Get to Know: Anti-Crew
Hip-hop + guitars = musical sexy time.
Can music made by two best friends really be that much better than music done by train-wreck druggies? I think the obvious answer is yes. But the trend seems to be the closer the band is to each other, then the better the product becomes. That stays too true for Chicago band Anti-Crew. Anti-Crew actually started in Kansas City, which is slowly becoming a Mecca for underground hip-hop acts. Two life-long friends with a zeal for the beat FlareThaRebel and DJ Eternal starting making music together while still in high school. Their two albums Dat’s Wassup and The Progressive Movement: A Step Forward not only started a great following in Kansas City, but also got them recognition from the Kansas City Star, naming the duo one of the top thirty artists under the age of thirty. High school ended, but Anti-Crew didn’t. FlareThaRebel and DJ Eternal made the move to the Windy City to pursue their careers and their education at Columbia College. As fate would have it, each member of the then-duo were paired with two other musicians – Pat Attack, whose love for progressive rock gave him the desire to shred like no one’s business, and Cambo’s funky bass skills. With these two new members came a hell of a lot more sound out of Anti-Crew.
The addition of a live band and a new drummer in 2008 named Archangel (I guess if you’re in hip hop it’s required to have a stellar name), the new formation of Anti-Crew produced their first album together for release in January of this year. Foundation EP is the bigger, badder version of Anti-Crew’s aggressive style. The addition of a live band made a tremendous difference, adding a fuller sound to FlareThaRebel and DJ Eternal’s already masterful beats. The band’s original playfulness is still present on Foundation, but is coupled with their new-found maturity. In seven songs Anti-Crew covers all the bases. “Matt and Jeff’s Bogus Journey” is hilarious, telling the classic story of two guys after one girl, but still has a great drumbeat. And the opener “Sky High ‘08” has a great hip hop sound with an equally great guitar part. “After the End” still embodies Anti-Crew’s spirit while paying homage to DJ Eternal’s father who passed away in 2005. Foundation executes balance between hip hop and rock which makes it their strongest release yet.
“One Time” is a fantastic example of this. It’s a song that cannot be done the old Anti-Crew way. The live guitar, bass and drums make it the track that it is but at the same time keep that hip hop sound that was previously established. Who else could perfectly pair a face-melting guitar solo with rap? And don’t say Linkin Park.
Posted by Amy Dittmeier on Feb 04, 2009 @ 7:00 am