Band Bio: As a child of hip hop’s Golden Era, Khalil, a Chicago native, was raised in southern California while hip hop was still in its infancy. When he was first exposed to the art form in the mid 80’s, he never imagined that he would be a part of the movement. Soon, he began absorbing the knowledge and skills of his favorite MC’s, developing his own style in the process. While embedded in the culture surrounding him, he was inspired by favorites like Brand Nubian, Eric B and Rakim, Tribe Called Quest, The Native Tongue Family, Poor Righteous Teachers, Public Enemy, Pharcyde, Big Daddy Kane and MC Lyte. While in high school, he competed and won many hip-hop showcases. That encouraged him to study more about the music form. As he studied, he realized that he could inspire people through his art form, just like how the other major artists impacted him. At the same time, he began to go through a spiritual transformation and began questioning everything. Thus, because of his analytical nature, he became The Antahlyzah, aka Forensic Emcee. In the late 90’s, Antahlyzah began to merge his newfound spirituality, with his passion for writing verses. He discovered this new wave of music, termed conscious hip-hop, which focused on promoting positive and progressive lyrics. Although not as mainstream, he decided to concentrate on this niche, and make music that would serve to educate, empower and uplift his culture. His first album was released while serving in the military overseas in Okinawa, Japan.” While on duty, a group of us came together and formed a Hip-Hop group called The Castwayz. If you ever been in the service then you can imagine the stress with the training, exercising, deployment, job tasks, and just plain military life. So, this album was a way for us to escape our tribulations at that time. The album was entitled "The Arrival". We distributed many copies of it overseas but we could never fully commit to any contracts due to our enlistment.” When the Antahlyzah returned from Japan, he re-connected with a childhood friend, DJ Ad-Seg. They soon began collaborating together on tracks. After a few sessions, they realized they had made an album, and “Take It Back” was released on the underground circuit. They sold 2000 copies in two months. Soon, Antahlyzah began to collaborate with other artists, namely Jehovah Leads (JL). They met at an open mic spot, and realized that their music was on the same frequency. Antahlyzah and the Queens, New York native, JL, released “What Happened To The Kulture”. This album raised the question about the negative hip-hop imagery that had begun to overtake the art form. They wanted to send a message about how the overall climate of hip hop had changed and had become so diluted, that it was more about drugs, guns, violence and misogyny than liberation. After Antahlyzah and JL parted ways, Antahlyzah begin to work on his solo album, entitled Truth Seeker. The album is due to be released in the summer of 2009. “My music is divinely inspired by the Creator, and it is catered to those who seek out the deeper meanings of life. My primary goal is to elevate the consciousness of all of those that listen to our music.” One love. For more information, or to arrange an interview with Antahlyzah, please email Forensic2012@yahoo.com
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