The Last Great Hip Hop Band
75 Degrees pay homage while pushing ahead with their new album
by Meat

At a time when hip-hop seems to be slowly regaining some of its soul again and production realigns itself with tasteful samples and musical progression, the members of 75 degrees have reason to be excited and hopeful of the future. Combining showmanship found in the great soul artists of yesteryear with hip-hop’s fundamental elements, these Bay Area cats have created a perfect balance between soul and hip-hop. That is to say, this is not Ja Rule with his baby sister singing backup, but instead a real taste of the similarities that run throughout all black music, done with sincerity and true passion.

Spearheaded by lead MC/songwriter Rick Bond and DJ/producer/washboardist Malachi, 75 Degrees are committed to producing quality, something that gets harder and harder to do when the hype around you starts growing. Three years ago, when the group first formed, Rick and Mal connected on their common idea of what good music is. But once they were out and performing, both labels and temptation were interfering with their original intent. Now having just finished their latest full-length, The Last Great Hip-Hop Album, the band is ready to prove to everyone the true potential hip-hop music holds.

“[This album’s] great, we’re really happy with it” says Malachi, “ It’s not just eclectic for the sake of being so, I think it’s just us, our influences in the Bay Area and our musical gumbo we live in”. Rick adds, ”We kinda really stuck to our guns and seriously tried to make something from the heart…countering a lot of the stuff that was around us. And in a lot of the reviews people are specifically talking about those kind of things [proving to us] that we are connecting with like-minded people”.

Musically, the album does have a heartfelt sincerity to it. Whether it’s the right use of samples and live instrumentation or Rick’s honest flows about today’s single-driven music market, no part of the project feels forced, but instead a natural result of the experiences these brothers have endured. “We’re sort of in the middle of [the old and new Bay]… in some ways I think we’ve been influenced by both. When you have that underground status and you’re hungry and fighting for stuff you stay relevant and look to what’s goin’ on. You have your finger on the pulse, but we’re also trying to champion the music that was cool that had been happening which people weren’t checking for, but we still loved and were still trying to do”.

In the end, the two seem to be content with their current position and have hopes for what’s to come. Relying what’s gotten so much attention from day one, their live show, 75 Degrees are working hard to promote and continue to expand on their particular fan base. “That’s actually what sets us apart for most hip-hop shows” Mal explains, ”We get a lot of females, you know, it’s a big party and women definitely play a part in it. Really we prefer it to be all women but you know…people just know you come to our shows to have fun”.