Northern State is an American

female Female (Venus symbol, symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ovum, ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the Sperm, male gamete during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gamet ...

hip-hop/

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

group from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, United States. The group consists of members Julie " Hesta Prynn" Potash, Correne "Spero" (previously "

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

Love," due to her Italian heritage) Spero, and Robyn "Sprout" Goodmark.Morton, Pascal (2003) "Rise of the B-Girl", X-RAY, April 2003, Swinstead Publishing The group is named after the Northern State Parkway, one of the highways on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

, New York State.

Biography

Sprout, Spero and Hesta Prynn attended

Half Hollow Hills High School West Half Hollow Hills Central School District (#5) is located in Dix Hills, New York, on Long Island, and primarily serves the hamlets of Dix Hills and Melville, while also serving parts of East Farmingdale, Deer Park, West Hills, East Northpo ...

and graduated in the 1990s. The group was first formed as a joke; Spero stated in 2003, "It was hilarious. Could you imagine three white girls from Long Island opening up their mouths and acting like they could rap?" In 2002, the group released ''Hip Hop You Haven't Heard'', a four-song collection, the songs from which ended up in remixed form on the 2003 EP '' Dying in Stereo'', which was given a scathing review by Michael Idov in Pitchfork magazine.Idov, Michael (2003)
Northern State ''Dying in Stereo''
,

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

, July 17, 2003, retrieved 2010-06-28 For their second album, ''All City'', the group worked with

Pete Rock Peter O. Phillips (born June 21, 1970), better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapping, rapper. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time, and is often mentioned alongs ...

Questlove Ahmir Khalib Thompson (born January 20, 1971), known professionally as Questlove (stylized as ), is an American musician, record producer, disc jockey, filmmaker, music journalist, and actor. He is the drummer and joint frontman (with Black Thou ...

from

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 Jimmy F ...

, Har Mar Superstar, and DJ Muggs of

Cypress Hill Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. They have sold over 20 million albums worldwide and have multi-platinum and platinum albums. They are considered to be among the main progenitors of West Coast and 1990 ...

. It was released on Columbia/

SME SME may refer to: Economics * Small and medium-sized enterprises * Socialist market economy, an economic system of China Organizations Music * SME Limited, UK audio turntable manufacturer * Sony Music Entertainment, US * Spontaneous Music Ensembl ...

Records, but because of disagreements, the group left the label thereafter. Northern State collaborated with producer Chuck Brody of Shitake Monkey (

Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop group formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its original members include RZA, GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, and Masta Killa. Close affili ...

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up i ...

, etc.) and Adrock from the

Beastie Boys Beastie Boys were an American rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1978. The group was composed of Mike D, Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (voca ...

, among others, on their most recent album, ''Can I Keep This Pen?'', which was released on Ipecac Recordings on August 28, 2007. They have shared the stage in North America and Europe with

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 Jimmy F ...

, Le Tigre, Talib Kweli,

De La Soul De La Soul () is an American hip hop trio formed in 1988 in the Amityville area of Long Island, New York. They are best known for their eclectic sampling, quirky lyrics, and their contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternative ...

The Gossip Gossip (or The Gossip) was an American indie rock band formed in Searcy, Arkansas, originally active from 1999 until 2016. For most of their career, the band consisted of singer Beth Ditto, multi-instrumentalist Brace Paine, and drummer Hannah ...

Gym Class Heroes Gym Class Heroes was an American rap rock band from Geneva, New York. The group formed in 1997 when Travie McCoy met drummer Matt McGinley during their high school gym class. The band's music displays a wide variety of influences, including hip h ...

, Tegan and Sara, and

Cake Cake is a flour confection made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients, and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elaborate, ...

. Their songs "Better Already" and "Iluvitwhenya" were featured in season 4 episodes of the hit show '' Grey's Anatomy''. Their song "Good Distance" was featured in the fifth episode of the show '' Damages''. The band appeared on an episode of Washington-based television show ''

Pancake Mountain ''Pancake Mountain'' is a children's television show created by filmmaker Scott Stuckey (of the famous Stuckey's family). Described as an “alt-rock guerrilla kids' dance party, forged in the crucible of Washington, D.C. cable-access television ...

'' alongside Tegan and Sara. Northern State covered " No Surprises" for '' Stereogum Presents... OKX: A Tribute to OK Computer'', a tribute album to ''

OK Computer ''OK Computer'' is the third studio album by the English rock band Radiohead, released in Japan on 21 May 1997 and in the UK on 16 June 1997. Radiohead self-produced the album with Nigel Godrich, an arrangement they have used for their subsequ ...

'' by

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...

Discography

Albums

* '' Dying in Stereo'' (2002) Star Time/ Wichita * '' All City'' (2004) Columbia/ SME Records * '' Can I Keep This Pen?'' (2007) Ipecac

EPs

* '' Hip Hop You Haven't Heard'' (2002, self-released) * ''At the Party'' (2005, Wichita) * ''Better Already'' (2007, Kanine)

Singles

References

{{Authority control American hip hop groups Women hip hop groups Musical groups from Long Island Jewish hip hop groups Wichita Recordings artists Columbia Records artists Ipecac Recordings artists