Earlier this year, an official Hip Hop movement emerged from the mid-west in the form of a creative crew of songwriters, producers, party starters, radical thinkers, and culture connoisseurs known as We R The Lost. After rap’s biggest crossover star Wiz Khalifa’s widespread Taylor Gang success placed his mid-east city of Pittsburgh on the global music map, the world began paying closer attention to alternative US regions like Middle America for new styles and sounds. Also responsible for Nelly, Chingy, Kanye West, Kid Cudi, and Lupe Fiasco, the mid-west stakes claim to many major Hip Hop stars. With the release of their first official project in “Still Lost”, a 10-track boom bap meets trap rap (with an underlying theme of cookout kickback) album, We R The Lost is raising the eyebrows of industry executives salivating to sign the next Odd Future, while consumers are eager for an earful of something sincerely reminiscent of Public Enemy. We R The Lost is a vehicle racing toward success in both lanes.
Written by ToneSwep
A party conscious collective led by outspoken MC Jon Briggz - who is clever and witty as a songwriter while aggressive when distributing his lyrical dexterity - We R The Lost threw an impressive combo punch on their debut album “Still Lost”: social consciousness, a Hip Hop skill-set showcase rhythmic enough for DJ’s to display amidst dance floor frequenters, and mind redesign vibes for hookah heads to get high and converse about the universe to. Imagine Public Enemy or N.W.A throwing a house party. They aren’t found often, but We R The Lost has arrived.
The good will / good time band comprised of lyricists Briggz, Bili Ro$e, Damir Balo, and Sir Castro, and producers Nova, DerelleRideOut, and Mister Mammoth, is quickly mastering the art of staying high while raising awareness to a higher level. On “Anything”, Briggz raps: “I don’t care to sit / with them other people / cuz they talk too much / and you love them people,” dispelling the notion that We R The Lost is following any trend simply to gain any follower. While on “No Bullshit” Bill Ro$e rhymes: “Snapbacks and Tattoos / I’m that dude / ravishing like Rick Rude… / I’m a Greyhound to you Shih Tzu’s,” speaking more bravado and braggart for the rap fan interested in equal parts attitude and art form. They have it all, even the emo chill wave stoner chants like “Influence”, on which Biggz sings: “I’m a lost soul trying to find my way / Don’t worry ‘bout how much I take / It’s gone put me in a better place.”
Born, bred, and based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin – which remains one of urban music’s most underrated talent incubators with successful talents like Rico Love and Coo Coo Cal originating from the city – We R The Lost are as adept at creating party staples and hood anthems as club bangers and cruise-to’s, but it’s the group’s ability to blend reality into their raps and morality into their movement which remains most impressive.
After Hip Hop’s golden era, roughly the period following the musical revolution’s incarnation to the turn of the centuries mid-2000’s, rap’s most respected architects began questioning the skill levels and artful intentions of the many who found the torches they left lying behind, picked them up like studio microphones, started rapping without writing, and instantly claimed to be as great as their more focused forefathers. In reaction, Nas declared Hip Hop dead in 2006. Outkast released its final album to date “Idlewild” the same year. Seven years prior we witnessed Dr. Dre bake, bag, and burn an addictive Chronic (“2001”) that left a high we’ve yet to detox from. Meanwhile, two years earlier on the east coast, two Black Stars named Mos Def and Talib Kweli delivered the genre’s last non-commercial masterpiece. We R The Lost is the answer to most questions surrounding cultural understanding, depth perception, real musicality, and raw lyricism. At once a throwback to the golden era and a nod to the potential or raps present, this clique’s growing popularity is a testament to the obvious: their music supplies the rap fans demand for dope sh!t and the Hip Hop heads craving for social criticism. Hopefully you are Still Lost, just not for long.
Follow Jon Briggz on Twitter
Buy We R The Lost‘s Album “Still Lost”