“To say that Freestyle Fellowship significantly influenced West Coast hip-hop is like saying that Jesus was a pivotal figure in Christianity.” –Pitchfork

Freestyle Fellowship will be reuniting for the first-time in over a decade and releasing a new LP, The Promise, on Decon Records this fall. However, before the Freestyle Fellowship reunion project surfaces, Myka 9 will release his fifth solo-LP entitled Mykology, on October 3rd, 2011 on SoundVise Records. Produced by Organized Elements and Myka 9 himself, it’s full of the meticulous and intelligent rhymes that Myka has become so revered for. Mykology’s first teaser “I Must Cross,” finds Myka poignantly dissecting the often-debated immigration crisis from a human rights perspective. The project’s lead-single “Oh Yeah…Alright” finds Myka trading verses with Freestyle Fellowship member Aceyalone along with Casual, Sunspot Jonz & Kirby Dominant.

Myka 9 is a founding member of one of the West Coast’s most-influential and creative groups, Freestyle Fellowship, (which also includes Aceyalone, P.E.A.C.E., Self Jupiter and J Sumbi) a group that continues to still be a very instrumental figure in the LA hip-hop community. Known for his rapid cadences and incorporating singing into his melodic jazz infused sound, Myka is one of the West Coast’s most stylistically advanced rappers, and he has had an indelible impact on the underground hip-hop scene and freestyling as an art form. Myka is featured in the award-winning 2008 documentary This Is the Life, chronicling the music movement that was birthed at The Good Life Cafe in south-central Los Angeles. The Good Life is the open-mic workshop where he first performed with Freestyle Fellowship in the early 1990s.

Myka’s imprints on Freestyle Fellowship and the artists they would later influence is evident when we consider the fact To Whom It May Concern, released in 1991, has been dissected and combed over by fans, artists and critics alike for years in an attempt to crack the code that helped shape the next generation of West Coast emcees and the kind of sounds that would emerge shortly thereafter. Sounds like Hieroglyphics, The Pharcyde, etc., and Myka even ghost-wrote two tracks on N.W.A.’s 1987 debut album N.W.A. And The Posse. Released in 1993, Freestyle Fellowship’s second LP, Innercity Griots, is a landmark of LA hip-hop and is genuinely considered one of the best hip-hop LP’s of the 90’s. Shortly after, the group’s videos for “Inner City Boundaries” and “Hot Potato” from Innercity Griots took their sound and movement worldwide.

After the release of Innercity Griots in 1993, Freestyle Fellowship went on hiatus due to the four- year incarceration of Self Jupiter. Upon his release, the Fellowship reunited to record Temptations, which was released in 2001. In 1999, Myka formed an underground super group, Haiku D’Etat (self-titled release), with Aceyalone and Abstract Rude; a track “Non Compos Mentis” from that self-titled release was featured in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 video game (one of the top-selling video games of the year).

Now set to release his fifth solo-LP entitled Mykology, on October 3rd, 2011, the Left Coast emcee already has the internet goin’ nuts as well as the streets. Myka 9′s upcoming addition has already spawned the track “Oh Yeah… Alright” featuring Aceyalone, Casual, Sunspot Jonz and Kirby Dominant, as well as the video, for “I Must Cross” that can be viewed below. And if the buzz about Mykology is any indication of its success than it’s most definitely going to be huge. Trust, me this is one that you are going to want to pick up; it’s offbeat and conscience, which makes it so perfectly imperfect in a hip-hop world of over-sea day trips and jewelry.

Aside for the undeniable clarity and depth of Myka’s lyrical content, the album’s artwork is nothing less than phenomenal. The Artwork for Mykology was created by Mere One, a Los Angeles-based artist, commonly known as the ‘Michelangelo’ of graffiti. As a graphic designer, Mere One has designed apparel for Conart, Kaotic, as well as his own Reform brand. Mere One has done album covers for artists like Non Phixion, Freestyle Fellowship, Alien Nation, Limp Bizkit, Busdriver and Daddy Kev. In 2004, Mere One joined artists Shepard Fairey and Robbie Conal to create a series of “anti-war, anti-Bush” posters for a street art campaign called “Be The Revolution” for the art collective Post Gen.

Check out the music video below and leave your comments letting us know how excited you are about this new release. I, for one, am very pumped. You guys know how much I love that non-commercial soul-rap so this is right up my alley. I got the chance to preview the album before its release, and it is just amazing. It is really one of those albums that you can listen to all the way through without skipping a track because it is just that good. I thought that the songs chosen to be singles were wise decisions, and I thought that the “I Must Cross” music video was contemporary, relevant, and provided some much needed social commentary.

The Tracklisting for Mykology is as follows:

1.) Bright Flashbacks
2.) Mind Right
3.) Where Would You Be
4.) Oh Yeah…Alright feat. Aceyalone, Casual, Sunspot Jonz & Kirby Dominant
5.) Hey
6.) Breathin’ Down Your Back
7.) I Must Cross feat. Viveca Hawkins
8.) Trimming
9.) Tell Me
10.) Face Of A Waterfall
11.) Don’t You Go

“OH YEAH…ALRIGHT” FEATURING ACEYALONE, CASUAL, SUNSPOT JONZ & KIRBY DOMINANT:

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OFFICIAL “I MUST CROSS” MUSIC VIDEO:
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