Golden Gods: The Higher Concept (THC)

As I said in my last post, I'm happy to see and more importantly hear, that the glitz and glamour of hip-hop is starting to give way to not just a general consciousness but a return to lyrical content taking the pole position over just a "hot beat". Just as I said artists like B.o.B., Kid Cudi, Travie McCoy and Lupe Fiasco are working on taking over the charts, the alternative hip-hop soldiers are still carrying the banner strongly below the radar of mainstream radio and video.

In this post I want to introduce you to Staten Island's own The Higher Concept. Now I know what some of you may be thinking "Wait, three white guys from New York, making conscious rap. Wow, thats great cause we didn't have enough Beastie Boy try-to-be's already" to which I say "that's just racist sir/ma'am, and you should be ashamed of yourself". Tekst (stop stumbling over the "kst" it sounds like TEXT), Matty J & IB Profyn immediately put a stop to what ever Eminem "white rapper" joke you might want to make, though there are certainly some similarities between the group and the Grammy award winner. Like the 8 Mile MC, they carry the same word play capability and intelligent lyrical design, but maybe more importantly than that, their content carries the purity, honesty and weight that would assumed to be reserved for the likes hip-hop Mt. Rushmore nominees of De La Soul, KRS-One or A Tribe Called Quest.

The flows of the 3 MC's vary as greatly as their looks, creating this call and response between their verses, the likes of which I haven't heard since Jurassic 5; and this is just part of what makes them and their music so distinct. Through a mutual friend I had the pleasure to watch these boys perform live as they opened for another friend's band and damn near broke my ankles jumping on the THC bandwagon. Their energy and enthusiasm to perform is immediately felt by their crowd which of course just gets them even more amp'd. It's like their use their audience as their own personal hype men (and women, to be fair). The Higher Concept looks to show the world at large that the Wu Tang Clan isn't the only contribution Staten Island has to make to the history of hip-hop, and with them having opened for acts like Kid Cudi and Grammy nominated hip-hop duo LMFAO it won't be much longer till they succeed. If this is where my favorite genre of music is working toward, then the title of their recently released newest album couldn't be any truer, "Life's Good".

Peace Up, Peace Out

The Higher Concept:
Tekst
Matty J
IB Profyn
website: www.thehigherconcept.com