Tha Anthem's New Single "Milky" Nationwide!

Feb 16, 2010   Posted by Kyle You are now able to call into radio stations NATIONWIDE and request Tha Anthem's new single entitled "Milky!" Please call in to your local hip hop station and request! Thank you so much for all your continued support!

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I.A. Update: October

Oct 04, 2009   Posted by Kyle Hey everyone! I wanted to update all of you on what exactly is going on since we have been lacking in the keeping people up-to-date department as of late ha. I apologize and promise from now on you'll be with us every step of the way.

Joe Knox's sophomore album is officially completed. "The Wheel of Fire" is expected to have an early 2010 release. We'll have the official release date for everyone very soon. The Black Axe (www.theblackaxe.com) is the company designing the album and has done work for Paramore, CKY, Cobra Starship, Lil' Wayne, Sir Mix A Lot, Boys Like Girls, and Lynyrd Skynyrd to name a few. We are really excited to see what they are able to come up with - special thanks to Kevin with The Black Axe for making all this possible.

Tha Anthem will be in the studio this October to finish his sophomore album "Act Right or Get Left." Shortly after recording, production and mixing will take place and then the album will be sent off to Bernie Grundman to be mastered. Grundman is a world-renown mastering engineer who's mastered albums for everyone from Dr. Dre, Eminem, and The Game to Michael Jackson and Linkin Park. We were lucky enough to have him master Joe Knox's album "The Wheel of Fire" as well. Tha Anthem's album "Act Right or Get Left" is expected to have a first quarter 2010 release.

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Adventures in the Music Racket: Espania

Sep 20, 2009   Posted by Joe Adventures in the Music Racket: Espania

Hey everyone! It's been a while and I got ton to fill you all in on. I finished up my first year of my masters program with relative ease. I say relative in the sense that the amount of work I did thankfully DID NOT cause me significant permanent damage. Sleepless nights caused by a mixture of over study and over training made me fiend for a break... Nothing like a summer vacation to re-energize and reconnect with the flow of the universe.

This summer was amazing for me. I don't know why these things keep happening to me but I hope they continue... I got flown out on someone else's dime to southern Spain to participate in an international dance conference and an international composers festival!!!!

Now how did this happen... well, I was quietly reading (the biography of James Brown) in the arts center at UCI, minding my own business, when a friend of mine dragged me into one of his dance classes. I had been aching to sink my teeth into the UCI dance department, but found that many of the administrators had a certain, shall we say, BLIND HATE for any sort of dance that was against their view of what dancing should be... i.e. bboying:

"You'll mess up the floor with all the rocks in your shoes!!! It just takes one tiny pebble to ruin a career!!!" said a disgruntled secretary when I politely asked if it were possible to make use of a dance room for practice.

"Ok... what If I wear dance shoes that have never seen the sidewalks or streets?" I asked as gave she gave me a dismissive wave, and walked away.

No love.

With this experience in the back of my head, I was determined to make an impression as I participated in my first UCI dance class. No sooner had I cranked out a few flares and hand-hops than the professor approached me. A sweet lady named Lisa, with a sparkle in her eye. We chatted for a bit and I soon found out she was the big cheese - the chair of the department. I was in like sin.

All love.

To make a long story shorter, Lisa organizes an annual trip to southern Spain with a handful of lucky UCI dancers to participate in two outstanding festivals. I found myself to be the only bboy in a dance troupe of all modern dancers. What a spectacular time I had. I didn't want to leave Spain.

We spent most of our time in a town called Frigiliana, a little mountain village made famous for the fact that for one period of about 200 years, Christianity, Islam, and Judaism coexisted peacefully. I could easily tell why, Frigiliana is beautiful. All the buildings where white, the roads made of cobblestones, and all around were the ruins of old castles and mountain fortresses.

Most of our time was spent creating dance pieces for modern music composers... as far as the music was concerned I'll just say this: In the context of academics it was profound... in the context of: "Yo ma man check out this ill track!" it was not poppin...

Noise, space, weirdness... plus modern dance... with a side of bboy yours truly.

Towards the end of the trip I got to go to a beach city called Nerja where I promptly burned my feet on the ridiculously hot sand... Though I admit that might have been because I was so preoccupied trying not to get caught staring at all the topless women on the beach. OH MY GOD...

As a token of my travels I made sure to make my way to the world famous Maldonado guitar shop where I purchased a brand new, professional Flamenco guitar.

I fell in love with Flamenco music all over again after this trip. I had originally begun my music career as a classical and flamenco guitarist but my heart was never in it as much as it is now. I can easily see my music evolving more towards flamenco rhythms mixed with breakbeats.

Now that my album "The Wheel of Fire" is done, I feel it's time for a new evolution... speaking of the album, YES ITS DONE!!!! But now I have to save money in order to do all the printing and artwork... sigh... the woes of professional music making...

I realize that people have already been listening to this stuff for a while, so I'm including a second disc that will go for the most part unheard until purchase... just to give you all an extra incentive. Haha.

This upcoming year great things are going to happen. We'll be finishing up Tha Anthem's second album "Act Right or Get Left" and I'll be finishing up my masters... look for many updates to follow.

Until next time my friends.

J. Knox

Adventures in the Music Racket: The Wheel of Fire

Apr 10, 2009   Posted by Joe Wow. I think if my life ended right now I'd be happy. I can't help but feel this way. I feel so accomplished. Here I am a kid straight from the Mexican border fence doing what I WANT to do with my life. I mean damn... and in this economy?!!? How did this happen?

The last time I wrote a blog I talked about making music and bboying 24/7. True to my word that's what I've been doing. Living my dream no holds barred. First I'll talk about bboying then music.

Being on the west coast bboy scene has not, I repeat NOT been a fun experience. Bboying today is war. Straight up. Breaking as a culture has been through the commercial machine and gone to the underground.... and there it's transformed into a highly competitive aggressive art form. One thing I get out of it is this: I realize that my greatest opponent will always be myself, no matter what. I love bboying, I love being a bboy, but war is war.

Late 2008 and early 2009 were torture for me in terms of breaking. I was plagued with several injuries and eventually had to visit a chiropractor. After inspection, he told me I had the straightest back he had seen in 14 years of practice!! 0_0 My problem was that my muscles had snapped out of place from over-strengthening.

After a fast adjustment I was back and better than I've ever been. I've been back on the improvement path ever since. Thank you GOD!!! The experience has changed the way I break... I'm not as concerned with it. I take it less seriously. I'm confident in my style, and in my power. Any circle I step in, and it don't matter where or how high a level, I burn it up with my bboy fire.

Sometimes when I analyze where I've been, and what I've been through in my short life, I understand exactly where I get the fire. It's not pretty but its real.

For the last 4 years I've been on a self-analysis mode and I've finally come to terms with some things about myself and about the world I live in. I'm a completely un-balanced person. I have a war inside of me. I feel like ever since I was born the world has been at war with my purpose in life and therefore me.

At some point when we are all really young we have dreams and aspirations. Things we wish we could be when we grow up. Babylon, (the world), has other ideas. Babylon breaks us down, molds us in its image... through media, Babylon tells us what to like, what beauty is, what success is, what failure is, etc.

Bottom line: People let go of what they really want to do, and do what Babylon tells them to do.

I can't accept this. I'd rather be dead.

Call me stubborn, call me psychotic, whatever... I know God, and I know God's purpose in my creation. It's to war against Babylon the only way I know how... living my dreams.


Two weeks ago I completed the greatest things I have ever done in my life so far: The Wheel of Fire. This album is the best thing I have ever done, and I'm going to have a hard time trying to top it. But that don't mean I won't try. :)

The Wheel of Fire is a soundtrack to the war I fought to keep my dreams alive, the war I fought in the bboy circle, and the warpath that I still find myself on.

I chose the name The Wheel of Fire for several reasons... The Wheel of Fire is analogy for the bboy circle, a place only the bravest and strongest among us ever enter. The Wheel of Fire is another name for the Law Wheel in Falun Gong. The Law Wheel is something precious, a gift given to us by God, a golden energy to be cultivated. It protects us from things unseen and guides us away from the darkness of material Babylonian existence. The work contains my spiritual energy, and like a law wheel, it is my belief that it can be an undying light through the darkest times.

There are several other reasons why the new album is called The Wheel of Fire, but I think that the Othello reference pulls at me the most.

I plan on releasing the album in the fall. The music is finished but now the artwork and marketing must begin. It is my hope to land a distribution deal between now and that time. Because I am choosing a more complex bang for your buck format for the artwork and extras/cover, the thank you section has to be removed. I've placed it at the end of this enormous blog. Please check it out. If you know me, you're most likely included in the thank you.

Now that this work is nearing its finish maybe I can finally get a date? I mean it's been four years why not? Ladies where u at?

Until Next time my friends.


J. Knox


Thank you for listening to, purchasing, and/or illegally downloading The Wheel of Fire! The responses I've been getting thus far have given my life its greatest validation. Since I was four years old, I have been consumed by an evil horrible demon called music, to know that I can effectively inspire another through this medium makes me believe that my life was spared for a reason... yes my life was spared... I should have died long ago at the Tijuana river mouth during the winter of my 18th year of life, I've been on borrowed time ever since... the spirit of the angry, dying, polluted ocean chose not to take my small life that day...perhaps for the reason that I had something to give back to the world, mother ocean spat me back upon the land, unconscious, and on the "wrong" side of the fence.

That being said, many thank yous are long overdue. First, I would like to thank my father Spiderman. You've given me such unbelievable strength. You forced me to conquer any and all fear. This is invaluable. To my mother, thank you for raising me right, and being the pillar of spiritual power that you are. To Serge Dedina, thank you for convincing me to paddle out that day, and being a great inspiration in and out of the water. To my uncle Jim, thank you for giving me the insight as to where I get my musical abilities from, you're amazingly talented! I love hearing you play Chopin like its nothing. To my great uncle Bob, you were there at every single one of my jazz shows and you gave me my first guitar... wow. And thanks to you and Grandpa for winning WWII and saving me from genocide. To my beautiful sister, thank you for being a sweetheart... and making me horchata. To Brandon, thank you for being the best brother anyone could ask for. To my one and only Godmother, you're the best and I love you very much! To the Knox's and the Blalocks, I love you all. To Kyle Knox, thank you for being there for me during the lowest point of my life so far, and taking me surfing. To the Sironi's, I will carry any cross for any of you. To Babak Badei, thank you for giving me the gift of bboying. I could not have come so far without you're guidance. Soul Control... Best crew ever!!! Pura Vida! To every music teacher I ever had: Joe Shaara, Dale Sarre, Mike Pretzer, Fred Lee, Jeff Garcia, Dave Erlbeck, Hank Easton, Colin McCalister, Peter Sprague, Larry Koonse, Jason Robinson, Kamau Kenyatta!!!, Chris Dobrian, Michael Dessen, Kojiro Umezaki, and Kei Akagi!!! Thank you for pushing me past my limits. To Tony Glaser, thank you for being an amazing inspiration and for putting up with my crazy ass during the Kali Dragon sessions, muchas gracias amigo. To Shammy Dee, I still rock out to Dance With The Dj in my quiet moments; you inspire me beyond limit, much love my brother! To Massive, fucking aye, you and I have come so far together homie!! I fucking love you bro!! To Be-1, man I can't even put the words together... but you know what's up. One of my favorite memories is the time we were trapped at your house during that crazy power outage and we busted the spontaneous African drum/Irish penny whistle/blunts session until it was safe to go outside again! One love to everyone involved in both The Kali Dragon and The Wheel of Fire projects: Rochone Anderson, Latanya Lockett, AKA Nobody, Fred, Munz... man I still trip out when I look back on that Norco gig and where it has led us, I'm honored to call someone as talented as you my friend, BIG C!!!!!! The man with the golden pipes!!! Oscar Rubalcava you're the man! Thanks for putting up with my crazy ass!, Lisa Allin, Spencer Neezy, Alan "Storytell" Rice, Marcella Lentz-Pope, Julia Tepper, all the LFA fam, Vejae, E.X.O.T.I.C. and Anthem, L. Debois, Tommy O'Calahan, Rickie Williams... Black Dragon studios is the best!!! I've never recorded better guitar anywhere else!!! Calvin Lawson, A.C. Sharp...you are one talented mother fucker... do you know that?!?, Alex Athy, Brian Landau, Mike "Chiliboy" Fields, Melanie Andrews-Wilder, Dave Burke...you are so fucking talented it amazes me!!, Jurnee, Ambrose Campbell, DJ Predakon, Orlando Boyd you fucking rock monkey Ballz! Faraz Minooie, Anne Marie Lynne and her awesome string section!! Krsna Dev and his very talented mother!! David Reeder! Bboy Derek Starks, Christain Dubeau, and the UCI and UCSD music departments.

To all the bboys and bgirls I share this planet with... I love you all... ya'll ain't human, ya'll are something else, remember that! To mother ocean, thank you for sparing my life. To Natalie and Ulises for listening, thank you!! Much love to all my friends and family on three continents! Thank you for being there for me!! To South San Diego, Imperial Beach, Tijuana, Ensenada, San Ysidro, and Rancho San Andres... I love you all. To Iris Avenue, it's said that it takes a village to raise a child, you are my village and you know who you are... most especially to Kyle G. and Atlee U., thanks for believing in me and believing in yourselves... and for being the shit...

Last but most important of all, thank you God, my heavenly mother! Anything I do is for you!!

"Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches have run over the wall... the archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob, The King of Isreal, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the conquering Lion of the tribe of Judah... Let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the head of him, who is separate from his brethren..."

Genesis 49. 22-24, Deuteronomy 33. 16.

Be featured in our spotlight!

Feb 19, 2009   Posted by Kyle Would you and/or your company like to be featured in the Iris Avenue Spotlight?

If so, please send an e-mail explaining why you think you should be featured to Info@IrisAvenueRecords.com with the heading "Spotlight Application." If selected, we will get back to you requesting all the neccessary information. Please remember that our spotlight section is for anyone and everyone. It is open to musicians, painters, poets, companies (as long as your ideals and mission is positive), ect. We look forward to featuring you all!