HYBRID PROJECT: The duo seemed to be drifting apart, but when they got together to compare solo projects, the new album was born.
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George Andrinopoulos, 30, and his wordsmith partner, Seamus Ryan, 31, have been doing their best to keep old-school-style hip-hop alive in Boston and beyond since they first met, in 1992. As DJ 7L & Esoteric, they’ve been instrumental in building and maintaining a thriving local hip-hop scene and keeping Boston on the rap map. Yet after almost a decade and a half, it didn’t seem that even their love for golden-era hip-hop could continue to sustain them. When discussions began for their A New Dope (Baby Grande) in October of last year, they say, they were burnt out, sick of music, sick of the industry, and sick of themselves. They’d spent most of 2005 on the rise, opening for up-and-coming underground stars like Fort Minor and Jedi Mind Tricks across the country and staying clear of the studio. They’d even performed overseas. But they were drifting apart in their tastes, and they hadn’t played a Boston show in almost two years.
All that was about to change. But first, some history. When 7L & Eso hit the scene, old school hip-hop was flourishing; as the ’90s went on and it began to fade, they kept it alive, offering a refreshing old-school alternative to the East/West Coast gangsta wars that swept the nation and ruled the charts. Along with Mr. Lif and rap veteran Edo G, they created a Boston sound. It wasn’t until 2001 that they released their debut full-length, The Soul Purpose (Direct); that was followed by 2002’s Dangerous Connection (Brick), with guest appearances by Beyonder, J-Live, Vinnie Paz from Jedi Mind Tricks, and Apathy. They signed a deal with the expanding indie Baby Grande and took their raw brand of old-school stylings national with 2004’s DC2: Bars of Death, that one populated by underground heroes like Army of the Pharaohs, Demigodz, and MainFlow as well as Boston vets Beyonder and KT & Uno the Prophet.
But by October of last year, 7L was already several weeks into work on a solo album. He’d started writing raps that diverged from the braggadocio that had become his calling card — the “how smart I am, how fresh I am, my shit is better than yours” kind of boasting, as he puts it during our three-way conference call. Meanwhile, Esoteric, who’d always stuck to MCing, was starting to create beats of his own — more experimental, instrumental recordings inspired by the ’80s synth tunes he’d been listening to. A break-up appeared imminent.
“We were a little burnt out, doing the same thing for so long,” 7L recalls. Esoteric concurs: “We had had it up to our necks with what we were doing.” Still, they remained good friends. Esoteric told 7L he was preparing to record raps of his own over synth-heavy tracks. 7L admitted that he too was in uncharted waters, using a lot of synthetic beats and experimenting with sound. They met up to show off their new works to one another and . . . A New Dope was born.
“We didn’t really give a shit what anybody thought,” Esoteric says of the hybrid project. “We carved out our niche, we’re here, and we’ll do what we want.” “The record was so easy,” 7L adds. “There was no blueprint.” Indeed, the results bring to mind the big beats of Fatboy Slim and the synth grooves of Moby meeting up with Kool Keith to flash a middle finger at anyone who isn’t down with the new program. Kool Keith even makes a guest appearance, flowing on the fast-paced “Daisycutta.”
And though 7L & Esoteric do push the envelope in terms of both music and lyrics, A New Dope is their most accessible album yet — and their most varied. In “Reggie Lewis Is Watching,” Esoteric recounts playing basketball near Fenway as a teenager and spotting the Celtics star there watching with his wife. It’s set against an eerie, muffled backdrop with heavy scratching and a slowed-down old-school electric drum-kit beat. The lyrics keep the duo grounded on home turf: “Reggie Lewis watching with his dame/I remember Andre Lafleur, the Northeastern point guard threw me the rock so I could score/But I got rejected/Thought I got fouled/Father went wild/Almost got ejected/On an outdoor court/Ain’t that some shit/But basketball is a mouthy sport.”
On “Dunks Are Live, Dunks Are Dead,” a brief interlude separates the reggaetón-tinged first part from a Middle Eastern flute solo supported only by finger-snapping. Esoteric complements this second half with some spitfire word association: “Peeps saying the E’s crossed the line/Must’ve lost his mind/Got lost in time/He made a voyage to the desert sands and back/ Lost some fans and that made him a man to rap never.”
The embattled sentiment of that verse is reflected in the album’s cover art, which looks like an old boxing poster with a bright yellow background. So it wasn’t a total surprise when the duo emerged to the sound of the Rocky theme spliced with some drum ’n’ bass breakbeats at the Middle East CD-release show last month. His face hidden within the gold hood of a boxing robe, Esoteric bounced up and down before taking a seat on a stool while a card girl walked around the stage announcing the start of round one. An opening bell rang. The beat picked up, whereupon he whipped back the hood to reveal a Red Sox cap tilted to the side. Don’t count out 7L & Esoteric just yet.
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7L & Esoteric: //www.7l-esoteric.com/