Q-1 Rancid

Rancid is an American punk rock band formed in Albany California, in 1991. Founded by Matt Freeman and Tim Armstrong who were both original members in the massively influential Ska-Punk band "Operation Ivy". Rancid is credited with reviving an interest in punk rock in the mainstream in the mid 1990’s. Rancid includes Armstrong on guitar and vocals, Freeman on bass and vocals, Lars Frederiksen on guitar and vocals, and Branden Steineckert on drums. Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman had been playing together in the influential ska punk band Operation Ivy from 1987 to 1989. Rancid's first recorded release was a 1992 EP for Operation Ivy's old label “Lookout!” records.  Shortly after releasing this, the band was signed to Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz's label, Epitaph Records. Rancid would release their self-titled debut album for Epitaph in 1993. The bands real breakthrough was in 1994, with the release of “Let’s Go”. 

While on tour with the Offspring, that got Rancid up to number 97 on billboard’s top 200 chart.  The band eventually decided to stay on Epitaph, and the next year released their third album “...And Out Come the Wolves”. That album quickly surpassed Let's Go in terms of success. Three of the album's singles, "Roots Radicals", "Time Bomb", and "Ruby Soho" all charted on the North American Billboard Modern Rock Tracks, and the band performed two of these songs on Saturday Night Live. Once I listened to” … And out Come the Wolves”, I kind of stopped 

listening to Rancid. I loved everything that they had made up to that point, and I just wasn’t a huge fan of their newer albums. In 2004, the band went on hiatus. They just wanted some time to get away from it all, and in 2006, they got back together to record another album. The album was titled “Let the Dominoes Fall”. It was released in 2009 on Tim Armstrong’s record label “Hellcat Records”. I wasn’t a very big fan of this album either, so I really just stopped listening to Rancids new stuff completely. That doesn’t change how I feel about their older releases though. They will forever be some of my favorite punk rockers. 

 

O-1 Chacne The Rapper

Chance The Rapper is one of this decade. I heard about Chance from a friend of mine, and have been listening to him since. It has been about a year. When i first started listening to Chance, nobody had ever heard of him. I remember I went to a Mac Miller show at the outer Harbor, and Chance was one of the opening acts. I was one of the few people in the crowd of over three thousand people who had ever heard of him. Suddenly, Chance the Rapper blew up. I signed on to Twitter one day and I saw multiple, well known music accounts talking about this new rapper, known as Chance. Chance was born and raised in Chicago, home to some of the greats like Kid Cudi, and Machine Gun Kelly. Chance has a sound unlike most other rappers out three, new or old. Chance and his band create a "soulful, hip-hop and folk music cocktail every opportunity they have to hit stage" as said by Reverb Nation. That is exactly what it is too. There is obviously the basic bass and snare beats that almost every rapper has, but it is layered on top of the Trumpet and

piano. Chance also has an incredibly unique voice. When I first heard it, I didn't enjoy it at all, but Chance is now one of my favorites.   Rap has always been about the English language, but that has been lost with awful repetitive lyrics over the years. Chance is a very advanced lyricist. In interviews he has stated that he is trying to tell everybody’s story. “Depending on the story that you're telling, you can be relate able to everybody or nobody. I try and tell everybody's story”, is one of his outlooks on his music. He is a very “real” artist. I think if people would give him a chance, and really listen to his words, they would be able to see how powerful they are. His lyrics are phenomenal. In high school, chance always thought about starting a career in music. He was never too sure though. He was suspended for ten days, during which he took the time to write his first ever album titled “Ten Day”. Ten day is exactly what you would think it is. It details his suspension from high school. It received minor success online, but not anything major. When chance released his second full length album titled “Acid Rap”, the results were incredible. People loved it. It was released on April 30, 2013. It was also released as a free digital download.   “Acid Rap was met with universal acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, the mix tape received an average score of 86, based on 21 critics, which indicates "universal acclaim”. Chance the Rapper will be one of the biggest names in Rap in upcoming years. I Would highly recommend checking him out

M-2 Stray From The Path

Stray From the Path is a hardcore band that was formed in 2001 in Long Island, New York. The band has released seven full length albums. Their first three albums were independent albums. The first three were titled “People Over Profit” in 2002, “Audio Prozac” in 2003, “Our Oceania “in 2004. Stray from the path signed with Sumerian Records and released four records on that label. The records were entitled “Villains” in 2008, “Make Your Own History” in 2009, “Rising Sun” in 2011, and "Anonymous" in 2013. Currently they are signed to Sumerian Records and have toured with other Hardcore and Metal bands such as Every Time I Die, Stick To Your Guns, 

The Acacia Strain, For Today, and Bleeding Through. They were also featured on the All Stars Tour in 2012-2013. The bands original members were Thomas Williams, John Kane, Justin Manas, Ed Edge and Frank Correira. The band started recording for their first album in 2003 with front man Terrance Hobbs of “Suffocation”. Their debut album “Audio Prozac” was well received amongst the hardcore punk community. Upon completing the album, it spread to California, which has a very alive hardcore scene. The bands songs’ spreading to Cali is what lead to the bands contract with Sumerian Records. In 2005, Andrew Dijorio, a native of Long Island took over on the vocals. Andrews lyrics differed slightly than Ed’s. They were more infused with politics than just the brutal-ness of hardcore. This made the band start be more well known in the punk scene which invited a whole new scene of people to try and get involved. The song “A badge and a Bullet” is a direct homage to  Rage Against The Machines “Killing In The Name Of”. Anybody who knows Rage knows how political their lyrics are. Either way, Stray From The Path is a phenomenal band for hardcore punk listeners.