Hip-Hop Lives Here
Hip-Hop Lives Here
With his first EP Yesterday, rap artist and cultural producer El Mega S.P.R.M. coming from the untraceable regions of the cultural underground, is making his move into the mainstream alongside his art collective, Humblux.
But and this is key, he wants to remain true to the principles he has absorbed during his apprenticeship in the art collective.
“It’s a very grassroots business approach because we are hip hop culture, first, he said, “and right now, the point is to move into the mainstream market, and touch the hearts and souls of the hip hop Avant, while practicing moral principles of business and ethics.”
The EP is six, varied hip hop tracks, part of a cultural campaign, also called Yesterday, on the Humblux (HUMble-ux) website. The campaign features not only the music but associated merchandise across a broad cultural spectrum – fashion, art, literature, film, food, sports and business as well as music.
El Mega S.P.R.M. (said as El Mega Supreme) sings serious themes in the EP which has its mix of cloud rap – a smooth, more laid-back sound with a relaxed, low tempo – with some elements of EDM pronounced in Herbal Teal, southern rap, trap, and west coast vibe. Yesterday, is heard reflecting on some of his family’s personal journey pronounced on the single called “Travels,” which has an ethereal, nostalgic sound.
“Herbal Teal,” the EP’s lead single, “highlights some my sentiments about the music industry.”
On this single, El Mega questions:
“If you got a bad deal, I wonder what kind of deal the person you signed got
Seeing your favorite rapper depressed
Is it cause of the lack of rest?
Or is it them low checks? Guess Universal knows best.”
Similar, to Nas in his new album King’s Disease where he states “… most artists don't live as good as the execs, and they end up depressed.”
While “Herbal Teal” is a crowd moving festival type piece which welcomes elements of EDM, House, Dubstep and electronic, “Memory Lane’” offers a more laid-back listening experience allowing one to reflect on their own yesterdays of life.
Overall, Yesterday is a humble introduction to his sound, style, and music.
His musical influences are as varied as his roots. “I’m a Black man born in Saudi Arabia, relocated to Rochester, NY and finally moved to the anglophone borough of Montreal, NDG.
In the song “Travels” El Mega S.P.R.M. offers an intimate expression that not only highlights, his personal families’ travels, but the travels of many people throughout many cultures.
In Montreal is where he grew to manhood and into his art, beginning with freestyle rapping and rhyming with friends when he was about 11 or 12. A few years later in 2008, at the age of 14, he happened into a spoken word event, Mic & Dim lights, that had been newly transplanted from California to a bookstore and café, Ociel, a cultural center in the city.
“This is where I began to really hone my skills as an emcee, poet, and overall writer, where I understood what it meant to be tight on the mic. And that’s when I really got like, serious about my art.”
He liked the performance experience and wanted to become more involved in the business side of things. Through the contacts he made there, he embarked on an apprenticeship with Sovereign Music Movement, which grew into the Humblux Collective, which among other things sells knowledge products within their cultural campaigns.
The connections all get kind of intricate, but that’s the gist.
El Mega does not lightly call himself an entrepreneur, though he creates music, sells merchandise, and has an avant-garde method of marketing, he’s more focused on bringing the value of the untraceable underground into more lucrative segments of the market.
His lyrics do not have much of the explicit language of urban rap, but Yesterday does carry a lot of his experience as a product of an environment filled with crimes, violence, among the underprivileged social class. Fam highlights a lot of his thinking about that experience with a west coast twang to it.
Yesterday draws together a picture in the sky about time, history, family, immigration, identity, coming of age, among other concepts, and “a lot of current conversations like, ‘Okay, what is it to be Black, today?’”
He composes a lot of his beats and writes all the poetry in his lyrics, but on Yesterday, he worked with the Humblux production team. “When I heard the first beat, it moved me to write a whole project to tell my story”
Everything he does artistically is tied to his professional identity as a cultural producer, as part of the field of human endeavor known as cultural production.
“When I say I’m a cultural producer, it’s saying that I’m conscious that what I’m creating directly interacts with people’s customary beliefs, race, religion and status that affect our everyday existence.” One of his purposes – his and the collective’s – is “to solve wicked problems,” especially in the music industry itself.
“A lot of artists are complaining – not complaining but stating the fact – of how the music industry is not owned by the creators of the culture, and also there’s a lot of issues with royalties and so forth,” he said, pointing out that this is especially true of all forms of Black art.
El Mega sees an opening in this golden Era, as he puts it, that change is here, and he is moving with the current to participate in the laying down of a new foundation within this blooming time of the next 500 years of western culture.
El Mega, the Supreme, wants to advance the culture of music, and he wants to collaborate and do business all over the world. Yesterday is the opening move in a much larger sequence that will showcase his talents. The next piece is already in process.
Follow El Mega S.P.R.M.’s journey on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts.
Websites:
humblux
Amazon Music
Apple Music
Deezer
SoundCloud
Spotify
YouTube
Social:
Instagram
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While most high school students are figuring out homework and what to do with their free time, one rising hip-hop and rap artist out of Mississippi is busy making music on his terms. At 17, RAA Trey (born Alvin Peyton III) is showing up for his future self in a big way with the recent release of the new single, “Song of Da Year,” earlier in November. The track provides a preview of what to expect on his upcoming album 1OF1, featuring 14 songs that will drop this December.
RAA Trey, whose name is an acronym for “Respect Above All,” learned early on growing up in a family of entrepreneurs about putting in the work to make your vision a reality. He was only in seventh grade when he started his label, Take Money Records and Entertainment, which he still runs today, and began building a home studio to pursue his dream. The same drive and confidence remain, carrying over to his new work.
“Song of Da Year gives off a championship feel to it,” says RAA Trey. “I’m just letting everybody know to respect me as soon as I come in this game because when I’m coming, this is going to be over the top. That’s why it’s called Song of Da Year. Respect this.” Aware that his home state may not have a music scene such as other parts of the south like Memphis or Atlanta, RAA Trey shares he follows his own sound and whatever he feels at the moment.
Mixed and mastered by Shane Thomson with lyrics by RAA Trey, who writes all of his music, “Song of Da Year” features powerful lyrics of assurance with one particular part paying tribute to his mother: my momma worry / I told my momma she ain't gotta worry / evea' since I was young, you been nervous / I promise I'm gon' make it with these verses.”
As for performing, RAA Trey is a natural performer, gracing several stages, including a show to thousands featuring rapper a well known rapper from Louisiana, among other events over the years. Fans can expect to see him even more in the months ahead, as he plans to tour, expand his fan base and launch merchandise.
With “Song of Da Year,” RAA Trey, is manifesting, making his mark—and he hasn’t even graduate yet. Those who want to learn more and listen to his latest music can follow him on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
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