Koncept & J57 create earnest Big Apple stadium bangers that carry a deep emotional resonance while still keeping the party rockin’. They were weaned on crate digging and local deep cuts, but have always kept one foot in the mainstream. It was this deep immersion into NYC’s hip-hop scene that brought the two together. Lyrically, Koncept delivers intimately biographical rhymes that explore where he’s at now by dissecting his past. His friend and cohort J57 adds his A-game production to the mix in a sweeping tapestry of boom-bap revival, orchestral synths & clever hooks. Now, as an ambitious producer/emcee team, the young veterans are ready to take their epic, relentless sound to the masses.
Koncept, the Queens-raised emcee, made a name for himself in the underground hip-hop trenches, but these days you can find him working with heavy hitters like Ty Dolla $ign, Pharoahe Monche, Big Daddy Kane, Doomtree, Tash of Tha Alkaholiks, Brand Nubian, Royce da 5’9″ and Dead Prez. J57, the Long Island-raised/Brooklyn-based producer/rapper, has just as strong a resume-he counts the legendary DJ Premier as a mentor and has assisted the hip-hop architect on songs by Nas, Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith, A-list work that led to his own collaborations with Joey Bada$$, Method Man, Raekwon, Mack Wilds, The Roots and countless other influential artists.
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Koncept & J57 met in 2006 while working at Fat Beats, the West Village record store that was the launchpad for so many underground rap artists while it was open from 1993-2010. Later, along with four Fat Beats co-workers, they formed Brown Bag AllStars, a rap collective that impressed with its tough-guy lyricism, eventually turning heads while opening for Ghostface Killah at Atlanta hip-hop festival and proving ground A3C. In the wake of this incendiary performance, Red Bull Music chose Koncept as part of its artist development and discovery program SoundSelect. With this platform in mind, Koncept & J57 refocused their energies on music that would resonate with a wider audience. The result is their new EP The Fuel – a riveting underdog tale told as if the duo is looking back on its legacy a la ESPN’s SportsCentury. Fired up, Koncept details his hip-hop hustle over J57’s big-statement music, the whole affair filled with ecstatic anticipation for the real-life successes on the horizon.
