World Records Music: Press

For anybody struggling to come to grips with the violent trends in hip-hop over the past decade or so, there's a temporary aural sanctuary. For all the posturing , gunfire, bad press, and heavy sampling contributed by megaproducers like Suge Knight and P Diddy-Puff Daddy-what's-his-face, it's good to know that an original take on rap is not beyond reach. Santa Fe's Flow Nice Foundation has reclaimed the originality of underground hip-hop with Listen Closely. Childhood friends and band founders Luke Herrera and Matt Carrasco-Trujillo have created a new style with a few nods to the old school. There are hints of Fu-Schnickens, KRS-One, X-Clan, and De La Soul in the lyrical rhythm, but studio guitarists, poetic verses, and seamlessly placed samples make this funky record a shark in a sea of copycat fish. "Sucka Free" draws you in with an acoustic-guitar riff and pays off with a question-answer verse. There's a misconception in hip-hop that harder is better. The truth is, the major-label market is losing ground among young people, who are sick of the gun-totin', woman-hatin', gold-chain-sportin' set. Flow Nice reminds us that good music comes from the heart, not the barrel of a gun. If you're sucka-free, step up to Flow Nice.

Santa Fe's Flow Nice remind us that there's more to hip-hop than how many bullet wounds you've accumulated. These down-to-earth, forthright emcees remain true to the mold of groups like A Tribe Called Quest and Jurassic Five, who don't hide behind gimmicks and street cred. Instead, Flow Nice lets their seamless samples and smirk-inducing lyrics do the talking. Perhaps most impressively, the requisite vibrato is carried out in a tongue-in-cheek fashion that's refreshing in a genre where everyone and their mom claims to be an ill emcee.

From Santa Fe comes one of the coolest albums all year. We're talking about well crafted hip hop, swift rhymes, and deft sampling. Citing A Tribe Called Quest among their influences, elements of Flow Nice's style remind me of the late 80s early 90s when rap first entered the mainstream consciousness. But this album is hardly a return to the old school, the songs demonstrate a diverse musical background, ranging from funk and R&B samples, to what seems to be soundtrack clips. "So Happy" is a highlight--humorous without being silly. The album's subtle but Latin identity surfaces in "Me Saboriar" so well as the answering machine montage in "Additional Help." Take heed of this up-and-coming band; Listen Closely and repeatedly- Stella Meredith--HyperActive Music Magazine 2006