Novomeščan Miha Blažič alias N'Toko velja za tehnično najbolj izpopolnjenega slovenskega raperja, ki presega tipične raperske okvire. Svojo kariero je pričel kot vokalist uspešnega funky-jazz-rap kolektiva Moveknowledgement ter se kasneje začel udeleževati tudi raznih improvizacijskih freestyle tekmovanj, kjer je postal dvakratni državni prvak. S prvencem, imenovanim Cesarjeva nova podoba, si je med rapersko in ostalo, predvsem alternativno, publiko pridobil kultni status glasbenika, ki nadgrajuje tipično rapersko formo. Cesarjeva nova podoba je bila izbrana za ploščo leta po oceni uredništva Radia Študent, kljub temu pa najbrž predvsem zaradi svoje brezkompromisnosti in drugačnosti ni doživela velikega medijskega odziva. Najmočnejša točka N'Toka so vsekakor njegov odprt pogled na glasbo in odlični, večplastni teksti, s katerimi je navdušil že na svojem prvencu in jih na svoji drugi plošči "Dobrodelni koncert ob koncu sveta" le še uspešno nadgrajuje.

Tekstualno je plošča "Dobrodelni koncert ob koncu sveta" nadaljevanje prvenca, saj bi jo lahko označili kot nekakšno brezkompromisno psihološko družbeno kritiko predstavljeno brez tipičnih sladkih besed ter glamurja, tematike se namreč loteva na humoren, realen, ironičen in ciničen način. Vpogled v stereotipnost današnje družbe presega tipično rapersko besedičenje ter se poigrava z veliko globljimi in predvsem z nezbanaliziranimi besedili. Prav poetična besedila so N'Toku prinesla mnoge nastope na "kantavtorskih" in pesniških (finalist prvega pesniškega slama v KUD France Prešeren) tekmovanjih.

Svojo odprtost do različnih glasbenih smeri je na plošči "Dobrodelni koncert ob koncu sveta" nadgradil z živo inštrumentacijo, kar za slovenske raperje do sedaj ni bila praksa. Okrog sebe je zbral 5 odličnih glasbenikov; Gala Gjurina, Igorja Matkoviča, Uroša Weinbergerja - Weina, Davida Cvelbarja ter Jaka Bergerja. Medžanrsko in na trenutke celo eksperimentalno, a docela kompleksno in glasbeno odlično prebavljivo odisejado je tokrat predstavil kot mešanico mnogih glasbenih stilov, ki bazirajo na ritmih hiphopa. Njegov odnos do glasbe ni potrošniški, temveč so fantje pokazali veliko mero "jajc", do kvalitetne glasbe pa gojijo spoštovanje.

Glasbeno pot pa nadaljuje in razširja tudi v smer svobodne improvizacije in eksperimentiranja z glasom ter efekti. To je razvidno z njegovega samozaložniškega ep-ja z naslovom Elixiryproslam. Glasbeno lahko govorimo o N'tokovem najekstremnejšem projektu do sedaj, saj si je privoščil dolgo pričakovani izlet v svet psihadelije, stoner-rocka, noisa, improvizacije in eksperimenta, hkrati pa je še vedno prisoten prvinski hiphop podkrepljen s spevnimi melodijami. Omeniti gre tudi, da je avtor sam oblikoval ovitke vseh svojih plošč in v primeru Elixiryproslam celo ročno poslikal vsak cd.

Poleg snemanja lastnih albumov in dela z matično skupino Moveknowledgement pa se N'toko pojavlja tudi kot gost pri drugih zasedbah (nastopi s kolektivom Bast, sodelovanje na plošči skupine Olivija in s francoskimi rockerji Maczde Carpate) ter ustvarja glasbo za sodobne plesne predstave (projekt "Lačni in Trezni" z Jako Bergerjem in Sabino Schwenner, predstava "Rekel ni nič a odšel kot da je vse povedal" koreografa Branka Potočana).

English please...

Miha Blažič-N'toko was born 1980 in Novo mesto, Slovenia, but spent a large part of his youth in Los Angeles. His first contacts with music came through travelling around Europe, colaborating with musicians in Paris. Inspired by the French jungle, hiphop and reggae scene, he joined forces with guitarist Uroš Weinberger and bass-player/rapper Goran Balog to form Moveknowledgement, a group which explored the heritige of acid-jazz while flirting with dub, drum'n'bass and of course hiphop. They soon became an 8-piece band with N'toko's rapid-fire rapping perfectly balancing the slow, dreamy singing of Sandra Tomovič. They released their debut album Sun Sun in 2003, won the Boomerang award for best Slovene live band and headlined most of the major festivals in the country, performing with the likes of Asian Dub Foundation and winning over crowds at the Exit festival in Serbia.

At the same time N'toko began establishing himself as a solo artist, Mc-ing for drum'n'bass DJs and backing reggae selectors, attending jazz jam sessions as well as competing in freestyle competitions. His outrageous improvisational skills and flow made him a force to be recond with on the hiphop scene and word of his talent spread quickly through numerous concerts, jam sessions and also a legendary radio freestyle with Sage Francis. Winning the national freestyle championship two times in a row brought him a record deal with Nika Records, which released his solo debut "Cesarjeva nova podoba!. The album revealed an angrier side of N'toko, it's heavy beats and psycho-analytical lyrics hinting at the direction he would take later. It remains a very influential underground record, needless to say it didn't sell.

His second album "Dobrodelni koncert ob koncu sveta" (also RapNika/Nika) saw a similar fate, only this time for a different reason. Abandoning typical song structure and replacing the computer with a 5 piece band, the music was a step away from the hiphop universe. Though critics were full of praise, rap purists found this new direction hard to accept. Playing everything from jazz to noise within mutant hiphop beats, the group opened up many new directions for N'toko, forcing him to take on a more poetic approach to his rapping and using his voice as an instrument. Teaming up with multi-instrumentalist/poet Gal Gjurin he has recorded a series of projects in both Slovene and English with some of the most creative musicians in the country, taking on psych-rock, free jazz, noise, minimalism and pop. Much of this music has yet to be released and some is only available on the net. The latest release from N'toko is new Moveknowledgement album "Ant People" (Kapa, 2005), which was released in November 2005. Moveknowledgement and N'toko are temporarily promoting their cd's all over Slovenia and even somewhere in Europe.