When I was growing up my Father would always tell me "Don't follow the crowd, you let the crowd follow you." It was sage life advice that I plan to share with my kids as they grow up. I have found one instance where I shouldn't follow that advice.
When I was growing up my Father would always tell me "Don't follow the crowd, you let the crowd follow you." It was sage life advice that I plan to share with my kids as they grow up. I have found one instance where I shouldn't follow that advice.
In this instance The Crowd to follow is a trio of independent artists, Bronx born MC Randy Mason, French Soul Singer Adeline and Philadelphia native, now residing in Harlem Akil Dasan, who have come together to form an independent hip hop/soul "supergroup" and have just released their acoustic EP entitled "Be A Part of...The Crowd".
This 5 track EP shows off the groups individual talents and their collective abilities. They have been performing together for over a year, receiving great response, and I'm sure their reputation will grow because of this new release.
An acoustic hip hop/soul cd. That phrase seems a little odd but it fits for them. They have described their music as "Hip Hop, pop, soul, rock, funk, a mix of everything, it's post genre segregation, a blend of all our influences." In this case it's all done as organically as possible with Akil Dasan on Guitar and Beatboxing as well as rhyming and singing, Adeline providing smooth vocals and Randy as the MC. You'll hear some keyboards on "All My Love", electric guitar on "Music" and "Under The Sun". Most of all what you hear is great music that fits them like a hand in a glove.
All of the tracks are standouts for different reasons. "The One' is the first track and features Adeline on vocals with Randy and Akil adding nice rhymes to round out the track. "All My Love" is positioned as a love song, not about an individual necessarily but about music and features Randy Mason and Akil Dasan trading rhymes with Adeline's voice holding it together and keeping the soul of the song intact. "Music" is simply a nice piece of...well Music. "Under The Sun" is a nice track that includes a nice guitar solo that gives it some edge and then the final track, "Yeah" features Adeline and Akil Dasan singing a smooth duet.
These three artists have been performing on the independent scene as solo artists for awhile and each are formidable in their own right. Together as The Crowd they are even more special. Hopefully this EP is only the beginning of what's to come for them. This is one Crowd that you need to follow to any stage where they're performing. In the meantime pick up the acoustic EP "Be A Part of ...The Crowd" available from them directly at shows or online at their sites www.myspace.com/therealcrowd and www.myspace.com/randymason.
By Marko Nobles
Marko Nobles is Creator, Host and Producer of Rhythm And Soul Radio, an independent urban eclectic radio show airing weekly on WHCR 90.3FM weekly in Harlem, NY which led to the creation of the 24 hour Urban Eclectic Internet Radio Station, http://www.rhythmandsoulradio.com/. Both are under the banner of his company InJoy Enterprises which also produces concerts and entertainment events such as the successful monthly event The Rendezvous, which takes place on the last Monday of every Month at Shrine World Music Venue in Harlem.
.