Music
Press
This band has no press
Discography
Title: "Off the Rip"
Release: 2000
Status: Debut Album
First Single: "Raw Booty Girl"
Album Information
THER.I.P.Y. shocked the rap game with their very first album. Kenjo put out these15 original, hard-hitting beats (the other was done by Suthern Klick's own Ole-E) at the age of 16. The album starts out with a melancholy intro, "Follow Me", from Paul D's father on acoustic guitar, but quickly jumps into the "meat and potatoes" of it all with their title track, "Off the Rip", a blow-for-blow style song that introduces you to TheR.I.P.Y. the only way it could've been done. The album deals with unique issues from girls who club too much in "Raw Booty Girl" ( featuring Shawn Jay of Field Mob) and fake ballers that floss too much in "Who Got Rims?". Ole-E's production and rhymes on "Southern Comfort Suites", coupled with E-Clipz help to make this song an Albany classic. THER.I.P.Y also deals with some of the not-so-good qualities of Albany, Georgia, with "Good Life City", the soulful track also featuring Ole-E as well Chino of the Original Suthern Klick.
Title: "Strictly for the Streets"
Release: 2002
Status: Second Album/Mix Tape
First Single: "Came Up Shawt Again"
Album Information
TheR.I.P.Y. didn’t hold anything back with this impressive 20-track underground album. 16 of the fire tracks were produced by Kenjo. "Strictly for the Streets" features a style of music that hasn't been introduced before. There is a sense of soulful grittiness that comes from every track, whether it is the live bass guitar in "Pussy Ain't Hard to Come By" and "You Got Your ID?" or the lyrics of Ken Jo and Paul D respectively. “Strictly 4 Da Streetz” also features classic features from Smoke of Field Mob on “Came Up Short Again”, a remix of the classic “Dead in Your Chevy” from Field Mob’s first album, “Ashy to Classy”. Shawn Jay of Field Mob and Big Nod of Original Suthern Klick both snap on “Underdog”, a track dealing with being slept on in the rap game. And in the spirit of “Off the Rip”, Ole- E produced another killer track “My High”, as well as his arrangement of “Express Yourself”, a solo track by Paul D.
Photos
Bio
The two men that make this trend-setting rap group have come a long way down their own dirt roads. Producing impressive beats since the age of twelve, Ken Jo’s first love was the beat machine. Over the years, he’s made beats for countless regional artists and many notables like Juvenile, Field Mob, Thrill Da Playa, head member of the multi-platinum 69 Boyz, and has even co-produced with his music idol Mr. DJ (Outkast’s Grammy-winning producer). Although Paul D’s first love was rap, he has never let his words stay confined to the beat. In 2002, he joined Black on Black Rhyme, the world’s largest poetry troupe, and in 2005, he won the Southern Fried Poetry Slam in Charlotte, North Carolina, a competition which consisted of over 120 poets, solidifying him as the best spoken word artist in the Southeastern U.S. With one self-published book under his belt, Paul is now planning his first spoken word album, which also highlights Ken Jo’s versatile production.
2002 brought both good and bad changes for TheR.I.P.Y. (an acronym meaning The Radiance is Purely Yours). Now in college at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University and Florida State University respectively, both Ken Jo and Paul D widened their perspectives on life. They linked up with manager and former high school friend of Ken Jo’s, Gerard “G-Gracious” Singfield, to launch Jangalang Entertainment, an independent label named after a close friend, Chris “Jangalang” Mitchell, who was killed in a freak basketball accident in that same year. TheR.I.P.Y. drew energy from the spirit of their lost friend and from their new experiences to put out Strictly For Da Streetz (2002), the critically-acclaimed underground album that featured over twenty original tracks! Ken Jo’s bass-thumping production and smooth delivery mixed with Paul D’s lyrical versatility made them a threat in any regard. TheR.I.P.Y. began to gain fans by opening up for the likes of T.I., Field Mob, Cee-Lo from Goodie Mob, Bone Thugz-N-Harmony, Lil’ Flip, 3-6 Mafia, Trick Daddy, Chingy, Freeway, and others. Now three years later, TheR.I.P.Y. is now considered a local legend in their hometown of Albany, Georgia, amongst the musical greats before them like Suthern Klick (the first group from Albany to be offered a major label deal) and Field Mob, one of the Hip-Hop’s greatest duos today.
TheR.I.P.Y. (an acronym meaning The Radiance is Purely Yours), got their first studio time in 2000 by winning a rap competition thrown by a local radio station in Albany, Georgia. The four-track demo, entitled Overdose, earned them respect amongst music heads in the city and gave them the confidence to self-produce their first album, Off the Rip (2000), in the attic (dubbed the Southern Chamber) of Ken Jo’s parent’s house. Ken Jo and Paul D began to forge a new sound, reminiscent of Outkast and Goodie Mob, one that focused more on the actual skill of rapping and making good music and less on material glorification. TheR.I.P.Y. received regional recognition in the South Georgia/North Florida with these two albums but are still not content. Ken Jo and Paul D have marinated on all these past accomplishments to present their third album, Sober Life, which they predict will change the rap game as we know it.
Links
