R-SIDE

R-SIDE, HIP-HOP’S NEW STATUS QUO?

Following what seemed like the final sunset of America’s most prolific and influential genre of music came the dawn of America’s newest and worst nightmare. With hip-hop divided and in the midst of demise, four MCs decided to take a stand. Hailing from Queens, Brooklyn, and Long Island were rappers/songwriters Kay Famous and Ceez, and rappers/producers Capitol E and Jamel Ca$htro, collectively known in American art form as R-Side.

With each of them displaying different styles in their approach to hip-hop. The four pulled together from the two boroughs of New York City and the neighboring “Island of the Strong” to draw a line in the sand where people could chose to be on the Real Side (R-Side), or stick with the current status quo.

After the release of their debut mixtape, entitled The Relapse, their thirst and hunger for the game multiplied sevenfold, grabbing the attention of fans across the country. Shortly after requests to perform in fan selected cities were sent, and independent film makers jumped at the opportunity to have R-Sides’ music in their movies. With the drive, focus, and support of CEOs Levar Braham and Christopher Elliott of More Than Muzic, LLC, R-Side drew the attention and co-signing of Fatman Scoop, and garnered features on MTV’s Mixtape Monday as well as multiple Hip-Hop websites.

The desire to unify hip-hop has been articulated by many New York City MCs, but this group is anything but cliche. Although the streets of New York are notorious for molding typical rappers, each member of R-Side is unique in their background, their vision, their hustle, and their demeanor.

Roosevelt, Long Island’s Capitol E rapper/producer keeps the group’s rhythmic style on-point with his clever and innovative beats. Born Ellis Flynn, this 18-year-old has already laid down the musical blueprint for Kelly Rowland’s remix to “Work It (Put It In).” As the main producer for R-Side, alongside his partner Travis Ricketts ~the second half of his production company E.N.T~ this metrical mastermind first took the long road to musical production at the tender age of 14. Born of Jamaican descent, this West Indian was destined to create rhythms, and thus inherited the natural instinct of visualizing the perfect lyrical flow and swagger over his beats, something he noticed the artists he was working with repeatedly failed to attain. Ready to put his artistic visualizations into action, Capitol E stepped into the art of rhyming, and is now tackling the rap game from both angles. Although Capitol E has already been compared to the likings of producers Pharrell and Timbaland, he still possesses a pizzazz and flavor all his own.

19-year old Ceez started out as a young rapper from the streets of Jamaica, Queens. In the midst of finding his style, charisma, most notable signature flow, and dexterity with songwriting as an up-and-coming MC, the Jamaican kid known to many as Chris Neufville linked up with Lloyd Banks’ younger brother, Anthony Lloyd, with whom he began to spit rhymes. Although Anthony was a mutual friend of both Ceez and Ca$htro, the two never crossed paths, and it wasn’t until Ca$htro joined R-Side that Ceez and Ca$htro worked together. At the age of 15, Ceez packed up and moved from out of the familiarity of the New York City streets and headed right across the way to Long Island. It was there that Ceez used his Queens-bred flow and applied it in his new place of residence, where he quickly picked up clout as one of the best MCs in his Long Island neighborhood. It wasn’t long before Ceez linked up with Kay Famous, with whom he created the duo 2 Deep, which later fused with Capitol E to form R-Side.

Kay Famous, a Long Island native (born of African Heritage as Karim Aliyu) is affectionately known by his middle name, Yemi. This MC is known most for capturing his audience though his sound and clarity in voice as well as emphasis in his flow. At 18-years-old, this young songwriter started out four years earlier as a high school freshman in a group called 2 Deep, made complete with Chris Neufville, aka Ceez.

It was three years ago in a studio ran by Capitol E that, unbeknownst to them at that moment, ultimately paved the way for R-Side’s future. As Kay Famous recorded a song with his partner Ceez, Capitol E’s witty imagination and gift of creative visualization came into full force, landing him on the track as a finishing touch.

The song was a success. Kay Famous’ foresight and song formatting ability in placing Capitol E on the track prompted the three to mutually agree on pursuing music full time. Once Capitol E placed all bets down, the threesome became R-Side.

Straight out of the streets of Canarsie, Brooklyn is Jamel Ca$htro, the second producer for R-Side. This 18-year-old, who, on a rolling basis, currently resides between Brooklyn and Long Isla