Equal parts modern and vintage the Mighty Network is giving classic ATL hip-hop a fresh feel with the mash up of old school music (think Bobby Womack & Curtis Mayfield) and funky lyrics. While mastering their sound is important the Mighty Network also believes in… well networking. With their weekly artist showcase at Atlanta’s Central Park Bistro and the ‘We Mighty Open Mic Series’ the Mighty Network is giving other up and coming artist a platform to show their work. I had the opportunity to talk with the men of the Mighty Network (Red Coat, Sleep & Dubb) where they share their love of music, what inspires them, and the special formula for their sound.

SK: How did you guys come together as the Mighty Network we know today?

MN: We were all going to school down at Savannah State University. We all were just friends hanging out and had a common love for the music, It wasn’t anything put together it just came together… it was pretty organic. Three friends from three different places just kicking it on a college campus and all of us had a love for music and one thing led to another and we was rocking the stage.

SK: When you all started did you have a clear vision of the music you wanted to put out?

MN:  Well… yea I think we had a vision, I think we knew we wanted to put out music that was more focused on lyrics than anything. Lyrics first. We also want to make it funky; we wanted our beats to have a lot of live instrumentation. We wanted to have a little bit of everything. When you look at hip-hop started sampling old music so we knew we wanted to have a classic feel. So in order to get that classic feel in hip-hop first thing we wanted to do was sample old school music and put a fresh feel to it. So we knew we wanted to dig in the crates and add live instrumentation  (that’s the fresh feel) so some old school samples mixed in with edgy lyrics. We wanted the lyrics to shine. The sound helps us stand apart… one thing about us is that we have a distinct sound. It didn’t take us a long time to find it; it kind of was there.

SK: As you all have grown individually and as a group has the creative process you described of digging in the crates for an old school sound blended with funky lyrics changed?

MN: Well that is the foundation and you never want to leave the foundation. I think that is always going to be there but we are definitely always growing and pushing the envelope and being creative doing new things. Coming off that foundation so that’s what you are going to get more than anything I guess it’s kind of like Alicia Keys for example her foundation is clearly the piano. That is clearly the main instrument in her music but with us our main sound comes from like (old) soul music, but now in this age with the new programs and the new instruments we definitely like to mix in a lot of the new stuff to make it fresh and funky. We definitely pull from the foundation of making classic hip-hop.

SK: One thing I was blown away by was that you all actually have band practice before your life performances (which I have had the opportunity to see)… how important is it to you all to put together something of quality before you get on the stage?

MN: As far as preparation and practice it’s very important. When you get on stage it’s like playing sports, it’s game time. Whatever happens up there is happening in the moment it’s live so you definitely want to go up there prepared and basically have it together. We always want to give the best representation of the music that we can possibly give so the stage show is one of the ways to do that so it’s very important. When we came together we shared a common love for old music so one of us may get in the car and someone is playing Curtis Mayfield or Bobby Womack and there aren’t many young cats that really dug that kind of music. So coming from that it’s like we knew we might sample this old music to really pay homage to the artist that came before us we have to recreate it. We have to get a band and we have to turn it into something that is mighty… we have to put our take on it. So that’s one aspect of why we had to have a live band.

SK: How important is it to have a connection with the audience… with your fans?

MN: Actually that is really one of the most important things. When you think of all the artists we mentioned like Bobby Womack when you listen to their music there’s a connection to it. I wish we would have gotten the chance to see them live. That is part of what the people are drawn to they don’t just want to hear something good they want to be able to connect to it. For whatever reason people seem to connect to what we’re doing and that’s the beautiful thing about it. It also helps that we are able to put our personalities into the music. We are open; sociable… you know we’re some cool guys and I definitely think that comes across. I think people can identify with the fact that we aren’t trying to be anything that we aren’t. We just go up there and we work hard and have a good time.

SK:  I’d love to talk a bit about the fact that you all do showcases that give artist the opportunity to get their name out there and to perform in front of an audience. A lot of artist are concerned primarily with their own growth so where did the idea to do this come from…?

MN: One thing that is really, really important is the legacy that we leave behind. It’s all about chasing greatness. If your chasing greatness one key ingredient is that you have to empower others. At the end of the day it’s not just about you it’s a collective effort. The greats back in the day made a collective effort to make music great. So in order to make music great they always reach back. A lot of people don’t know that Stevie Wonder played a big part in putting Minnie Ripperton on or that Donnie Hathaway helped Roberta Flack. It helps us as well as it helps the other artist to work together because we share ideas and it’s about that camaraderie of bringing together a lot of different people and just making a movement. And that’s how we got the “We Mighty Movement” it’s a bigger than just the Mighty Network. It’s about a group of artist with the same goal to make music better to put forth that collective effort. Creating opportunity and empowering others is a big part of that. If you have the opportunity to give someone else a platform then why wouldn’t you do it? It’s about the community and the movement and that’s the only way we can keep this hip hop thing going strong is like we have to do that.

SK:  And lastly For those who are just becoming familiar… who is the Mighty Network?

MN: The Mighty Network is passion, creativity, honesty and desire. It’s emotional because you will laugh and you will think about some serious things… it’s educational. Our sound is also vintage… in one word. It’s classic… it’s like when you were younger and your parents were in the other room playing cards and they got the music playing… talking, laughing. It’s that feeling of family and of moving forward. So when you listen to the Mighty Network you feel like you are moving forward and making progress… Chasing greatness.

Check out the live footage of The Mighty Network below:

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