Soul Street Symphony album
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The Soul Street Symphony Bio:
In search of the perfect emcee to fit his NY-centric beats, Miami producer Rob Love looked toward Hip-Hop's Mecca and happened upon Brooklyn's BK Cyph. At the same time, Cyph sought a beatsmith schooled in the boom-bap era of the early to mid nineties to provide the backdrop for his reflective raps. As fates ironic hand would have it, Rob Love and BK Cyph formed Hip-Hops next big thing, the Soul Street Symphony.
"I dont do Crunk music," proclaims Love, "Even though it's hot now, it's just not my style," he says. As the group get set to promote their indie self-titled debut, the first single "Dreamer" b/w "Heat of the Night" has been garnering quite a buzz. And as the Soul Street Symphony picks up steam, the duo just wants to clarify their position. "I love the southern movement," remarks Cyph, "But that doesn't mean I have to dickride." Rob Love continues the thought, "An artist like Trick Daddy would sound better over a Lil Jon beat than an artist like Cyph," he pauses before picking up his sentence, "But give Cyph a DJ Premier track or a Rob Love track and it's a wrap."
One such track is the ambitiously optimistic Dreamer where Cyph hopes to save his hood brethren from their own undoing with lyrics like, "My brother fucked up and robbed a nigga for a Oz/ Times up that's word to O.C./ My minds stuck and that's his own beef/ but I cant let it go oh no its on me." The melodic bounce of "Dreamer" is counteracted with the eerie piano loop and concussive drum pattern of "Heat of the Night," where BK once again reaches out to the hood in an epic tale of survival.
While Rob Love and BK Cyph's union is indeed symbolic in the face of the historic rise of southern Hip-Hip, Soul Street Symphony's mission remains a simple one. "At the end of the day it isn't about North, South, East or West, its about preserving our culture," says Cyph, "And our music!" The R.L.
Individual Bios:
BK Cyph
Rappers today use the term gangsta way too loosely, and Brooklyns Cypha Diaz is quite sick of it. Its disgusting, the way the hood is represented through music, says the 25-year old emcee; Im in the hood, Im from the hood and not everyone is gangsta. Sure you have a select few, but we have a variety of characters on the block, says Diaz.
Thats why I write songs about things that your average rapper dont address. Diazs Cookie is such a song; his ode to Magic Johnsons wife Cookie, is a metaphor for all women who stand by their man through the most difficult times.
On No More Trouble Cyph takes the dead homie dedication a bit further when he includes shouts to not only Big and Pac, but to Anthony Baez, Timothy Stansbury and his own cousin Albert Estrella; Everyone shouts out Big and Pac, we miss them, but we cant forget the rest of our peoples.
Diaz a self-proclaimed regular-dude counts Slick Rick, Hov and Big Pun as his chief influences, but in no way condones biting as a way of paying homage. Pun was a real EMCEE, Ricky and Hov too; I respect their work too much to emulate. The block indeed has a variety of characters and Cypha Diaz is comfortable playing his role.
RL
The sharp beats coming out of this beat maestro are nothing short of an ear pleasuring experience. It's a smooth ride from here on out. Your ear carefully collects the perfectly detailed sound waves- transforms the energy through your middle ear, and there we have it:: the vibrations your brain tells you to nod your head and enjoy. You can't help but just sit there and think to yourself, "-This- is dope."
Look at little bit further and you find the man sitting behind the machines who make that magic happen.
Three winter moons ago, this Cuban/Puerto Rican hybrid took a few bangs on the keys and a couple of carefully selected taps on the MPC, and realized he had discovered something- a new found love in the intricacies of music production.
RL- a DJ now turned into an even better producer, first started in 1997. Rob met former partner K-N-S in high school, where he DJed the Bump Show alongside Manuscrip, and it was there that all three connected under the same tune. With influences such as Premier, Pete Rock, J Dilla, Madlib, and Diamond D, Rob has seamlessly integrated those distinct sounds into one he can call his own. His taste for perfection is duly noted once he hits that spacebar so you can witness it for yourself. Rob continues to strive on constantly improving his talent, and it is with that ambition and vision that cements him into a promising future. He is constantly on the search for projects he can help make quality- from every type of artist to where all the longitudes and latitudes connect to the scores of movies, Rob's endeavors to increase his repertoire is never-ending.
You'll not only remember his music, you'll remember his name- RL.