Lifesavas is a hip hop group from

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. Their style exhibits tag-team rhymes, matter-of-fact storytelling and a soulful production. The emcee's styles and song writing skills are showcased in the arrangements of a funky collection of subject matter and concepts.

Formation

Vursatyl and Jumbo met playing basketball and ripping free-style in Portland city parks. Initially working on different projects out of the same makeshift studio, the two decided to join creative forces. DJ Rev Shines joined them, creating a trio. Chief Xcel from

Blackalicious Blackalicious was an American hip-hop duo from Sacramento, California, made up of rapper Gift of Gab and DJ/producer Chief Xcel. They are noted for Gift of Gab's often tongue-twisting, multisyllabic, complex rhymes and Chief Xcel's soulful pr ...

discovered the Lifesavas and invited the group to perform in San Francisco with Blackalicious

Quannum Projects Quannum Projects (also known as Quannum MCs) is an American hip hop collective based in the San Francisco Bay Area. It has been active since 1992, when it was formed at UC Davis under the moniker Solesides Records. It is also the name of the i ...

. Vursatyl was invited to perform backup vocals for Blackalicious during their live performances. Soon after, Jumbo and Shines joined Vursatyl on tour, opening for Quannum artists Blackalicious and Latyrx. That led to a record deal on Quannum Projects in 2003, where they released their debut album ''Spirit In Stone.'' The first single was "What If It's True?" Their second album, '' Gutterfly'', was released on April 10, 2005, on Quannum Projects, featuring the singles "Gutterfly" and "A Seperent's Love".

Critical reception

Reviewing ''Spirit in Stone'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' wrote that Lifesavas "switch off between conspiracy-minded politics and mocking critiques of commercial hip-hop ... They keep a sense of humor amid their righteousness."

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

gave the album an "A−", writing that the trio "leads with a sound, less catholic than that of their teachers De La Soul but still plenty absorptive—jazzlike, with a fluid Jamaican under-current." '' Mother Jones'' opined that the group "recalls A Tribe Called Quest at their nimble best ... This exciting trio combines crisp, punchy beats with brisk verbal flurries, generating densely textured sounds worthy of repeated hearings."

Works

Albums

* ''Spirit in Stone'' (2003) * ''Gutterfly'' (2007)

Track appearances

* "Hello_Hi_Hey" on ''Molson Red Leaf Collection Vol. 1'' (2004) * "Government Cheese" on "We came from Beyond, VOL. 2" (2003)

References

External links

Lifesavas tour blog

Live performance
first broadcast on

KEXP KEXP-FM (90.3 FM broadcasting, FM) is a non-commercial Radio broadcasting, radio station in Seattle, Seattle, Washington, United States, specializing in indie music programmed by its disc jockeys. KEXP's studios are located at the Seattle Cent ...

, May 2007. {{Authority control Musical groups from Portland, Oregon Quannum Projects artists Musical trios from Oregon American hip-hop groups