STORY

What drives Solar Wind?

MC Solar Wind started writing poetry at just 10 years old and his passion for Hip Hop music grew at this young age after being exposed to the passionate, oft-angry/introspective and controversial Eminem. Marshall Mathers served as a gateway to young MC Solar Wind while he spent the next four years studying Hip Hop music and culture as one might tackle classic literature. Solar Wind was engrossed by the birth of Hip Hop culture out of a struggle for social justice, freedom of expression and freedom of speech. He greatly looked up to artists such as NaS, Rakim, KRS-One, Tupac Shakur, Mos Def, Common and Talib Kweli among others.

Behind the Name

MC Solar Wind saw an opportunity to hone his skills and share his personal experience, struggles, failures, triumphs and philosophy through recording and live performances while he was still in high school. It was actually during a senior year Calculus course that he decided upon the name “Solar Wind” for his artistic pursuits. The name has multiple meanings:

It has a nice ring – sounding mysterious and intriguing
It is a metaphor.
a) Solar Wind (scientific) “The continuous flow of charged particles from the sun that permeates the solar system.”
b) Solar Wind (hip hop name) “Breathing life into hip hop music – a positive and mysterious agent of change.”
Environmental – as many of us one day hope for, MC Solar Wind would like to see our dependence upon fossil fuel diminish in the near future. Using this name is one way to generate awareness about alternate and viable forms of energy.

Identity Crisis

MC Solar Wind struggled early on to find his own identity in Hip Hop music – trying out several different styles as a youngster. As a “rapper” of Middle Eastern descent (along with many other ethnicities), he initially didn’t know where he would “fit-in”. During college, MC Solar Wind realized that Hip Hop at its essence was about being true to oneself, about never selling out, about keeping things open, honest and direct. He decided to only write about the things that mattered to him and to continuously write songs that challenged his own beliefs and perceptions in order to edge closer to the truths hidden in plain sight.

What’s New

After releasing I AM SOLAR WIND on 12 21 12, MC Solar Wind took the time to grow as an artist and person. He wrote many more songs and recorded many of them – either in his bedroom or his favorite recording studio in San Francisco, Different Fur Studios. MC Solar Wind also spent a considerable amount of time working on his performance skills and freestyling passion. He has performed at some prestigious Bay Area venues such as The New Parish, Starline Social Club, Monroe, Monarch and Brick and Mortar Music Hall with established artists such as Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Dizzy Wright, Black Milk, Wax and Yonas. MC Solar Wind eventually began to take the approach of performing 2-3 written songs and then 2-3 completely freestyled songs, drawing inspiration from the crowd and whatever was on his mind that day. He found the engagement was even more palpable and the energy was even more intense when he would go “off top”.

From a musical standpoint, MC Solar Wind partnered with producer Faulkner to create their most recent work The Solar and the Fury. This effort was started in earnest around 2018 and finally released to the general public on 12 21 20 – exactly 8 years after the release of I AM SOLAR WIND. Instead of a mixtape, like his prior two efforts, The Solar and the Fury is a bonafide album and is available for streaming on all platforms as well as for purchase on iTunes.

Released on 12.21.20 — The Solar and the Fury – released everywhere on 12.21.20

Listen to ALPHA below:

TSATF Cover

A creation from two friends, united by a passion for music, The Solar and the Fury is the debut album from MC Solar Wind and Faulkner. Rich with literary and cultural references, personal experiences and angst, the rays of “solar wind energy” and hope are also subtlety present. Each track has is a unique shade of emotional expression, but together they form a cohesive experience.

The work is short and to the point, but also heavy and poignant. The sounds, tones, samples and lyrics have been carefully selected and deliberately crafted, but it is the unexpected moments of inspiration during the album’s completion that the two Bay Area artists enjoyed the most.

Recorded entirely in San Francisco, the album does not fit any predetermined Hip Hop or Rap category. It is what it is, unapologetically. Perhaps it is a significant piece of art or perhaps, as the album closes with the words of Macbeth, it could just be “a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

I AM SOLAR WIND at IASW Mixtape Link.