Welcome to An Archaeologist's El Dorado, a monthly segment that brings you 3 - 5 artists you have had hypersomniac over. El Dorado, or commonly known as the lost city of gold, in this case are the artists you have been searching after. A lucky archaeologist such as yourself, now has the ability to study the specific human activity below through the recovery and analysis of the material culture I have provided for you. I now present to you the files of March 2015: Cydeways, Jered Sanders, RedPill, & Jon Bartley.
Cydeways
The duo Cydeways is comprised of rapper/vocalist Dustin Parks and producer Trevor Buckingham. Originally from Boston, Dustin traveled out to LA to pursue his dreams of becoming a successful musician. Trevor started the group back in 2012 and with the addition of Dustin, Cydeways was born. If you've never heard of these guys, they make up a unique blend of reggae + hip hop (a sound I've always personally loved) that could be compared to other artists such as AER, Cris Cab, or Cisco Adler. Dustin & Trevor are always keeping things updated and fresh to try and stand out as they mash together different melody's and beats to create a mix of east and west coast styles.
"As an artist, my only goal is to just have a good time and make sure the crowd is to. Shows for us is just that one big party that you never want to end. if we aint having fun, we aint doing it."
Currently, Cydeways is in the studio hard at work everyday to working on their upcoming EP, Ghetto Paradise EP which is scheduled for a release sometime in May. If you're dying to get sounds from these guys now, you have to have Shippin' Off To SoCal in your collection asap.
Jered Sanders
Early last year is when I first got a real taste of Jered Sanders and his music through his Sorry For The Delay EP. The still way underground lyricist shows promise and wonderful skills everyone should pay attention to.
Born in St. Petersburg, FL and raised in Virginia by his mother and step-father, Jered was not the average kid on the block. With a born love for music, Jered began attempting songwriting at the age of 7. But, it wasn't until later, when Jered found hip hop and r&b, that his desire for greatness was born.
Being able to express emotions, stories, and personal issues using a clever sense of wordplay makes Jered the extraordinary lyricist he is today. His ability to display the perils of love and life, display the consciousness of a purist, and relate to both suburban and urban youth, stems from his personal life, adolescent years, and the experiences of friends and family close to him.
Having an assortment of friends allowed Jered to break the boundaries many artists place themselves in and explore artistic ways to speak to all types of people. Inspired by a myriad of recording artists including Jay-Z, The Notorious B.I.G., Common, Lupe Fiasco, Musiq Soulchild, Stevie Wonder, Kanye West, Donny Hathaway, and many more have allowed Jered to remain constantly diverse in an often repetitive industry.
Jered Sanders had been at the top of his game with previous releases, but below the surface, inner conflict had been bubbling. In July, Jered made a the decisive break with "secular" hip-hop in favor of an approach more congruent with his reinvigorated Christian faith and walk into Christian ministry.
“It’s a constant struggle for an artist to find themselves and many get lost in the search. It’s also a battle for a brand new artist to come out and just be themselves.”
With an upcoming album filled with honesty, positivity, humor and vulnerability, Jered shouldn't have any problem reaching the listening ear - whether Christian or not.
"I’m a regular person. I get angry; I argue and yell. But, in the end, when I’m gone from this world, I want to be remembered as an ambitious artist. An artist that never shied away from being different, that was always as honest as possible in his music, and that was a loving and caring son, brother, and man.”
Not only is Jered a solo artist, but, is also 1/2 of the group First 4T8. Along with Analogic, the duo have a project releasing this Spring entitled, Daylight Savings Time. Be on the lookout for the first track to drop in a week on March 9th.
Red Pill
Red Pill personifies his hometown of Detroit so well that all he is missing is a Faygo pop and a bag of Better Made potato chips. As a solo artist and a member of the Mello Music Group trio Ugly Heroes with Apollo Brown and Verbal Kent, he uses music to reflect the struggle, passion and resiliency of the Motor City – and the rest of the tough, blue collar folks that hold the world together.
Chris “Red Pill” Orrick was born and raised in Detroit until seventh grade, when his grandfather evicted his family from a house he owned for failure to pay rent. He, his parents, and his three younger brothers moved to the rural city of Howell, Mich., and he began writing raps. The words in Pill’s notepad narrated his own hardships: his mother’s alcoholism (she later passed away from the disease), growing up poor, and the desolation of moving to a new town with new friends.
“I connected more with music that I could find a way to relate to,” he said, “and I wanted to write songs that connected with other people.”
Pill joined BLAT! Pack, a collective of music professionals, soon after enrolling at Michigan State University. He released “Please Tip Your Driver” soon after, a song inspired by experiences working at a sandwich shop. The single and the album of the same title earned him consistent blog coverage and began to build a fan base around the state.
The next year, Red Pill moved back to Detroit and teamed with BLAT! Pack producer Hir-O to begin work on a new album, The Kick. A head-turning performance at an unofficial Detroit SXSW showcase earned him coverage as a DXNext artist on HipHopDX. He and Hir-O teamed with Occupy Detroit to release “We Are Not Like Them,” an ode to the poverty-stricken 99% that he grew up as a part of. The duo also helped organize and headline an Occupy Detroit fundraiser concert, and continue to perform for other area causes.
In 2012, another unofficial SXSW showcase garnered the attention of Fat Beats, which inked a digital distribution deal for The Kick. Red Pill and Hir-O teamed up with DaJaz1 to release Dream Within A Dream, an EP that respected rap journalist Kevin Nottingham placed in his year-end Top 10 list. The duo also won a fan-determined trip to Brooklyn to compete for a slot in the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival.
The Kick was recognized by HipHopDX, COMPLEX, and other top notable publications – most notably MTV RapFix’s “Get In The Game,” where Sway Calloway interviewed them and Machine Gun Kelly praised Red Pill’s rhyming ability.
“You already know, your wordplay is genius,” - the Bad Boy Records signee.
The Kick showcases Red Pill at his best: candid, conceptual, and reflective. He rhymes about his tough upbringing, his everyday economic and musical struggles, and perhaps most importantly, how he perseveres through it all. Hir-O’s mix of soul, jazz, electronic music and live instrumentation serves as the backdrop. The disc has garnered comparisons to revered indie classics like Blu & Exile’s Below The Heavens, and fans have made The Kick one of HipHopDX’s highest user-rated albums of 2013.
Red Pill’s talent and work ethic also caught the eye of fellow Detroiter Apollo Brown, one of the most respected producers in the indie rap scene. Mello Music Group released Ugly Heroes – an album that groups Apollo Brown with Red Pill and Chicago emcee Verbal Kent – in May 2013. The record garnered critical acclaim, and ascended on iTunes charts around the world.
Following the success of Ugly Heroes, Mello Music Group noted the emcee's talent and signed him to a multi-album record deal. His debut solo album with Mello Music Group, Look What This World Did To Us, will be released in April 2015.
Inspirations stem from observations around him to the people in his life to Kanye West, Atmosphere, Blu, and Eminem. With unmistakable delivery, powerful storytelling and a brawny, Red Pill is primed to prove that he and the people his music represents will continue to fight through whatever comes their way.
When the up and comer isn't busy with music he tries to keep his daily life as simple as can be. The part-time wholesale foods distributor tries to keep sane by writing and drinking while being an average Netflix fiend.
Jon Bartley
Jon Bartley was born in Columbia, Maryland on July 19th 1996. Often moving from place to place due to his dad's work, Bartley settled and now resides in Duxbury, Massachusetts. Growing up music was always apart of Bartley's life however never really started to record until he got into high school.
After releasing a few songs as a sophomore, Bartley was invited to be a part of the independent label N.A.G.E. While joining, the novice rapper brought along fellow rapper Raff Alpha due to their previous success they have had working together. To this date, Bartley has released two projects under that label, Letters From The Void (2013) and Return Address (2014).
Just two years after he started to record the young rapper has managed to book live performances, notably at the Middle East downstairs in Cambridge, MA and is only on the come up.
Personally, I fell in love with Bartly's sound when I heard the ridiculously catchy track "Return Address" with Raff Alpha and Grace Houghton. I still think that his sound is a still a little unpolished but this kid is onto something and will get there soon. Gaining new fans and followings from blogs alike, the part time pizza delivery driver is already traveling down the right road.
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