The ILLusionists

The alternative hip-hop group the ILLusionists are releasing “Death Proof” today at the Oak Street Speakeasy, 915 Oak St. It’s the third independent album for the group, which formed in 2008.

In its biography, the group quotes a local radio station as saying “if you want to (tick off) your parents, then this is the band for you.” That observation makes sense, considering the group mixes many of the genres that upset and baffle parents: punk, hard rock and hip-hop.

Despite some unclean language, parents could find some relief in the fact that the ILLusionists don’t make simple, mindless raps. A certain level of concentration is required to absorb the rapid rhymes of this five-piece group.

Another redeeming factor is that they avoid genre clichés such as skits, rapping about sex and money.

The Cave Dwellers open the show at 9 p.m., followed by Black Delany and finally the ILLusionists. - The Register Guard

What is the definition of wack? Urbandictionary.com says this: “weakly executed flashy moves in place of true substance.” Eugene hip-hop outfit The ILLusionists adorn their new release Death Proof with a sticker declaring the album “anti-wack,” as well as name dropping some hip hop heavy-hitters like the Roots as comparison. The Roots are seriously anti-wack, so these guys are setting up some high expectations for themselves. And for the most part they deliver.

The ILLusionists’ brand of rap is what most would call “underground” these days because, well, it sounds like rap — mostly just beats and rhymes — as opposed to the over-marketed, R&B hybrid that often passes as hip hop. Death Proof’s second track, “Real MCs (Just Rhyme),” begins with a sampled voice stating rap is “just about marketing now” and launching a manifesto on how the ILLusionists are about bringing rap back to its roots.

A real band backs these MCs up, mixed with tastefully used samples and sampled strings that provide the album with a heightened sense of drama — but unfortunately dull some of the raw fury the ILLusionists bring to their live shows. This is aggressive, in-your-face music revealing MC Sam Wartenbee’s background in punk and hardcore. Lyrically these guys don’t exactly break new ground, with plenty of rap’s prerequisite hubris and references to inserting male genitalia into all sorts of places, but they do elevate the discourse a bit with themes of nonviolence and being true to yourself, which are two things that, by anyone’s definition, are not wack at all.

The ILLusionists celebrate the release of Death Proof with Black Delaney and The Cave Dwellers at 9 pm Friday, Sept. 17, at the Oak Street Speakeasy. Free. 21+. — William Kennedy - Eugene Weekly

Those familiar with pre-hip hop Beastie Boys are well aware of their punk rock roots. Their style, both before and after their genre-hopping in 1986, heavily influences the sound of The ILLusionists, a punk and hip hop group releasing their new album ILL IS ALL.

With three original members consisting of Sammy Warm Hands (Sam Wartenbee, vocals), Web the Free Range Human (Gabe Morley, samples and arrangements) and E Ville (Evan Vaught, vocals), the trio put together an album after being together for only two months, titled Sleep Rocking and given away for free. Then the band added new members Crosby Kneale (bass and synthesizer) and Mike McCarthy (keyboards, synthesizer and guitar), filling out their sound and creating new layers for live shows and their most recent album.

And for those worried this could come off as some horrid amalgamation of genres like the rap/metal phase America experienced less than a decade ago from bands like Limp Bizkit, Wartenbee assures listeners this isn’t the case. “Killing in the Name,” originally performed by Rage Against the Machine, is the ILLusionists’ only performance from that era.

With all the sampling and quirky lyrics, the band’s sound can also bounce between early Zebrahead (like their song “Diarrhea Fight”) or thrash and blister (like their song “Robert Pattinson Can Suck My Dick”). Either way, their sound is fast, never boring and almost always funny.

— Shaun O’Dell - Eugene Weekly