Triple Ave – True Working Class Heroes
They say the best artists write about what they know. Perhaps that is why Triple Ave’s new album ‘True Working Class Heroes’ sounds so damn good. Because, what Triple Ave does not know about life, music and everything else in between is not really worth knowing. The three components that make up the group now known as Triple Ave come from as far-flung places as Boston, California and St Louis. And their backgrounds are even more diverse, encompassing Puerto Rico, Mexico, Creole and Cape Verde, West-Africa.
Maybe this mix is why the sound that Hyp, Gypsy Luv and Louie Da Saint make when they bring their heritages together is so fresh, so unique and so exciting. It is progressive hip-hop in that it still has the tightest, dopest beats you could hope for, but its content is significantly higher on the intelligence scale than your average MTV Bass bumper. This is unashamedly music by and for grown-ups. And may Triple Ave be praised for that!
The album was named not only for the group’s ancestral struggles against the powers that be, but also because the journey of the band and the construction of the album was in many ways “working class” too.
The record was made in an entirely self-sufficient way: programmed, produced, written and engineered by the members of the band, with zero compromise on quality or vision. And not many bands can say that.
Triple Ave blend elements of jazz, soul, world music via live instrumentation with turntablism and create the sort of head-nodding, intelligent and literal music that the hip-hop world has been crying out for far too long.
More than that, Triple Ave wants their music to be a vehicle for positive progress. Maybe it’s being descended from leaders of people such as the Cape Verdean revolutionary martyr Amilcar Cabral and the founder of Florida A&M University Nathan B Young but they see their art as a unifying force for people to who want to work out issues, exchange ideas and bring about change.
Triple Ave has so many influences, musically and culturally, that it is hard to contain them on one record. Being rooted in their urban upbringing and travelling throughout places in Europe, India, the Philippines and Mexico, only add to the groups diverse worldview. ‘True Working Class Heroes’ looks like it is going to be just the beginning for this band.
And if you don’t believe us, then they already have enough accolades from their peers to convince the harshest sceptic. No lesser light than A-Plus of the Hierogylyphics heard this album and immediately exclaimed: “This shit is hhhhhhhhella tight,” and who are we to disagree.
They have already picked up the prestigious “Best Band in the Bay Area” in the 2007 regional finals of the International Emergenza Battle of the Bands and now they are taking their unique talents on the road.
The mini tour takes in gigs on both coasts and you would be well advised to get yourself down and witness the world’s newest hip-hop heroes.
Triple Ave Mini Tour 2009
Jan 23, 2009 Friday 10:00 PM The Cellar – Long Beach, CA
Jan 31, 2009 Saturday 8:00 PM O.S. Art House @ The Rockit Room-San Francisco, CA
Feb 6, 2009 Friday 8:00 AM East Bay Liberation Radio 104.1 FM-West Oakland, CA
Feb 14, 2009 Saturday 6:00 PM Saturday Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists-Berkeley, CA
Feb 28, 2009 Saturday 8:00 PM O.S. Art House @ Blaggards-New York, NY – There will also be a video shoot for the song True Working Class Heroes at this performance.
Mar 7, 2009 Saturday 9:00 PM Christoff’s The Mix-Seattle, WA
Mar 8, 2009 Sunday 9:00 PM Mississippi Music Room Portland OR
