Sintax the Terrific | |
---|---|
Birth name | Daniel Josev Brewer |
Also known as | Sintax.the.Terrific or Sintax, ipoetlaurate, The Press Junket, Huckleberry Spins |
Born | Ann Arbor, Michigan |
Origin | Baltimore, Maryland Washington, D.C. |
Genres | Christian hip hop |
Occupation(s) | Rapper, songwriter, licensed federal attorney, blogger |
Instrument(s) | vocals |
Years active | 1993–present |
Labels | Illect |
Website | sintaxtheterrific |
Daniel Josev Brewer, who goes by the stage name Sintax the Terrific, sometimes stylized as Sintax.the.Terrific or simply Sintax, is an American Christian hip hop musician and a founding member of both The Pride and the supergroup collective, Deepspace5. Brewer is also a practicing attorney in Columbia, South Carolina. He has released three studio albums through Illect Recordings – Simple Moves (2003), Curb Appeal (2007), and Prince with a Thousand Enemies with DJ Kurfu (2011) – and two studio albums, Qoheleth with Beat Rabbi (2010) and The Last Unicorn with Sir Chamberlain (2015), independently. Brewer, originally under the moniker ipoetlaurate and later The Press Junket, runs a blog for which he writes articles and composes songs discussing current social and political events. He released three compilation albums containing these songs in 2011, 2012, and 2013.
Brewer was born Daniel Josev Brewer, [1] in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and grew up in the cities of Baltimore and Washington, D.C. [2] before going on to earn his baccalaureate from Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. [1] His Juris Doctor degree was earned at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina, and he was admitted to the bar association in 2001. [1] [3] Described by the Houston Chronicle as "lawyer by day, rapper by night", [4] Brewer practices law in Columbia, South Carolina and is a licensed federal attorney. [1] [5] He specializes in defending companies involved in commercial litigation, [6] a profession which he jokingly has described as regularly ensuring "that companies can discriminate, steal, and maim with impunity". [2]
His music career began in 1993, with a demoed mixtape produced by DJ Dove, formerly of Gospel Gangstaz. [2] He founded the hip hop group The Pride with Manchild and Recon. [3] [6] In 1997, at a hip-hop conference called Cruvention, the three subsequently co-founded Deepspace5 with Listener and Sev Statik, and released an EP. [7] [8] They later would be joined by DJ Dust, Freddie Bruno, Playdough, Beat Rabbi, Illtripp, DJ Manwell, and Sivion. [8] [9] [10] [11] The group released its first studio album, The Night We Called It a Day , in 2002. [9] This was followed up by Unique, Just Like Everyone Else in 2005, [12] Deepspace5oul with Beat Rabbi and Bakesale in 2008, [13] [14] and The Future Ain't What It Used to Be in 2010. [11] [15]
Brewer has released three solo studio albums. The first, Simple Moves, came out on July 8, 2003, through Illect Recordings. [16] [17] [18] The subsequent studio album, Curb Appeal, was released on December 12, 2006, also through Illect Recordings. [19] He collaborated with Beat Rabbi for his third release, Qoheleth, in 2010, and released the album independently. [20] A fourth album, Prince with a Thousand Enemies, a collaboration with DJ Kurfu, was released through Illect on June 21, 2011. [3] On December 28, 2015, on Bandcamp, Brewer released The Last Unicorn, a collaboration with the producer Sir Chamberlain. Dubbed an "evolving play" and "living play," additional songs were added to the recording after the initial release date. [21] Brewer also creates what the Houston Chronicle described as "audible essays" and he calls song-blogs, songs for which he will write content based on various societal issues discussed in the news. [4] [5] Each song typically requires between two and four hours for him to craft, record, and upload to his dedicated website. [4] [5] In a TEDx Talk in 2012 at Greenville, South Carolina, outlined his recording process for this project and explained that this approach allows him to react much more spontaneously to current events, bypassing the several month delay typical for traditionally-released recordings. [5] For this endeavor he originally used the name ipoetlaurate and subsequently The Press Junket, and released the songs in a series of compilations, Year One, Year Two, and Year Three, in December 2011, 2012, and 2013, respectively. [4] [22]
Brewer performs a very underground style of hip hop music, preferring darker styles of production. [18] [23] On Simple Moves, his style was described as hardcore, [16] and his lyrics featured vulnerable, deeply emotional lines mixed with an often self-deprecating sense of humor. [18] [24] Brewer's vocal delivery, considered rather unusual, has been compared to that of his frequent collaborators Playdough and Manchild, as well as KJ-52. [19] [20]
Mars Ill is an emcee/DJ hip-hop duo from Atlanta, Georgia. The duo consists of Gregory Owens (Manchild) and Nathan Corrona. They are also part of the hip-hop collective and supergroup Deepspace5.
Deepspace5 is an underground hip hop supergroup formed in 1997 and currently composed of Beat Rabbi, Manwell?, Freddie Bruno, Listener, Mars ILL, Playdough, Sintax.the.Terrific, Sivion, and Sev Statik. Deepspace5 also previously included Illtripp and The Recon. Since its formation, the collective has sold over 100,000 copies of its recordings, and has performed with KRS-One, Atmosphere, and MF Doom, among others.
Gregory Scott Owens, commonly known by his stage name Manchild is a Christian rapper who works within the alternative hip hop genre. He fronts the underground and Christian hip hop group Mars ILL, is part of the Deepspace5 supergroup collective, and has collaborated with the likes of Christian rappers KJ-52 and John Reuben.
Hip hop production is the creation of hip hop music in a recording studio. While the term encompasses all aspects of hip hop music creation, including recording the rapping of an MC, a turntablist or DJ providing a beat, playing samples and "scratching" using record players and the creation of a rhythmic backing track, using a drum machine or sequencer, it is most commonly used to refer to recording the instrumental, non-lyrical and non-vocal aspects of hip hop.
Raw Material. is a Mars Ill album released in 2000, on Sphere of Hip Hop Records.
"Hurt" is a song by American hip hop recording artist T.I., released as the third official single from his fifth studio album T.I. vs. T.I.P. (2007). The hardcore hip hop song, produced by Timbaland and Danja, features guest appearances from fellow American rappers Busta Rhymes and Alfamega.
Nathan William Corrona, known as DJ Dust, is the DJ and producer for the underground hip-hop groups Mars ILL and Deepspace5. DJ Dust is known for his hard hitting "boom bap" style of production, often mixing samples from obscure 1960s and 1970s guitar and drum driven records.
Joseph T. Evans, known professionally as Sev Statik and Stu Dent, is a hip hop musician and promoter from Albany, New York. Active as a rapper since the early 1990s, he has performed and recorded both as a solo artist and as a member of the hip hop collectives Deepspace5 and Tunnel Rats. Evans has also been a member of various Albany-area hip hop groups, including All Bully, Master Plan, Body Language, currently fronts the rap rock band Goldtooth, and is active in Pitch Control Music, a musical collective and arts movement he co-founded in order to promote and develop hip hop in the Albany area. Evans is a freemason in East Greenbush, New York.
Rene Vasquez, known by the stage name Peace 586, is an American Christian hip hop producer and emcee. His career began in the late 1980s, and has continued until the present.
Dijon Isaiah McFarlane, known professionally as Mustard, is an American record producer. He is a frequent collaborator with California-based hip hop artists YG and Ty Dolla Sign; he has produced various hit records for hip hop and R&B artists since his entrance into mainstream music with rapper Tyga's 2011 hit single "Rack City".
Tunnel Rats is a West Coast underground hip hop collective founded in 1993 in Whittier, California. Named after the tunnel rats in the Vietnam war, the mixed-gender, multi-racial collective consists of some seventeen individual members and incorporates four affiliated groups, LPG, Future Shock, Foundation, and New Breed, which have recorded both within Tunnel Rats and independently. Several members also formed two additional side-projects, Footsoldiers and The Resistance, which recorded one album in 2006 and collaborated with KRS-One. Pioneers in the Christian hip hop genre, Tunnel Rats often met with resistance from church leaders who disliked the collective's aggressive style and felt that Tunnel Rats praised their rapping skills more than glorifying God.
Tunnel Rats Present... Underground Rise, Volume 1: Sunrise/Sunset is a 2003 compilation album by Uprok Records in collaboration with underground hip hop collective Tunnel Rats. Around thirty-five rappers appear on the compilation, which features, in addition to the Tunnel Rats, numerous other underground hip hop artists and groups, Christian and non-Christian, including LA Symphony, LMNO and 2Mex of The Visionaries, Remnant, Mass Reality, Sekou the Misfit, and Deepspace5 members Playdough, manCHILD of Mars Ill, and Listener. Production was handled by Tunnel Rats members Dert, Donovan Luke Henry, Jermz and Raphi. Most of the album was recorded over a single weekend. CCM Magazine noted that on the song "One Voice", the entire Tunnel Rats and LA Symphony crews come together, with seventeen rappers appearing on the same track. Critics received the album well, noting that, it offered a diversity of musical styles and showcased the many talented artists in the underground and Christian hip hop scenes.
The Night We Called It a Day is the debut studio album by underground hip hop supergroup Deepspace5, released on January 8, 2002, through Uprok Records. It was recorded in Dallas, Texas.
Douglas William Krum, Jr., who goes by the stage name Krum, is an American hip hop musician. He's released nine studio albums, one extended play, and three mixtapes in his career.
Speak Life is the debut studio album by Albany, New York-based hip hop musician Sev Statik, released on November 9, 2002, through Uprok Records. While Sev Statik, real name Joseph Evans, had released a previous studio album, Altered State, in 2001 under the moniker "Stu Dent", Speak Life is considered his debut. Sev Statik had recently joined to the hip hop collective Tunnel Rats, and the release features several artists from that group. It also features Listener from Deepspace5, another collective of which Sev Statik is part. Speak Life marks the debut appearance of Propaganda, who would join Tunnel Rats the following year. The album garnered a mixed response from critics, receiving praise for its positive lyrics, East Coast sound and use of sampling, but criticized for its lack of innovation and inconsistency in overall quality.
Altered State is the first studio album by Albany, New York hip hop musician Stu Dent, better known by the moniker Sev Statik. Sev Statik, real name Joseph Evans, created the Stu Dent pseudonym due to contractual obligations with Tunnel Rats, a group of which he was a member at the time. Evans' debut studio album as Sev Statik, Speak Life, would be released in 2002. Altered State features guest appearances by, among others, members of Tunnel Rats, All Bully, and Deepspace5, all of which Evans was a member. The album was released on October 2, 2001, through Deepspace5 Recordings, and was received modestly by critics.
Nephilim: Act of God 1 is the second studio album by hip hop musician Stu Dent, released November 14, 2003 through Illect Recordings. Stu Dent is an alternate moniker for Albany, New York artist Sev Statik, real name Joseph Evans. Evans originally created the Stu Dent pseudonym in order to release the album Altered State in 2001 without breaking his contractual obligations with Tunnel Rats, a hip hop musical collective of which he is part. Nephilim follows up on Altered State and the 2002 Sev Statik release Speak Life. The album includes production from Beat Rabbi and Freddie Bruno, fellow members of Deepspace5, a group Evans co-founded, and production and a guest appearance by JB!!, also known as Dirty Moses, a member of All Bully, another group that Evans helped found. Nephilim met with a highly positive reception from critics.
Ill Harmonics is a hip hop band from Dallas, Texas, formed in 1995 by Playdough and Blake Knight. In 2004, Gib, the brother of Blake Knight, joined the group as a drummer. Ill Harmonics has released four studio albums, An Octave Above The Original Volume No. 1 (2000), Take Two (2002), Monkey Business (2004), and Modern Heart Exhibit (2007), as well as a compilation sampler album with MG! the Visionary and Soup the Chemist, released in 2000 through Uprok. Both Playdough and Blake Knight have released solo material, and Playdough also performs and records with the supergroup Deepspace5.
Back to Dust is a studio album by Albany, New York-based rapper Sev Statik and Atlanta-based producer DJ Dust, originally released on October 9, 2007, through Rawkus Records. It was the fourth studio release by Sev Statik and the second studio release for DJ Dust. Back to Dust features numerous guest appearances, including Manchild and Playdough of Deepspace5, Theory Hazit, Supastition, LMNO of The Visionaries, and Raphi, Griffin, and Triune of Tunnel Rats. The album was selected by Rawkus for inclusion in its "Rawkus 50" promotional campaign, and was released as a digital download. A physical version of the album was released on July 7, 2008, through Braille's Hip Hop IS Music label. Back to Dust met with critical acclaim. In 2010, Theory Hazit released a remixed version of the album.
Group Therapy is the fourth studio album by Dallas-based Christian hip hop artist Sivion. It features guest appearances by 26 other artists, including Manchild, Sintax the Terrific, Ozay Moore, Sareem Poems, Propaganda, Jurny Big, Zane, Macho, DJ Aslan, and Shames Worthy. Released on October 15, 2013, through Illect Recordings, it was met with a mixed reception from critics.