Granite State

New Hampshire isn’t synonymous with hip-hop music, but when Brian Ladd (aka Bugout) and Doug York say they want to change that, it’s clear they’re serious. Together, the two lifelong friends make up the Exeter based hip-hop group Granite State. Be sure you don’t “get it twisted” though—this isn’t a pipe dream from some hack kids in the sticks.

Their debut album “The Breaking Point,” def(t)ly channels the universal battle of finding your place in life into a disc full of bangin’ beats, catchy hooks and nimble lyrical flow. The Sirius Satellite Radio channel “Hip Hop Nation” picked their song “Gone With the Wind” for their prestigious “Top Five Hit List,” and fans from Australia, Europe and around the United States continue to fill their e-mail inbox and MySpace page with praise. The journey to make music almost broke them, but instead of giving up they turned their fight into an impressive musical debut that’s more likely to break them onto the national hip-hop radar....

read more at:
http://www.wirenh.com/Music/Music_-_general/anthem_for_the_struggle_200606141329.html
- The Wire

Take a look at the top selling rappers in the country. Eminem, 50 Cent, T.I., chamillionaire, and the others all rapping about growing up in ghetto, guns, money, drugs, hoes, jail, etc. It’s almost like there’s a checklist to become a famous rap artist.
Now enter Granite State, the duo of Exeter wordsmiths Bugout and Doug York. On their first release, "The Breaking Point," the two stick to their roots and rap about growing up in New Hampshire. These two are not trying to be something they aren’t.

However, that doesn’t mean they don’t have something to prove....

read more at: http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/05162006/it/103017.htm
- Portsmouth Herald

Exeter, New Hampshire, has finally produced something other than Beacon Hill-bound prep-school assholes. Doug York and Bugout are Granite State, the unlikely duo to drop this year's most intrepid rap palette so far. Much like how Bugout's meager small-town roots and Doug's Bronx beginnings contrast with the tacky blazer-and-tie lifestyle that breeds in Exeter's society sect, Granite State's grounded content is a proper juxtaposition to hip-hop's shallow side. Marketed properly, The Breaking Point could connect with Dust-Off-huffing Americans like no other album ever has—not because the group plays into school-bombing fantasies, but because Doug and Bugout brilliantly illustrate the plight of disenfranchised Mad Dog drinkers everywhere. [CHRIS FARAONE]
- The Weekly Dig

This summer's rap anthem didn't come from New York or Boston, as you might expect, but from Exeter, NH, the home base of Doug York and Bugout's hip-hop duo Granite State. Their DJ Statik Selektah-produced-single "What Up B?!" gives heads a bouncy beat happy-hour lyrics and hook that communicates the raging house party that probably went down in the studio when they recorded this track. - Boston Herald

Upscale and serene, Exeter, New Hampshire, is a town of many associations. You can get a great cup of organic free-trade coffee and then explore the funky shops around the town’s historic bandstand. One of the best documented close encounters with a UFO took place just outside of town in 1965. The Republican Party was born here in a secret meeting of abolitionists in 1853.

If Doug York and Bugout have their say, Exeter will soon be known as the birthplace of another durable institution: a world-famous hip hop band with the catchy name “Granite State.”

The two 20-something guys grew up here, their moms were friends. They were townie kids in a place that seemed to be ruled by the preppy denizens of Phillips Exeter Academy. But their ears were tuned to the gritty music and ecstatic poetry of the streets of cities far away — Brooklyn, Baltimore, Los Angeles. The school also brought some cultural diversity to lily white Exeter, which fueled a fire in them and eventually gave it an outlet. With a small circle of friends, they started in the basement, scratching discs, rapping freestyle about the news of the day and laying out beats with pause tapes, but eventually Doug and Bug got a sweet spot as hip hop DJs — the sole townie voices on Phillips Exeter’s radio station.

Their reputation grew and soon they were circulating a boisterous party anthem, “What Up B?!” on the Internet and on home-burned discs to a strong word-of-mouth following. When they took the plunge and booked Exeter’s Ioka Theater for their first-ever public performance as Granite State, they filled the 550 seats and had to turn away about 40 late-comers.

Their first CD, “The Breaking Point,” is selling well and attracting attention from the kinds of labels that signed the artists that attracted them to rap and hip hop in the first place. They have fans in Utah, Australia and Japan, but they really adhere to the state that gave them their name — both geographically and conceptually.

“A Granite State of mind is an understanding with a firm ambition,” says Bug, and the two artists along with their partner/DJ JP Callahan are fully committed.

When asked what they will do if they fail to break into the big time, Doug remarks, “ I can’t see us not breaking. I can’t see us giving up.”

Even in a genre famous for braggadocio and self aggrandizement, it’s hard to argue with such confidence. With talent, marketing savvy and pure zeal on tap, Granite State’s future seems solid as a rock. Mature listeners (this is serious rap) should check them out at www.granitestatemusic.com.
- New Hampshire Magazine

"Granite State has a chance to change the face of hip-hop, and The Breaking Point is a solid foundation for it. A sophomore follow-up will most definitely tear down the walls and make the name they deserve." -Michael Blinn, Portsmouth Herald


"The lyrics that Doug York and Bugout drop, work well with the tracks and show promise and intelligence beyond your average underground MCs." -Scott Ronan, SaveHipHop.com


“The first week “The Breaking Point” was released, Granite State was Newbury Comics’ top-selling artist.” -Courtney Denison, One Foot out The Door


"Their debut album "The Breaking Point," def(t)ly channels the universal battle of finding your place in life into a disc full of bangin' beats, catchy hooks and nimble lyrical flow. The Sirius Satellite Radio channel "Hip Hop Nation" picked their song "Gone With the Wind" for their prestigious "Top Five Hit List," and fans from Australia, Europe and around the United States continue to fill their e-mail inbox and MySpace page with praise. The journey to make music almost broke them, but instead of giving up they turned their fight into an impressive musical debut that's more likely to break them onto the national hip-hop radar...." -Jon Nolan, The Wire


"Doug York and Bugout are Granite State, the unlikely duo to drop this year's most intrepid rap palette so far." -Chris Faraone, The Weekly Dig


"The beats on the album are enough to blow all of their opposition out of the way." -Michael Blinn, Portsmouth Herald


"This is life as Doug York and Bugout see it: Raw, penetrating, desperate, and vibrant…This is hip-hop as it was meant to be -- in our faces, up front, and real." -Alex R. Knight III


"This summer's rap anthem didn't come from New York or Boston, as you might expect, but from Exeter, NH, the home base of Doug York and Bugout's hip-hop duo Granite State. Their DJ Statik Selektah-produced-single "What Up B?!" gives heads a bouncy beat happy-hour lyrics and hook that communicates the raging house party that probably went down in the studio when they recorded this track." -Chris Faraone, The Hottest Songs of the Summer, Boston Herald


The banging “6 In The Morning” finds Joell Ortiz, Kool G Rap, and Sheek Louch flowing effortlessly about their past street life while its polar opposite “Got Me Goin’ (Hip-Hop)” features Slum Village and Granite State praising their love for the music with equal flavor. -rawkus.com (review of smnr: the album)


“The band’s do-it-yourself ethic is echoed in their music, which manages to tell stories of growing up in New Hampshire that everyone can identify with, despite being located out of the typical geography of hip-hop” -Courtney Denison, One Foot out The Door




www.myspace.com/granitestate www.granitestatemusic.com
- Various Publications