To be both conscious and a hustler is an oxymoron in hip-hop. One is centered upon addressing social issues and conflicts, while the other is centered upon doing what sells. So when friends Akia Ajamu and Jeremie Harris decided to form a hip-hop duo that was based upon rejecting pre-existing notions in hip-hop, no name was more fitting than Konscious Hustlaz.
“I don’t think we should put musicians in boxes. We should be a little more open-minded with our music choices.”
Ajamu, a self-proclaimed “hip-hop head,” was a solo artist struggling to find his musical niche. Harris, an actor who dabbled in spoken word poetry, never quite saw himself as a rapper. He was particularly wary of playing into the stereotype of a young, black male who views rap as his only avenue to success. But after Ajamu noticed the ingenuity and rhymes in Harris’ poems, he felt certain that Harris could have success as a rapper, and tried to convince him of his talents. Eventually, it worked.
“At the end of the day, it’s poetry over music,” Harris said. “And I think I can do it well. So why not?”
Three short months and several all-night recording sessions later, they are releasing their self-titled EP online and on iTunes this Friday, May 2.
With the EP, the duo wanted to create music that was representative of themselves—socially conscious and fun. They did not want to be pigeonholed into one specific genre, so they set out to create music that would speak upon anything from politics to parties.
“We’re just regular dudes trying to make good music and speak our minds,” Ajamu said.
“It’s just us on record, which is a complex variety of things,” Harris added.
The making of Konscious Hustlaz, both the duo and the EP, has certainly encountered some roadblocks along the way. They had the challenge of developing as a group, while they each developed as individual artists. In addition, they had to deal with the short time frame they had to produce the EP.
“We had a lot of limitations, but we still made it happen and still did it strong,” Harris said.
The EP was a collaborative student effort produced by Mykael Alexander, a Recorded Music major in Tisch. It also featured singers Elle Varner and Emily Cruz, also students in the program. CAS senior Jean Francios was also featured as a rapper.
This summer, the duo will be promoting their music in the city’s downtown hip-hop scene and in poetry clubs. They might do more recording. But beyond that, nothing is set in stone. Ajamu, a Public Administration major in the School of Continuing and Professional Studies will be focused on finishing his studies and applying to Law School. Harris, a Tisch student, will be starting a graduate drama program at Julliard in the Fall. Because of this, we may not see them reemerge until next summer. Despite what appears to be an imminent hiatus, the duo is content with all that they’ve accomplished so far and most importantly, the motives behind their music remain true.
“We’re not chasing fame,” Harris said. “We’re just doing it because we want to do it.”
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Heard a clip of this album and it sounds real dope…you can catch dj clos on one of the tracks too…
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