by Jessica Del Curto
Daily Lobo
Some hip-hop purists talk trash about "hippie hip-hop."
It's too experimental, they say. Too abstract, too watered down, too stripped of all its street credibility.
This, of course, is ridiculous.
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2bers, a local hip-hop group that falls under the category of "hippie," is intelligent music at its best.
The two MCs, Collin Troy and Luke Hale, know what they are doing. And if they rock giant knit hats and loads of facial hair while they are at it, more power to them.
The album The History of Our Future isn't a rookie release. It's not the kind of album you listen to and think, "Ah, this group has potential." They are already there.
The album is tight from start to finish, with beats bordering on the line of new-age, backed by a full band instead of lonely turntables and a drum machine. Hale and Troy know politics, and their varied vocabulary encompasses more than just their assets and how dope they are.
On "Ill Legitimate," members of 2bers call themselves the bastard sons of hip-hop, noting that their white skin has in the past put them in the same box as token white rapper Eminem. The song is a play on labels, and the strumming guitar paired with a woman's faint humming in the background proves these young rappers have gotten over their insecurities of skin color and now fit snugly into the always growing hip-hop family.
"Falsehood" is a politically minded piece on the dismal state of the country, but unlike some backpack hip-hop, it isn't a pointless rant. In a city where it's cool to be a rapper who hates the government, it's nice to find a group that has theories to back up its ramblings.
On "29 Reasons," members of 2bers provide hilarious and insightful reasons why hip-hop shows can be ridiculous at times. It's a concept even the biggest lovers of the music struggle with. I can't count the times I've gone to a show or a b-boy gathering where an innocent bystander has been scolded for interrupting a freestyle battle. Hale and Troy seem to agree that the girls in thongs and boys with backpacks who yell out something along the lines of 'hip-hop in the 505,' tend to ruin the show.
What sets good hip-hop apart from the rest is often how musically inclined the artists are. Members of 2bers understand that rappers have a responsibility to the movement to be more than just two guys on stage throwing out big ideas and posing in their b-boy stances. They are true musicians, singing and experimenting with their voices, reminiscent of rappers like Eyedea or Aesop Rock. Their music reminds dismayed listeners that hip-hop really can be the music of revolutions, like folk and rock music was for hippies in the '60s.
2bers' sound is refreshing. Call it hippie or call it progressive music, it doesn't matter. The rappers' talent speaks for itself, and they are too busy being great to worry about labels.
