About Me
1995 was the year.....Sudan Life and Rasheen (both from the Borough of Queens) got together as friends at SUNY Old Westbury, in Long Island, New York...They would also meet a very influential student by the name of Lucious "Lucky" Mercer. Lucky, was not only a student and friend but also an inspiring musician. With constant talks, freestyle sessions and listening to the many material that Lucky and his crew (Deaf 2 U Productions) made...put Sudan and Rasheen in the mind frame that.."hey, we love music...and we can do it too" says Rasheen.. "Luck, put the spark back into me, to listen to his ideas and the music...it just put things back that I used to have with my cousin Kahil" says Sudan. Before the two actually met, Sudan Life was involved in Hip-Hop in one way or another. In the early 90's considered the golden age of Hip-Hop by some, his personal influence before Lucky was his cousin Kahil. Kahil was also a artist trying to get put on along with his partner Dwayne as the group, INAMUV. Dwayne was the emcee and Kahil was the DJ/Producer... Sudan would listen to his cousin's beats with amazement!! "Kahil was crazy with his....and probably still is...." quotes Sudan. To make a long story short, THE INAMUV was focused on other personal journey's and quit pursuing their dream to make it in the music business. Kahil's production was so intricate, that he had a few big names in the rap game wanting to colaborate such as Pharoahe Monch (when he and Prince Po was Organized Konfusion) and the great emcee of all time...Rakim Allah!!! Sudan and Kahil would go to rhyme cyphers that would just form out of nowhere back on 125th in Harlem..sometimes even form them..and kats would join in!!!..."Just let us have some loud music and it was over" Sudan laments. "Somebody would have their system on blast in the whips and we would be rhyming for days!!! Troy aka Rasheen..loved all types of music...He was into Stevie Wonder, Grover Washington Jr.(RIP), Phil Collins, Billy Joel, Madonna, Earth, Wind and Fire, Kid N Play, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Redman, etc...the list goes on!! His eclectic tastes in music makes him hard to pinpoint. As he states " I know what I like" says Rasheen. That is why his music sounds so different but yet familar. Confused? Good!! That is the way Rasheen wants it...Born and raised in Far Rockaway, Rasheen was exposed to alot of different cultures and music, Folk, Rock, Hip-Hop, R&B, Merengue, Salsa, Dancehall, when it came for him to create his own music, you can hear what he's been exposed to all of this life. Sudan and Rasheen learned alot thoughout their musical journey, some the easy way, and some the HARD WAY.. Rasheen recalls one incident " I remember we brought some records over a friend of ours crib back in 97 summertime, it was hot that day. Our friend had a roommate which happen to be a female and she had some of her girlfriends over..they was in the kitchen doing hair. Our friend showed us his sampler and turntable and whatnot and we could do what we needed to do...Lucky was the one who took us there by the way. So Luck and the crew told us they will be back and to do our thing!. So they left us, they went to the back into another room, now mind you, the kitchen and the room where we were was right there...I could walk into the kitchen with no problem. Anyway, we tried some samples and drum loops and nothing was coming out...stuff was sounding wack, we were'nt feeling it..it seemed to be getting hotter and hotter as the minutes passed by !! Another kat we knew came in on one of the beats, and had this blank look on his face...(like what the? ...right now Sudan is pissed...). The girls in the other room was silent...not a word coming from them about the music...Then 45 mins later Deaf2U crew comes back out...checking on us..(we made about 3 to 4 beats) Our friend who lives there, comes and starts messing with the sampler, finds a drum loop that would fit it...and he comes out with a hot beat in seconds!!!! NOT ONLY DID HE PUT TOGETHER SOMETHING IN 2 SEC FLAT THAT TOOK US LIKE FOREVER TO DO, THE GIRLS IN THE OTHER ROOM GOT VOICES AND SAYS..OHH, P IS THAT YOU?!, THAT SOUNDS HOT!! I was pissed!!! And from that day forward...the drive to make good music was important to me." The Nightshift has been through many metamorphasis throughout the years....Many names...such as 9th Dynasty...(but the Roots had a crew called the 5th Dynasty...so um..nope!) Then Starfleet....(but as Sudan puts it...it sounds like we should be talking about space all the time plus Neptunes came up with Star Trak...nope!!) Nightshift seems to be the right fit because after work, we would go to another job...Creating Music..into the night!!! Sudan Life came up with the name due to his job working for a company's payroll dept. The nightshift crew got "Night Differential"..which meant more money!! Sudan and Rasheen has used anything to make beats, from using tape decks to make loops, (pause and play productions), Gemini samplers with mixers, and cheap turntables...to what we use now...Long way....The Nightshift has also added new members to the fold a Kid named Breeze who is a master at his own creation of HiNRG, electro dance tracks and mixing capabilities And a kid named Novanine 50...also a wizard behind the boards with his mixing and creating sounds of DnB, Experimental, breakbeat sounds.........along with Sudan and Rasheen...the Nightshift will continue and strive to provide good music...."We make music for our own enjoyment first of all, but we hope that people will grasp on to what we are trying to do, and that the Nightshift name will be on everyone's mind for years to come."
