The new age crew

A New Age began in 1999 after a fierce lyrical battle between two rival emcees. When a winner could not be decided, Kale (Travis Wells) and Flex (Marcus Write) decided to settle their differences shortly thereafter and began crafting an album in 2001. Seeking help from friends also immersed in hip hop culture, the duo ended up on north 3rd street where longtime school-mate C-Sharp (Carl Coats) was perfecting his skills on the turntables. After an intense night of hip hop collaboration, DJ C-Sharp became the third member of the New Age. As time passed and many high school talent shows were annihilated, eventually college began, Flex went his separate way, and it appeared the New Age had come to an end.

But once a New Age has begun, it cannot be stopped.

Out of nowhere, classmate Will Freeman dropped a full album of original beats begging for remix and additional lyrical mastery. Thus Kale was reborn as Traverse, and New Age's flagship album, The Exhibition, was released. Combining Traverse's off-the-head lyrical style and C-Sharp's fusion of new and old-school turntablism, the New Age began gaining momentum. "After The Exhibition we really got a feel for the fans and people unexpectedly embraced what we were doing," says Traverse. The album was incredibly popular on campus, but classes were the least of concerns at this point for the hip hop pair. C-Sharp and Traverse left college within months of each other and headed back to Philadelphia to begin promoting the newly crafted Exhibition. On a hot summer's day outside of Tower Records, a strange twist of fate led musical innovator First Degree directly to the New Age, who instinctively said, "we have to combine drum and bass with hip hop." With the city of brotherly love as their muse, the three began constructing beats and rhymes non-stop, and the New Age began growing. Combing their efforts with musical programmer Travyss Gaston (Ntlthsnxplds) and multimedia artist Erik Hierhager (er0k), the New Age released their second album, Non-Applicable, under the independent label Surroscape. Soon after hearing N/A, childhood friend and drummer Gary Jackson (Grand MB) joined the group and added the clarity and structure of live drums, while bassist/sound engineer Dan Grebb also joined forces for the upcoming album, The Industrial rEvolution.

Collaborating with other artists in and around Philadelphia, the New Age possess a unique ability to change styles in an instant. Elements of drum and bass, old school hip hop, electronica, and industrial rock are all embraced by the group, making it nearly impossible to confine them to any specific genre. Whether live on stage or in the studio the New Age never stop innovating.