 | A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject.(November 2021) |
U-N-I | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Inglewood, Los Angeles and Seattle, Washington |
| Genres | Hip hop, trip hop |
| Years active | 2006–2011 |
| Labels | Honor Roll |
| Members | Yannick "Thurzday" Koffi Yonas "Y-O" Semere Michael |
| Website | Official Myspace |
U-N-I (short for "U-N-I To The Verse") are a hip hop duo from Inglewood, Los Angeles, consisting of Y-O (born Yonas Semere Michael) and Thurzday (born Yannick Koffi). [1] [2]
Y-O and Thurzday met in 1999 at St. Bernard High School in Westchester, California. They were originally part of a four-man group, the Rap-Ture Kamp, along with fellow St. Bernard student Ablaze and local producer Unjust Ant. [2] This crew released two mixtapes, Rap-Ture Kamp Unleash, Volume 1 and Jacking Beats. After graduation in 2006 they split from the Kamp and formed U-N-I, the name inspired by The Roots' 1996 album Illadelph Halflife. [2] [3] Thurz stated "To us, it's a first person statement. Myself and Y-O, U-N-I-verse, ain't nobody against us. It also stands for being universal and not being boxed into one sound." [4]
Y-O is the mohawk emcee whose name "Yonas" translates to "Soldier" in his native Ethiopian and he moved from Seattle, Washington to Inglewood, California in 1996. Thurzday is a descendant of both Côte d'Ivoire and Belize, taking his moniker from his last name "Koffi" which translates in Ghana's native language of Akan to "boy born on Friday." [5]
U-N-I who profess to be die hard sneaker aficionados flipped The Wu-Tang Clan's "C.R.E.A.M" into the 2007 hit song "K.R.E.A.M." (Kicks Rule Everything Around Me) which to date has received 430,000 hits on YouTube. [6] That same year the duo released their satirically titled street album Fried Chicken & Watermelon which contained 14 songs including the single "Beautiful Day" and "Phat Girls," an ode to bigger women. “Beautiful Day” has received over 1.2 million views on YouTube, [7] and garnered international acclaim from as far as the Czech Republic, Belgium and Germany. [2] The duo soon became a staple on the urban and alternative blogosphere [8] and received 5.5 million profile views on Myspace. [9] Subsequently, they were signed by ICM Agency and opened up for artists including Lupe Fiasco, 50 Cent, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Wale, Ludacris, Busta Rhymes, The Roots and Redman. They were named "Best Breakout LA Artist" at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, [10] featured in URB Magazine's “NEXT 100” & “NEXT 1000,” XXL Magazine's “New Kids in Town,” Billboard Magazine's “Acts to Watch,” The Source Magazine's “Unsigned Hype” & “Off the Radar,” Time Out New York's “The Volume,” MTVu's “The Hot Seat,” BET.com's “Rookies of the Year” and ending up on the “SoundBoard” of The Los Angeles Times while serving as the official hosts of MTV's “Sucka Free” [11] - on the strength of their observant, life-affirming rhymes that revolved around everything from limited-edition sneakers to cosmic existentialism and old-school video games to musings on life and actress Lauren London.
In October 2008 their rendition of "Stakes is High" was featured on The Honor Roll Mixtape (DJ Mick Boogie) while the remix to "Beautiful Day" featured Big Pooh and Evidence of Dilated Peoples. In February 2009 to set the precedent for their second album “A Love Supreme” the duo released the mixtape "Before There was Love" (DJ Mick Boogie) featuring collabs with Talib Kweli, Aloe Blacc, Fashawn, Mickey Factz, Evidence, and Kes Kaos. [12]
In February 2009 while promoting the debut LP A Love Supreme they were featured in UK's Dazed & Confused Magazine where music editor Tim Noakes said, “They are the youthful epitome of colour and cadence.” [13] In Summer 2009 they secured a record deal with Mountain Dew’s Green Label Sound for the release of the single “Land of the Kings.” [14] Their music videos for "Beautiful Day," "Soul Hop" “Lately” f/ Miguel, “Windows,” “Black Sky” and “Land of the Kings” all went into rotation on MTV Jams, MTVu, Sucka Free and MTV2. [15] In Fall 2009 they headed out on a successful nationwide tour with Warren G, Kidz in the Hall Curtains and Theo Martins. [16]
In March 2010 they released the follow-up to their LP A Love Supreme 2.0 which contained 5 new tracks as well as a remixes with Evidence, Bun B and Jive Recording R&B Artist Miguel [17]
The duo have been credited with reviving the "true essence" of hip-hop, rejecting the Gangsta rap style that had become common. [1] [18] In 2007 Billboard Magazine said the duo were “born from the ashes of gangsta rap.” [19]
Alan Daniel Maman, professionally known as the Alchemist, is an American hip hop producer, DJ, rapper, and entrepreneur. He began his music career in 1991 in the hip hop duo the Whooliganz under the moniker Mudfoot, along with now-actor Scott Caan. He has produced music since the 1990s.
Dre & Vidal is a songwriting and production duo consisting of Andre Harris and Vidal Davis, who are best known as the main producers for Jill Scott and Glenn Lewis. Alumni of DJ Jazzy Jeff's A Touch of Jazz production team, Dre & Vidal were also instrumental in the production of Musiq Soulchild's first album.
Byron Dwayne "Guilty" Simpson is an American rapper and songwriter from Detroit, Michigan whose recording career spans more than 20 years. He is signed to Stones Throw Records, and is known for being one of the late producer J Dilla's favorite rappers.
Johnson Barnes III, better known by his stage name Blu, is an American rapper and record producer from Los Angeles, California. He performs as one half of the duo Blu & Exile, which was formed in 2007 and whom released their debut studio album, Below the Heavens in July of that year. He is also the forefront member of the California-based collective, Dirty Science. He is recognized for his collaborative albums with record producers Mainframe, Ta'Raach, Bombay, Damu the Fudgemunk, Madlib, Nottz, and Union Analogtronics.
Lawrence "Kris" Parker, better known by his stage names KRS-One and Teacha, is an American rapper from The Bronx. He rose to prominence as part of the hip hop group Boogie Down Productions, which he formed with DJ Scott La Rock in the mid-1980s. KRS-One is known for his songs "Sound of da Police", "Love's Gonna Get'cha ", and "My Philosophy". Boogie Down Productions received numerous awards and critical acclaim in their early years. Following the release of the group's debut album, Criminal Minded, fellow artist Scott La Rock was shot and killed, but KRS-One continued the group, effectively as a solo project. He began releasing records under his own name in 1993. He is politically active, having started the Stop the Violence Movement after La Rock's death. He is also a vegan activist, expressed in songs such as "Beef". He is widely considered an influence on many hip-hop artists.
The following is a list of productions by !llmind, an American hip hop producer. He has had a number of co-written and/or produced singles and studio albums reach the Billboard 200 charts since the mid-2000s, including his 2010 album Live from the Tape Deck. He has also worked with musicians such as Joell Ortiz, Symbolyc One, Skyzoo, and 50 Cent.
Santiago Leyva, known by his stage name Fashawn, is an American hip hop recording artist from Fresno, California. He first gained major attention after releasing his debut album Boy Meets World in 2009, which was produced entirely by Exile. The album received critical acclaim and landed him on the cover of XXL Magazine's Top 10 Freshmen issue in 2010. Since then, Fashawn has collaborated with other artists and producers such as Nas, J. Cole, Wiz Khalifa, Evidence, Murs, Aloe Blacc, Blu, Big Mike, Brother Ali, The Alchemist, and 9th Wonder. In 2014, Fashawn performed the entrance theme to WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley's rematch against Manny Pacquiao.
Brandun DeShay, stylized as brandUn DeShay, is an American rapper, songwriter and record producer from Chicago, Illinois. He produced for all of his releases. Aside from his solo career, DeShay was an early member of the Los Angeles-based hip hop collective Odd Future.
Yannick "Thurz" Koffi is a solo artist from Inglewood, Los Angeles. He is a descendant of both the Ivory Coast and Belize, taking his moniker from his last name "Koffi" which translates in Ghana's native language of Akan to "boy born on Friday".
This article summarizes the events, album releases, and album release dates in hip hop music for the year 2012.
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William Thomas Trenell Brown, known professionally as Willie B or by the stage name The Ichiban Don, is an American hip hop record producer and recording artist from Los Angeles, California. He is an original member of West Coast hip hop production team Digi+Phonics of Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE). He is also a member of the hip hop collective A Room Full of Mirrors, alongside fellow rappers Punch and Daylyt, among others.
Fly Union were an American hip hop group from Columbus, Ohio. The group consists of production duo MnkeyWrench and rapper Jerreau. Rapper Vada Azeem was also a founder and member of the collective before leaving the group in 2008. They are most notable for their debut studio album, TGTC , which reached the number one spot on iTunes' New Hip Hop chart in 2011.
Sunset Blvd. is the debut LP by Detroit-based hip hop duo Yancey Boys, released on October 29, 2013 by Yancey Media Group in conjunction with Delicious Vinyl and distributed through Traffic Entertainment Group. The record is built around a recently unearthed batch of music created by Illa J's late elder brother, James "J Dilla" Yancey. The album features the latter's past collaborators like De La Soul's Posdnuos, Slum Village's T3, Common, The Pharcyde's Slimkid3 and Talib Kweli. Additional guests on Sunset Blvd. include DJs Rhettmatic, C-Minus, and J. Rocc as well as rapper Guilty Simpson and R&B singer Eric Roberson.
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"Shit" is a song by American hip hop recording artist Future. It was released on September 24, 2013, as the third single from his second studio album, Honest (2014). The song has since peaked at number 34 on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.
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Emekwanem Ogugua Biosah Jr., known professionally as Maxo Kream, is a Nigerian-American rapper. His debut album Punken was released in 2018, and the follow-up and major label debut, Brandon Banks, was released in 2019.
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Alexandra Elizabeth Nicks(born December 2, 1993), better known as OMB Bloodbath is an American rapper from Houston. She is currently signed to Love Renaissance (LVRN) and Interscope Records.
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