Once a Digable Planet, Cee Knowledge goes Cosmic in pursuit of life, love and loot.
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
Hard to believe it's been 20 years since Elkins Park MC and multi-instrumentalist Craig Irving went by the name "Doodlebug" and recorded Blowout Comb — the last effort with his spacey, jazzy, live hip-hop trio Digable Planets.
Hard to believe it’s been 20 years since Elkins Park MC and multi-instrumentalist Craig Irving went by the name “Doodlebug” and recorded Blowout Comb — the last effort with his spacey, jazzy, live hip-hop trio Digable Planets.
Time has a way of slipping by. Irving’s had his own act, Cee Knowledge and the Cosmic Funk Orchestra (CFO), for more than 10 years, and the ensemble just released its first real studio album.
“Digable days were so long ago and I’ve grown so much as an artist and as a person since, I’m not sure if anything from then is a part of me now, except for the memories,” he says. Though he makes several Digable references and notes how much of a shame it is that his old trio couldn’t have “weathered its storms,” Irving stresses that his greatest wish is not to be boxed in by his past.
“Some fans have a hard time distinguishing you from the sound that established you in the business and the artist that you naturally evolve into,” he says. Cee Knowledge’s hard funk-hop and agitated lyricism (lots of money, sex and protest) couldn’t be more different than Doodlebug and co.’s smooth wifty music and conscious rap.
Live instrumentation is the one carryover from Irving’s Digable past. He “dibble-dabbled” with it when recording a live album with the original CFO lineup. Return of the Cosmic Funk was self-pressed and sold at shows. After CFO version one broke up, Irving produced his music at Sigma Sound Studios using samplers and drum machines until he met drummer Gary Dann, guitarist Adam Charlton and bassist Mitch Beer. CFO 2.0 was born. “I had a show, needed a band, got with those cats and we haven’t stopped working together since.” That core foursome, with horns, percussion and vocalist Eddy Kane (on “Life Is Whatchu Make It”), makes up the root of the new, rude, raw Life, Love & Loot.
Between talking up his album’s best (“Bandits,” “Focused”), and espousing proudly the virtues of Dann’s Fishtown recording studio (“Boom Room’s like a relative of mine who I had the privilege to watch grow from a tiny idea to a thriving business”), Irving talks about momentum.
“I don’t know why I still keep going, except that I can’t imagine doing anything else with my life but making and promoting music,” he laughs. “You know, I tried to stop a few times, but music keeps haunting my soul and drawing me back into its web. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I love music but I hate the fake-ass industry. It’s a vicious cycle that I can’t seem to break free from.”
Cee Knowledge and the Cosmic Funk Orchestra plays Sat., Oct. 4, 8 p.m., free, Boom Room, 1300 N. Front St., boomroomstudios.com.
