EXCLUSIVES

Visionaries > Bombast from the Underground

Words by Erez Reuveni
Image by Motormouth Media
March 2004

For anyone familiar with hip hop's underground, Los Angeles is a melting pot of talent. While some of that talent occasionally rises to the surface of mainstream pop culture (Dilated Peoples and Jurassic Five likely ring a bell), many of the most talented acts out west lurk beneath the scope of mainstream radar. Ironically, most groups actively pursue their low-profile, eschewing the materialist glamour espoused on Top-40 radio and choosing to remain unknown to the masses-but also free to experiment with hip hop without an accountant sitting on their backs.

The LA sextet, the Visionaries, thrives in this environment. Founded in the mid-1990s when group members LMNO, 2Mex, Zen, Dannu, KeyKool, and DJ Rhettmatic acknowledged their chemistry as a unit, the Visionaries proceeded to drop two albums, Galleries and Sophomore Jinx, building up a large grass roots following in southern California with their distinctive, positive lyrical style, and their bombastic sonic backdrops.

With their third album, Pangaea, the group has produced their best work yet. The Visionaries primary beat-makers, KeyKool and DJ Rhettmatic, are joined behind the boards by several talented Cali guests, including the Shape Shifters, the Beat Junkies, and OHNO. "In LA, everyone knows everyone," says KeyKool. "The hip hop community is this close-knit entity and we're all down with each other." This sense of community has lent Pangaea some of the finest beats to come out of the West in the past five years. The Visionaries adhere to an older mode of beat-making, with each track laced with quality backdrops, intelligent samples, and plenty of scratches.

But while the Visionaries draw inspiration for their beats from the DJ traditions of the golden age of rap, they also look to the future, utilizing technology to perfect their music. "I have an Emu SP 1200 drum sampler, an AKAI MPC-2000, and a Sonic ASR-10 keyboard sampler," notes Rhettmatic. "But I also record using a Pro Tools system on a G4 power Mac®."

Rhettmatic and the Visionaries aren't alone amongst the hip hop community in using a Pro Tools or similar system while recording music. As music enters the new millennium, an increasing number of up and coming DJs and producers are using computers as mixing consoles and even instruments. "We come from a generation that likes to bang out beats the old-fashioned way," remarks Rhettmatic. "But all these new kids are using Cool Edit or Fruity Loops. In fact, I'd love to have a PowerBook® so I can make beats on the road." KeyKool agrees, although he still prefers the hands-on approach to music. "It's awkward to click a mouse and move things around. It gets tedious, especially when I'm on the computer all day doing other things. I'd rather use a keyboard."

But while differences of opinion regarding the place of a computer in music abound both in the greater musical community and amongst the Visionaries, those differences are predicated on preference rather than dogma. And unlike most groups, jealousy and ego don't seem to distract from the Visionaries' mission of making music. "We've learned to harness the order and chaos that come from being a group of six," says LMNO. "We understand that ideas stem from one brain and from there the idea spreads and spirals into this positive thing."

In fact, the Visionaries are a prominent example of a hip hop act that understands that different group members bring different strengths to the recording studio and the stage. "It's almost like a basketball team," remarks LMNO. "You play together for a few years, and all of a sudden you know who's good at what, who's going to shine where, and everyone's roles and positions a little better, so you start playing better together."

The positivity the group evokes in their lyrics stems from the equilibrium supported by each group member's modesty. "This thing [hip hop] is bigger than us," say KeyKool. And the modesty that influences the way each group member handles himself spills over into the message their music delivers. On V-Peat, 2Mex intones, "Just reach me on America offline/ and teach me how the miracles cross time/ I am your disciple/ I print my prayers in circles and spin them in cycles/ remember, that God is in you/ but remember, that God isn't you," while on the first track, Pangaea, opens with the refrain, "We started as one, then we drifted / separated as continents that shifted / all the pieces fit / can't you see the togetherness / visionary Pangaea."

The activist and uplifting messages interspersed through the group's music forms the heart of their lyrical content. But KeyKool notes that their positivity might foreclose a wider audience, albeit one whose loss may not be worth lamenting. "Our music appeals to a certain type of person," notes KeyKool, "someone open-minded enough to enjoy it. We just hope to reach more people and spread that message. It not just about hip hop, it's a much bigger conscious collective."

Either way, with Pangaea, the Visionaries have produced an album worthy of any hip hop fan's collection. Consummate beats and upbeat lyrics form the backbone of the latest offering to the genre from the LA scene.

Pangaea, on Up Above Records is on stores February 24th.

www.upabove.com