Symantix
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Symantix

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The best kept secret in music

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"Rising Star"

Being a femcee (for the uninitiated, that's female + emcee) aint easy. Granted, there have been estrogen-fueled rappers out there since the dawn of this fine urban genre — Funky 4+1 had Sha-Rock and neo-soul darling Angie Stone began life an Angie B. with the all-girl hip hop trio, the Sequence - but, if there were ever a gender war between the world's lyricists, the ladies would be overwhelmingly outnumbered be their testosterone-oozing adversaries. However, let us please move away from this talk of war, for there's enough violence as it is in rap music. What we need is a return to the fun-loving and intelligent female rappers of days long gone. For those of you who crave more then forced thug attitude, graphic sex rhymes and excessive flesh bearing from the current crop of ladies in hip hop comes a devil with a blue mic who goes by the name Symantix.
Born Lakeisha McCoy, this femcee is genuinely dedicated to the study of the language of hip-hop, right down to naming herself semantics — the study of the meaning of language. Raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, young Lakeisha was always a cut above her peers. As early as 10 years-old she began constructing her rhymes, and by age 15 her rhymes would win her numerous poetry contests, even landing her some local fame in a Pittsburgh newspaper. She'd continue to mix the language of hip-hop with education when she used it to get into college. While most kids write long-and-boring self-congratulatory college application essays, Symantix dared to be different and submitted a rhyme titled "Black and Proud." This essay got her into the prestigious scientific university, Carnegie Mellon. Though she went off to college, she never once turned her back on hip-hop.
Following college, Lakeisha fully became her alter ego, Symantix, moving to Washington D.C. and joining the Freestyle Union. With the Union, she honed her skills as a freestyle rapper — a skill she believes is necessary to become a thorough and well-respected artist. With that in check, Symantix settled in Harlem and took to the road. Hopping between major cities like New York, Atlanta, Washington D. C and Pittsburgh, she's hit up popular venues and events such as Joe's Pub, SOB's, Jack Rose, CBGB's, the Izzy Bar, Soul Café, the Studios Museum of Harlem, the Hip-Hop Theater Festival, the Lions Den and B-Girl Manifesto. She also opened for Nona Hendrix, former member of the popular '70s trio LaBelle (fronted by the world famous Patti Labelle), as well as proved her worth countless times by holding her own in the "End of the Weak MC" competitions and in the twenty-six female battle royal, "Set if Off." And as far as stepping away from the battlefield, Sym has the ability to mellow out and is a regular at the Black Lily showcase - a jazz-inspired hip-hop/neo-soul venue that has featured performers like India Arie, Jill Scott, Floetry, Kindred and many others.
Having recently signed to the Indie label Blackout Entertainment and released her debut CD (The Devil With The Blue Mic,) Symantix is out to prove that the ladies of hip-hop can hit it big wile still providing substance through their music. Citing the likes of the Wu Tang, The Fugees, Curtis Mayfield and Jimi Hendrix as some of her major influences, with the exception of underground sensation Jean Grae, this girl is doing something that hasn't really been tackled since Lauryn Hill was in the spotlight. The video for her single featuring the socially conscious and always political Dead Prez can be seen across the nation on MTV, and she can also be seen as the narrator in Def Film Maker's The Incredible Cluck or Free-styling rhymes in The Boom Boom Room: A Hip-Hop Documentary. With plenty of charisma, humor and intelligence, this fun-lovin', venom-spittin' she-devil is ready-and-willing to introduce the world to her shiny blue mic.
—A.Q. Casanovas
Black Beat Magazine

- Black Beat Magazine


"Can a Woman Make it in Hip Hop?"

Can a female make it in this industry if she doesn't act like a sex goddess or a gangsta bitch? Well, after Lauryn Hill went on to sell over 8 million copies of her solo album and Eve followed not far behind her... I'd have to say hell yeah. Today there are far too many tough guys spittin hot breath and no where near enough comforting females caressing the microphone. There's just something about a strong, intelligent, sweet smelling female on stage that can make a tough guy think about the L word. Well, Symantix is just that female. She has the small, yet powerful voice of a songbird. Disguised with an adorable voice, Symantix is not the quiet, polite young lady you might expect. She's a real chick spittin that real shit and as you might find out... Her boots are made for stompin... Symantix has good flow and stands out over the few cats that join her on this album. She covers a wide array of topics and is able to intertwine her flow with the melody to simply create great music. They say that the trick to a hit record is familiarity. Well this whole project has a familiar feel that makes me think... I've been here before. Either way, this is definitely a well rounded album from a well rounded artist in more than one way.

- Connex List


"Rapping Her Way to Stardom"

Lakeishia McCoy (A'99)
is rappin’ her way to stardom in New York City. Known as Symantix, the Harlem resident debuted her first album titled “Devil With the Blue Mic” last spring, and the music video of her single “Hope and Pray,” featuring Sony recording artist Dead Prez, is airing on MTV2.

“I’m really feelin’ Symantix’s flow,” says Anthony Q. Casasnovas of Black Beat Magazine, which recently featured McCoy as a “Rising Star.” “There aren’t enough female emcees who are out there just rappin’ naturally without trying to sound hard or thuggish, which always seems to come off mad fake to me.”

Ace of Spades, editor of Music Notes, says “Symantix has to be one of the most intelligent and talented rappers I ever had the pleasure of meeting.”

Ekletic Gardens Magazine says "she’s not just sexy, she’s powerful and warns others to take heed that her femininity is not a weakness.”

McCoy has performed on stage at various clubs and festivals in the Big Apple, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., and Pittsburgh. She's now working on a second album, which is being executive produced by DJ Evil Dee. Dee has worked with Eminem, M.O.P Jungle Brother and Heather B, among others.

For much more on Symantix, and to view her “Hope and Pray” video, visit her Web site at www.symantixonline.com.
(Apr, 2005) - Carnegie Mellon Today


"Symantix Ready to Blow up the Rap Scene"

It’s nearly 2 a.m. on a cold January night and the crowd is dwindling at Joe’s Pub, a popular performance spot in New York City, when a woman with a diminutive 5-foot-2-inch frame prepares to take the stage. She is focused as she runs through a mental sketch of her routine. She remembered advice given to her by her jazz musician uncle about the importance of presentation when putting on a performance.

Then in a sudden moment, what seemed like just another show turned into a flood of mishaps. The sound system stopped working, the CD began to skip and the deejay was nowhere to be found. It could have been a moment to break even the most seasoned performer’s stride, but while emotions swelled deep inside and she held back tears, Symantix persevered.

Symantix, a twentysomething rapper who was born and raised in Pittsburgh and is poised to become a breakout female emcee in independent hip-hop, did what she was taught to do—she went on with the show. Driven by the emotion of the evening, she rapped verses about life’s hard knocks, about the hope that a new day brings and about hanging out with her girls. She embodied her uncle’s advice and whether there were 10 or 100 people in the crowd, instrumentals or a cappella, she still performed. She held it together long enough to close out the night, got into her car and finally allowed the tears to flow.

While Symantix, born Lakeisha McCoy, thought the night was a bust, the audience and one person in particular, felt different. That person was Evil Dee, an internationally known hip-hop producer and deejay with the group Black Moon. Impressed with Symantix’s tenacity, Evil Dee sought her out through a promoter and is now executive producer for her upcoming sophomore release.

“It was just terrible but I managed to get through the set,” said McCoy, niece of Pittsburgh-based jazz violinist Rodney McCoy. “Evil Dee said he saw something in me that night. He said I could have given up, but I didn’t.”

There were other times throughout her musical journey when McCoy could have given up. When she was the lone female who joined in the schoolyard cyphers at Milliones Middle School, and the males doubted her skills, she could have given up. Instead, she dominated the cypher, a freestyling session where people stand in a circle rhyming off the top of their heads.

“I guess I started like all the kids,” said McCoy during a telephone interview from her Harlem, N.Y. apartment. “I was putting together sonnets for my parents. When I was about 7, I heard this incredible phenomenon called rap on the radio. By the sixth grade, I was writing raps.”

By the time high school rolled around, McCoy said she was an outcast until her peers discovered her rap talent. As a tenth-grader at Peabody High School in East Liberty, a teacher submitted one of McCoy’s raps into a poetry contest and she won. It was one of many contest wins. During her senior year, she won another rap contest. The prize was a chance to perform during a school-wide pep rally for Peabody’s city league champion football team.

“People had total respect for me afterwards,” McCoy said.

McCoy put rapping on the backburner when she enrolled at Carnegie Mellon University where she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with a concentration in electronic media. After fighting through a diagnosis of myasthenia gravis, an autoimmune disorder that causes muscles to tire and weaken easily, and living, studying and working abroad in London for several months, McCoy felt as though she had some new experiences to share.

“My last year in college, I had all these life experiences,” she said. “I finally had something to talk about.”

In 1999, McCoy released her first tape, “Exodus,” which featured production by local well-known deejays Rampage, Supa C and Big Phil. She appeared on the local performance circuit, most notably at the Theraputix shows at the old Kingsley Center, before leaving Pittsburgh to work in Washington, D.C.

While in D.C., McCoy continued to perfect her craft by joining the Freestyle Union. That membership led to a performance at the White House during the Millennium Celebration in 2000. After quitting her job, McCoy took a chance and moved to New York.

“It was now or never,” she said. “If I wanted to do this music thing for real, I had to go.”

She started performing on the open mic circuit, which presented challenges to her as one of the few females battling in a male-dominated arena. Again, like in the schoolyard cyphers, McCoy found success. She consistently placed in the top three at the revered “End of the Weak MC Challenge” in New York (she was the first woman invited to compete in the competition). McCoy even battled against Ruff Ryders artist Jin. He won first; she placed third. She went on to open for Nona Hendrix and became a fixture at the Black Lily showcase, which spawned the careers of India.Arie, Jill Scott and Floetry.

Armed with business savvy, confidence and experience, McCoy took out a loan and started her own independent record label, Blackout Entertainment, in 2003. Under her moniker Symantix, a spin on the word semantics, which is the study of meaning in language, McCoy released her debut album, “Devil with the Blue Mic,” last year. She’s already sold several thousand copies. The video for her first single, “Hope and Pray,” featured respected Sony hip-hop group Dead Prez, and aired on MTV2.

Symantix is proving to the hip-hop community that a female emcee can hold her own and maintain her integrity without being too righteous, oversexed or overexposed. It took intelligence, strength, wit and a lot of hard work, but Symantix has only begun her journey to success.

“Something like 75 percent of recording artists are shelved and you never get to hear them,” said McCoy, the creative director for FortuneCity.com, an Internet company in New York. “I didn’t want to take the risk of being shelved. I made the whole album from concept to finish. You have to invest in yourself if you want anyone to take you seriously. And, if you want to rise above mediocrity, you have to be willing to work hard at [everything you do].”

(Symantix will perform on June 17 in Bryant Park in Manhattan as a part of the New York City Summer Stage series. Her album, “Devil with the Blue Mic,” is available on Amazon.com and www.symantixonline.com.)

Michelle K. Massie
The New Pittsburgh Courier - Pittsburgh Courier


Discography

Albums
Devil With the Blue Mic
Released: 2004
Label: Blackout Ent.
Genre: Rap & Hip Hop
Parental Advisory, Explicit Lyrics

EPs/Singles
Hope & Pray
Released: 2004
Label: Blackout entertainment
Genre: Rap & Hip Hop

NY Life
Released: 2005
Label: Blackout entertainment
Genre: Rap & Hip Hop

Photos

Feeling a bit camera shy

Bio

Born Lakeisha McCoy, this femcee is genuinely dedicated to the study of the language of hip-hop, right down to naming herself semantics — the study of the meaning of language. Raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, young Lakeisha was always a cut above her peers. As early as 10 years-old she began constructing her rhymes, and by age 15 her rhymes would win her numerous poetry contests, even landing her some local fame in a Pittsburgh newspaper. She'd continue to mix the language of hip-hop with education when she used it to get into college. While most kids write long-and-boring self-congratulatory college application essays, Symantix dared to be different and submitted a rhyme titled "Black and Proud." This essay got her into the prestigious scientific university, Carnegie Mellon. Though she went off to college, she never once turned her back on hip-hop.
Following college, Lakeisha fully became her alter ego, Symantix, moving to Washington D.C. and joining the Freestyle Union. With the Union, she honed her skills as a freestyle rapper — a skill she believes is necessary to become a thorough and well-respected artist. With that in check, Symantix settled in Harlem and took to the road. Hopping between major cities like New York, Atlanta, Washington D. C and Pittsburgh, she's hit up popular venues and events such as Joe's Pub, SOB's, Jack Rose, CBGB's, the Izzy Bar, Soul Café, the Studios Museum of Harlem, the Hip-Hop Theater Festival, the Lions Den and B-Girl Manifesto. She also opened for Nona Hendrix, former member of the popular '70s trio LaBelle (fronted by the world famous Patti Labelle), as well as proved her worth countless times by holding her own in the "End of the Weak MC" competitions and in the twenty-six female battle royal, "Set if Off." And as far as stepping away from the battlefield, Sym has the ability to mellow out and is a regular at the Black Lily showcase - a jazz-inspired hip-hop/neo-soul venue that has featured performers like India Arie, Jill Scott, Floetry, Kindred and many others.
Having recently signed to the Indie label Blackout Entertainment and released her debut CD (The Devil With The Blue Mic,) Symantix is out to prove that the ladies of hip-hop can hit it big wile still providing substance through their music. Citing the likes of the Wu Tang, The Fugees, Curtis Mayfield and Jimi Hendrix as some of her major influences, with the exception of underground sensation Jean Grae, this girl is doing something that hasn't really been tackled since Lauryn Hill was in the spotlight. The video for her single featuring the socially conscious and always political Dead Prez can be seen across the nation on MTV, and she can also be seen as the narrator in Def Film Maker's The Incredible Cluck or Free-styling rhymes in The Boom Boom Room: A Hip-Hop Documentary. With plenty of charisma, humor and intelligence, this fun-lovin', venom-spittin' she-devil is ready-and-willing to introduce the world to her shiny blue mic.