The Prime Eights

RATING SCALE "1" Indicates the Lowest Score "5" Indicates The Highest Score Recording Quality/Production: 4 Lead Vocals: 4 Musicianship: 4.5 Lyric Writing: 4 Music Composing: 4 Melodies: 5 Song Arrangement: 4 Quality of EPK Content: 4 Overall Delivery: 4 ----------------------------- Dear John, Thanks for submitting the material for the evaluation. I enjoyed the songs very much. The Prime Eights are a cool band! Your songs are really well done and memorable! To give you insight to the scoring scale above, the majority of artists score in the 2.5 to 3.5 range in the various categories. Whenever an artist sees a 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3 or 3.5 as a score in a certain category (or categories) it means that's an area I feel they need to improve and develop. When an artist sees 4, 4.5 or 5 as their score in a category, it's a validation from a professional, confirming that the songs are of the highest level and show strong potential in the ultra-competitive music industry. To really raise the bar, every artist should work hard to earn a 4.5 or 5 in every category. It's a very competitive business and people averaging in the 3's (or less) will probably not get too far without a great deal of improvement and development. I don't give out 4's and 5's easily, so any of those you see, you have earned. Well done! -------------------------- If you are trying to gain the attention of record companies, music publishers, booking agents or top managers, your game plan should include: college radio promotion, publicity, live performances, Internet marketing, social media and CD/merchandise sales. Just having a great CD and live show are no longer enough in today's music business. You have to show industry executives you have a product that has been marketed successfully on the local or regional level. ---------------------------- On a side note, to send this message to you via the SonicBids system, I have to click on "Selected" or "Not Selected." However, in this particular opportunity, all submissions are "Selected" - so to speak, as everyone who submits their music will receive a free evaluation. It's my pleasure to listen to your music and give some feedback. It's not like most of the opportunities on SonicBids, where some artists get selected - and others are not selected, such as a festival or contest of some kind. Thanks again for the music submission John and continued best wishes as you rock Detroit and beyond. --------------------------- Best wishes, Gene Foley www.FoleyEntertainment.com - Gene Foley

debut video. - urbanevolution.com

The Prime Eights’ music video for “What’s Love” draws on influences that vary from The Roots to Coltrane.

The five-piece band itself has an intangible quality that provides a little something for everyone. When I was first sent this video I was skeptical about a band trying to do rap, but I found that it actually works well. Rap music today is often comprised of simple beats that lack complex instrumentals and I find it refreshing to hear a full band doing hip hop. With an intriguing fusion of hip hop, rock, and jazz that combines star-caliber instrumentation with good lyricism, the Prime Eights are a fine band.

The group’s debut EP, So You Say You Want An Evolution?, can be found on all digital distribution outlets like Napster, Rhapsody, iTunes, Spotify, and more. Hard copies are available through CDBaby and the Amazon Music Store, while merchandise is available at Shadow Creek Entertainment.

- Author: Jorge Martinez/Rapmusic.com

The Prime Eights are a perfect fusion of hip hop, rock and jazz that combines all star caliber instrumentation with top notch lyricism. The Prime Eights have evolved from other notable Detroit acts like Abstrakt Intellekt, and The Christina Criss Band. A throwback to the “Golden Age” of hip hop, new school sensibility, and masterful music technique have positioned the Prime Eights the next logical evolution in entertainment.

- Supercuts

Let’s start with a little history of who The Prime Eights are. Before The Prime Eights, John Stone and Mike King were part of a hip hop collective named Abstrakt Intellekt. AI made quite a name for themselves in the industry by both touring with and recording with some serious heavyweights in the industry. Just like life though, music is constantly evolving and that is what happened here. Enter The Prime Eights, the new look of Hip Hop mixed with funk, jazz, and razor sharp lyricism that could only come from someone growing up in the Motor City.

So, let’s get to the music and see what we have here:

1) Preambulo: A short intro/interlude that sets you up nicely for the funk that is coming next.

2) I Rock: A booming track with some nice funk guitar and bass laid over it. The song evokes a sound that is a perfect balance between old school Kid Rock and Beastie Boys.

3) Black Magic: “I want to write my name across your heart with a fat, black, magic marker…” Some very nice jazz guitar laid across another fat, booming bass track. The guys deftly trade lyrics back and forth with a style that makes you think of some old school Heavy D acrobatics.

4) Fame: Tracks starts with some tasty Spanish style guitar over another slammin’ bass track. Once again, the guys effortlessly trade lyrics while telling you the story of what fame can do to you. A story I would guess the guys have learned the hard way.

5) Asterisk: “Half of you don’t even know the half of this…I’m exceptional, mark it with an Asterisk.” Another track where the rest of the band really shines. Huge live bass track with some funky keys and guitar.

6) Consumar: The CD closes out with a mostly instrumental track that finds the guys in quasi-“Maggot Brain” mode. This track has Eddie Hampton and Bootsy Collins written all over it. (spoiler alert: stay tuned after the music ends for a surprise track…a really awesome Detroit style take on the Beastie Boys “So What You Want”)

CONCLUSION: What you get here is a funky as hell tour-de-force of old school style lyricism laced with some new school style funk, jazz, and rock. This is a 5 piece BAND that happens to have two very special rappers leading them. They’ve taken the groundwork laid by Kid, Rock, The Beastie Boys, Heavy D, and the rest of the masters and flipped it Detroit Style. This is a great introduction for the full length CD that they guys are currently recording. It wets the appetite and makes you hungry to see what comes next. Bottom line, this is the kind of music where you crank the windows down, turn up the volume, and just CRUUIIISSSEEEEE!

SCORE: 9 out of 10

STANDOUT TRACKS: I Rock, Black Magic, Asterisk

- Posted by Auditory Slam on May 13, 2012

The Prime Eights are the perfect mix of old school hip-hop, modern blues-rock funk, with
serious commercial appeal. The 'Eights' bless us with their latest 6 song EP, So You Say
You Wanna Evolution, which contains hard hitting drum beats, live guitars and hip-hop
appeal that puts them in a great position to be a late night talk show band, like what The
Roots are doing with Jimmy Fallon.

"I Rock" is my favorite song by the "D-Town" band because it is real hip-hop, not that the
rest of the album isn't because it is. But this song in particular caught me and I found
myself nodding hard and really consumed by the music and lyrical flow. From the beat to
the live guitars, the music is top of the line and this song took me back to when hip-hop
was free of the Lil' Wayne's of the game.

Other awesome songs by The Prime Eights include: Black Magic, Fame, and Consumer.
Each of these tracks are special in their own way and should be licensed to television,
film and video games. I'd love to hear this music in the background on NBA Live 2012.

Overall, So You Say You Wanna Evolution is a dope EP that is exactly what I had hoped I
would hear from all of the hip-hop artists I've listened to over the past few months.

"Our ultimate goal in music is to provide the masses with a poignant,
entirely developed option for entertainment, that takes the most positive points of multiple
genres and provides a fresh alternative to a stagnant music landscape." - I Am Entertainment Magazine

Formed: 2011 in the Downriver area




Sound: Alternative hip-hop

Members: John Stone — vocals; Mike King — vocals; Cody Morales and Derek Atkinson — guitar; Faris Ansor — bass; Brett “DJ Prezident” Kropog — drums




Influences: Stone says rather than particular artists “we’re more influenced by music with a substance. We are a product of good rock and hip-hop from the golden age, combined with all-star instrumentation and a new school twist. It’s all about making the right songs rather than make a particular sound or fit into any particular genre.
Day Jobs: Stone is a retail manager at Paul’s TV in Dearborn. King is in management at Watson Engineering in Taylor. Morales plays bass in another band, Kaleido. Kropog DJs around the Detroit area, and Atkinson and Ansor “both work odds and ends that allow them to pursue music as a primary goal.”




What’s in a name?: King says Prime Eight is a play on the work primate and refers to the group’s desire to be “the genesis of entertainment. We are attempting to take what was and make it into what it’s going to be, moving into a new form of entertainment, a genre that’s not really been out there yet. The Prime Eights are the species, and also eight is not a primary number.”




Favorite Gig: The group performed at the Southpark Fest during July 4th weekend in Denver, which King describes as “a huge festival with many fringe, eclectic acts like Slightly Stoopid, Matisyatshu and Tech N9Ne. One of the first concerts I saw growing up was Fishbone at Saint Andrews Hall; having them play right before us was a strange thing. It was a really neat (festival) ... and it paid a heck of a lot of money.”




Hear ’Em: The Prime Eight’s debut album, “This Is Not a Real Gun,” came out on Aug. 1. the group also has an EP, “So You Say You Wanna Evolution,” a mixtape, “The Mixed Ape” and a 7-inch single, “Forever/Revolution.”




See ’Em: The Prime Eights next perform as part of the Michigan on Mute Festival on Aug. 31 at Rocky’s Pub, 12850 Sibley Road, Riverview. The festival begins Aug. 29. Call 734-285-3306 or visit the festival’s Facebook page. - Gary Graff

The Prime Eights might be Downriver’s most well-kept musical secret.

A fusion of hip hop, rock and jazz, the five-member band mixes its lyrics and beats with an old-school sensibility for a wide appeal.

Vocalists John Stone and Mike King, both of Taylor, started out as hip-hop duo Abstrakt Intellekt in 2002 and shared the stage with contemporaries such as Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock, Trick Trick and Tech N9ne.

“We’ve been here for the last 15 some odd years – in and out of three record deals – and one of the most consistent draws in metro Detroit,” Stone said. “We were primarily a hip hop group for most of the late ‘90s and 2000s, but as we got older, the music ran its course and we wanted to do something to express ourselves.”




The Prime Eights takes the duo’s musicality to a new level.

“We’re not 21-year-old kids anymore,” Stone said. “Now it’s about songs with a message.” - Andrea Blum - The News Herald