Lo Faction

Nas was wrong. Hip-hop is not dead yet but the sun is definitely setting on it and setting fast. Those of us who are diehard fans yearn for a return to the time when hip-hop was full of vitality, brilliance and meaning. While we wait for that return, disconsolately watching as darkness surrounds the music and culture of hip-hop, we should take comfort in knowing that after every sunset, there is always a sunrise.

In hip-hop’s case, that sunrise is coming in the form of two MCs collectively known as Lo Faction. Their debut CD entitled Dawn of a New Day is a long awaited blueprint for the impending renaissance of hip-hop. The CD is scheduled for release in late 2007.

Like old school hip-hop, Lo Faction’s music emotionally connects them to the listener, evoking a memory or a feeling that can instantly transport you to a moment in your past or inspire you to visualize the possibilities of your future.

“Hip-hop is stagnant,” says Lee Majors, one half of the duo that fans affectionately call ‘the Faction’. “It used to be a platform to speak on what was happening in the community. If you listen to a lot of what’s out now you would think the only thing happening in the community is gangster shit. Everything ain’t gangster all the time.”

Majors and partner Outlaw Disciple or (‘P.’) -- both of whom are currently enlisted Airmen in the United States Air Force -- met on base while stationed in Oklahoma. Initially their polar opposite backgrounds made the two wary of each other.

‘P.’ was a military brat with an affinity for “drugs, girls and liquor” who immersed himself in learning to play the bass, drums and keyboard as his family moved from Army base to base in Germany, Virginia, Kansas and Indianapolis. Always recognized for his poetry and superior free style skills, P. never seriously considered music as an option until a childhood friend encouraged him to concentrate on becoming an MC instead of wasting energy on his previously mentioned ‘pastimes’.

Majors, a native Philadelphian and self described “paradigm”, was the grandson of a drug kingpin who considered dabbling in the drug trade after leaving Drexel University but ultimately decided the risk was not worth the ‘rewards’. Originally a member of the rap group Manolo Faction, Majors got his first taste of the industry when they released a compilation entitled ‘Hard Rock Soldiers’. Though the compilation saw some success locally, their dreams were dashed when three of its four members were all imprisoned.

Looking for a way out of their environments, both P. and Majors enlisted in the Air Force because they realized they were “already soldiers” and no war could be worse than the personal ones they’d been in.

Thankfully, a shared appreciation of music and sense of humor helped to cement their friendship quickly. In their spare time, the two would get together with another enlisted friend who produced beats and soon realized their individual styles and approaches to music complemented the other’s.
“It’s tripped out because we’ll sit down separately to write to a track and unintentionally we end up writing about the same thing.” says P.

The decision to form a group soon followed and with the blessing of its original members ‘Manolo Faction’ became ‘Lo Faction’, a duo consisting of P. and Majors.

The musical chemistry between the two is hard to deny. On infectious songs like “Time’s Running Out” and “Devil’s Dope”, Majors’ precise delivery and raw emotion draws you in while P.’s laid-back, every man appeal and comical punch-lines close the trap around you. The end result is a blended, aural display of congruent and skillful lyricism.

“We want our music to speak for those who can’t…or won’t.” declares P. when asked what Lo Faction hopes to achieve with the release. “It’s about projecting a unique perspective.”

The pair manage to successfully balance the fine line between creative, conscious art and commercialism, covering topics from sex with girls who “blow cum bubbles” (“Roll Up”) to the ‘War on Terror’ and September 11th (“Muslim Oil”).

Majors and P. relied heavily on production from talented up and coming producers Napoleon Suarez, Barry and S. Abbott, to give Dawn of a New Day its richly textured sound. The two are confident about independently releasing their first CD, noting that having free reign over their project keeps them from being creatively confined by label executives or having to imitate the formulaic, cookie-cutter sound of popular urban radio.

With Dawn of a New Day, P. and Lee Majors have crafted a shining, organic, example of real hip-hop that’s destined to have a significant impact on the industry fans alike, giving us an instant classic to remind us that sun will once again shine on hip-hop.