heavy d: ThaiMex, Hue of Intuition, Infinite Shades of Gray

A proud native of San Diego, CA, ThaiMex has been in the Hip Hop game for more than a few years and produced for some notable dope acts, including ICONS, Scribe Sayar, and Riccasshay, ThaiMex is a writer, performer but is probably best known as a producer and for being part of the collectives Hue of Intuition and Infinite Shades of Gray and as a former member of the seminal Chicano spoken word poetry collective The Taco Shop Poets.

Way back in 1994, ThaiMex first started getting busy recording and producing beats for fellow classmates, out of this work Hue of Intuition formed in 1995 and in 1996 his Thoughts project, a tape that he made dubs of out his bedroom and gave copies out for free, this tape of beats was handed around and MC's used his beats to freestyle over, because of this ThaiMex added 3 songs to make it an even hour long, put a cover together, and had it duplicated
for “official release.”

Hue of Intuition eventually grew to a collective of 10 members known as Infinite Shades of Gray, ThaiMex was an MC in the group and the group's sole producer, he was involved with the group for seven years and then decided to focus on his professional and personal life and left music for a while.

As ThaiMex was finishing up college, music came calling again by way of the English Department at San Diego State University and he was recruited as a writer and performer by the internationally recognized spoken word poetry collective known as Taco Shop Poets late in 2002.

His membership with this group consisted of extensive travel and performances as
well as occasional stints as an instructor of poetry and performance workshops and artistic
residencies.

The 10 year strong Taco Shop Poets decided to call it a day in 2004 though due to personal commitments of the members

For a time, ThaiMex decidedly remained low-key. He focused on other areas of artistic output such as a small role in an independent film called “3 Ways to Sunday.” He was also a very active participant in two multimedia sculptures called “Soy Beaner” and “PhoZole” created by cutting edge artists Jamex and Einar De La Torre.

Inspired by a letter he had written to his new born daughter in 2007, ThaiMex realized that he still had things left to say and after putting his pen to the pad he began working on an album titled Brand New Starts (2009) which was produced, arranged and performed by ThaiMex.

Available for purchase here: http://www.accesshiphop.com/store/?itemid=18856

Thanks to ThaiMex here is the full history of Infinite Shades of Gray

Infinite Shades of Gray Members:

ThaiMex – Rhymes/Production
Tan Phact – Rhymes
Mxyzptlk – Rhymes
Splerge One aka Wordup – Rhymes
The Mage – Rhymes/Guitar/Bass
Justifeye – Rhymes
Didactic – Rhymes
Kazoo – Poetry
Syko – DJ/Turntablist

The origins of Infinite Shades of Gray start at Helix High School in San Diego, CA. ThaiMex, Tan Phact, and Mxyzptlk all knew of each other and participated in rhyme circles on occasion during lunch breaks, however, the three never connected since ThaiMex was two years older and graduated before anything could happen.

It just so happens that ThaiMex’s younger brother, Didactic, knew Tan Phact from their childhood days of little league baseball and, as he heard more and more of Tan Phact’s rhyming, he suggested Tan Phact and ThaiMex should meet since ThaiMex had recently purchased some equipment and was now making beats.

Although they spoke a few times, ThaiMex and Tan Phact did not start discussing music in a serious way until both Tan Phact and Mxyzptlk graduated from high school and, coincidentally, along with ThaiMex, all three found themselves attending Grossmont Community College in 1996.

Initially, Tan Phact and Mxyzptlk were a group called “Mind Over Matter” and were only interested in ThaiMex providing them with production. This was not a problem since ThaiMex’s main interest was making beats. In addition, ThaiMex was in a separate group with Splerge One called “The Low Down.” However, Splerge One ended up having to leave town due to some family issues and Tan Phact and Mxyzptlk ended up asking ThaiMex to rhyme with them to speed up the song creation process. ThaiMex agreed, however, asked to change the name to “Hue of Intuition” after discussing a lecture he and Tan Phact had attended for a Humanities class they had together. Plus, ThaiMex didn’t like the potential idea of people referring to them as M.O.M.

From about 1997-1998, Hue of Intuition began the process of recoding songs, making underground tapes, and performing up and down the California coast. During this time; ThaiMex’s brother was constantly writing rhymes; Splerge One came back into the picture; and Jusifeye, Kazoo, and The Mage ended up coming around more and more due to their love for writing and music. This group of artists was in constant association and discussions that took place at a coffee shop that Hue of Intuition used to hang out at every night called “The Living Room.” They were able to hang out every night due to the fact the coffee shop was open until 2am every day. As a way of including everyone, ThaiMex named the collective “Infinite Shades of Gray.” The name came from everyone’s extremely diverse backgrounds and views on life.

As is apparent in various forms of organization, there is indeed strength in numbers, but numbers are also difficult to manage. The group began growing apart due to a number of reasons including the direction of the group, people moving away, varying levels of substance abuse from different members, and egos. First, it seemed that the split was right down the middle with two camps emerging. One had Mxyzptlk, Kazoo, The Mage and Splerge One; the other had ThaiMex, Tan Phact, Didactic, Justifeye and Syko. However, shortly after this happened, Splerge One moved to Georgia; The Mage moved to Los Angeles, CA; Mxyzptlk moved to Arizona; and Syko moved to Fresno, CA. So, with no one else around, Kazoo ended up associating with the remaining members again.

In 2000, after a short time with this version of the crew, ThaiMex decided he couldn’t see himself being 40 years old, jumping on stage trying to convince the crowd of how dope he was. He decided to step away from music and focus 100% on completing his college degree. He had hoped the crew would continue to work on projects in his absence, but it didn’t happen in any way, shape, or form.

Strangely, music still found ThaiMex in the University setting. ThaiMex majored in English and Literature and found himself surrounded by many writers and poets. After some time, he soon began associating with and was eventually recruited as a writer and performer with the globally recognized “Taco Shop Poets” who were founded in 1994. With Taco Shop Poets, ThaiMex toured extensively across the United States and some of Mexico. This lasted from about 2002 until the Taco Shop Poets disbanded in 2004.

At this point, ThaiMex simply thought it was time to be a “normal” grown up man and thought he was done with music. He participated in two multimedia sculptures with the cutting edge artistic team of Einar and Jamex De La Torre and played a significant role in an independent film called, “3 Ways to Sunday.” There were occasional acapella/spoken word performances that were well received but he didn’t seem to enjoy it anymore.

Then, once his daughter was born in 2007, ThaiMex began writing while she took naps. One day, he compiled them and began reading them and realized he felt inspired again. Thus, work on “Brand New Starts” began and brings us to the current day.

Pics of the crew (thanks to ThaiMex)

Hue Of Intuition

Infinite Shades of Gray

Lowdown

Thanks to a post that started with a request for Infinite Shades of Gray's "Seasons Change" on Philaflava's infamous T.R.O.Y. forum, I was contacted by 619archive and he sent me this message"

i have a roommate who's older brother's friend was in both "hue of intuition" and "infinite shades of gray." my roommate gave me a bunch of their stuff on CD and i liked it so i was searching for more, which is how i came across your post on philaflava.

We e-mailed back and forth, talked about getting hold of ThaiMex (and we did) and eventually he uploaded these albums, which ThaiMex is cool with me sharing here on CRDS, so a massive thank you to ThaiMex and 619archive and I Smell Like Un Kasa...this post is for you, I hope you enjoy this music as much as I have.