Quannum and Solesides co-founder, and Grammy nominated MC,
Lateef the Truth Speaker has joined forces with acclaimed Bay Area DJ and
producer Jah Yzer and the multi-talented musician and reggae artist Winstrong,
to showcase the crossroads of reggae and hip-hop on their newest project Roots
& Tings. The new music draws deeply and respectfully from the history of
both genres while pushing a new vibe to create powerful and provocative tracks.
Roots & Tings will roll out singles monthly throughout 2019 with Quannum
Records. Each release will be accompanied by original artwork, limited edition
t-shirts from aspiring designers and will be available on both vinyl 45’s and
digitally, everywhere you can stream.
Born and raised in Oakland, CA by politically active and
former Black Panther parents, Lateef the Truth Speaker is most well-known for
his role in the Bay Area rap collective Quannum Projects alongside DJ Shadow,
The Gift of Gab, Chief Xcel and Lyrics Born. Together they helped usher in the
underground era of hip-hop in the 90’s. His 20+ year career in the industry is
highlighted with a Grammy nomination for his collaboration with Fat Boy Slim on
“Wonderful Night.” And his duo Latyrx with Lyrics Born, who spawned the popular
Bay Area anthem “Lady Don’t Tek No.” Lateef is a prolific solo artist, who’s
writing is woke and witty. He joined up with DJ and Producer Jah Yzer who is
well known in the Bay Area for dropping reggae and soundsystem riddims. The
talented DJ first gained acclaim as a radio personality for Miami’s 94.1 Beach
Radio, and moved to the Bay Area where he established himself as a high profile
DJ and has collaborated with the likes of J Boog, Too Short, Sister Nancy, Fiji
and more. Winstrong first hit the scene alongside the legendary Don Carlos as
an Urban Dancehall artists. His voice is soulful and boldly couples strong
melodies with conscious messages. He is able to elegantly combine world music,
hip-hop with R&B and Soul, alongside his foundation as a roots reggae and
dancehall vocalist. His talent is vast and creative, and has much to offer to
the Roots & Tings project.
Until embarking on the Roots & Tings project, the Bay
Area based artists, Lateef, Jah Yzer and Winstrong have known each other
separately for more than 10 years. Coming together for this project a
collaboration was immediately born as they clicked effortlessly over a
relatively unstructured creative process on the new project. Lateef comments,
“Roots & Tings came about as an organic evolution of an idea to do remixes
for a mixtape, that led to more conversations and original ideas, which led to
more songs.” He continues, “The name Roots & Tings came from the idea that
the music should reflect the source, the soul- or the ‘Root’- of the music we
were making, and all of the ways that we added on to those original ideas with
new ideas and interpretations would be the ‘Tings’.” The new record was
recorded primarily at Zoo Labs in Oakland, CA, and by the first session they
had 9 songs laid down. Having now worked together for 2 years on this project
and with almost 50 songs recorded, the trio are excited that they are finally
putting forth their new project.
Roots & Tings will roll out deep cuts monthly and will
be available digitally and on vinyl limited edition 45’s. This month the
soulful love song with deep chilled dancehall riddims, “All Of This” ft.
Vursatyl (of Lifesavas) dropped and is available everywhere. For Lateef the song, “ ‘All of This’ is a
modern love story. Passionate, honest, kinda messy, and very, very true.
Hopefully people hear some of their own stories in there somewhere.” The new
track was produced by Racayan – his debut track.
Roots & Tings debuted earlier this year with the dubby
track “Class War” and “Oh” on the B-side. HipHopDX who first premiered the song
commented, "Bay Area Hip Hop staple Lateef The Truthspeaker has resurfaced
with a new single called “Class War” featuring his Quannum Recordings brethren
Gift of Gab and Lyrics Born. The track is taken from his forthcoming Roots
& Tings album, which intends to showcase the existing parallels between
reggae and Hip Hop." Both tracks are stellar with cutting bars as Lateef
the Truth Speaker and featured artists Lyrics Born and Gift of Gab spit about
the 1% on “Class War”, Lateef says, “They want more. The rich get richer. The
rest of us are poor. It’s a Class War.” On the B-side featured artist Gift of
Gab joins Lateef on “Oh,” Lateef recalls, “We all know someone like the person
described in the song. If you don’t, you
might be the person in the song.” Hitting the theme of the social economic
injustices, “Class War” has limited edition original artwork by incarcerate
artist Raul Fernandez. The artwork is available with special, limited vinyl
45’s and the music is available digitally everywhere you can stream.
The new project is full of epic island tinged remixes of
Lateef’s hits as well as new fresh tracks including “Lady Don’t Tek No” remix,
“Alpha Omega” remix and “Highest Grade,” all due to be released early 2019.
Roots & Tings, is stacked with features with some of the best rappers in
the game including, Gift of Gab (Blackalicious), Lyrics Born (Latyrx) and more
to be revealed later. Each release will
be packaged both digitally and as 45’s. The 45’s will include limited edition
artwork for the single, and each release will be accompanied with limited
edition t-shirt created by Bay Area youth apprentice printers Youth Prints @
People’s Choice Prints. The young apprentice printers have designed and printed
the shirts as they aspire to establish their own brands. Each of the designers
will recoup 100% of the profits. The t-shirts are available
www.rootsandtingsofficial.com.
Lateef reflects on the new project, “Roots & Tings is an
ode to the love affair between Hip-Hop and Reggae music since the inception of
hip hop. The music is a combination of all the different iterations through the
years, of both genres.”
The trio will be touring Roots & Tings, as well as, new
music all throughout 2019. They are kicking off the new year supporting
Blackalicious. The live shows will be fully energized as Lateef, Jah Yzer and
Winstrong are an unstoppable force that will leave the crowd hyped and wanting
more. The sets will be accompanied by new and fresh visuals produced by Ben
Stokes (DJ Shadow).
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