Music:
Member Since: 8/6/2007
Band Members: Live, Slaving, Rewiring.
Influences: Shakatak, The Crusaders, Metro Area.
Sounds Like: For most people, house music in New York typically brings to mind such acts as Masters At Work, Armand Van Helden, Danny Teneglia and so on and so forth. Likely due to the fact that for years the NYC clubland and massive electronic music events left little room for a thriving UNDERGROUND house music community. Although it has always existed, it has only recently begun to come into it's own and show it's potential with it's now ever growing population of internationally recognized talent including the 1200 Warriors, The Hoodfellas, Troydon and of course...Hustle & Flow.
Hustle & Flow, ie, Ryan Kick and Brian Anderson have been organizing and promoting underground house music events in New York State since 2000. Through local networking and dj swaps in 2006, Ryan and Brian were able to pair up and eventually get into the studio together. After only a few short months, Hustle & Flow's debut release, the "Social Members EP" was signed to Detroit imprint, Kolour, and quickly rose to the number one spot on Stompy.com. With no end in sight and countless hours in the studio, Hustle & Flow continue to pump product and catch mad play from such artists as Derrick Carter, DJ Sneak, DJ Heather and Jason Hodges. Keep your eyes out for upcoming releases on A Second Smell/Aroma, Jack The System, Greenhouse, Control, Tango and Herbal Essence.
As the last remaining Hustle & Flow releases slowly make their way into circulation, Ryan has stayed busy. With solo remix work slowly sliding through on such abysmal labels as Kolour and Q-Burn's sub-child, Eight-Dimension, Kick has slowly, yet steadily, embraced the melodious, deeper side of underground house music.
Although a handful of funkier publications have surfaced (MODERN JAZZ ep 'TANGO', OIL & WATER ep 'SOULFUEL'), each release from Kick's ever accumulating discography seems to take an increasingly bottom ward step into the deep. Not surprisingly so, with Kick's growing influence from such acts as Metro Area, Trentemoller and Plastic City's, Terry Lee Brown, 'jacking' house music has taken the back seat.
With all touring currently on hiatus and every free moment spent in the studio, you can expect an entire new years release schedule from Ryan, and perhaps even Hustle & Flow. Keep posted for new online dj mixes, release line-ups and touring updates.
Record Label: Creme Fraiche, Tango, Kolour, 8th Dimension...
Type of Label: Indie
