Kuley - or as I would call him, an infectious mix of positivity, self-made production, creative energy and lightning fast machine gun rhymes. It's hard to not be drawn to him, he's lyrics contain so much positivity that it's hard to not believe him, it's hard to not sing a long, and it's hard to not pay attention.
A member of the Breath of Life Audio camp, their YouTube channel is practically a dedication to him. A few loose tracks here and there and an official video for "We Are The Change"
"We Are The Change" finds Kuley at his best. Simple production, enough to keep the head nod in full effect, occasional busts of rapid fire delivery, nicely placed between nuggets of ego and enlightenment. After casually mentioning the possibility of starting a riot he preaches:
"Just kidding, real name is Ryan - Stand for peace, love never violent."
Quickly you can sense his overall presence and theme: he will kill you with delivery and word play, but there are no guns here. This line actually appears visually on the screen. I believe it is completely intentional because Kuley's music carries this theme throughout. On "Dreamers" he touches on a little bit of everything - love, heartache, humor and above all - hope. All tightly bound by the passion to create Hip-Hop. After a few more verses of quick-wit-quick-spit wordplay, the infectious hook rings clear:
"They try to bury us, but we just carry on.
We know we are the change, our nights are very long.
We stand here, not afraid - rain right before the dawn.
Raise up the sun inside, and silently we make a song."
While the bulk of his catalog remains positive, he's not afraid to throw down:
Oh yeah - and maybe I made light of this point up above so I'm going to stress it now. HE MAKES ALL HIS OWN BEATS (except where noted - there are a few guest productions). Enough can't be said for MC's that are able to craft with words and with music - my hat goes off to him on this fact alone!
Make sure you make it out to Hell's Kitchen on Feb. 9th to catch Kuley at the
Common Labor "Tales of the Troubadours" CD Release!!
Common Labor "Tales of the Troubadours" CD Release!!
