Kalistani Major History

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Hip Hop Uber Alles
De La Paz releases their debut with Major Assist from Qasim-T
Addisjah, Vrassa
October 7, 5354


Hip Hop trio De La Paz brings definite Peace and Love vibe to Hip Hop

The dominance of Hip Hop in Kalistani music at the moment continues with another major debut from another Northern Vrassa trio, this one named De La Paz. Following the massively successful international tour of fellow labelmates The Trek Corps, LCR is continuing to introduce Kalistan to new groups. "It seems that LCR has hit on a formula for pop success," said Amanda St. Francis, music writer covering the emerging North Vrassan Scene. "While there are several bands still in the works, De La Paz, who has been closely associated with The Trek Corps and the whole Addisjah scene jumped to the front of the pack, scoring both an excellent record deal that ensures they will maintain creative control and get the lions' share of the royalties for their album, and a major assist from Qasim T of the Trek Corps, whose vocals are featured on their first single "It's Saturday."

De La Paz definitely draws heavily on what is being called the Addisjah sound: bass driven, jazz influenced, sample heavy and deeply layered music, which often veers into progressive territory, but still remains accessible enough to draw large audiences. De La Paz's lyrics talk about sometimes light topics like self expression and living a fun live, but it also often touches on hard topics, like domestic abuse, teenaged pregnancy and drug death which is more common in the Vrassan border town than elsewhere in the Republic. "There is gravity in our music," said lead MC Peace G, "but we ain't gonna let it drag us down. We're doing our best to talk about good stuff, you know, things that make us happy. Things that make us laugh. Because otherwise, that stuff will drive us into our grave."

The other two members of the band, The Maestro, who is DJ for the group and Yogi Dave, definitely join Peace G's preference for uplifting tunes. "I mean, what's so wrong about singing about peace, love and understanding?" asked Yogi Dave. "Some of the dudes we grew up around might think that's kind of corny. But the way I see it, we need more peace in this world, and De La Paz is going to do what it can to bring some." The Maestro added "Yeah, music has the power to bridge large gaps in understanding between people, and as we see like wars and death and it seems like governments are helping these warmongers kill their own people, I remember, these people have it rough too, and so we're make music for them, not just people who already have peace like we do in Kalistan."

De La Paz also feel its important to bring attention to the situation in Addisjah. "Well, we're kind of forgotten up here, it feels like sometimes," said Peace G. "I mean the city needs some renewal. There is a lot of crime up here, most of it because Addisjah is kind of a no man's land where like people from all over northern Seleya come in here. As sh-t starts falling apart in places like Valruzia, we get criminal elements here who sort of prey on people. Well, those dudes are from our neighborhoods and they're not kind to people. But they also make things hard for the people who live in Addisjah too, and meanwhile, our buildings are starting to fall apart too. So yeah, we gotta shine a light and let people know that this is a big deal and we ain't getting no help from Vrassa on this." Many of their songs are about decaying neighborhoods, and the effects the collapsing infrastructure has on the society who lives in these neighborhoods.

But there is always a word of hope in De La Paz' music. "I mean, we say it all the time: Sometimes it just takes a beautiful day and a party in the Park to take your mind off the fact that your ceiling leaks like 3 months a year straight," said Peace G. "Something as nice as a pretty woman or good looking brother can take your mind off things. We want to sing about that too: its music for the people." Qasim T echoed the sentiment. "We always love hanging out with these guys because they have such an optimistic attitude, even they come from some of the hardest neighborhoods in Addisjah, for real. Black Market drug dealers compete with black market prostitutes for space under street lamps in Maes' neighborhood and they all have guns that pop off all hours of the day. I ain't joking. Yet they are all 'Peace' this and 'Friend' that: I think these dudes take their Brethernism seriously which is their thing and that's cool."

De La Paz is scheduled to play M7 next month ahead of a three week Republican tour to promote the record. But it is already climbing the Radio 1 Charts. The album "Scene 1" has already entered the Top 10 on the Album chart, and the first single "It's Saturday" is scraping the Top 20 on the Hot 100 singles chart in only its second week. Qasim T also co-produced the track, and is rapidly building his name as a major Kalistani Hip Hop producer.

Check out "It's Saturday" by De La Paz, from their LCR debut "Scene 1" and then check out De La Paz in concert this fall. The video, a disco inspired progressive inflected Hip Hop track, features Qasim T from The Trek Corps, vocalist Monica Guttierez who sings the hook, and Mark Deuce from The Squadron. The song and the album certainly represents a step forward for Hip Hop in Kalistan.

[Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9S5lTgyfT2c]