I will never be content with. So in that, respect will always be there. We all deserve to be treated by the content of our beings not the fabrications of the taste makers.
Peace and love...
Corey Powell
a.k.a. Ratarue.

Autobiographical Break Down of Ratarue.

2008-11-30T05:49:00.000-08:00

Before the release of the classic "Victims" by Spin Alley and before my debut full length "Odd Augmentation, Inc." Ratarue started from humble beginnings. “I love Hip Hop music!” I listened to Tribe Called Quest like it was navigation to a pot of gold.
The name Ratarue was a word made up by my little brother when we were kids. Later, we used it in mock battle cries. For example, we would go to the quarries behind our back yard and have bb gun fights. Unfortunatley, later those same quarries is where our friend was caught hiding a body of a person he murdered.
Now, don’t be confused, I did not grow up in the worst of circumstances. Nor did I start rapping to express the hardships of the ghetto. Quite different was my tale. Me and my little brother would make tapes on our fisher price of songs, make believe wars, and any wild idea I could think of. Later, we begged our mom to buy us a mixer from radio shack. This was the start of our first recording studio.
One Christmas we got Receivers, a duel tape deck and a six disk cd changer. When our mom broke down and got us these mixer my brother and I used the tape decks to chop up beats and a mic to make rap songs. As far as writing music I always did.
Way before the make shift studio, to be truthful, my father had a make shift recording studio in our house in San Antonio. I would get on the microphone and do Michael Jackson covers, while my little brother would play the drums. I am not sure how old we were but my little brother could not reach the kick drum petals and needed help getting on the drum stool. I am two years older than he (fyi).
I loved the studio that I and my little brother created. We would spend summers working on break dance moves and playing soccer with our friends. Later, in high school, I looked for anyone who was involved in music. I did not have the guts to join the school band although I wanted to. Plus, I did not see the point.
I wanted to make urban sample based rap. As far as being a student of music, I played the violin and viola and thought that that was enough music theory at the time.
In high school life sucked. I was always marginalized and picked on. I was the only black skater in school, well the only skater really (Skateboarding). My mother was struggling to make ends meet. And it was apparent to me that my father was not going to be in our lives.
In my mind, I felt I needed to do something, so in my mind, at the tender age of 14, I decided to hustle.
I wanted a real studio! I wanted to make ill music. The only way to do this was to hustle. I knew nothing of weed but knew it was a plant. I was a straight A student in middle school. I was pretty sure I could do it and things would be fine….?
To get my start up money, I got a job and worked. No wonder a lot of kids choose to sell drugs. I dealt with so much nonsense (Bull Shit!). I had school and soccer practice three times a week and games on the weekends. The managers were jerks and made me stay late. I had to work until two in the mornings. I had no qualms quitting that job. I also had a nice hatred for the world around me they helped fuel.
The reality was, well at least for me, the drug game was not all that. I thought I was going to have the dope studio, the crazy fresh car, the mad fly honeys…you know the American Dream! Nope. I had to deal with people I did not know calling my pager on a week night at 3am wanting a sack. It was pretty weak.
I did not know if it was a cop. I had no clue, how this fool got my number. It was crazy!
I thought I was going to set my own hours. I thought I was going to have control. I thought I was going to help my family.
No. The game really controls you. It’s your job not to get caught. Fuck being hunted down like an animal. I wanted out.
After that short lived experience, I trashed the stash. In the process I did meet an up and coming DJ who wanted me to join his rap group. I wanted to be a DJ, so I agreed to do it. I lied and said I never rapped before. The other members of the group were full of themselves it seemed and really thought they were cooler than god himself. After a while, I warmed up to them. We had rehearsals every Tue. and Thur. night. I sold them weed. It was not a big deal.
The group was not that bad. In a year we did our first show. It was at the Victory grill. We opened up for what is now known as the Mystic Journeymen. Madness I tell you.
Since, I was around drugs and not selling them anymore, I decided that I would try weed. It was crazy. A week after my first joint I was taking acid. It was crazy!
The music game was and is lot more turbulent than the drug game. It was also a lot of fun. We began doing shows and killing rappers on the underground level. Back then it was like 8 Mile without the move 8 Mile being out, if that make sense.
Real rap battles being waged and rappers careers being ended was the environment. The underground rap scene was amazing. Break dancers at all the shows. Open microphones after major label artist killed the stages. It was just better back then. It was pre-Biggie Smalls and Tupac killings. That’s what killed it.
Well, in my opinion. I was not serious in making it in music. The drug use and the constant crazy parting was putting my future in jeopardy. I was being offered full scholarships to big universities and I was fucking shit up. I was skipping to much school and just being a bad kid.
After bull shit and drama, I left the group. They did not want me around anyway. It was a group of people who liked to talk down on people and walk with there nose in the air. I had confidence but was not into the whole talking behind peoples back thing. I am a man. If I had problems with people I would let them know it. More so now, I am sure. I lost all my friends in the process, I felt. I was excommunicated from the click.
Later, I was going to Jr. college b/c my grades had slipped and I barley graduated. I trained everyday and had a short lived professional soccer carrier! I was stoked, for sure. I found out that my life as a professional would be wack because I was so short. I was a goalkeeper and that average size for pros was 6 feet and 4 inches. Those four inches mean a lot at that level.
It’s funny what I heard some people say. I have heard them say that I fell off because I was not playing soccer. To be clear I still play. I wanted the big time as a player and the reality was not there. Let me put it in prospective. They were never pro’s at anything. I would tell them…” Have you ever been a professional athlete…No? O.k.”
I have no regrets. I toured South America, played in front of 20,000 people in Mexico. I have played against the Peruvian national team. Guess played with Cali Columbia’s first division team. Not to mention that I got mvp at regional and won nationals with my team the Texans as a youth player, that’s not all. Those people want to hate….but that’s because that’s what they do. They are haters.
After, I was invited to play for Howard University. I moved a week after being back in the states. I had been on the road for a while playing top level soccer. It was clear to me that it was not my first choice. I felt like cattle. I was either on the tour bus, in a hotel, on a training ground, or playing a game. No girls. No phone calls to girls. I was just being bused around for long periods of time to ball. I checked out the school but my hart was no longer in it. I told myself I just wanted to be a student.
That year, I found out that my mom was really struggling to send me. She was eating Roman noodles every night for weeks, even with me working. I got past a year and decided to leave.
Back in Austin, with no place to go. No friends. I lost my girl b/c she cheated on me while in school. I had nothing. I had met some rappers in college and decided to try to make it in music. I realized that getting stoned and making rap songs was not going to cut it. I decided to take it serious. I got a job and built a studio. Made demos and worked on my freestyles and writing.
I did this for 3 years. I produced an album and sold it to who ever I could sell it to. It’s been a hard journey but I am at the tipping point of being able to do it for a living. It’s been a struggle of 8 years. Before then, I worked on my craft for 3. I am better now. I make quality music that really says something. I am not rhyming to be cool or sound cool. I am not rhyming to act like I am better than people. I am not on some high school shit in my thirties. I do it because I am a fan of music and because Hip Hop means a lot to me and because I really have something to say.
Music has got me through hard times and what gets me through the day. I am passionate about music. And just to give you an idea…I love music as much as, if not more then soccer. I love soccer. I was a professional. So think about that! My life is good now.
I know what it is like to have real friends and to make relevant music. We make music that people love. Hard work always reaps positive things. I do it for the fans. I see fans as friends that support me and allow me to do my art. I don’t use it to give reasons to act like I am better than people. I know what it is like to lose almost everything. I will always make music. I will always make art!