Wylde Bunch

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The Players
Dame - Emcee
Speed - Emcee
Janey - Emcee & Trumpet
Ish - Drums
Creezie - Sax
Vray - Bass
Daniel - Keys
Popz - Guitar
Byg Sexy - Vocals
Kenfolk - Vocals

THE STORY
To say the alternative hip-hop group Wylde Bunch blazes trails is an understatement.  Comprised of family members and long-time friends, the South Central Los Angeles natives have pioneered a sound infusing elements of funk, soul, rock, and world music into an incredible hip-hop sound.  "Nothing is what you expect and everything raises the hip hop standard" says 1340 Mag’s Mark Fisher.  Strengthened by an amazing off-the-hook live show that rocks beyond description they have become known on the live circuit as the “alternative hip-hop band”.

Bonded by blood, friendship and a love for music, most of the members of Wylde Bunch started off as schoolmates.  Raised in a city racked with social ills and the complexities of a relentless gang culture, the boys rarely went to weekend and evening outings or parties. Nighttime activity always revolved around the band.  Nevertheless, the group, known for their practical jokes, party crashing, and enough charisma to fill the Staples Center, found sanctuary during jam sessions at the family home of emcee and producer, Dame.  Consequently, the frequent private performances began to produce some mind-blowing results.
 
By high school, the blossoming musicians became bored with playing standards and current popular tunes.  They began writing and performing their own joints, as well as generating independent CDs.  This early music impressed people to the point where they started receiving paid gigs.  The mischievous bunch of teens, now maturing into men, moved their act to the club scene. This transition was carefully chaperoned by the band’s elder, “Popz,” who saw to it that the adult clubs did not unleash their various “distractions” on the band. Wylde Bunch rapidly grew into an established local hip-hop crew, garnering a solid following that eventually captured the interest of the music industry, leading to their critically acclaimed major label debut CD Wylde Times at Washington High on Sony.

Wylde Bunch has created an undeniable niche with their explosive sound.  If there is perhaps a misperception by some that live bands aren’t a part of hip-hop, Wylde Bunch is seeing to it that myth is destroyed.  Also, Ish and Dame, the main producers of the group, work through their own production company, The Drop Squad.  When they have any down time from the band, most of the members have made a point to return to childhood schools in Los Angeles, teaching music at schools lacking in funds.  Giving back to the community is of the utmost importance to this inner city band.
 
Their story and journey was even big enough to land a spot on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” featuring Wylde Bunch member Dame. They have since been a part of a series of tours, television appearances, major collaborations and features.

The Features

• 2007 NBA Theme Song on ABC/ESPN will be their song and video “On Top”
• European tour opening for the Beastie Boys
• 2006 Fox Sports College Football Theme Song – “Yeah Yeah (Stomp The Bleachers)”
• Tour with multi-platinum Black Eyed Peas
• Songs featured in the video game soundtracks for Madden 2005, NBA Live 2005, Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Mansion and Gran Turismo 4
• Collaboration with Maurice White from Earth Wind & Fire on their track “Kat Daddy”
• Horn section played on Grammy winner John Legend’s multi-platinum album, Higher
• “Yeah Yeah (Stomp The Bleachers)” will be in Sony Playstation’s MLB 2K7 game
• Featured on the Sly & The Family Stone tribute album alongside Steven Tyler, The Roots, Moby, Maroon 5 and more!
• MTV “Rock the Vote Tour”
• “Pepsi Smash” variety show performance hosted by rapper Bow Wow
• NBA All-Star Game’s “Club NBA” concert two years straight

THE EP

Their latest six-song, self-titled EP, available in stores and online everywhere on Surfdog Records, finds Wylde Bunch at the top of their game. The lead track “Yeah Yeah (Stomp the Bleachers)” is an instant arena anthem and was chosen as the theme song and video for the 2007 college football season on Fox Sports.
 
The second track, “Dumb”, an enticing roots, hip-hop, and rock song deals with the experience of hard lessons learned, or coping with the truth that sometimes some lessons are, in fact, never learned.  The track is an insistence to keep living and growing regardless of pitfalls or accomplishments, and is also a simultaneous confession that in the end, sometimes we really don’t know anything!
 
In “NaNaNa” Wylde Bunch spin a humorous tale recounting the classic cat-and-mouse game between males and females.  The chorus is a driving horn section and a huge hook.

“Clash,” an infectious sing-along reminiscent of mid-1960’s pop, speaks of life’s unpredictability.  One moment it feels as if our backs are up against the wall, but the next moment can change everything.  In the end, the song is a reflective meditation on the agony and ecstasy of life’s experiences.

Tapping into a lineage that harkens back to early Beastie Boys, Run-DMC and Public Enemy, “Lose It” brings back the guitar riff into hip-hop music.  “Lose It” infuses old-school 808 handclaps with heavy, distortion-laden guitars.  The song tells a story of the hardships of growing up in gang-riddled South Central Los Angeles as well and compares that to the pressures and plasticity the group has encountered in life in general.

The final track, “On Top,” is a song of hope.  The verse explodes into a powerful chorus where the lines, “Now you see/what it takes to be/on top” repeat with energy and urgency.  This track is so powerful that ESPN will be using it as their theme song for the upcoming NBA season. Following in the footsteps of Black Eyed Peas, Pink, Fort Minor, and Tom Petty, the song will open all ABC/ESPN NBA games with their video spliced in with NBA highlights.

Overall, the new self-titled EP by Wylde Bunch is an offering of fresh, real, and bangin’ new songs!

TURN IT UP AND GO WYLDE!!

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