Owned And Operated

In 2008, during his first weeks at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Kamal Ghammache-Mansour came up with the idea to create a hip-hop group that incorporated elements of Jazz, Funk, Rock, Latin, and other musically creative styles. He wanted music that sounded live, with improvised solos and complex rhythms and feels that pushed away from the typical synthesized beats that are so commonly heard now in the rap/hip-hop genre. After adding Philadelphian Erik "E-Boogie" Kramer (Bass) and Virginia's Joe "jayDub" Welch (Drums), the group started rehearsing, adding musicians to the group including; Mikey Dreads (Guitar), Kristofferson Pegram (Keys), Noah Frank aka DJ Herban (Trumpet), Toby "Junior Bird" Forman (Alto Sax), Mr. Barclay Moffitt (Tenor Sax), and Ryan The Dragon (Trombone). The band has gone through some changes recently, letting go of the horn section to strengthen the sound of the core. Also, Welch left the group to be replaced with Joey "Clutch" Palmer. After experimenting with many names and titles for a band name, the group settled with "Owned and Operated," as it could inexpensively be advertised around the city with the term already printed on the side of almost every cab in Boston.