Cyne, often stylized as CYNE ("Cultivating Your New Experience"; pronounced "sign"), is an American
alternative hip hop group originating from
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, and the largest city in North Central Florida, with a population of 141,085 in 2020. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, which had a population of 339,247 in ...
. The group consists of MCs Akin Yai and Clyde "Cise Starr" Graham, and producers David "Enoch" Newell and Michael "Speck" Gersten, and are currently signed to Hometapes.
History
Cyne (Cultivating Your New Experience) formed in the summer of 2001. The group consists of vocalists Akin and Cise Star and producers Speck and Enoch. They are a Hip Hop group originating from Gainesville, Florida, USA. The group aim to create sincere Hip Hop music with a message: Their tracks are politically charged, with culturally introspective, motivational lyrical content influenced by artists such as
Public Enemy
"Public enemy" is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society, though the phrase had been used for centuries to describe ...
,
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...
,
Lakim Shabazz,
C.L. Smooth and the early work of
Common
Common may refer to:
Places
* Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
* Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts
* Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts
* Clapham Common, originally ...
.
The production backing the vocals of Akin and Cise Star is warm, soulful and organic, influenced by producers such as
No I.D.,
Pete Rock and
J Dilla
J, or j, is the tenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its usual name in English is ''jay'' (pronounced ), with a now-uncommon vari ...
. The group’s first release was the 12” ‘African Elephants’ on the Beta Bodega label Rice and Beans in 2001. Since this initial release the group have released several Eps and 12”s, have collaborated with artists such as
Daedelus,
Four Tet
Kieran Hebden (born September 1977), known as Four Tet, is an English electronic musician. He came to prominence as a member of the post-rock band Fridge before establishing himself as a solo artist with charting UK albums such as '' Rounds'' ( ...
and
Machinedrum
Travis Stewart, better known as Machinedrum, is an American electronic record producer and performer from North Carolina.[EL-P
Jaime Meline (born March 2, 1975), better known by the stage name El-P (shortened from his previous stage name El Producto), is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Starting his career as a member of Company Flow, he has been a ...](_blank)
,
KRS-One
Lawrence "Kris" Parker (born August 20, 1965), better known by his stage names KRS-One (; an abbreviation of "Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone") and Teacha, is an American rapper from New York City. He rose to prominence as part of ...
,
Talib Kweli
Talib Kweli Greene (; born October 3, 1975) is an American rapper. He earned recognition early on through his collaboration with fellow Brooklyn rapper Mos Def in 1997, when they formed the group Black Star. Kweli's musical career continued with ...
,
Dalek
The Daleks ( ) are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants principally portrayed in the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. They were conceived by writer Terry Nation and first appeared in the 1963 ''Doctor Who ...
,
Atmosphere
An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. ...
,
The Beatnuts,
The Roots
The Roots are an American hip hop band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's '' The Tonight Show Starring Jimm ...
,
Sage Francis,
Against Me!
Against Me! is an American punk rock band formed in 1997 in Naples, Florida, by singer and guitarist Laura Jane Grace. That same year, Grace moved to Gainesville, Florida, which is considered the band's hometown. Since 2001, the band's lineup ...
,
Holopaw,
Big Jus
Justin Ingleton, better known by his stage name Bigg Jus, is an American alternative hip hop artist from Jamaica, Queens. He was a member of Company Flow along with El-P and Mr. Len. He is also one half of the duo Nephlim Modulation Systems with ...
,
Mr. Lif,
ISIS
Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic language, Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician language, Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major ancient Egyptian deities, goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughou ...
,
Push Button Objects and many more. They have previously released albums on Botanica Del Jibaro, P-Vine, Project: Mooncircle, Home Tapes and
City Centre Offices, creating a reputation as artists that stay true to the lyrical power and gritty cut and paste aesthetic of classic Hip Hop whilst managing to explore new sonic territory.
CYNE's 2005 release ''Evolution Fight'' was named Album of the Week at ''
Stylus Magazine
''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog.
Addi ...
'' for the week of August 29 – September 3, 2005. In 2007, CYNE released the ''Grey Matter'' EP on their website to be downloaded, free of charge. In 2014, the group released a studio album, ''All My Angles Are Right'', on Hometapes.
Style and influences
Their often socio-politically charged, culturally introspective, and motivational lyrics find influence rooted in
blues,
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...
,
highlife
Highlife is a music genre that started in present-day Ghana in the 19th century, during its history as a colony of the British Empire and through its trade routes in coastal areas. It describes multiple local fusions of African metre and wester ...
,
activism
Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fr ...
,
humanities
Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at th ...
and
philosophy.
Discography
Studio albums
* ''Time Being'' (2003)
* ''
Evolution Fight
''Evolution Fight'' is an album by hip hop band Cyne. It was released on August 29, 2005, on the City Centre Offices label. It gained some moderate success underground and in the mainstream. It is considered a classic hip-hop album by many crit ...
'' (2005)
* ''Tour CD 2005'' (2005)
* ''Starship Utopia'' (2008)
* ''
Pretty Dark Things
Pretty Dark Things is the fifth studio album by American hip hop group, CYNE
Cyne, often stylized as CYNE ("Cultivating Your New Experience"; pronounced "sign"), is an American alternative hip hop group originating from Gainesville, Florid ...
'' (2008)
* ''
Water for Mars
Cyne, often stylized as CYNE ("Cultivating Your New Experience"; pronounced "sign"), is an American alternative hip hop group originating from Gainesville, Florida. The group consists of MCs Akin Yai and Clyde "Cise Starr" Graham, and producers ...
'' (2009)
* ''All My Angles Are Right'' (2014)
Compilation albums
* ''Cyne (Collection 1999-2003)'' (2003)
* ''Wasteland Vol. 1: Killmore'' (2011)
*''Wasteland Vol. 2'' (2017)
EPs
* ''Movements'' (2002)
* ''Growing'' (2004)
* ''Running Water'' (2005)
* ''Grey Matter'' (2007)
Singles
* "African Elephants" (2001)
* "Midas" (2002)
* "Out of Time" (2003)
* "Due Progress" (2003)
Guest appearances
* Supersoul - "Sattva Guna (Make It Happen!)" from ''40 Acres and a Moog'' (2002)
*
Nujabes
, better known by his stage name , was a Japanese record producer, audio engineer, DJ, composer and arranger best known for his atmospheric instrumental mixes sampling from hip hop, soul, and jazz, as well as incorporating elements of trip hop, ...
- "Lady Brown" and "High 2 Lows" from ''Metaphorical Music'' (2003), "Feather" from ''Modal Soul'' (2005), "D.T.F.N" from ''Hydeout Productions (First Collection)'' (2003), "Sky is Tumbling" from ''Spiritual State'' (2011)
*
Daedelus - "Drops" from ''
Exquisite Corpse
Exquisite corpse (from the original French term ', literally exquisite cadaver), is a method by which a collection of words or images is collectively assembled. Each collaborator adds to a composition in sequence, either by following a rule (e.g. ...
'' (2005)
*
Depth Affect - "One Day or So" from ''Arche-Lymb'' (2006)
* Deceptikon - "Montana" from ''Greater Cascadia'' (2007)
* Supersoul - "Satellites" from ''Plastic Rap'' (2007)
* Seven Star - "Speak the Truth" (2008)
* Haruka Nakamura - "The Sun" from ''Melodica'' (2013)
* Ficus - "Level Up" from ''Black Foliage'' (2013)
* Uyama Hiroto - Soul of Freedom from ''Freedom of the Son'' (2014)
References
External links
*
*
Alternative hip hop groups
American hip hop groups
Musical groups from Gainesville, Florida
Musical groups established in 2000
2000 establishments in Florida
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