FOLLOWING WHAT SEEMED LIKE THE FINAL SUNSET OF AMERICA’S MOST PROLIFIC AND INFLUENTIAL GENRE OF MUSIC CAME THE DAWN OF AMERICA’S NEWEST AND WORST NIGHTMARE. WITH HIP-HOP DIVIDED AND IN THE MIDST OF DEMISE, FOUR MCS DECIDED TO TAKE A STAND. HAILING FROM QUEENS, BROOKLYN, AND LONG ISLAND WERE RAPPERS/SONGWRITERS HOODLUM AND YOUNG CEEZ, AND RAPPERS/PRODUCERS CAPITAL E AND JAMEL CA$HTRO, COLLECTIVELY KNOWN IN AMERICAN ART FORM AS R-SIDE.
WITH EACH OF THEM DISPLAYING DIFFERENT STYLES IN THEIR APPROACH TO HIP-HOP. THE FOUR PULLED TOGETHER FROM THE TWO BOROUGHS OF NEW YORK CITY AND THE NEIGHBORING “ISLAND OF THE STRONG†TO DRAW A LINE IN THE SAND WHERE PEOPLE COULD CHOSE TO BE ON THE REAL SIDE (R-SIDE), OR STICK WITH THE CURRENT STATUS QUO.
AFTER THE RELEASE OF THEIR DEBUT MIXTAPE, ENTITLED THE RELAPSE, THEIR THIRST AND HUNGER FOR THE GAME MULTIPLIED SEVENFOLD. WITH THE DRIVE, FOCUS, AND SUPPORT OF CEOS LEVAR BRAHAM AND CHRISTOPHER ELLIOT OF MORE THAN MUZIC, LLC, R-SIDE DREW THE ATTENTION AND CO-SIGNING OF FATMAN SCOOP, AND GARNERED FEATURES ON MTV’S “MIXTAPE MONDAY†AND HIP-HOP WEBSITE SOHH.COM.
THE DESIRE TO UNIFY HIP-HOP HAS BEEN ARTICULATED BY MANY NEW YORK CITY MCS, BUT THIS GROUP IS ANYTHING BUT CLICHÉ. ALTHOUGH THE STREETS OF NEW YORK ARE NOTORIOUS FOR MOLDING TYPICAL RAPPERS , EACH MEMBER OF R-SIDE IS UNIQUE IN THEIR BACKGROUND, THEIR VISION, THEIR HUSTLE, AND THEIR DEMEANOR.
HOODLUM, A LONG ISLAND NATIVE (BORN OF AFRICAN HERITAGE AS KAREM ALIYU) IS AFFECTIONATELY KNOWN BY HIS MIDDLE NAME, YEMI. AT 18-YEARS-OLD, THIS YOUNG SONGWRITER STARTED OUT FOUR YEARS EARLIER AS A 9TH GRADER IN A GROUP CALLED 2 DEEP, MADE COMPLETE WITH CHRIS NEUFVILLE, AKA YOUNG CEEZ.
IT WAS THREE YEARS AGO IN THE STUDIO AT CAPITOL E’S HOUSE THAT, UNBEKNOWNST TO THEM AT THAT MOMENT, ULTIMATELY PAVED THE WAY FOR R-SIDE’S FUTURE. AS HOODLUM RECORDED A SONG WITH HIS PARTNER CEEZ, CAPITOL E’S WITTY IMAGINATION AND GIFT OF CREATIVE VISUALIZATION CAME INTO FULL FORCE, LANDING HIM ON THE TRACK AS A FINISHING TOUCH. THE SONG WAS A SUCCESS. HOODLUM’S FORESIGHT IN PLACING CAPITOL E ON THE SONG PROMPTED THE THREE TO MUTUALLY AGREE ON PURSUING MUSIC FULL TIME. ONCE CAPITOL E PLACED ALL BETS DOWN, THE THREESOME BECAME R-SIDE.
18-YEAR-OLD YOUNG CEEZ STARTED OUT AS A YOUNG RAPPER ROAMING THE STREETS OF JAMAICA, QUEENS. IN THE MIDST OF FINDING HIS STYLE, CHARISMA, SIGNATURE FLOW, AND DEXTERITY WITH SONGWRITING AS AN UP-AND-COMING MC, THE JAMAICAN KID KNOWN TO MANY AS CHRIS NEUFVILLE LINKED UP WITH LLOYD BANKS’ YOUNGER BROTHER, ANTHONY BANKS, WITH WHOM HE BEGAN TO SPIT RHYMES. ALTHOUGH ANTHONY WAS A MUTUAL FRIEND OF BOTH CEEZ AND CA$HTRO, THE TWO NEVER CROSSED PATHS, AND IT WASN’T UNTIL CA$HTRO JOINED R-SIDE THAT CEEZ AND CA$HTRO BECAME COHORTS.
AT THE AGE OF 15, CEEZ PACKED UP AND MOVED FROM OUT OF THE FAMILIARITY OF THE NEW YORK CITY STREETS AND HEADED RIGHT ACROSS THE WAY TO LONG ISLAND. IT WAS THERE THAT CEEZ USED HIS QUEENS-BRED FLOW AND APPLIED IT IN HIS NEW PLACE OF RESIDENCE, WHERE HE QUICKLY PICKED UP CLOUT AS ONE OF THE BEST MCS IN HIS LONG ISLAND NEIGHBORHOOD. IT WASN’T LONG BEFORE CEEZ LINKED UP WITH HOODLUM, WITH WHOM HE CREATED THE DUO 2 DEEP, WHICH LATER FUSED WITH CAPITOL E TO FORM R-SIDE.
ROOSEVELT, LONG ISLAND’S CAPITOL E KEEPS THE GROUP’S RHYTHMIC STYLE ON-POINT WITH HIS CLEVER AND INNOVATIVE BEATS. BORN ELLIS FLYNN, THIS 18-YEAR-OLD LAID DOWN THE MUSICAL BLUEPRINT FOR KELLY ROWLAND’S REMIX TO “WORK IT (PUT IT IN).â€
AS THE MAIN PRODUCER FOR R-SIDE, ALONGSIDE HIS PARTNER TRAVIS RICKETTS —THE SECOND HALF OF HIS PRODUCTION COMPANY E.N.T—THIS METRICAL MASTERMIND FIRST TOOK THE LONG ROAD TO MUSICAL PRODUCTION AT THE TENDER AGE OF 14. BORN OF JAMAICAN DESCENT, THIS WEST INDIAN WAS DESTINED TO CREATE RHYTHMS, AND THUS INHERITED THE NATURAL INSTINCT OF VISUALIZING THE PERFECT LYRICAL FLOW AND SWAG OVER HIS BEATS, SOMETHING HE NOTICED THE ARTISTS HE WAS WORKING WITH REPEATEDLY FAILED TO ATTAIN. READY TO PUT HIS ARTISTIC VISUALIZATIONS INTO ACTION, CAPITAL E STEPPED INTO THE ART OF RHYMING, AND IS NOW TACKLING THE RAP GAME FROM BOTH ANGLES. ALTHOUGH CAPTIAL E HAS BEEN COMPARED TO THE LIKINGS OF PHARRELL AND JUST BLAZE, HE POSSESSES A PIZZAZZ AND FLAVOR ALL HIS OWN.
STRAIGHT OUT OF THE STREETS OF CANARSIE, BROOKLYN IS JAMEL CA$HTRO, THE SECOND PRODUCER FOR R-SIDE. THIS 18-YEAR-OLD, WHO, ON A ROLLING BASIS, CURRENTLY RESIDES BETWEEN BROOKLYN AND LONG ISLAND, HAS BEEN LAYING DOWN THE GROUND WORK FOR MUSICAL TRACKS FOR OVER 6 YEARS. IT WAS HIS FATHER, WHO WAS ONCE A DJ THAT WAS AFFILIATED WITH POPULAR NEW YORK CITY DJS DJ CLUE AND DJ KAY SLAY, THAT INFLUENCED CA$HTRO TO TAKE A CHANCES WITH HIP-HOP. HE BEGAN DJING AND THEN MOVED ON TO CAPTIVATE THE ART OF PRODUCING, A SKILL HE CURRENTLY BRINGS AS A BACKBONE TO R-SIDE’S UNIQUE AND ORIGINAL SOUND.
CA$HTRO, BORN JAMEL BROWN OF PUERTO RICAN DESCENT, MOVED TO THE ISLAND OF PUERTO RICO AT THE AGE OF 12, WHERE HE LIVED FOR TWO YEARS. AT THE AGE OF 14, CA$HTRO FOUND HIMSELF BACK IN THE MEAN STREETS OF NEW YORK CITY—THIS TIME IN JAMAICA, QUEENS. IT WAS HERE THAT HE MET AND BEGAN TO HANG OUT WITH THE YOUNGER BROTHER OF G-UNIT’S LLOYD BANKS, ANTHONY BANKS, WITH WHOM HE BEGAN RAPPING. IT WASN’T LONG BEFORE CA$HTRO FOUND HIMSELF BACK IN BROOKLYN ONCE AGAIN BUT WITH SOMETHING NEW IN SIGHT: THE ART OF RHYMING, AND THE HUNGER FOR CRIME.
UNFORTUNATELY, THE NEW YORK CITY FAST LIFE LEFT CA$HTRO IN CUFFS—AND WITH A CONVICTION. NOT SATISFIED WITH THE OUTS OF LIFE HAD TO OFFER AND READY TO BREAK SOLO FROM HIS GROUP 3GS—WITH WHOM HE DEPARTED FROM A YEAR AGO—CA$HTRO FOUND HIMSELF ON LONG ISLAND, WHERE HE MET HOODLUM AND BECAME THE FOURTH MEMBER OF R-SIDE.
NOW THAT THE BLUEPRINT IS WRITTEN IN STONE, THE FOURSOME IS READY TO TAKE THE WORLD BY SURPRISE WITH THEIR PLAN TO USE THEIR YOUTHFUL YET FRUITFUL STANCES ON HIP-HOP TO PUSH THE LIMITS OF THE RAP GAME. BORN TO BE LEADERS OF THE NEW SCHOOL, HOODLUM, YOUNG CEEZ, CAPITOL E, AND CA$HTRO ARE ON A FAST FLOW TO THE HEIGHTS OF THE SATURATED RAP GAME. WELCOME TO R-SIDE, AMERICA—THE NEW GENERATION OF HIP-HOP...
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