Sweatshop Union profile picture

Sweatshop Union

Sweatshop is coming to your town soon!

About Me


With the release of their highly acclaimed third album United We Fall, Sweatshop Union are building serious momentum. With tens of thousands of albums sold worldwide, the word of mouth is spreading about their style of conscious lyrics, highly musical beats, and high energy live shows that far surpass the average hip hop concert. Sweatshop Union have performed hundreds of shows, and are expanding their extensive touring into the United States for the first time this year.
Sweatshop Union began as a collective of Vancouver-based artists pooling resources to release an album, transforming into a group in the process. The crew, made up of Dirty Circus, Pigeon Hole, Innocent Bystanders, and Kyprios, released their debut album Local 604 in late 2002 via indie label Battle Axe Records. In support of the album, Sweatshop created three music videos and toured Canada with Jurassic 5 and Blackalicious, as well as their labelmates Swollen Members and Abstract Rude. This was the beginning of a relentless touring schedule that has proven to be a key catalyst to solidify their growing fan base.
Natural Progression, Sweatshops sophomore album, hit streets in 2004 and cemented their position as a group to be reckoned with. More videos and touring followed; Sweatshop crisscrossed Canada, headlining several tours and also touring as the opening act for the Black Eyed Peas. Critical acclaim grew, and both college and commercial radio gave Sweatshop tracks substantial airtime. Nominations for a Juno Award, a Canadian Radio Music Award, MuchMusic Video Awards and more piled up. Recognizing the appeal of Sweatshop Unions music, music supervisors used their music in dozens of films, television shows, and video games, creating even more international awareness.
2005 brought the release of the third Sweatshop Union album, United We Fall, featuring collaborations with Rob The Viking, Mad Child (Swollen Members) and DJ Revolution (The World Famous Wake Up Show). Canada was blanketed, more albums were sold, more audiences were rocked, and more accolades (including another Juno Award nomination) were received. In 2006 Sweatshop Union hit the road in the United States for the first time, adding another 100 shows to their resume and giving their American fans a taste of what is to come.
In a time when hip hop music remains soulless and simplistic in the eyes of the mainstream, Sweatshop Union remain driven to deliver a deeper, more meaningful sound into the conscience of the masses.
Sweatshop Union press quotes:
“Inventive, intelligent, and illuminating hip hop.” - Calgary Sun
“Substance and style working in perfect equilibrium. 4 out of 5.” - NOW Magazine
“Soulful, conscientious hip-hop” - Vue Weekly
“Polished but still fresh.” - Exclaim! Magazine
“Solid beats and conscious lyrics. A powerful antidote for vacant pop-rap.” - Chart Attack
“Original beats and stylish rhymes.” - University of Western Ontario Gazette
“There’s no arguing with the slickness of the music’s execution.” - The Georgia Straight
“Clever and astute. United We Fall hits the mark both viscerally and intellectually.” - This Magazine
“Solid, progressive hip hop. 8 out of 10.” - Altrap.com
“A fair comparison to the organic live sound of The Roots, one of the many different styles the Union transitions into with ease.” - Rapreviews.com
“Their lyrics, music, and videos have shown that hip-hop on the west coast was not a pop culture accident.” - Ottawa Xpress Magazine
“Distinct and diverse styles that blend together perfectly.” - MVRemix.com
“Sweatshop Union make rap smart and cool.” - Chart Attack
Sweatshop Union award nominations:
Juno Award for Outstanding Rap Recording for United We Fall
Western Canadian Music Award for Outstanding Rap Recording for United We Fall
MuchMusic Video Award for Best Rap Video for “Try”
Juno Award for Outstanding Rap Recording for Natural Progression
Western Canadian Music Award for Outstanding Rap Recording for Natural Progression
MuchMusic Video Award for Best Independent Video for “The Thing About It”
Canadian Independent Music Award for Favorite Urban Artist
Canadian Radio Music Award for Best New Artist (CHR)
Canadian Radio Music Award for Best New Artist (Dance/ Urban)

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 11/13/2005
Band Website: sweatshopunion.com
Band Members: Kyprios, Marmalade, Itchy Ron, Metty, Mos Eisley, Dusty Melo, Conscience
Sounds Like:

"Try" music video from United We Fall:

"Hit the Wall" music video from United We Fall:

"Thing About It" music video from Natural Progression:

"Broken Record" music video from United We Fall:

Record Label: Battle Axe Records
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

SWEATSHOP WEBSITE UPDATED AND REVAMPED!

what it do, what it do. just wanted to let everyone know that the sweatshop website (www.sweatshopunion.com) has been re done and updated! Big up Akews and Kreviii for the new look.We’re going t...
Posted by Sweatshop Union on Wed, 09 Apr 2008 06:21:00 PST

BACK HOME

Eh, whatup everyone. We’re back at home now, off our last run through Cali, Nevada, Utah and Colorado. We had a great run with the Living Legends and would like to everyone who came out to those...
Posted by Sweatshop Union on Sun, 16 Mar 2008 10:01:00 PST

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Hey whats up everybody, we're out on the road again down south. We'll be coming through Cali first opening for the LIVING LEGENDS in Santa Cruz  on March 6th then San Fransisco on the ext we...
Posted by Sweatshop Union on Thu, 06 Mar 2008 06:16:00 PST

Upcoming shows in OR, ID, CA, UT, & CO + new music

whatup whatup whatup!! Hope everyone is doing good out there. Fisrt off a huge thanks to everyone who came out to the home town show in Vancouver. The night was a huge success because of all of you. ...
Posted by Sweatshop Union on Fri, 18 Jan 2008 10:13:00 PST

VANCOUVER SHOW JAN 12th

We're going to be playing an early show Jan 12th @ Fabric (formerly Sonar) in Vancouver. We'll be testing out some of the material from the new record. Kind of like a pre release party. It should be a...
Posted by Sweatshop Union on Fri, 04 Jan 2008 11:43:00 PST

ROSSLAND/ ISLAND SHOWS

hey whats up everybody. we're about to head out to Rossland BC o the 2nd. We've done quiet a few shows in the area, but have never actually played in Rossland before. Its the long weekend, so we're de...
Posted by Sweatshop Union on Fri, 31 Aug 2007 09:32:00 PST

BACK UP NORTH (quesnel, smithers, terrace)

yes, yes! we're headed back up north to do some BC shows. Again, we're coming through a couple of spots for the first time. Smithers was the jump off last time around! We're hoping all the shows go of...
Posted by Sweatshop Union on Tue, 10 Jul 2007 09:26:00 PST

STUDIO UPDATE / Squamish show June 16th

I'm just about to head over to the city to do my final parts for the new record, then we start mixing. Myself, Marmalade and Conscience are about to record a song over one of Metty's beats. We're at t...
Posted by Sweatshop Union on Tue, 05 Jun 2007 10:33:00 PST

BRRAP! BRRAP!

we just finished up some more work in the studio. We're getting closer and closer to finishing this record. We might be changing the name "Pigeon Hole" again, due to some legal issues....long story......
Posted by Sweatshop Union on Tue, 22 May 2007 01:01:00 PST

bellingham and NORTHERN BC

we're headed out to do a few shows with the rest of sweatshopBellingham, WAMay 19 @ whatcom Community College- outdoor all ages show by donation (3pm). its an early one, so forget that whole hip hop o...
Posted by Sweatshop Union on Fri, 11 May 2007 10:56:00 PST