7L & Esoteric

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article may not meet the notability guideline for music. If you are familiar with the subject matter, please expand or rewrite the article to establish its notability. The best way to address this concern is to reference published, third-party sources about the subject. If notability cannot be established, the article is more likely to be considered for redirection, merge or ultimately deletion, per Wikipedia:Guide to deletion.
This article has been tagged since May 2008.
This article does not cite any references or sources. (May 2008)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.
7L & Esoteric
Origin Boston, Massachusetts
Genre(s) Hip-Hop
Years active 1992 – Present
Label(s) Babygrande Records
Associated acts Beyonder
Members
7L (George Andrinopoulos)
Esoteric (Seamus Ryan)
This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)

7L & Esoteric (7LES) are a Boston-based hip-hop duo, notorious for battle rhymes and boom-bap production. The duo formed in 1992 when Esoteric (known at the time as Seamus the God Awful) DJed a hip hop show at a college radio station north of Boston. 7L, a DJ and producer who listened to the show, contacted Esoteric in the interest of collaborating. The two found they shared a common love of the golden age of hip-hop and decided to form a group with Esoteric as the MC and 7L as the DJ.

After performing for some time in the Boston underground, the duo, with MC Karma known at the time as God Complex, released their first single in 1996. This led to the release of the Rebel Alliance LP, featuring acts such as Virtuoso, Mr. Lif, Tony Infamous and Force Five. Also at this time the two dropped the God Complex moniker becoming simply 7L & Esoteric.

Soon after, 7L & Esoteric put out their first 12” with re-mastered versions of their Rebel Alliance songs “Protocol” and “Be Alert.” "Be Alert", the B-side on the record, began to receive significant radio play, due to its unique sampling of the Transformers TV theme song. The track, which was produced by Beyonger, became very popular in the underground scene.

The duo then dropped the “Def Rhymes” single which got them press in the Source. “Def Rhymes” was also featured on the EP, Speaking Real Words, released in 1999. The album also featured Wu-Tang Clan member Inspectah Deck on the title track.

They released their debut LP The Soul Purpose in the summer of 2001. The album received the Boston Music Award for “Best Hip-Hop Album,”[citation needed] and led to the duo touring the United States and Europe. Upon their return, they recorded and released their second LP in the fall of 2002 entitled Dangerous Connection.

After taking a break from recording the duo released their third LP DC2: Bars of Death in the spring of 2004 with Babygrande Records. The album received overall positive reviews and was lauded by long-time fans.[citation needed] In 2006, "Moment of Rarities" was also released with Babygrande. This CD was a collection of previously unreleased tracks. Esoteric has stated that this CD was put out to fulfill contractual obligations with Babygrande Records.

"Too Much Posse" was released in 2006, under Esoteric's own label, Fly Casual. This CD was a collection of songs where Esoteric rapped alongside other artists. It also contained a few previously unreleased remixes and freestyles.

7L & Esoteric are both prominent members of the underground hip-hop groups the Demigodz and Army of the Pharaohs. Their work also features a long list of collaborations with artists such as Jedi Mind Tricks, Apathy, Celph Titled, Outerspace, and even World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) wrestler John Cena.

Esoteric has recently embarked on a solo venture, presenting his debut Egoclapper in which he took both the rhyming and production duties. He has also sparked some comedic video entertainment with his youtube series Pterovision which serves as a bi-weekly broadcast to the 7LES fan base.

On May 8th, 2008, Esoteric will be releasing another solo venture, entitled Esoteric Vs. Japan - "Pterodactyl Takes Tokyo". This release will feature Esoteric rhyming over beats sampled from Japanese music and films.

Esoteric has also stated that "Saving Seamus Ryan" will be released following the Japan album.

[edit] Discography

  • Speaking Real Words EP - 1999
  • The Soul Purpose LP - 2001
  • Dangerous Connection LP - 2002
  • DC2: Bars of Death LP - 2004
  • Moment of Rarities LP - 2006
  • MC Esoteric - Too Much Posse - February 13rd, 2006
  • A New Dope LP - June 27, 2006
  • MC Esoteric - Egoclapper - October 23rd, 2007
  • MC Esoteric - Esoteric Vs. Japan - "Pterodactyl Takes Tokyo" - May 6th, 2008
  • Saving Seamus Ryan - TBA

[edit] Collaborations

[edit] External links