Antedote was born in the year 2004 by emcee Mesi Goodness, formerly of Dislocated Styles (Roadrunner Records), and drummer Dan Val Dan. Disillusioned with the cookie cutter quality of Hip-Hop music, they decided to create a group that embraced positivity with organic rhythms fusing together elements of Hip-Hop, Jazz, Soul, and R & B. To help in their quest, they sought out multi-instrumentalists Travis Von Cartier and Kellin Whitmer, two brothers with both classical and jazz backgrounds, who consequently had already formed a creative partnership producing beats. To aid Val Dan in his rhythmic endeavors, percussionist EB Magic was located bringing his unique percussive abilities to this already formidable might. The five musicians immediately composed a handful of songs, then proceeded to recording and independently releasing their first EP "Volume One:The Neato Project". The EP was met with critical acclaim establishing their name and presence among the local underground Hip-Hop scene in Phoenix.
After the release of Volume One, the organic sounds of Antedote began to evolve, eventually expanding culminating with the addition of emcee Many Pieces, a friend and long time collaborator of Mesi Goodness, and the addition of vocalist Aniana, bringing the soul and passion of a female vocal to smooth out the edges. With the sonic evolution in place, the new incarnation of Antedote arose composed and they recorded their first full length album entitled "The Speakeasy". Antedote successfully self released "Speak Easy" in mid 2007 amid a multitude of hype and extraordinarily positive reviews including a nomination for Best Hip Hop Album of the Year by the Los Angeles Music Awards. This album further cemented their reputation as one of the most visionary and innovative sounds emerging from the underground hip hop scene, and after the release party itself turning out a sell out crowd in a national level venue showed that Antedote was on the way up.
Antedote has recorded a video for their first single "Universal" off of "Speak Easy" as well as being nominated twice by the Phoenix New Times for Best Hip-Hop. Their distinctive sound has also allowed them to share stages with Wu-Tang Clan, Common, Digable Planets, Kool Kieth, Busdriver, Buck 65, Shapeshifters, Pigeon John, Gift of Gab, 2Mex, The Procussions, Crown City Rockers, Scratch (The Roots) , Tim Alexander of Primus lore, DJ Radar, DJ Z-trip, and SolIlloquists of Sound. Currently Antedote is back in the studio working on new material for a potential winter release which will no doubt further expand the edges and boundaries of Hip-Hop and music as we know it.
