Leaders of the Lost: Brief Review and Tour Dates

It’s not everyday that I get to review a local act here on Electric Mohawk, especially a hip-hop group.  I’ll admit, I’ve hesitated giving the group a listen, as I usually dismiss any hip-hop or rap act to come out of the mean streets of Wisconsin, let alone the Fox Valley.  After some coaxing from friend, Adam Woloszyn, I had some MP3s and a website sent to me from an outfit that calls themselves Leaders of the Lost. The name is catchy, and after visiting the website, I found that these individuals take their music seriously, and can justify their passion for hip-hop.

Here’s the band bio:

Formed in late 2008, Leaders of the Lost is a hip hop group from Wisconsin’s Fox Cities whose sound has been compared to New York and Philadelphia based artists such as Jedi Mind Tricks, Outerspace, and Non-Phixion. The group consists of emcees Stress the Mind, Escobars (A.K.A. Breezy), and Sever Slaine, who have collectively played various venues throughout the midwest including Milwaukee’s Rave, Liquor Sweets, and Kaukauna’s Dropfest, and have also performed with acts such as the DRP, Mars, Copywrite, Shoestring of the Dayton Family, Project Born, Mastamind, the Legendary DAS EFX and ABK of psychopathic records. Leaders of the Lost is not your typical club banging hip hop, they bring subject matter ranging from real life street violence, nightmarish imagery, emotional standpoints, religious ideology, hip hop culture, and their own perspective of the world around them. Heavily influenced by the 90′s style of hardcore and hip hop music, expect nothing but heavy hitting original tracks throughout the groups releases.

The first track I listened to came from a YouTube search of the group, and I found a live performance of “Mayhem”. Immediately, I could hear influences of Cypress Hill, 2Pac, and Bone Thugs.  This 90s style hip-hop is the type of hip-hop I’m used to, and I wholly believe it’s a sound that we don’t hear in most modern and mainstream hip-hop today, and that’s unfortunate.

Though I am not the biggest hip-hop enthusiast, I do find enjoyment in certain artists, but the majority of my exposure has been mainstream.  Leaders of the Lost has given me a good segue into a less refined, grassroots experience where I never thought I’d find it; in my home state of Wisconsin.

Want a second opinion? Here’s the video I found…

Original. That’s a very good word that comes to my mind when I hear this track.  If you look in the background, it even looks like there’s some turntable mixing going on. Classy, and something I believe that’s become a lost art in the genre.  After listening to a few more tracks, they all have the same things in common: dope beats, catchy lyrics, and heavy bass.

For those of you interested in catching Leaders of the Lost live, their tour begins tomorrow. Here are the tour dates (more coming soon):

• 08/31/2011 – Mason City, Iowa – Rose Bowl (8pm)
• 09/02/2011 – Topeka, Kansas – 14th Street (8pm)
•  09/03/2011 – Denver, Colorado – Foxy Theatre (5pm)

Wanna keep up to date with Leaders of the Lost?

Leaders of the Lost on Facebook
Leaders of the Lost on YouTube
Leaders of the Lost Website

Check these guys out, especially if they are coming to a town near you!

For Further Reading:

Download Abandoned Pools’ Acoustic Version of “In Silence” Puscifer – Man Overboard Ghostland Observatory – Metro, Chicago 08/26/2011