Eye 2 Eye
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Eye 2 Eye

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"Eye SCREAMS"

>> Montreal’s Eye 2 Eye bust a Halloween hip-hopera


by RALUCA STATE

Take two young MCs and one red-hot DJ and what do you have? A typical hip hop trio. Now meet Eye 2 Eye. Two young MCs, Mark Broady (Second Thought) and Doug Barber (June Sixth), one red-hot DJ, Jeremy Rubin (DJ You Know Who), and yet there’s nothing typical about them. Rap has been done, but never quite like this.

After spicing up house parties with their freestyling talents for years, in 2001 the two rapping 25 year olds incorporated Broady’s thought-provoking lyrics with Barber’s acting/directing background, threw in Rubin to juggle the beats, and formed the concept of Eye 2 Eye, Montreal’s first theatrical rap group, incorporating hip hop with theatre.

“It’s a musical,” Barber explains, “like how a music video will take a song and add a story and introduce characters, that’s what we do on stage. This is not how people know rap.” In May ’01, the Think Twice Show told their first audience the story of two young city kids trying to escape a life of crime through a combination of dialogue, theme music and rap. “If the first thing they see is a scene being acted out,” Broady says, “people are like, what’s this? Then they start hearing the music, hearing us rap, and they realize, these guys are serious, these guys can rap.”

And rap they did. They quickly gained respect from local hip hop artists like Offsides and Arkade. Their single “Goin’ Fishin’” found its way onto Kahnawake’s K103 and won the Battle of the New Tracks 10 consecutive nights, beating out heavyweights like Usher and Michael Jackson (well, former heavyweights) before finally retiring into regular rotation. In 2001, they were the first non-rock act to ever win the annual Battle of the Bands at Clyde’s in Pointe-Claire. “Rock is all about relationships and love,” Barber says. “Rap is me. This is me. It is my turn to talk and you’re going to fucking listen. Hip hop puts more emphasis on the lyrics, you have to listen to the words.”

That’s where the true talent seems to lie. Eye 2 Eye has taken a different stance on urban hip hop and it can be heard in their lyrics. Yes, there are humorous tracks like “Goin’ Fishin’” that recollects a day of hunting bass and drinking Heineken, but there are also atypical rhymes like “Serve and Protect,” a foray into the fragile mind of a policeman rather than the usual tale of police brutality. “We have something worthwhile to say, it’s not just blunts, martinis, girls and guns,” Broady explains. “We have thought-provoking ideas that make people listen to our stuff and go home and think about it, like a really good movie would. Our shows have the same effect. They are like a really good movie.”

The latest show is sure to deliver more of the same. The second annual Shiver Show (last year’s bash drew close to 400 revellers, all in costume) is Eye 2 Eye’s ode to Halloween. “It’s got scary themes to it. It’s got June Sixth and Second Thought on another adventure at Halloween and it’s going to scare you.” :

The Shiver Show is at Studio Just For Laughs on
Saturday, Oct. 26, 10pm, $13 (proceeds will
go to leukemia research and the Omar Sheikh Foundation)

- Montreal Mirror


Discography

The Eye - EP - 2003
Holiday Fever - Mix CD - 2003
Facts Of War - LP - 2004
Legendary Gatherings - LP - 2005
HELP! - single - www.myspace.com/eye2eyeprodcutions
Can't Hide It - single - ICM feat. Raekwon from Wu Tang Clan - 2007

Performance Credits:
Vans Warped Tour 2005, 2007, 2008
Opening Act for:
Raekwon
CL Smooth
Planet Asia
Sean Price
Boot Camp

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Bio

WTF?! It's like Wu-Tang Clan meets the cast of Jack-Ass.
Who are these guys? You might think Eye 2 Eye belongs
on a skit from Saturday Night Live... that is, until you hear
their music. Raw, real, and shockingly powerful. Some of
their tracks would make the RZA himself jealous, while
others might have you collapsing in a piss-attack of
laughter. Offensive, witty, intelligent Hip-Hop from the
coolest white boys in Canada. Rumour has it they even
offer Wing-Man services for the bachelor who finds himself
on a dangerous solo mission. What Are You Looking At?!!!