EDITOR's NOTE: All this week, VIBE.com brings you profiles on a new class of L.A. emcees who are ready for their close up. Pay attention!
Government Name: Yonas Michael, Yannick Koffi
My L.A.: Inglewood
Album/ Mixtape:A Love Supreme EP (March 2009)
Signed/ Unsigned: Unsigned
Their Jam: “Hollywood Hiatus (Cool Like That)”
The catacombs of SAE Studios on Sunset Boulevard beckon with a sonic tie-dye of neon sounds on a lazy November Sunday evening , which can only mean one thing: U-N-I are at work. The rap duo—consisting of Seattle bred, Cali transplant Y-O and Inglewood rhymester Thurzday, both 24—have been recording all day, cultivating a diverse brew of hybrid hop. “Doing this stuff, I’ve found another side of me,” Y-O confesses, curly fro-hawk in tact. “Every now and then I would always do a little melodic flow, but I found a whole other side messin’ with [producer] Ro that I never saw myself doing ever—I’m singing. Not like Ne-Yo. And no auto tune [laughs].”
This is not unexpected of the two. The group is known for surprises—be it the unexpected success from their 2007 “street album,” Fried Chicken & Watermelon or the choice to stick with one producer (L.A. beat virtuoso Ro Blvd.) on the forthcoming A Love Supreme. Thurzday, branded for his raspy delivery, and Y-O, for his elastic flow, aren’t new to the game. In fact, they’re probably L.A.’s most known unknowns. The two met in the late nineties at St. Bernard’s high school in Westchester and have been forging witty rhymes and clever wordplay ever since. “We always used to challenge each other to not write using pen and paper. Like, let’s try to do this in ‘X’ amount of time,” Y-O says, laid back on one of SAE’s plush leather couches. “The more and more we did it, we got better at it. Now, eight bars feels like it’s four bars, even a sixteen, it feels like it’s eight.” Thurzday chimes in. “And just on top of that, we can hit any extreme. I think we can kill any song. We ain’t tryin’ to be nobody else—we’re only U-N-I.”
He’s right. Not many other up-in-coming rappers, sitting on two hundred tracks, would choose not to release them like wildfire via your favorite hip hop blog. But U-N-I is different. “In the beginning, the process was just get the first beats that we heard, write em’ immediately—because we were just trying to get our stuff out—and do shows,” Y-O says. “Now since we did that, we have the time to just sit in the studio. Like right now we’ve been recording since five o’clock today. It’s a lot more intimate. The thought process now is on a whole other level.”
Earlier that evening, in between studio sessions, the two stop at a Jack In the Box to re-fuel before recording at SAE. There’s no denying it: U-N-I’s work ethic is strong. So why no record deal? “We unsigned—by choice,” Thurzday confesses. “We’re just taking meetings, we don’t want to jump at the first opportunity. We want to continue to build a demand for us and solidify our cult following of fans. You know, just build it from the ground up.” And they have. But not like you might think. “We were going to drop a mixtape,” Y-O says, “but everybody else does that and we didn’t want to follow what everyone else does.” Thurzday—affectionately referred to as Thurz by friends—clarifies. “We’re not closed to doing mixtapes, I just feel you get a bigger effect when you put out original material and keep pushing that. I don’t think anybody can do what we’ve done with the tracks we have. Anybody can take another instrumental and rap over it. It’s not weak, it’s just been done hundreds of millions of times.”
Back at the studio, Y-O, in the booth, finishes his verse on the Aloe Blacc assisted track, “Home,” set to appear on U-N-I’s official debut album. Thurzday watches with subdued excitement as Y-O pays homage to their paternal homeland—Africa (both by way of Eritrea and Côte d'Ivoire, respectively). “It’s really breaking boundaries, dog. I don’t ever think I’ve heard a hip hop or rap album like it. I don’t even want to call it a rap album,” Thurzday says. The two work tirelessly into the morning, making sure each cadence and catch phrase is just right. It’s pushing 3 a.m. as U-N-I leave the studio. They’re tired, but content. For now, anyway. As fans await the release of A Love Supreme, U-N-I will keep doing what they do best: craft indelible music. “I never even thought we would be doing music like this,” Thurzday admits. “It’s really redefining sound.” That’s love.
Read about the rest of our New West lineup.
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