theBREAX

Artist Information

Biography

People want more from Hip-Hop. People want responsibility, integrity, and hope. theBREAX give the people what they really want more of. They make music that is true to the roots of Hip-Hop and true to the hopes and dreams of the people who love it. theBREAX make Hip-Hop that the people deserve– genuine, provocative and refreshing.

theBREAX are the type of guys people relate to and rally around. They are fathers, husbands, and leaders who aren’t ashamed of their faith, and who champion real
manhood and integrity.

Front man, Ruslan, is an Armenian refugee born in Baku, Azerbaijan. He moved to San Diego as a child in the 1990’s after his family fled from religious persecution in
their own country. Ruslan would later meet Beleaf, a Baltimore native who was nearly homeless and moved to San Diego in search of a new beginning. The two formed a
fast friendship around their shared love for Hip-Hop.

Ruslan eventually gave Beleaf a set of turntables and encouraged him to put his love for music into action. Beleaf instantly discovered his talent as a DJ and MC. The duo
discovered they shared not only a love for Hip-Hop, but a burning desire to get better and a commitment to perfect their craft. Together, they decided to form a Hip-Hop crew
that would make an impact on the San Diego community, urban culture, and the world.

theBREAX have been doing exactly that. The crew has grown to include Mic B on drums, Jruckers on keys, and Bam on bass. Together, they have cultivated a large
and diverse community of loyal fans through their own headlining shows, and opening up for world-class acts such as Wu-Tang, Mobb Deep, Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, Arrested Development, Lecrae, War, and Fred Hammond.

theBREAX fan community (known as BREAXheads) has responded to their unique brand of Hip-Hop in an equally positive way. When theBREAX released their debut
album, “Never Arrive,” in December, 2011, it rocketed to #3 on the iTunes Hip-Hop charts.

The continued success of the album and their booked shows across the country serve as proof that theBREAX are giving people what they really want more of-- Hip-Hop that
is genuine, provocative, and refreshing. Positive Hip-Hop that encourages and inspire people

Instrumentation

Jruckers - keys
Brian "Bam" Morrow - Bass
Mic B - Drums
Ruslan - MC vocals
Beleaf - Turntables

Discography

theBREAX - Never Arrive 2012
theBREAX - Parting Gift 2011
theBREAX - BREAX OVER 3 Mixtape 2011
theBREAX - BREAX OVER 2 Mixtape 2011
theBREAX - Brilliant Realness / More Of (Maxi Single) 2011
theBREAX - BREAX OVER Mixtape 2011
Ruslan solo - The Prequel EP 2010
Ruslan solo Right Out Loud Mixtape - 2010
Restocked 1.5 (digital release) - 2009
Broken Television Hybrid DVD - 2009
When theBREAX Sold Out - 2008
theBREAX (Eye Am Productions, re-released by Rawkus Records) - 2007

Links

• Facebook
• Twitter
• MySpace

Audio

• Never Arrive (feat. Lecrae & J.R.)
  Listen  
• Get Better
  Listen  
• Down (feat. Sean C Johnson)
  Listen  
• Welcome to the show (feat. Blame One)
  Listen  
• Charisma feat Fonzworth Bentley
  Listen  
• More Of (produced by Lex Luthorz)
  Listen  
• Passion Art (Yap Yap) feat. DJ Wade-O
  Listen  
• Brilliant Realness (feat. Sho Baraka & Produced by Jruckers)
  Listen  
• Have you Seen Her (Spoken Word)
  Listen  

Video

2012 Naca EPK

theBREAX EPK

Photo Gallery

Press

• Local San Diego Press [+ Show ]
  

  With a live drummer and a flair for the past, TheBreax is a strong hip-hop trio--that is, if you can...With a live drummer and a flair for the past, TheBreax is a strong hip-hop trio--that is, if you can handle a little Jesus in your rhyme. It's not all Sunday school, but there's a good dose of father, son and the holy ghost. MC Ruslan has a strong percussive flow, gruff-voiced as he toasts positive things and disses his superficial counterparts. DJ Beleaf puts the old-school Philly soul samples to good use, even if copyright hawks might eventually have their lawyers get in touch. But the strength of their recent self-titled album got the attention of Rawkus Records, which proclaimed them one of the "50 Next Important Hip-Hop Artists."
  

• Okayplayer.com Album Review [+ Show ]
  

  With roots in spoken word, The Breax center their style around poetry. Nothing out of the ordinary, ...With roots in spoken word, The Breax center their style around poetry. Nothing out of the ordinary, but this is a rockier road than your average head would like to admit. People can hate on G-Unit all they want, but tea-drinking, intellectual rappers can be as violently clichéd as the most gangstafied and snappy shit on MTV.
  
  Fortunately, The Breax are professionals, and they’re far from the coffee house amateurs Phonte rips on “The Yo-Yo.” But with a successful background performing slam poetry (and still performing), they’re able to tackle a normally difficult approach to lyricism (some call it conscious) with expertise. Emcee Ruslan, who handles the bulk of microphone time, is insanely natural over a beat, flowing with great confidence and dexterity, while his subject matter hits on his sexuality, race, upbringing and more.
  
  An underlying theme on The Breax’ eponymous album is discontent for the mainstream, much like indie favorites Little Brother. But also like LB, they’re somehow able to present played-out ideas with flair and efficiency. They have fantastic things to say and Ruslan is an outstanding linguist with much on his chest, but the overall packaging is messy. The unnecessary inclusion of bonus tracks, making most of the songs 7-8 minutes in length, is inconvenient, but the album flows well from end to end, and The Breax prove to be a promising team.
  
  - Matt Tomer
  

• theBREAX Help redefine West Coast Hip-Hop [+ Show ]
  

  theBREAX If you were to ask someone to name the hottest emcees from the West Coast the general publ...theBREAX
  If you were to ask someone to name the hottest emcees from the West Coast the general public will most likely say NWA, Snoop, Tha Dogg Pound, Ice Cube, Cypress Hill, Xzibit, Tupac, E-40, etc., etc.
  
  Although Death Row Records and a host of other artists had the game on lock back in the day, if you were to ask me that same question I probably wouldn't even mention any of those rappers, give or take one or two. As a East Coast rider it was rare that I gave any love to the left coast but then I came across dope artists such as Casual, Souls of Mischief, The Pharcyde, Dilated Peoples, Blackeyed Peas and Jurassic 5. Just like when you purchase a CD from Amazon it'll state, "Customers who bought this album also bought such and such". I'm here to say, if you like emcees such as Souls of Mischief, The Pharcyde and Jurassic 5, you may also like theBREAX.
  

• Album Review [+ Show ]
  

  If you’ve been following the site here for a while, you know that one of my favorite American Gangst...If you’ve been following the site here for a while, you know that one of my favorite American Gangster remix albums is Eye Am Gangster, produced by Eye Am Productions. Eye Am Productions is the production side of the Southern Californian hip hop group The Breax. When I got wind that they had released an album around this time last year, I had to give it a listen and offer up my review.
  
  In a day and age where we have corporate radio dictating what good hip hop is and what we should be listening to, The Breax are breaking all the rules; pushing racial, spiritual, political, and musical boundaries. Some may call it intellectual hip hop. Some may call it progressive hip hop. Putting all labels aside, I’d like to just call it hip hop.
  
  The album opens with a jazzy little number, making myself question if I put the right CD in the player. When DJ Beleaf scratches in The Breax and the drums kick in, I realize this is not your average radio hip hop. Right off the bat, I notice the refreshing sound of live instrumentation. Hip hop has always been fueled by drum machines, samplers, and other electronic instruments. When a group uses live instruments, you can tell a difference. That’s not to say that The Breax doesn’t use any of the above mentioned equipment. Samples are used and DJ Beleaf scratches at the appropriate moments as if he were DJ Jazzy Jeff in his prime. Overall, production on this album is spot on and is everything I was expecting after only being introduced to Eye Am Gangster.
  
  Lyrically the album is very intelligent. Most of the verses are performed by emcee Ruslan, who speaks his mind without holding back. Discussing topics such as religion and the racial barriers he encountered growing up, the whole album sort of reads like an autobiography. At times the lyrics can get a little repetitive and maybe even a little self involved; if I had any problems with this album, that would be my only complaint. But it is very evident that Ruslan was born behind the mic and is very comfortable as his flow is flawless. When DJ Beleaf gets his turn at the mic, it’s usually during the few spoken word interludes, which are amazing. Beleaf has a knack for word play and you can tell that he has his audience’s attention as he twists his words into a story you weren’t even expecting. Beleaf’s spoken word interludes are a welcome addition to their musical journey. I hope The Breax consider including more of Beleaf’s poems in future albums.
  
  Overall, The Breax show promise and hope that hip hop can evolve, but I’m afraid that this album may not be for your average hip hop fan. This album takes an open mind and an appreciation for intellectual music. Once the listener understands the album’s message and where The Breax are coming from, then I guarantee they will enjoy this album.
  
  Notable tracks: “Ask A Simple Question”, “Yes”, “Why Fall In Love”
  

• The Run-Off Groove #149: I Want To Take You Higher [+ Show ]
  

  The breaks. An old Kurtis Blow song. An old hip-hop radio show in Atlanta, Georgia hosted by The DOP...The breaks. An old Kurtis Blow song. An old hip-hop radio show in Atlanta, Georgia hosted by The DOP and X-Amount. A website that is a guidebook for who samples what. A lot of variations, so it takes a lot to call yourself something similar, and expect for people to be into you because of a variable. Fortunately, TheBREAX are a group based in San Diego who are all about variables, and in fact have something to offer that a lot of other groups do not.
  
  The CD (released by Eye Am Productions) is from the minds of Beleaf Melanin, Mic B, and Ruslan. Together they deliver a positive message, which almost seems to be a rarity in today's marketplace. They do it in the spirit of their Christian beliefs, but this isn't D.C. Talk, nor do they go overboard with the spiritual references (as some Christian-based hip-hop tends to do). In fact, I would compare them to Time Machine in terms of wanting to stick to the style of hip-hop from their youth, but knowing very well it's about living for the now and the future. In other words, rap music with an old-school asthetic but still keeping things hot and for today's audiences. That is, for those who still care about the music that felt real.
  
  On this CD, they command the mic like well-precisioned MC's, and perhaps it helps that some of them have been involved in slam poetry, so one could say their perspective is varied and open to interpretations, not unlike Saul Williams. In a track like "Ask A Simple ?", Ruslan firmly makes his role in life known:
  
  Let me introduce who is on this microphone
  It's Ruslan, leave the wack raps alone
  I'm too strong, and the backpacks are gone
  That's aluminum, why you say you packing chrome?
  All that hooping and hollering about who got the dollars when
  90 percent of you cats following your sorrow and
  You can't really understand the wisdom of Solomon
  And why we keep following the most high
  How you are doing, what are you doing with your life
  What is the surface, what is the purpose, what's the price
  
  He goes on to say that he's not afraid to step up to "bubblegum-writing penpals", and does so with an effective hook/sample that helps take his lyrics home. It's not just someone dropping rhymes because he feels he is capable, Ruslan has some skills, and a flow that's like a cross between Heavy D. and that guy from Urban Dance Squad. A few songs later, they'll dip into something that has that crunk vibe, and one immediately wants to scream out "OH YEAH! OHHHHHHHKAAY!", but instead the lyrics aren't about partying and getting high. With his sensibilities though, I think Lil' Jon wouldn't mind dropping his voice on a few tracks for the sake of showing respect for quality music. Each of the guys assist in the production, and it varies track to track, but Mic B has the beats down (in fact the back cover shows a preview of what will be a CD of nothing but his own beats, played on a drum set by by Mic B himself).
  
  It's also nice to hear an album that makes a successful attempt in coming through with something different on each track, not just fodder for the ultimate megamixes. I like this a lot, and I look forward to hearing more from this collective, as well as their individual projects.
  

• THEBREAX - MORE OF (DAILY FEATURE) [+ Show ]
  

  Way back in March of 2009, theBREAX introduced themselves to Booth readers with For What, a retro-in...Way back in March of 2009, theBREAX introduced themselves to Booth readers with For What, a retro-informed single so fresh that, by the time listeners realized the Cali trio were preaching a very different message from your average hip-hop act, they were already hooked. Two years later, they’re back with, well, More Of the same: uniquely dope hip-hop music designed to get heads nodding to the Good News. Lex Luthorz handles the beat, flipping some African-style chants a la Kanye‘s Power as rappers Ruslan, Beleaf, Mic B showcase a commitment to dope lyricism as ironclad as their faith; whether you agree or disagree, you’ve gotta respect emcees who can lace a beat with lines like “...pseudo-spirituality mixed with postmodernistic thought only causes more casualties.” So, have theBREAX succeeded in elevating your spirit – or least gotten your toes tapping? Keep it locked; though this is just a promo single, you can rest assured we’ll bring you all the latest news and tunes!
  
  Read more: http://www.djbooth.net/index/tracks/review/thebreax-more-of/#ixzz1HTkC6N7f
  on DJBooth.net

• Video: theBREAX – More Of/ At The Core [+ Show ]
  

  Creativity and passion are two elements emcees need for my approval (IMO). theBREAX are quickly beco...Creativity and passion are two elements emcees need for my approval (IMO). theBREAX are quickly becoming one of my favorite underground groups because they embody these two elements, WATCH.

Setlist

Set Length – 60-75 Minutes

We prefer to travel with our 5 piece band (DJ, Drums, Bass, Keys, MC) but we can do also do stripped down Hip-Hop sets (DJ & MC) or all Spoken Word Poetry Sets.

We have several projects worth of music we can pull with songs that connect with any audience and walk of life... Different venues require different approaches and we usually like the vibe with the environment, meet some people in the area before we develop our final set list for the show.

Basic Requirements

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