Figures of Speech made its mark in the early 1990s as a progressive LA-based hip hop duo featuring two females emcees, Jyant and Eve. Drawing inspiration and musical collaboration from the legendary Good Life open-mic nights in South Los Angeles, Figures of Speech counted CVE, Hip Hop Klan, OMD, Unity Committee, The Nonce, Abstract Rude, Aceyalone, Medusa, Myka 9, Pigeon John, Volume Ten and many others among its contemporaries.
The sisters of Figures of Speech were founding members of the Project Blowed open mic nights at Kaos Network, and were a part of the groundbreaking Project Blowed compilation tape released in 1994, which featured many of the most dynamic rappers of the Los Angeles underground at that time. The landmark recording showcased wildly diverse acts whose common bond was a mandate to expand the musical, thematic, and lyrical horizons of hip-hop.
Figures of Speech performed regularly in the LA underground scene, but beyond the contribution to Project Blowed, never released their music until the summer of 2007 on the album THE LAST WORD. The songs featured on THE LAST WORD were recorded in and around Los Angeles from approximately 1992-1996. The tracks were largely produced by CVE, Digiak and The Nonce. THE LAST WORD is restored and executive produced by Omid.
The work of Figures of Speech has been described as "bluntly feminist black nationalist music." A definition which the women of Figures of Speech embrace.
