Hello World! Welcome to the 1223Music Home MySpace Page. 1223Music is a positive Hip-Hop group that travels the world doing motivational and educational music, with a special emphasis in Military and Patriotic Music. We are a different dynamic of a Hip-Hop group as John "John-John" Kirk earned his Bachelor's Degree in Communications and Master's Degree in Finance and Adrian "Mr. Sylk" Taylor is an Active Duty Sergeant in the United States Army who has been to Iraq twice. Our goal is to transcend hip-hop across all generations and be a sounding board for Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Airmen, and Soldier Supporters across the world. There's no time like the present to provide them with the much needed support.
1223 is not limited to Military and Patriotic Music and does have music suitable for any occasion as we have performed at foster, elementary, middle, and high schools, sweet 16's, quincineras, graduation parties, weddings, hospital functions, churches, and many other special events. Our most major supporters have been the military and military families as the relatability of our music to all walks of life and nationalities provides a "real life" message that every individual can connect with. Our Bio's can be read below if you want to find out more about us and where the name 1223Music originated from.
We are a group committed to action and stand ready to stand behind our lyrics and works as truth. We post blogs after every event to ensure that our supporters can be assured that we continuously are serving and being positive role models within any community we have a chance to step our feet into. Currently our "Full Circle" album is available for purchase and our Mixtape "Da Change Up" and military tribute album "Drive-On" will be available soon. Make sure to visit John-John and Mr. Sylk's Solo pages through the links provided and feel free to contact us at [email protected].
We are going to provide a few references below if you wish to learn more about the credibility of the group. Please research them. If you have any more questions contact us immediately. Thank you for your time in advance.
We recently won 1st place in a VH-1 International Songwriting Competition for the month of January at songoftheyear.com. View the results here at http://www.songoftheyear.com/winners/2008/012008.htm
In January 2008, we had a live online radio interview with Celeste Terry at www.GlobalTalkRadio.com. Just click on her show, "Demystifying Non-Profits" to hear it. The date will be 16 January 2008.
The San Antonio Express news has also featured two stories on our group which can be located or archived here:
http://www.210sa.com/content/view/3520/15/
http://www.mysanantonio.com/entertainment/music/stories/MYSA
080207.1B.SOLDIER.CD.31ac956.html
Another place you can learn about us is here at www.soldiersmind.com:
http://soldiersmind.com/2007/05/06drive-on-by-1223/
Locally, you can find us on the front page of SA-Urban Magazine at:
http://sa-urban.com
.. CDBABY LINK for 1223: Full Circle --
The roots of “1223†can be traced back to three San Antonio, TX high school kids who had a perpetual love for rap and basketball. At the time, all three played for the Holmes High School basketball team and their summer league jersey numbers became the inspiration for the name of their rap group. Mr. Sylk sported number 12, Spade was number 20, and John-John was number 3. Always being creative, the three guys decided to call themselves “1223†(pronounced “Twelve-Twenty-Threeâ€).
The group honed their techniques by rapping at the lunch table in the school cafeteria and battling any rapper that wanted to challenge their skills. From there the group began creating songs and routines that would subsequently be performed at school pep rallies, talent shows, and special events. It wasn't long before the surrounding high schools in the District began acknowledging the inconceivable range of their talents.
The next considerable step for the group took place when fellow group member Spade(currently Breze) competed in a weekly local San Antonio radio rap contest (on 96.1 F.M.) called the “Thursday Night Main Eventâ€. Spade went on to dominate 7 weeks in a row, was crowned “King of the Ringâ€, and was retired from the show after his undefeated streak. The following week John-John entered himself in the contest, and correspondingly won 7 consecutive weeks and was crowned “King of the Ringâ€. Due to the fact that the two rappers were a part of the same rap group (1223), the radio show afforded the group the opportunity to open for the next major rap concert that was scheduled to come to San Antonio; "OutKast".
At the time OutKast was an up and coming group with a moderate hit throughout the south called “Players Ballâ€. John John, Spade, and Mr. Sylk were definitely big fans of the young and talented hip hop artists, as they credit the group as being one of their greatest inspirations and musical influences. Being the opening act gave 1223 the opportunity to both prove themselves and be exposed to the legions of San Antonio fans that had grown to love them during their run on 96.1's “Thursday Night Main Eventâ€. 1223 went on to open for OutKast, and even as high schoolers stunned the crowd of about 10,000 people with their word-play, confidence, and infectious enthusiasm for the music. Even today, 1223 continues to be compared to OutKast because of the uniqueness of their modern day style and lyrics. Little did “1223†know that this would be one of the last “high notes†for the group before hurdling a 10 year hiatus.
1996 became a turning point for the group when Mr. Sylk, at the age of 17, found out that he was going to become a father, John-John had plans to leave for college, and Spade still had one more year to complete high school. It seemed that the universe had different plans for the group, and the world would have to wait at least another 10 years before 1223 would come full circle and make an official effort at making an album.
Fast forward to 2006, and we find all three members of “1223†back in their hometown of San Antonio with a wealth of life experiences and a burning desire to complete the album that eluded them as teenagers. However, this time “1223†would speak with a mature, creative flare that would propel a “different†sound than the current rap scene. Sadly, the first obstacle presented itself a few months into the development process as one of the founding member of the group, Spade, was unable to fully participate in the completion of the project and ultimately was forced to leave the group, leaving Mr. Sylk and John-John as the lone standing members.
The group has been quoted as saying, “The hardest thing we had to do was move on without Spade...but we'll always have love for him.†John-John and Mr. Sylk decided that they would make the album by any means necessary and in October of 2006 pushed forward towards completing the dream that they had since high school without Spade. By December 2006, the group finished the writing portion of the album, which would include sixteen songs, and in January of 2007 the recording process began. February 25, 2007 “1223†declared their album complete. They then created an introductory MySpace page (www.myspace.com/1223music) to get the word out to the world about their music.
Mr. Sylk and John-John went on to establish their own record label, Countdown City Enterprizes and scheduled the first official album release to be 1223's album “Full Circleâ€. The group named the album “Full Circle†because “it symbolizes the educational influence and experience in our lives and the fact that we went around the world and back before fulfilling our dream.†Both rappers admit that it's been a blessing in disguise to have had to persevere through so much before getting their music out because they now have a greater appreciation of the psychological struggle it takes to complete an album. The album also boasts a few songs that promote this struggle.
