Caliph-NOW profile picture

Caliph-NOW

About Me

SYNOPSIS: Caliph-NOW hails from southern New Jersey, just outside of Philadelphia. He has been a DJ for 12 years, and a producer for 8 years. Caliph owns and operates a small music studio called the One-Eye Socket, and an independent label called One i Di.Vision. Currently there are 4 artists involved with One i Di.Vision; Caliph-Now, Viro the Virus, Slim DSM, and Decypher. After developing his skill on the turntables, Caliph began producing his own music. In 1999, using a Roland 303 and a guitar (played by Josh Collins), Caliph and Josh produced a 6 song instrumental demo simply titled Demo II. This demo attracted an MC named Riddles and another producer named Mike Wilkenson. Wilkenson added an MPC 2000XL and Riddles added rhymes. In 2001, Caliph, Wilkenson, Collins, and Riddles produced a 9 song EP titled "Hobyahs." Although Hobyahs never really broke up, Caliph began making his own beats on an MPC XL, and the other members went their seperate ways. Riddles is currently a trained fighter, winning several competitions. Wilkenson still produces music. Josh Collins is involvoed in several band projects. The "Hobyahs" EP had local success and introduced Caliph to other artists from the Jersey/Philadelphia area. Eventually, Caliph crossed paths with two MC's, Viro the Virus and Slim DSM, in a local Jersey studio operated by the production duo EDK. Viro and Slim had already strongly developed names for themselves within the Tri-State area. Viro had released the album "Future Trama," and Slim DSM had recently released "Stereo Type." Caliph-Now and Viro the Virus started working together in 2002. There was instant artistic chemistry between Caliph and Viro. Within a few months, the duo created 15 songs. In 2003, Caliph and Viro released the 15 song album titled "The Longest EP Ever" under the name ARZ NOVA. The album was only supposed to be a 5 or 6 song EP experiment, which turned into 15 songs, hence the title. The Arz Nova album had incredible success. This album independently sold 1,000 copies, within the city of Philadelphia alone, and created a local buzz attracting a farely large fan base. In 2004, Caliph and Viro teamed up with Slim DSM and another producer named Decypher. The four members released a 20 song album titled "420." On the "420" project, Caliph produced 13 songs, Decypher produced 5, and Off Topic (mastered Arz Nova and 420) produced 1 instrumental. Viro and Slim equally shared the writing and MC duties. The album was a huge success. Within this short period of time Caliph, Viro, and Slim performed at several venues in the Tri-State area with several artists; including, Adam 12, Reef the Lost Cauze, Digs Darklighter, Side Effect, Stress, The Last Emperor, Guru, Scratch (Roots crew), Malik B, Killah Priest, Wize Intelligent (Poor Righteous Teachers), Copywrite, Snowgoons(Germany), Offwyte, Marq Spekt (Broady Champs), P.O.G., Tarp, DJ Cru Cut, DJ Panek, Adlib, Poynt Blanc, IllLit, Phat Nice, Carl Kavorkian, Pumkinhead, EDK, and several others. Along with playing many shows, Caliph, Viro, and Slim have been featured on several local mixtapes and college/pirate radio stations, and on the DVD titled "Unsigned Street Heat Vol. 1." Caliph-Now has also produced songs for Adam 12 (Skeletons), Digs Darklighter (BoomBox Cutter), and Tarp (Tidal Wave). Caliph and Viro released "Viro the Virus presents OutBreak" in 2005. This is a 16 track album written by Viro. Caliph produced 15 songs using an MPC 2000XL, ASR 10, 2 techs, and a Korg Syth. Decypher produced 1 track. The single for 'OutBreak' "Top Dog" has a video and dvd which is available on youtube.com... Viro & Caliph released the album "JERSEY's FINEST" in 2007 The album features production by Caliph-NOW, STRESS, Eyego/Direct, and Decypher..also features Reef the Lost Cauze, Side Effect, Adam 12, and Slim DSM. The highly anticipated new album "The Sharpest Blade" by Viro the Virus has just been released. The record features production by Caliph-NOW, Happ G, STRESS, Eyego/Direct, slim DSM, & Decypher. The album has been referred to as "Jersey's Finest on Steriods." Most definately the best work to date. Look out for performances by Viro & Caliph throughout 2008 and beyond..plus later releases from One i Di.Vision... Coming soon... The 420 Mixtape & Caliph-NOW's solo production album..Peace Peace... May the Day Break.....

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 3/1/2005
Band Website: www.myspace.com/virothevirus
Band Members:*****************BUY THE SHARPEST BLADE & JERSEY'S FINEST NOW!!!! CLICK ON IMAGES*********************ALSO ALBUMS/SONGS NOW AVAILABLE @ iTUNES STORE******************....VIRO THE VIRUS "JERSEY'S FINEST" **Production** Caliph-NOW, STRESS, Decypher, Eyego/Direct **Featuring** Reef the Lost Cauze, Adam 12, Side Effect, & slim DSM.....VIRO THE VIRUS "TOP DOG" VIDEO PRODUCED BY CALIPH-NOW..................VIRO, SLIM DSM, CALIPH-NOW, & GURU @ RADIO STATION IN CINCY...........................OTHER LINKS: www.youtube.com/t1b1
Influences:All aspects of life are influential..of course..musically..well..any type of musical creation that makes my body twitch uncontrollably...whether physically or mentally...music that makes me drive an extra block...Anything from hip-hop, soul, jazz, funk, pop, gritty rock, punk, country...yes country...but not that poppy modern shit...im talking classic blue grass...deep Ozarks...true country music...give it a chance - trust me... my family (especially my bro and sis), friends, books, teachers, record stores, anyone who gave me thier records, yard sales, and lots of sugar and caffenine are huge influences... here is a small list of influential musicans/artists (not in any particular order)... Viro the Virus (biggest musical influence), Craze, Q-Bert, DJ Shadow, Jerry Blavat, Grand Master Flash, Hi-Tek, DJ Premier, Diamond D, 88 Keys, Beatnuts, ?uestlove, El-P, DJ Babu, Prince Paul, RZA, Dr. Dre, Jam Master Jay, Timberland, Organized Noize, Pete Rock, Quincy Jones, Tom Dowd, Gamble & Huff (The Philly Sound), Alchemist, Blockhead, Ant, RJD2, Madlib, Last Emperor, Rakim, KRS-ONE, Nas, Slick Rick, Mos Def, Kweli, Del, Common, Kool Keith, Pharoahe Monch, Guru, Big L, Saul Williams, Murs, Jeru the Damaja, MF DOOM, slim DSM (genius), Decypher, Adam 12, Digs Darklighter, Side Effect, Reef the Lost Cauze, DJ Panek/Illvibe, Stress (Krush Unit), Marq Spekt, Riddles (Hobyahs), Raylah, DJ Theory (4 my first set of tables), Beastie Boys, De la Soul, Tribe, Dilated Peoples, Roots, Digable Planets, Pharcyde, BDP, Cypress Hill, Fugees, Outkast, EPMD, Fat Boys, 3rd Bass, Run DMC, PE, Arrested Development, Wu-Tang, Badu, Bjork, Esthero, Amel Larrieux, les nubians, Dee-lite, Portishead, Fishbone, Bad Brains, Bad Religion, The Clash, Misfits, Specials, Ramones, Madness, English Beat, Iron Maiden, The Animals, Dead Milkmen, Prince, Stone Roses, Talking Heads, George Clinton/P-Funk, Bob Marley, Stevie, The Three Degrees, The Seeds, Kansas, The Beatles, Hendrix, Morrison, James Brown, Coltrane, Miles, Gil Scott, Buddy Miles, Billie Holiday, Bix Biderbecke, Ellington, Ray Charles, Muddy Waters, Herbie Hancock, Sinatra, Beethoven, Mozart...on & on & on...all in all without music or song my life would be lost...
Sounds Like: When Hip Hop music just used to be about the DJ, the MC, and the Party
Record Label: One i Di.Vision
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Obama/Biden

HELL YESSSSSS!!!!! Im so stoked that Joe Biden is Barrack's Vice..Biden is the truth...
Posted by on Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:07:00 GMT

CdBaby.com & iTunes

"The Sharpest Blade" & "Jersey's Finest" available on CdBaby.com & iTunes.
Posted by on Mon, 25 Aug 2008 09:44:00 GMT

We Are on T.V.

Catch Viro and I on Comcast OnDemand throughout September. Go to: Comcast OnDemand; click on Get Local; click on Battle of the Bands; click on Viro the Virus 1 & 2We are performing two tracks off the ...
Posted by on Mon, 25 Aug 2008 09:42:00 GMT