Kollective

K.K.K. does not stand for Ku Klux Klan because they've been broke for years now. Instead it stands for Kalm Kool Kollective. It's the first mixtape from the North Carolina rap group The Kollective. The group is made up of 6 members who also handle the production in house. Lyrically there's a lot of different styles on this some. Some keep a serious tone throughout the entirety of the album. While others feel free to crack jokes. It provides a nice contrast so that you don't get worn out by the same content repeatedly. Alpha is probably my favorite. He just always seem like he's having fun with it. He also has some pretty funny bars that you can't help but laugh at.

One thing that doesn't change with the tone of the lyrics is that the theme is pretty serious. It basically comes down to "Fuck these white people, I do whatever I want." There's no beating around the bush, that's the theme. The group wastes no time finding creative ways or nice words to say it. That's the point and you don't get flowers with it. You simply deal with it if you don't like it. It's refreshing at a time when most artist are turning a blind eye to the issue.

The production on the album is one of my favorite aspects. There's a consistent sound to the album while each producer manages to maintain their own unique sound. It's like when a puzzle comes together. None of the pieces are the same but they come together to form a complete image. I know it's not a Don Fre$h mixtape, and there's 3 other producers on the mixtape that are dope in their own right, I want a Don Fre$h mixtape, even if it's all instrumentals. He's got a unique style and you can tell without looking which tracks he produced.

My favorite track by far is "Horns." The beat on that one is just incredible. It's smooth with the horns but also provides a touch of grittiness. The flows on it are easy and sort of just blend in until you zone out. My least favorite track would be "Honey Dripp." I don't get that track. It doesn't fit the mixtape. Not lyrically, not production wise, nothing. It's just there and doesn't seem to serve any purpose. It could have been cut and nobody would have noticed.
Lyricism- 6
Flow-6
Production-8
Theme- 8
Replayability- 5
Individuality- 8
The final score is 6.83/10 meaning it's worth checking out. You're not going to replay every track on the mixtape but you're going to download your favorites and they'll get some replay value. There's probably going to be a few people who get offended, but whatever. There's always some who will find a reason to be hurt. - King Darrell (@OriginalKingD)

All the tools are there to be a successful artist. Good choice in beats, flow, lyrics. If Amari learns to craft a project and stick to one persona this would be a completely different review. You can’t please everyone so there’s no need to make gangster rap and gospel rap. That’s ignorant. Just pick one and stick with it, you’ll be fine. - King Darrell (@OriginalKingD)

Kollective release their new music video for their song 357, Listen below! - Ope Odumakin

How five high school rappers end up in your iTunes library
editor@yesweekly.com
| @awfullybrittish

Having a dream when you’re in high school always means having to realize that the prescribed course of direction for your life may not fall in line with public education’s guidance: The Kollective, a group of hungry, young rappers from Greensboro, North Carolina, has their eyes set on a goal, and it’s achievable.

“We are just focused on the Kickstarter right now, and this mixtape we gonna drop, whether or not we get the money,” said Jeak Rivers, 16, one of the emcees in the Kollective.

The Kollective started a Kickstarter project in November to help with the initial costs of recording and releasing a full-length feature album. The goal for the project is set at $4,000, and with 22 days to go, the group is already 25 percent of the way there.

The Kollective consists of five young men from Greensboro; Amari Juwon, Jeak Rivers, Alpha Signature, Chris Capture, and Dolo Fresh, whose paths happened to cross thanks to the art of rapping. Knowing of each other through various threads within the community and school, each member comes from a storied background, although all roads have led to each of them telling their story through verse and rhyme.

By way of Yonkers, New York, Amari “Amari Juwon” Parnell moved to North Carolina in 2005. “(My mom) had me when she was 16, and I moved here when I was eight…she was 24, she was young, still out there fightin’ and stuff, so my grandma made us move down here,” he said. With drawl-like flow, Amari Juwon recalled growing up listening to Kanye West and trying to mimic the style of the Chicago-bred artist. However, that didn’t work for him, and he’s since adopted a silky flow, where vocal inflections are deliberate to emphasize the importance of words, imagery, and his overall message.

“Me and Chris used to freestyle in Mr. Bustos’ class,” Jeak Rivers remembered.

Juwan “Jeak Rivers” Taylor is from the Bronx, New York’s northernmost of the five boroughs. At 16, he’s already fulfilled his credits for Dudley High School, where all members of the Kollective currently attend, and is working towards college credits thanks to North Carolina’s early college initiative. He regarded 2013 as being a hard year – fodder for his lyrics as a budding rapper – in that he moved up to New York, briefly, and upon realizing that the support system his family hoped would be there, wasn’t there, moved back to Greensboro to live with his sister’s grandmother. Like Amari Juwon, Jeak River’s lyricism has a hint of smooth to it, but the real delight is in the wordplay and visuals he traces within his bars.

Chris “Chris Capture” Hicks, 17, sees the reality in what they are trying to do as a group of musicians. “When you hear all these conscious rappers, they all sound the same, but that’s my way of mixing it up… I guess I’m tryin’ to rap about the obstacles in my life, not to sound too cliché, but I’m trying to add some interesting stuff in it.” Chris Capture recognized Emimen, “Slim Shady era,” as an influence, most noticeable in the precise phonetic pronunciations he delivers when rapping.

Waleed “Alpha Signature” Muhammed, 17, remains the quiet one of the group – the watcher – but this adept social persona is quickly contradicted when his commanding baritone takes over the microphone. “My momma used to be a rapper when she was my age, and she used to be a gangsta rapper, and sort of got in some trouble, so I kind of grew up listening to Nas and stuff like that.” Alpha Signature also related how he was in drama club back in middle school, but has since left the idea of being actor to pursue new ventures in the rap world.

Donovan “Dolo Fresh” Eliab, could not be reached for comment, but it was made very clear that his involvement with The Kollective is of the utmost importance: Beat and track production. Rappers can rap all day, but if the beat isn’t there, it’s an a cappella party.

As a whole, the group has the charisma of any young, hungry band seeking to gain fame. In close quarters, though, their intimacy and dedication to honing their craft is obvious, as is their fervor in gaining organic community support.

To start, Jeak Rivers admitted that the Kickstarter campaign came about simply because he saw another rapper post on Twitter about his own campaign.

Amari Juwon opened up about how his dream to pursue rapping wasn’t solidified until his stepfather busted him writing raps late one night in his bedroom and encouraged it. Support was something he felt was lacking in his home.

Alpha Signature’s path to music came in the form of him trying to carve his own trail – to break the confines of the mold he felt was being established in his home.

And Chris Capture, aside from dealing with abuse at a young age, has already lived enough to fill a dozen notebooks, which in turn gets translated to his raps.

The question remains, though, as to whether or not their passion for a dream can be subsidized by anonymous donors from the Internet.

Crowd-funding has gained steady popularity in the music industry in recent years. With album sales tanking for artists, and online presence handling the lion’s share of artist publicity, websites like Kickstarter.com and Indiegogo.

com have become a valuable source for independent musicians. It places the investment in the hands of the consumer, who shows support for the initiative or project by donating or “backing” with monetary donations.

For the Kollective, a group of 16 and 17 year olds who come from Dudley High School, it’s the means to a beginning; The beginning of a career that hasn’t been laid out for them in the high school setting; The beginning of a life outside of the typical path designated for young black men in America; The beginning of something that validates their dreams, rather than shooting them down.

Their peers at Dudley High School are somewhat aware of their artist status, but that light didn’t shine as bright until they released the Kickstarter video onto the world. Now, students come up to them to ask about rapping, performing, and if they might like to freestyle a few bars between classes.

“Some know because we dropped this video, but everybody else? I don’t feel like hearing nothing. I don’t care, but I don’t feel like hearing the hate,” said Amari Juwon. !

WANNA go?

To support The Kollective’s efforts, visit https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1131275281/kollectivejust-some-teenage-rappers, or simply search “Kollective” on Kickstarter.com’s main page. Follow each artist on twitter: @ALPHVS_ (Alpha Signature,) @JeakRivers (Jeak Rivers,) @HoveThePrince (Amari Juwon,) @PizzaKILLS (Chris Capture,) and @FigxGolden (Dolo Fresh.) - Britt Chester (@awfullybrittish)

That’s my boy’s tape, and shit is actually dope, no lie. Kollective next to blow up, download their tape!

Take this L real quick if you think it’s my tape tho cuz im broke can’t afford a sponser - Panta