User:Nickdulac/Lexicon (Band)

Lexicon (Band) are an American hip-hop and indie rock band from Los Angeles. Primarily consisting of brothers Gideon Black (lead vocals) and Nick Black (lead vocals), the band has had a variety of contributing members through the years.

Upon the release of their first two full length albums, It's The L!! in 2001,and Youth Is Yours in 2003,  the group met much underground, college and indie acclaim, and became an integral part of the LA underground hip-hop scene that brought us such acts as The Black Eyed Peas, Dilated Peoples, and Jurassic 5. Since then, Gideon and Nick Black, along with long time friends and co-writers, Alex Pauley (bass) and Erich Schneider (guitar), have relocated to Paris, France. With their latest release, Rapstars in 2009, Lexicon has grown from their original hip-hop roots, and have added a full band and created a genre labeled "Rap-n-Roll," "combining their deeply engrained hip-hop skills with their upbringing in 1980's new wave and their current love of modern dance and indie rock."<--FIND A QUOTE

Beginnings and The Antiquity EP (19xx-19xx)
Gideon and Nick Black were born in Boulder, Colorado. Their parents, Susan Barry-Black and David Black, were hippies who had relocated from New York like many of their contemporaries of their time. Music was an intergral part of the Black brother's history; their grandfather, Paul Barry was a crooner who sang in Tommy Dorsey's band, toured with Mae West, put out records with Lennie Hayton. He eventually went into music publishing independently, and with 20th Century Fox. Their mother grew up in this musical environment in Great Neck, New York, a suburb of Manhattan on Long Island, with big band legends like Ruby Bloom and another name constantly in and out of their doors. Her godmother was Lena Horne. Their father's musical journey was one of more self-discovery. After becoming deeply involved in the hippie culture and the music surrounding it, David befriended many musicians and eventually toured the US with the band i don't know, finally landing in Boulder, Colorado, where he met Susan. The Black's household was full of music, influencing the young brothers with everything from 60's [rock and roll]] to their fathers new obsession with 80's new wave.

After their parents divorced when they were very young, and their mother brought them to California, the brothers would spend holidays and partial-summers with their father at their grandmother's in Manhattan. It was there that their love and discovery of the hip-hop scene in Manhattan in late 80's/early 90's began. This love became obsession, and the obsession became a passion, and Gideon and Nick began writing their own songs and recording them over instrumentals and breaks they would get from mixtapes they would buy when they were in Manhattan, or would record while listening to late night radio, such as The Stretch and Bobitto Show.

After years of honing their craft, they recorded their first official demo after relocating to Santa Barbara where Gideon was starting college at UCSB, and gave it to the campus radio station, KCSB. The demo was passed around until it ended up in the hands of Frank Ramirez, who was one of the most influencial people in the area's hip hop scene, which although just north of Los Angeles, had a burgeoning scene of it's own. Ramirez hosted a radio show and a video show on the local cable network, and invited the brothers to be guests on both. After impressive, and slightly shocking appearances (this was before the time of Eminem, when white emcees were less prolific), Lexicon was immediately known in the area. This had positive and negative effects. Nick, new to Santa Barbara and high school, was suddenly the target of every emcee at every surrounding school. He quickly honed his freestyle battle skills and proved his worth through the ranks of emcees in the area, in what have been hailed as "legendary battles at the Santa Barbara Boys and Girls Club." <-REF! On the flip side, Lexicon immediately began working with all of the greats in the area, such as Tha Alkaholiks, Mad Lib and the Loot Pack, Subtitle, Mums the Word, and more. The duo also met Santa Maria legendary DJ Mucho through their radio interview with Frank Ramirez, and asked him to join the group, and officially became a trio for the first time.

An immediate bond was struck with emcee/musician, Subtitle, who was at the beginnings of creating an alliance with other rap groups from the area called The Library Crew. He recruited Lexicon, along with a few other local acts, and immediately The Library Crew was well known in the area, and thought of as a new force in the area that had previously only been known for the The Loot Pack and other Alkaholik affiliated groups. After only radio appearances on KCSB and street battling/freestyling, The Library Crew was invited to perform at the 805 Live festival in Oxnard soon after forming, co-headlining along side The Living Legends and The Loot Pack. This was the first live perfomance ever for Gideon and Nick Black.

J-Smoov, one of the founders of the legendary Project Blow'd in Los Angeles, became aware of The Library and put out an EP which contained a Lexicon song, and two songs featuring all of the emcees. The EP received slight acclaim (rappages quote), and Subtitle, Gideon, and Nick all moved down to Los Angeles to take advantage of their new success. Now in LA, The Library Crew dissolved, but the three stayed very close while Nick attended UCLA, becoming regulars at all of the events of the growing LA underground scene, and Subtitle making his mark in the Project Blow'd scene, freestyling weekly at Leimart Park. The three reconnected with DJ/Producer Todd Mumford/ Mums The Word, who was a DJ at KCSB, and who now was starting a record label and building a studio with Mong and that other guy. The label, called Concentrated Entertainment, had already signed rapper LMNO from The Visionaries and began to work with Lexicon and Subtitle. While Subtitle became more focused on the Project Blow'd and freestyle scene, Lexicon began to realize their strong points as song writers, and began to write with Mumford. After recording only a few songs, they began performing throughout Los Angeles, with Mumford as their DJ and Subtitle making guest appearances. Promotions such as UNITY and Malathion and 3H Presents were throwing weekly hip-hop events throughout the city, and Lexicon began to be the go-to openers for groups like Jurassic 5, Dilated Peoples, Black Eyed Peas, The Visionaries, and more who were all making their name in the LA Underground scene, as well as opening for Eminem, Del tha Funkyhomosapien, Brand Nubian, and more.

Lexicon released their first 12' on Concentrated Entertainment soon after, Reference Materials featuring Subtitle on the a-side, and 2-12 Bars featuring Kazi (from the Loot Pack) on the b-side. Lexicon continued to write with Mumford, and eventually finished and produced the Antiquity EP. The EP included a song entitled "Six Shooter", featuring LMNO and 2-Mex of the Visionaries, Raaka Iriscience of Dilated Peoples, Kazi, and Kutmaster Kurt. A deal was in place for the song to be released on 12 inch in collaboration with the website Hiphopsite.com, with cover design by Shepard Fairie, but the deal fell through. This, combined with already growing tension building with Mumford led to a falling out, and prior to the release date of "Antiquity," and Lexicon was "dropped." Concentrated declared the relationship was finished, and they would not promote or push the record, nor release any singles from it. To add insult to injury, Lexicon was replaced on the track by LA emcee Murs, and the song was released on his 2001 album.

Despite the situation, Gideon and Nick decided to promote "Antiquity" on their own, and set up radio interviews throughout LA. While on UC Irvine's college radio show, the two were interviewed by DJ Cheapshot, who was a fan of their music, and was sympathetic to their recent story. He was a producer as well, and after the interview the three bonded, and began a working relationship and friendship. He produced a track for them, and through Ground Level Distribution they released it themselves along with a song from Antiquity. It did decently, but started their relationship with DJ Cheapshot which continued for the next years to come.

Nikehead, Harold & Kumar, and The Spy Tech Years (2001-20xx)
Lexicon started to work primarily with DJ Cheapshot and began to form a bond with his friends and production projects, rap group [Styles of Beyond] and rapper [4-Zone]. This ultimately led to the creation of [Spy Tech Records], and the release of Lexicon's pivotal single, Come Up featuring 4-Zone, with the b-side featuring their now classic ode to sneakers, Nikehead. Soon after the release, Nikehead began to garnish a lot of critical acclaim <> and mix show radio play, including spins by the influencial [Fantastic 4our] on their mixshow [Friday Night Flavas] on [Power 106]. Gideon and Nick went for their now infamous interview with C-Minus on Friday Night Flavas, in which record promoter [Byze-One], self proclaimed king of the nikeheads, interupted the interview by throwing his new Air Force 1 at Lexicon, claiming there was nowhere on earth they could get those. From that moment, the duo was engrained as a part of the growing sneaker culture that has now extended well beyond its' hip hop beginnings. The song was used in a variety of shoe documentaries over the years, and some consider Lexicon this song to have influenced everyone from Nelly to Macklemore. <>

The popularity of Nikehead catapulted Lexicon up the ranks of the underground hip hop scene, and with the completion of their first official full length album, "It's The L!!" they began to play higher profile shows touring across the USA. The title track, "It's The L!!" was received well at urban radio, and received non-mixshow plays and although minimal, was added to Power 106's regular rotation.

At the time, DJ Cheapshot had a residency at the now defunct [Bar Delux] on Las Palmas Blvd in Hollywood. The small bar attracted their friends, but also a lot of the night life scene that made LA so notorious at the time, and everyone from [Justin Timberlake] to [Paris Hilton] to it-models and up and comers were known to frequent the bar. Lexicon were staples as this scene formed, and the legendary Los Angeles night life played a major role as the sound and setting for their next (and future) albums. Along with Cheapshot and Vin Skully, Lexicon finished and released their second L.P., Youth is Yours in October of 2003. Although the production was similar, the topic matter of the record began to reflect their experiences in the LA nightlife, as well as their growing distaste for the current hip hop world. The duo made the entire album as < >, abandoning their previously refined battle-rap skills. The topic driven album featured the rappers singing their choruses, adding musicians to complement tracks, and selecting samples and tones that were much more rock-n-roll than their previous work.

The album artwork, photos (all taken at Bar Delux) and vibe was all expected to go against the grain of the hip hop world, but in fact did quite the opposite, and the album was met with great fan fare. The duo continued to tour and play higher profile shows, including Power 106's [Powerhouse] and a residency at the legendary [Viper Room] which highlighted the bands raucus and fun music and debaucherous life style. The residency became a hit, and Lexicon's rock and roll attitude and hip-hop sensablity created something < > special. The third single released off of the album, Rock, (which was a last second decision to include on the album) was placed in pivotal scenes in the 2004 release, [Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle]. The film's success, and Lexicon's association with it allowed for many to discover Lexicon that hadn't yet, as homemade Youtube videos have garnished close to 1,000,000 views collectively. The song was then used in "America's Next Top Model" finale, as well as many other placements, making it a bonafide hit.

Ironically, at the moment of success, Lexicon had a falling out with Cheapshot due to business disagreements. The band was let free of their contract, and had interest from [Epic], [Capital], and [Interscope], who were all very anxious to hear what the brothers had planned next.