Lyrical Questions from MileHighTimes by Molina and Diles

Molina and Diles – The prolific Colorado / New Mexico hip-hop duo are back with MileHighTimes, not just an ode to their respective cities of Denver and Albuquerque, but an expression of the times. From the grit of the grind to the day-to-day celebration of life, this album balances the rebellious spirit of Hip-Hop with a smooth southwest vibe that will keep fans’ feet grounded and heads in the clouds.

MileHighTimes is the duo’s second full-length album collaboration, a follow-up to “Name & Town” (Feb 2011), which featured Diles’ production and Molina’s raps. This time around Diles goes in 50/50 with Molina on the vocals, featuring various emcees and producers. Guest artists include Panama Soweto, Bianca Mikahn, Mike Wird, Soulciety, Hakim Be, Urban Verbs, Azucar Morena, and Patch. Beats produced by Diles, Boonie Mayfield, Jon Dis, and Anno Domini, with cuts by DJ Icewater.

Bios and collaborative history:

Molina (aka Molina Speaks) is an artist of the people and for the people, an honest and clever balance of cultural revolution, artistic substance, and entertainment. Molina’s impressive discography of albums and notable singles spans the genres of Hip-Hop, Neo-Soul, Jazz, Spoken Word, Glitch, and Experimental music. Molina is a partner artist of Flobots.Org and a member of Denver’s Café Cultura artist collective. His music has been featured in documentary films like “Papers” and he has shared the stage with the likes of Lupe Fiasco, Saul Williams, The Flobots, and Les Nubians.

Diles is a professionally certified, passionately motivated audio engineer, emcee, beat junkie and producer. Founder and lead architect behind Visceral View Entertainment, defined as “Conviction Arising From One’s Mental Or Spiritual Being, Obtained Through Intuition Rather Than Reasoning”. This professional and business-oriented arts collective is focused on nourishing and expanding creative community, developing young artists, and supporting them in pursuit of their dreams.

After years of talking about potential collaborations, Molina and Diles began working together in October 2010, with a plan to record a few tracks and see what came out of an in-house recording session in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Both artists were set to elevate their art forms to a higher dimension. An explosion of work followed over the next 12 months.

As Molina dropped a 7” single (“Fam Biz”) with DJ Icewater, Diles released his first official compilation (“Mood Static”), featuring various artists from Albuquerque, NM, along with guest appearances by Molina, and also Jon Dis of New York.

“Name & Town” followed in February 2011, featuring appearances by DJ Icewater, Mane Rok, Hakim Be, Sol, and Venus Cruz. Molina released “Build 2020 Manifesto” in March – a futuristic take on the next 10 years of social change. Diles contributed half the beats, along with Iowa experimental/glitch producer HipGnosis.

Diles released “Gut Feeling” in July of 2011, featuring Molina and a handful of Colorado Hip-Hop artists alongside a solid roster of emcees from New York, Arizona, Chicago and New Mexico, growing the Denver-Burque connection. Last summer Diles also produced Idris Goodwin’s “Break Beat Bars”, Burqueno/Reggae/Rock band Reviva’s debut album "Change", and award-winning poet Hakim Be’s spoken word joint “Be”. Molina dropped a summer single “Southwest Heartthrob” and appeared on the One-Eyed Kings “Children of the Ghetto” single, which also featured Akir One and Big Samir of The Reminders.

Most recently, Diles has released numerous beat tapes along with his emcee debut Meditation. Molina has released a series of notable singles, including “Stacks of Bills” with Diles, and a pioneering spoken word video chapbook, a digital diary to the future titled Bronze Future: Letters for 2045.
credits
released 15 May 2012
Words by Molina and Diles with guests.
Mixed and Produced by Molina and Diles.
Mastered by DJ Icewater.
Beats:
1,2 Anno Domini
4,6 Boonie Mayfield
5,7,8,11 Jon Dis
3,9,10,12,13,14 Diles

MOLINA:
Website: www.molinaspeaks.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/molinaspeaks
Facebook: www.facebook.com/molinamusic

DILES:

Website: www.visceralview.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/dilesmusic

“Molina may be the only MC in Denver who has transcended being boxed into any particular facet of the scene.” – Denver Post RVRB

“Things have changed, and every now and then, an artist puts their account of life’s changes into play, all over phat beats. Molina is that artist. A culturist who balances his revolutionary politics with his ability to rap like no other..." – Westword

molinaspeaks.com
theartistlens.com
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