Rap/rock mergers have had a long-standing bad reputation among many circles —often the pit of many jokes and stereotypes. And very few artists have been able to establish any real, enduring success with it, struggling to find a balance among rivaling fanbases.
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NYC based Oxymorrons are setting the example of how to find this elusive balance between genres. The brother-led group formed by Kami (K.I) and Demi (Deee) learned from the best growing up in Queens, where rappers like 50 Cent, Onyx and Niki Minaj hailed from. They saw the potential coming from that neighborhood of hip-hop influence. “They inspired us to be ourselves” Deee said. But Deee and K.I. also had a love of 80s metal bands like Metallica and grunge frontrunners like Nirvana. “I would watch videos from acts like Nirvana and Soundgarden and pretend to be a Rockstar, even breaking my bed a few times,” K.I. laughed.
Armed with a spectrum of influences, a neighborhood grit and fight to make it, Dee, and K.I built their foundation for Oxymorrons with fellow New Yorkers; drummer Matty Mayz and guitarist Jafe Paulino. The group debuted their first release, “Justice,” last year. The war-cry anthem tallied over 500k streams and was followed by a phenomenal and inspiring performance on Hot Topic’s Mental Health Notes stream. Aligning with their bond to community, they donated all profits from “Justice” to grassroots organizations that support social justice and reform. Their first track of the new year, “Green Vision,” out today on Spotify, is just another marker of their community spirit and strength. The music video was even filmed in their old neighborhood.
“Rock has been muffled,” the brothers said. “It has been strangled by older gatekeepers that won’t let the sound evolve. It hasn’t been allowed to grow and breath. Bands do not have to be stuck in a specific box in regard to genres and song structure. This song shows a revolution to how we picture the future of rock is to come.”
The track launched a new perspective and process for the band’s songwriting as well. Like so many great artists this year they are finding the beauty in the basics and stripping their songs to the bones before building it back up while finding themselves along the way.
“The song is really our existence for the most part,” K.I. and Deee explained about ‘Green Vision.’ “It’s the perfect blend of our personalities in a song and defines us sonically. Writing ‘Green Vision’ has been an evolution that has jump-started how we write songs as a whole now. We started with a demo and kept stripping it down to the best parts. From there we would build another demo and then strip it down again till we were left with only what we loved. Didn’t matter the time or what the ‘typical structure’ of a song should look like, just what it felt like.”
“Green Vision” is the first in a string of future songs to be peeled from the group’s forthcoming release. And its audacious care-free attitude is just one of the characteristics to be included. “Green Vision” is just the beginning of the adventure Oxymorrons is about to take both rock and rap fans on this year.
“’Green Vision’ is just a piece of the bigger puzzle,” Oxymorrons said. “We are genre benders and ‘Green Vision’ is the tip of the iceberg of the musical journey to come from a full album.”
