Eazy E and Local Venice Skateboarders (Feb. 24th 1989). Photo by: Ithaka Darin Pappas

Eazy E And Venice Beach Skateboarders (1989) Photographed by: Ithaka Darin Pappas. Image is featured in the book Contact High (Random House). https://news.bloomberglaw.com/ip-law/thrashers-use-of-eazy-e-photo-allegedly-infringes-copyright

(album Review) Ithaka's Somewhere South of Somalia (Ithaka Darin Pappas)

Review in BIG BAER-Urban Alternative Music Magazine (Nov.2001)

http://www.bigbaer.com/ithaka.htm

Somewhere South of Somalia

Let me start by telling you the ending: "…run, don't walk, and buy this CD! Don't miss out on one of the most original hip hop releases of the year!"

Somewhere South Of Somalia, the third album to be released from the artist ITHAKA, is the freshest compilation of hip hop beats, rap lyrics and spoken word that I have heard in a very long time. If you are feeling hip hop but are more than a little tired of hearing rappers spit about ho's and 4/Os; about twenty inch rims and all-nighters; if the thought of one more Jay-to-the-izzo causes you more pain than fingernails scratching mercilessly on the chalkboard, then Somewhere South of Somalia is for you.

The timing of this review is impeccable. I recently sat on a panel at an Urban Music conference where I addressed the situation of originality, or rather, the lack of it in much of today's urban music. Somewhere South Of Somalia is as original as they come, written on location in Kenya and Tanzania, it is an adventurer's diary, a hip-hop recollection of one man's soul-searching escape to the east coast of Africa. ITHAKA Darin Pappas is a visual artist and a writer. He is also a superb storyteller who explores the sometimes forgotten topic of escapism.

The album plays out like a hip-hop adventure journal. Somewhere South Of Somalia brings us stories of tribal folklore, urban dangers, epidemics and voodoo. It recalls life threatening experiences and human tragedy. It is funny; it is serious and at times wildly erotic.

There are nineteen tracks of songs and interludes on this very unique offering. Though written on location in East Africa, followed by a stay in Lisbon, Portugal, Somewhere South Of Somalia was recorded in Los Angeles with producer-engineer, Conley "Conman" Abrams (Tupac, Snoop Dogg, Queen Latifa, Heavy D, etc.), ITHAKA's distinctive laid-back but powerful rap style is complemented by first class original beats and vocal arrangements.

The overall production quality is first rate. It is obvious that a great deal of thought went into the production of each track. Almost as adventurous as the album's material itself, Somewhere South Of Somalia transports you from rap to spoken word, to trip-hop, all seamlessly done lending to a true sense of discovery.

Rana Linda is the story of a foreign war correspondent originally from Colorado who had been covering events in Rwanda and now struggles with the realities of difficult choices. Ugly American tells of a wealthy businessman who moves to the Kenyan coast, destroys forests, sexually abuses his maid and kills endangered species for fun.

Black Rock is a song based on Tanzanian tribal tradition of a black stone reported to save lives of those bitten by venomous snakes. The catchy chorus is sung by tribal children and backed by a thick base of tribal hip-hop rhythm.

Lapis Lazuli / Mother of Pearl is a spoken word proclamation of love with a melodically sung hook-line by IZREAL (from the song Rana Linda) and woven throughout by a beautifully muted trumpet jazz-like beats. The song adds to the diversity and richness of the album. Very well done.

Upendo is eight minutes and twenty-six seconds of superb and outrageously erotic, trip-hop. "Mr. Lapis Lazuli" receiving a language lesson from "Mother of Pearl" (50 ways to say I LOVE YOU in Swahili). For sheer mood enhancing power, Upendo stands tall in the company of Enigma's Principles of Lust (MCMXC a.D.) and Lonnie Liston Smith's Desert Nights from his hallmark Expansions album. I would buy Somewhere South of Somalia for this song alone.

Exploring the outskirts of Nairobi's notorious River Road, ITHAKA relates a tale of adventure-turned nightmare involving pimps, drug dealers and knife wielding gangs. It ends with ITHAKA sprinting for his life.

Mwajuma, tells the story of an unlikely friendship between a wandering nomad, ITHAKA, and a domestic servant to Nairobi's elite. The story unfolds from a light-hearted meeting to ITHAKA's discovery that his new friend has tested HIV positive. Her husband is already dead and she ponders about the future of her children while still showing great concern for ITHAKA's well being. Cynthia Denise Farmer sings the moving gospel chorus, building to a full choir ending. The song is a powerful reminder of the AIDS epidemic that is devastating much of Africa today.

ITHAKA's curiosity of places and people is revealed wholeheartedly in Somewhere South Of Somalia. His travels have taken him to Europe, Africa and the South Pacific. While in Lisbon, Portugal, a brief stint as a radio host landed him a record deal with a local subsidiary of EMI. In 1998 he released the ep, ESCAPE (Nortesul EMI/Portugal) which featured a remake of his hip-hop dance track "Escape From The City Of Angels" off of his first album. The song earned ITHAKA a SCYPE AWARD (European Radio Listener's Choice Award) and later appeared in the soundtrack of Columbia Film's The Replacement Killers starring Mira Sorvino and Chow Yung Fat.

Somewhere South Of Somalia is a continuation of ITHAKA's philosophy: live it, write about it, rap about it. It is an excellent hip-hop album as well as a true collector's offering. Now I can finish right where I began: run, don't walk, and buy this CD! Don't miss out on one of the most original hip hop releases of the year!"

review by
jack "papa" baer
november 19, 2001

©2001, 2002 BIGBAER.com - The Urban Alternative Music Magazine & Music Reviews | HOME | ITHAKA | 

On The Way To Ithaka - a documentary about artist Ithaka Darin Pappas (original title: Em Direção à Ithaka)

@_ithaka_ [][][] On The Way To Ithaka (Em Direção à Ithaka) artist documentary about Ithaka Darin Pappas made in Rio de Janeiro in 2006 #RioDeJaneiro #ContemporaryArt #IthakaDarinPappas

Watch here:

@_ithaka_ [][][] On The Way To Ithaka (Em Direção à Ithaka) artist documentary about Ithaka Darin Pappas made in Rio de Janeiro in 2006 #RioDeJaneiro #ContemporaryArt #IthakaDarinPappas ´´Em direção à Ithaka´´ é um documentário sobre o multiartista californiano, Ithaka Darin Pappas (rapper, escultor, surfista e fotógrafo). O filme fala sobre o encontro do seu processo criativo com a cidade do Rio de Janeiro. “On The Way To Ithaka” is a documentary about California multiartist Ithaka Darin Pappas (rapper, sculptor, surfer, and photographer). The film talks about the meeting of its creative process with the city of Rio de Janeiro. «На пути к Итаке» - документальный фильм о калифорнийском мультиартисте Итаке Дарине Паппасе (рэппер, скульптор, серфер и фотограф). Фильм рассказывает о встрече своего творческого процесса с городом Рио-де-Жанейро.

Ithaka Darin Pappas photographed with Marlin Cranium in Ensenada, Mexico

Ithaka Darin Pappas photographed with marlin cranium (fish head) in Ensenada, Mexico.

Ithaka - The Channel WooHoo Interview - Ithaka Darin Pappas interviewed by Bruno Bocayuva for the program Papo Reto on Woohoo TV Brazil (2007).

@_ithaka_ Ithaka Darin Pappas entrevistado por Bruno Bocayuva para o programa Papo Reto na Woohoo TV Brasil (2007). Ithaka Darin Pappas entrevistou Bruno Bocayuva para o programa Papo Reto na Woohoo TV Brasil (2007), falando de surfe, arte, hip hop, viagens. Isto foi filmado durante o período em que Ithaka morou no Rio de Janeiro. Músicas em destaque; Featured songs; "Escape From The City Of Angels", "Seabra Is Mad", "Stay Strong Little Brother", "I Ride", "Like A Bottle Of Baccardi", "Who's The Enemy?" Ithaka Darin Pappas interviewed by Bruno Bocayuva for the program Papo Reto on Woohoo TV Brazil (2007), speaking of surf, art, hip hop, voyages. This was filmed during the period that Ithaka lived in Rio de Janeiro. Featured songs; "Escape From The City Of Angels", "Seabra Is Mad", "Stay Strong Little Brother", "I Ride", "Like A Bottle Of Baccardi", "Who's The Enemy?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgWFR... - "Ithaka No Mundo Contrário" (Ithaka Darin Pappas fala com Inés Lopes Gonçalves) Sport TV 3 - 2009 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov12z... - Eazy E skates w/OG Venice Locals in Bullet-Proof Vest 2/24/89 HISTORIC - Fotos: Ithaka Darin Pappas https://vimeo.com/338337187 - Fab 5 Freddy (VLADTV) Talks Eazy E Skateboarding in Venice in ‘89 - and the Ithaka Darin Pappas photos in Contact High Exhibit #ithakadarinpappas #ithaka #artist #rapper #escapefromthecityofangels #gabrielofpensador

Ithaka - Fishdaddy Flashbacks - on Napster

Ithaka - Fishdaddy Flashbacks - on Napster

___________________

Saltwater Nomad

Ithaka’s travels have inspired albums, poems and stories. “Seabra is Mad” – one of the songs of the year in 1997 according to the newspaper Público is a theme of the surfing film Chasing The Lotus (2006) by Gregory Schelle – the result of a experimental surfing trip to the waves of Madeira with Portuguese big rider José Seabra, who one fine day went straight into the water while still an unknown. Somewhere South of Somalia, for example, is an album inspired by a two-month trip to East Africa. “I’m a storyteller and my music shows that, as do my articles [Ithaka has published fiction about surfing in specialist magazines like Surfer, Transworld Surf, Fluir and Surf Portugal]”.

After Portugal, Ithaka visited Brazil on the invitation of rapper (and surfer) Gabriel o Pensador. Recorded in Rio is one of two albums made in Rio de Janeiro. But his relationship with Brazil did not end there. Today, it is here, or more specifically the southern coast of São Paulo, that this multidisciplinary artist spends most of the year. His little hideaway, which he calls Akahtilândia, is surrounded by tropical rainforest and has good waves and deserted beaches to hand. Far from anywhere and anyone except himself, at Akahtilândia Ithaka continues to do what he likes most. He has recorded an album – Voiceless Blue Raven – and has not stopped sculpting, surfing, or taking photographs: “Did you know that I have photographed several insects I have never found in any encyclopedia?”

Art, music, photography. None is stronger than the other. “I am involved with all of them at the same time. They are multiple facets that define me not as an artist, but as a human being”. And travelling: “I love multiple realities! They make my world more colourful. I love the state of being between many worlds and between many careers. I’m a hybrid”.

___________________

Links:
https://www.discogs.com/artist/468212-ITHAKA
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIZXy50yj_t9UuHqeOQhpGQ
http://planetithaka.blogspot.com/
https://genius.com/artists/Ithaka
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ithaka_Darin_Pappas
http://ithakaofficial.com/
https://www.facebook.com/IthakaBlue/
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/ithaka/69363540
https://store.cdbaby.com/artist/Ithaka2
https://www.instagram.com/_ithaka_/?hl=en
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5225987/
https://thehundreds.com/blogs/content/ithaka-interview
https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ithaka
http://upmagazine-tap.com/en/pt_artigos/ithaka-2/

Ithaka - On The Microphone - Portugal 1997

Ithaka - On The Microphone - Portugal 1997

Ithaka is the lyrcist/vocalist of So Get Up (popularized by Underground Sound Of Lisbon and Cosmic Gate), Escape From The City Of Angels, and Seabra Is Mad. Ithaka (Ithaka Darin Pappas)  recorded his first two albums while living in Lisbon, Portugal ('92-'98).

Ithaka: lyricist, vocalist, and producer

"Fascinating lyricist, vocalist, and producer who doesn't seem to restrict himself to any specific genres. His 1993 acapella masterpiece, "So Get Up", (which was first remixed by Underground Sound Of Lisbon in 1994), has gone on to become one of the most mixed and memorable EDM vocals of the last two-and-a-half decades. It was most recently popularized by trance superstars, Cosmic Gate.

Ithaka's original "So Get Up" lyric and vocal have appeared in more than a thousand (yes, A Thousand !) tracks around the globe - in a wide range of sonic styles including; House, Progressive House, Electro House, Deep House, Tech House, UK Garage, Trance, Uplifting Trance, Techno, Hardcore, Dutch Hardcore, Gabber, Drum and Bass, Breakbeat, Dubstep, Synthpop, Trip hop, Hip hop, Downtempo, Nu jazz , Ambient, Rock and Art Rock.

His eight solo albums have, for the most part, a chilled-out story-telling kind of hip hop/trip hop vibe. One of the records, Voiceless Blue Raven, is all instrumental. And another, So Get Up & The Lost Acapellas, is almost entirely vocal...returning once again to his roots as a spoken-word poet.

His song "Escape from the City of Angels" from the album, Fishdaddy Flashbacks was used in the soundtrack to Antoine Fuqua's feature film, The Replacement Killers, starring Chow Yun Fat and Mira Sorvino (released by Columbia Pictures)."

http://www.whosampled.com/Ithaka/

Ithaka Interview in Up Magazine by Maria Ana Ventura

Ithaka

on Sep 1, 2013 

He is an artist, a photographer, surfer, musician and songwriter. His motto is simple: it is not the destination that matters, it is the journey. Meet Ithaka –“professional vagabond”.

Ithaka was not his birth name. But it is what he likes to be called, all because one day he picked up a poem by the Greek writer Konstantínos Kaváfis entitled Ithaka: “When I read those verses for the first time, I felt they were my life and from then on I used them as a guide. The poem is long but the message boils down to this: the journey is more important than the destination. And my life is one long journey, like a low budget holiday full of adventures”, he says in unencumbered Portuguese with an accent influenced by Brazil and American English.

Get Up
Ithaka was born in Orange County, California and, until he started travelling, was American. Today he is more a “citizen of the world”, he explains. But it was in the USA that his life’s passions, which have turned into many different crafts, appeared. First photography: “This was through my father, an engineer and photographer in his free time. I got drawn into playing with cameras when I was five years old”. Surfing was also something that appeared early on. “I was 12 and went to Hawaii with the family of a friend. I remember as if it were yesterday, that day of perfect waves in Honolua Bay [on the island of Maui]. Even though I lived near the sea in California and went bodyboarding sometimes, I had never seen anything like it. I wanted to start surfing straight away and when I came home I sold my drum kit – I was into music at the time and played in a Led Zeppelin covers band – to buy a surfboard”.
The years passed and his passions multiplied. By experimenting and teaching himself, Ithaka started painting and sculpture, using surfboards as a canvas and raw material. “I had never thought of it as art. For me it was just a hobby like surfing, music and photography. But one day, a girlfriend who was living in Los Angeles took me to visit some museums and contemporary art galleries in the city and said: ‘Look, you’re one of them, you’re an artist’”. And in fact I was.
Ithaka started working seriously as a photographer in the USA. He photographed famous actors and musicians for some major magazines. “But it wasn’t my thing; I was very limited by white backgrounds and other formalities which didn’t leave me much room creatively. I carried on doing my art, but I felt I needed something more. I moved to Hollywood and got into the more urban side of art. It still didn’t satisfy me. The adventure was missing.”

Escape from the City of Angels
“On my first trip outside North America I ended up in Germany and became fascinated with the explosion of information that for me was Europe. Later, when I lost my father, I decided that I had to go to Greece – the land of his (and my) ancestors which I had never visited. I got to know our origins.” In Greece, Ithaka recognised his DNA, especially in the way the Greeks see the real world through the eyes of fantasy. “They always have two explanations for everything. If the sea is rough it could be because a storm is coming or because of Poseidon’s fury, which fascinates me.”
The photographs and sculptures he started to make from surfboards (see inset), began to take him abroad, including to Japan – where he ended up spending a long time. Once he had a good dose of adventure under his belt, he went back home. But it wasn’t long before he was off again. He was still hungry for European culture and for places with good waves. Perhaps that is why there were no surprises about his next destination.
“I arrived in Portugal on 13th July 1992 with a one-way ticket and 70 dollars in my pocket. I went straight from the airport to the Bairro Alto. It all seemed like a Fellini film: the light, the streets, the feeling that I had gone back in time – a hallucination.” The only thing he could be sure about was that in Portugal he would find the perfect mixture of surf and city, but Lisbon decided to give him much more. Right at the start, quite by chance, he bumped into the team who were filming Manual de Evasão LX94, by Portuguese director Edgar Pêra. Ithaka ended up doing the photos for the movie poster. Because his boards got held up in customs, the first winter in Lisbon was not spent surfing as he’d wanted, but in front of a typewriter. That is how The Adventures of Korvorão appeared– “a mixture of crow and shark, the Korvorão can swim or fly to any part of the world, it is never confined by borders” – a series of tales which ended up turning into sculptures and also a series of texts which were then made into songs.
“One day I was interviewed for Rádio Comercial. One of the producers liked the sound of my voice and invited me to make a programme called Quarto Bairro.” That’s when music, which had been a bit dormant, returned to occupy his time. Ithaka read some texts he had written that rainy winter over the top of some hip-hop instrumentals. “It’s a style I saw evolving and which I’d been very close to in Los Angeles especially when I worked as a photographer for Priority Records”, says the artist, without mentioning that “Get Up”, a poem which ended up being remixed by Underground Sound of Lisbon achieved huge success, not only on the Portuguese dance floors, but also on turntables in the United States and the UK – even though, who knows how, his name has disappeared from the credits.

Saltwater Nomad
Ithaka’s travels have inspired albums, poems and stories. “Seabra is Mad” – one of the songs of the year in 1997 according to the newspaper Público is a theme of the surfing film Chasing The Lotus (2006) by Gregory Schelle – the result of a experimental surfing trip to the waves of Madeira with Portuguese big rider José Seabra, who one fine day went straight into the water while still an unknown. Somewhere South of Somalia, for example, is an album inspired by a two-month trip to East Africa. “I’m a storyteller and my music shows that, as do my articles [Ithaka has published fiction about surfing in specialist magazines like Surfer, Transworld Surf, Fluir and Surf Portugal]”.
After Portugal, Ithaka visited Brazil on the invitation of rapper (and surfer) Gabriel o Pensador. Recorded in Rio is one of two albums made in Rio de Janeiro. But his relationship with Brazil did not end there. Today, it is here, or more specifically the southern coast of São Paulo, that this multidisciplinary artist spends most of the year. His little hideaway, which he calls Akahtilândia, is surrounded by tropical rainforest and has good waves and deserted beaches to hand. Far from anywhere and anyone except himself, at Akahtilândia Ithaka continues to do what he likes most. He has recorded an album – Voiceless Blue Raven – and has not stopped sculpting, surfing, or taking photographs: “Did you know that I have photographed several insects I have never found in any encyclopedia?”
Art, music, photography. None is stronger than the other. “I am involved with all of them at the same time. They are multiple facets that define me not as an artist, but as a human being”. And travelling: “I love multiple realities! They make my world more colourful. I love the state of being between many worlds and between many careers. I’m a hybrid”.

by Maria Ana Ventura
portrait by Dede Fedrizzi

Ithaka "Vinte Anos Atrås" (Twenty Years Ago Today) - [Album: So Get Up & The Lost Acapellas]

 

Twenty years ago today.

Twenty years ago today you saw the outside
world for the first time.Twenty years ago
today you saw your mother and father’s faces
for the first time.

Twenty years ago today, you began
a life full of sorrow and happiness.

Twenty years ago today you began to hear
something other than muffled sounds and
the sound of your mother’s heartbeat. You
heard yourself cry for the first time
...you heard others cry too.

You heard electronic devices and doors
opening and closing and a lot of voices,
some melodic, others harsh and ugly.

You have lost and found so much since that day,
but do no feel much smarter or wiser than you did then.
You feel absolutely childlike,  Absolutely childlike,
naive without experience.

But ironically, you are completely ready to handle any
success or failure the future will bring. Both of
which you’ve been avoiding like death itself

No more false expectations. No more lying to yourself.
No more waiting for life to begin. No more waiting
for things to be perfect, you know they never will be.

...you know they never will be.

 

............................

Ithaka Darin Pappas © 1993

“Twenty Years Ago Today”From the album:
So Get Up & The Lost Acapellas  [Sweatlodge Records]

Ithaka - Saltwater Nomad

Ithaka - Saltwater Nomad (Recorded In Rio De Janeiro)

1. Ith Intro
2. Split Personality
3. A Million Light Years
4. Lust The Power Supreme
5. The Life You Wanna Live ?
6. N' Portugal
7. One Month Stand
8. I Ride 2008
9. Greencard
10. Six Years (Time To Move On)
11. The Cameraman
12. Roommates From Hell
13. Ninety-Eight In The Shade

https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/saltwater-nomad/id276021453

Ithaka (Recording Artist) - Bio on Discogs

Source Discogs:

https://www.discogs.com/artist/468212-ITHAKA
Ithaka was born in Southern California. The half-Greek poet, vocalist and producer lived in Lisbon for a number of years in his late-twenties until early-thirties. There in Portugal (in 1993), he wrote and recorded a poem entitled So Get Up for a program on Radio Comercial, Lisbon. He later rerecorded it for a local progressive-house music project called Underground Of Lisbon (the finished song was also called, So Get Up). It was soon released internationally on a multitude of compilations.

Until today, almost 25 years later, the track is considered one of the most important musical exports in Portugal's history. Although in fact, the lyric-writer and voice of this iconic dance music anthem is a Californian of Greek descent.

So Get Up has since been remixed and re-released over a thousand times, with some versions by large scale EDM artists such as Armin Van Buurin, Cosmic Gate, Fatboy Slim and Miss Kittin. So Get Up is the current Guinness World Record holder for most re-mixed acapella.

Also in Portugal, Ithaka recorded two award winning hip-hop albums, Flowers And The Color Of Paint (1995) and Stellafly (1997). His song, Escape From The City Of Angels (featuring Marta Dias) from the album Flowers And The Color Of Paint was featured in Antoine Fuqua's first full-length feature film entitled, The Replacement Killers (1998) starring Chow Yun Fat and Mira Sorvino

Ithaka then returned to the U.S. for a number of years where he recorded Somewhere South Of Somalia (2001) with LA producer, Conley Abrams III.
The song, What U Gotta Do, from this album was featured in the soundtrack of the hit video game NBA2K7.

He later lived in Brazil (Rio and AkahtiLândia) for over ten years where he recorded three more albums, Recorded In Rio (2004), Saltwater Nomad (2007) and Voiceless Blue Raven (2013)...and also released a collection of career highlights called Fishdaddy Flashbacks (2011) with the Indy label Sweatlodge Records.

Although rarely returning to the dance music world since recording So Get Up,
in 2007, Ithaka wrote the lyrics and vocally recorded "You" with DJ Vibe, using his poem originally entitled, We Are The Players.

In early 2017, Ithaka released a collection of acapella poems including the original pre-Underground Sound Of Lisbon 1993 demo-version of So Get Up.
The album, entitled, So Get Up & The Lost Acapellas, was compiled using lost vocal poems from 1993 and new recordings made in Mexico City in 2016.

https://www.discogs.com/artist/468212-ITHAKA

Ithaka recicla os foguetes

Músico californiano Ithaka promove exposição Reencarnação de uma Prancha de Surf em Costa Mesa, Califórnia (EUA). 

Cartaz da mostra Reencarnação de uma Prancha de Surf. Foto: Reprodução.

Entre os dias 5 e 12 de junho na cidade de Costa Mesa, Califórnia (EUA), o músico e artista californiano Ithaka promove a exposição Reencarnação de uma Prancha de Surf.

Surfista, fotógrafo, rapper e escultor, Ithaka é norte-americano de descendência grega. A ideia da mostra surgiu depois que o artista quebrou acidentalmente sua prancha em 1980.

Vinte anos se passaram e Ithaka continua usando pranchas recicladas como a principal matéria-prima para o seu trabalho. Já são mais de duas centenas de obras produzidas desta maneira.

“Este trabalho consiste em dar vida nova ao descartados. Além de ser um objeto como outro qualquer, uma prancha de surf retrata um dos estilos de vida mais privilegiados do mundo", diz Ithaka.

A exposição Reencarnação de uma Prancha de Surf já passou por Europa, Ásia e América do Sul.

Ithaka: Somewhere South Of Somalia

Somewhere South Of Somalia

There are many things one could criticize about hip hop. And what to one is worth of criticism is what the other actually appreciates. So when we write here, that hip hop is lacking concepts that run through the whole album, that are keeping an album together and make it distinguishable as such, then others will disagree and say, they just want a couple of tracks that keep their head nodding. And when we state that hip hop has the potential to reach a lot of people on deep and important levels, then other people will go, that hip hop is coming from the streets and should be made for the streets, and a deeper meaning would neatly fit somewhere dark, and somewhere where we usually sit on.

Whatever the case, Ithaka was not content with just putting a couple of tracks together, put 'em on a disc, call it an album and call it a day. When he was travelling Kenya and Tanzania, it inspired him. Inspired him to write about escapism, write about what he saw in those place, with his eyes, but also what his soul saw in the presence of other people's experiences, lives and struggles. Or how he calls it: "live it, write about it, rap about it". Hence this is one of the cases where a rap record is using its potential; talking to people and to bring a story across, easier and better, than any other genre of music is able to. And hence "Somewhere South Of Somalia" is deserving our props, as the courageous record it is, that's dwelling into the depth of something, that comes as close to travel journal as it can get.

And for this project, Ithaka teamed up with producer Conley 'Conman' Abrams, who's responsible for all the beats that back Ithaka up, who in his travels takes us into the trapped lands of tribal folklore, elitists foreigners or epidemics, collecting them in a musical ethnographic report. That starts out with Ithaka going into areas where the question is a unbelieving "So You're Going There?" commenting his plans. The reason why it is necessary to step out the regular shackles of society is expressed on "What U Gotta Do", before the physical travel to Africa is just as much a mental and psychical adaptation, what is dizzyingly shown by "My Mind & My Body". With "Snakes In The Rafter" the finish line of the first leg is reached, with us then meeting up with "Rana Linda (I Can Make A Difference)" who is a war photographer. This track features Izrael, of Cell-mob, who's handling the sung chorus. "Ugly American" is the next meeting with someone, this track portraying one of the still imperialistic thinking people, taking away all what's still good, untouched an innocent in this area. However, things catch up to him, what you can hear on "Dear Hillary". More anthropological topics are discussed on "Black Rock", before "Lapis Lazuli" is kept spoken word, with Izrael returning for the chorus.

Moving on to the tribal religions, "Visit With Nagawa" is once more having us meet a native, this time a suspect person that knows about spells. Entering a language course, "Upendo" is having us listen to Swahili, with Cassande Luchembe whispering the words in our excited ears. Then the streets are explored on "River Road", as we hear that some of the unwanted adventures can be rather similar there to here. Keeping the story progressing, "Nawaga's Revenge" is talking about the symptoms of Malaria. The last person we then meet is "Nwajuma", before our mind is again drifting off into "My Mind & My Body Reprise", as it's trying to take in, process and understand all what was experienced on this album.

With us now knowing what travel we are accompanying, it's interesting what kind of beats are coming along too. They are often on some unlocated style, that is keeping things in vibes of years ago. That can then sound 'heard before' like on "Dugout Canoe", or rather progressive like "Visit With Nagawa". It's also having some elements, that remind us of world music, of reggae, of Caribbean sounds, of African styles. Hence we are needing a decent amount of tolerance to get with it.

What then makes it necessary to talk about the album in a more regular kind of way: this album is on the beat tip not the strongest, and lyrically, the nomadic wanderer Ithaka (aka visual artist and writer Ithaka Darin Pappas) is not the most skilled as well, as much of his eloquence is getting lost, with the story being forced into rhyming patterns. But that's merely unfortunate, as the goal of this record can never be to reach an audience that just wants a good time pumping something to bob the head, or keeping the music low like in an elevator. That'd be unfair to the record, and that needs to taken into consideration. Hence what makes this record good is the patience and respect for a misunderstood continent, that's telling the story, and that is making this album a narrated book. Hence this gets a lot of respect from our side, a lot of props for the willingness to do something hard and exhausting, that will never get as much acclaim as it actually deserves.

"So Get Up" Creator & Vocalist, Ithaka - Cover of EDMânia Magazine

 

"So Get Up" Creator and Vocalist, Ithaka 

(Cover of EDMânia Magazine - Dec. 2016 - South American Edition) 

In 2016, with at least 1029 documented remixes to its credit

 "So Get Up" a vocal spoken-word poem written and recorded by 

Californian artist and songwriter Ithaka (Ithaka Darin Pappas)

was the Guinness World Record holder for

"Most Musical Remixes Created From Single Acapella"

Ithaka initially penned "So Get Up",

(first titled, The End Of The Earth Is Upon Us)

in mid-1993 for a daily segment of a program he regularly hosted 

on Rádio Comerical Lisbon called "Bairro Quatro".

It was recited the first time live on-air 

just an hour or two after it was written.

In 1994, also in Portugal, he re-recorded it with

a house music duo called Underground Sound Of Lisbon.

It was distributed nationally and later on Tribal Records (NY) 

with an a capella version, incredulously without a vocal credit.

It is this a capella that has been remixed, robbed, sampled, remade 

and covered to a degree unseen in the history of modern music.

In 2016, at last count there were 1029 released remixes 

of  the vocal "So Get Up" (often under different titles such as;

  The End Of The Earth, Get Up Go Insane, Forget The Past, etc). 

Guinness World Record now recognizes the SO Get Up vocal poem

 as holding the title for "Most Musical Remixes Created From Single A Capella" 

bypassing #2, Turkish pop-vocalist Evrim Tuzun, by more than 800 mixes.

Because the first release of So Get Up was not vocally credited, 

this seemed to green-light all other remix users 

of the acapella to not credit it as well (most producers 

thought the vocal and lyrics were  public domain, perhaps from an old film).

Although some mixes were legally licensed, 

many EDM artists simply made their own electronic music tracks

and place Ithaka's vocals and lyrics on top of it,

and called it entirely their own without requesting permission 

or paying royalties.

Among the more known mixes of "So Get Up" there are versions by such all-star groups/producers as; Cosmic Gate (Germany), Danny Tenaglia (USA), Junior Vazquez (USA), DJ Vibe (Portugal), Mert Yücel (Turkey), Eric Kupper (USA), Fatboy Slim (UK) and Miss Kittin (France). 

An incomplete list of DJ/producers who have remixed, reworked, covered or sampled the vocal poem "So Get Up" by Ithaka Darin Pappas since its first recording in 1993 include: Cosmic Gate (Germany), Danny Tenaglia (USA), Junior Vazquez (USA), DJ Vibe (Portugal), Mert Yücel (Turkey), Eric Kupper (USA), Fatboy Slim (UK) and Miss Kittin (France), Pelarli, Alex Di Stefano, Public Domain (Holland), Pagano (Italy), Mirabeau (UK), Damaged People (UK), Mowree (Italy), Stretch & Verne (UK), Sarasite, Orion's Voice, Bob Ray & Van Dyuk, Igor Carmo, JJ Mullor, Dani Sber, Swing Kings, Atlantis IT, Ben Gold, Nixu Zsun (France), Ricardo Diaz, Peter Bailey (USA), DJ Kingsize, FuturePlays (Mexico), Derek Marin,  Oxia (France), Domino, DJ Diego Mendonça, Mauro Ferno, Maik Ibane, Ce Ce Lee (Italy), Dj Kryst-Off Aka Zornéus (France), FRANKYEFFE (Italy), Branko & Club Atlas (members of Buraka Som Sistema), Alex Page (Portugal), Nell Silva (Portugal), Alex Farolfi, Fargetta, GianLuca Mens, The Ventura 87, Dimas Carbajo, Christo Z (Greece), Ronni King,Terry Lee Brown JR., DJ Theo V (Greece), Djz Rom (Cambodia), DJ Beg, Lexicon Avenue, DJ Screw (Thailand) etc etc.

Labels that have released "So Get Up" mixes include: Tribal (USA-UK), Twisted (USA-UK), Forensic, Kaos (Portugal), Plastic City, Bosphorus Underground Recording (Turkey).

______________________________________

Lyrics for SO GET UP

By: Ithaka Darin Pappas ©1993
(RavenShark Music/Scion Four Music/ASCAP)

"SO GET UP"
.......................................................

THE END OF THE EARTH IS UPON US
PRETTY SOON IT’LL ALL TURN TO DUST

SO GET UP
FORGET THE PAST

GO OUTSIDE
HAVE A BLAST

GO A THOUSAND MILES IN A JET AIRPLANE
GO OUT OF YOUR MIND GO INSANE

TO A PLACE YOU NEVER BEEN BEFORE
EAT ICE CREAM OUR YOU’LL LICK THE FLOOR

CUZ, THE END OF THE EARTH IS UPON US
PRETTY SOON IT’LL ALL TUN TO DUST

GOODBYE MY FRIENDS
GOODBYE WORLD

I’LL SEE YOU IN THE NEXT LIFE

ithaka "Dine N Dash" (NBA2k7 soundtrack) X-Box 360

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

ithaka "Dine N Dash" (vocal version)

This track appears on both

Ithaka's album Voiceless Blue Raven

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/voi...

and

on the hit X-Box 360 game soundtrack NBA 2K7

compiled by Dan The Automator

along with:

Rhymefest

Hieroglyphics

Fabolous

Aceyalone & Rakaa of Dilated Peoples

E-40 & San Quinn

Ghostface & A.G. of D.I.T.C.

Lupe Fiasco & Evidence of Dilated Peoples

Mos Def & Anwar Superstar

Charli 2na of Jurrassic 5

A Tribe Called Quest

Zion I.

PURCHASE HERE: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/voi...

@_ithaka_ (ithaka instagram)

https://www.facebook.com/IthakaBlue (ithaka facebook)

http://www.myspace.com/ithakamusic (ithaka myspace)

All licensing inquiries

for the song "Dine N Dash" by Ithaka

should be directed to: Scion Four Music (New York).

Ithaka's Youtube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIZXy50yj_t9UuHqeOQhpGQ

ithaka: WHAT U GOTTA DO (NBA2K& Soundtrack)

ithaka "WHAT U GOTTA DO?"
as used in the hit x-box 360 game NBA2K7.

https://www.discogs.com/artist/468212-ITHAKA

TOLEDO, MUNIZ & Friends Surf In Hawaii (2011) Music by: Ithaka

Ithaka track featured
in segment from the Brazilian surfing video
Nobody Is A Kid Anymore
Directed by: Pablo Aguiar
Released in association with Hardcore Magazine

This part of the video features the talents of :
Alejo Muniz, Marco Giorgi, Felipe Toledo, Sidney Guimaraes.

Filmed on location in Hawaii - winter 2010/2011.

----------------------------------------­­-----------------------

THE LIFE YOU WANNA LIVE ?
Lyrics: Íthaka



I only ask of y'all
what I ask of myself.............

ARE YOU DOIN' IN LIFE -- WHAT YOU WAS MEANT TO ?
ARE YOU DOIN' IN LIFE -- WHAT YOU WAS SENT TO ?
ARE YOU LEADIN' THE LIFE THAT YOU WANNA LIVE ?
ARE YOU LIVIN' YOUR LIFE IN A WAY TO WIN ?

ARE YOU DOIN' IN LIFE -- WHAT YOU WAS MEANT TO ?
ARE YOU DOIN' IN LIFE -- WHAT YOU WAS SENT TO ?
ARE YOU LEADIN' THE LIFE THAT YOU WANNA LIVE ?
ARE YOU LIVIN' YOUR LIFE IN A WAY TO WIN ?

Here and now -- limited hours on earth
Make the most of yours -- recognize time's worth
Formulate somethin' solid just for you...
BEFORE this crazy ball splits in two

ARE YOU DOIN' IN LIFE -- WHAT YOU WAS MEANT TO ?
ARE YOU DOIN' IN LIFE -- WHAT YOU WAS SENT TO ?
ARE YOU LEADIN' THE LIFE THAT YOU WANNA YOU LIVE ?
ARE YOU LIVIN' YOUR LIFE IN A WAY TO WIN ?

Do you accomplish the things you set out to do ?
Did you realize the dreams you had when you were twenty-two ?

Do you keep responsibility -- MINORITY ?
Do you keep freedom n liberty - PRIORITY ?

Do you get back on your feet when you take a fall ?
Do you stand up proud ? Do you stand up tall ?
Did ya end up with the girl you lost sleep over ?
Or did ya get out of bed with a deadly hangover ?

Searchin' affection in all the wrong places
Blowin' all your dough on store-bought embraces

Making the same mistake a million times forever
Loose ground daily - forgettin' your endeavors

Always tripping over yourself when you need to glide
Never seeming to find your stride in this lifetime

Never in the right place at the right time
Never finding yourself the slightest peace of mind

Falling into depths with no hope of recovery
Searching desperately for some kind of discovery

But gotta drag yourself up -- up out of bed
N gotta scrape out your skull -- clear out your head

And Gotta turn shit around - like you know you can
Only YOU got the power and the right to demand

A life of pride -- one to call your own
Where you're YOUR own ruler -- the Man on the throne

ARE YOU DOIN' IN LIFE -- WHAT YOU WAS MEANT TO ?
ARE YOU DOIN' IN LIFE -- WHAT YOU WAS SENT TO ?
ARE YOU LEADIN' THE LIFE THAT YOU WANNA LIVE ?
ARE YOU LIVIN' YOUR LIFE IN A WAY TO WIN ?

ARE YOU DOIN' IN LIFE -- WHAT YOU WAS MEANT TO ?
ARE YOU DOIN' IN LIFE -- WHAT YOU WAS SENT TO ?
ARE YOU LEADIN' THE LIFE THAT YOU WANNA LIVE ?
ARE YOU LIVIN' YOUR LIFE IN A WAY TO WIN ?

Here and now -- limited hours on earth
Make the most of yours -- recognize time's worth
Formulate somethin' solid just for you...
BEFORE this crazy ball splits in two

ARE YOU DOIN' IN LIFE -- WHAT YOU WAS MEANT TO ?
ARE YOU DOIN' IN LIFE -- WHAT YOU WAS SENT TO ?
ARE YOU LEADIN' THE LIFE THAT YOU WANNA LIVE ?
ARE YOU LIVIN' YOUR LIFE IN A WAY TO WIN ?

ARE YOU DOIN' IN LIFE -- WHAT YOU WAS MEANT TO ?
ARE YOU DOIN' IN LIFE -- WHAT YOU WAS SENT TO ?
ARE YOU LEADIN' THE LIFE THAT YOU WANNA LIVE ?
ARE YOU LIVIN' YOUR LIFE IN A WAY TO WIN ?

ARE YOU DOIN' IN LIFE -- WHAT YOU WAS MEANT TO ?
ARE YOU DOIN' IN LIFE -- WHAT YOU WAS SENT TO ?
ARE YOU LEADIN' THE LIFE THAT YOU WANNA LIVE ?
ARE YOU LIVIN' YOUR LIFE IN A WAY TO WIN ?