In 2005, Curumin, the Brazilian musician, artist, and songwriter born Luciano Nakata Albuquerque, re-released his debut album, Achados E Perdidos (Lost and Found), on Quannum Projects label Solesides. For the Hip Hop heads out there, you know, Quannum was a Bay Area Hip Hop collective, locals that made phat world-hopping beats. Curumin is an accumulation of Brazilian musical history, from Samba ala Antonio Carlos Jobim to funk, contemporary house, and Hip Hop. All layered and oozing percussions dreamy universe of body-shaking rhythms, these songs need to be remembered, reintroduced, and replayed as widely as possible.
Luciano was "born in Brazil to Spanish/Japanese parents, [and] early on earned the moniker Curumin, a term reserved by indigenous Brazilians for their more precocious children. It was the 1970s in Sao Paulo, and with his older brother, Curumin began his journey through the world's music, from Jorge Ben to Devo to Bebeto. By the time he was 8, he'd already formed his first rock band with classmates, with pots and pans substituting for a proper drum kit. Within two years he'd formed another band, this time an instrumental funk group called ZU. By the time he was 14 he was already a percussionist at Sao Paulo's top clubs. By 16 he'd taught himself to play keyboards as well." Curumin's debut album reflects this intensely creative genealogy.
Quannum's lineup included Chief Xcel, DJ Shadow, Gift of Gab (RIP), Lyrics Born, Blackalicious (Xcel and Gab), Joyo Velarde, Lifesavas, and skateboarding legend Tommy Guerrero.
As this 2005 San Francisco Weekly article, "Quannum Mechanics: The amazingly true tale of the Bay Area's greatest hip hop success story," explained, "The seeds of the Quannum family tree were planted in the sleepy town of Davis (population 50,000). In Davis during the early '90s, the right place for a hip-hop fan to be was to the left of the dial, specifically Jeff Chang's KDVS radio show.
"The radio show would be a magnet for the crews that would eventually form the Solesides label and Quannum Projects collective. Jeff Chang is also the author of Can't Stop, Won't Stop: A History of the Hip Hop Generation. The first edition contained a CD with samples and narration telling the history of Hip Hop through sound. The SF Weekly article tells the whole story and is worth checking out.
In 2021, Solesides released, A Goodwill Projects' latest joint, "ReEndtroducing: The Second Album, "a 61-minute journey into a Quannum space and time of 2 original works. Exploring a commingled world where after 25 years, DJ Shadows 1st full-length album is infused and enveloped with 2nd album."
