Despre UNKNOWN PROPHETS:
Unknown Prophets are easy to root for. Jesse Semanko (Big Jess) and Mike Madison (Mad Son) still rep their Polish heritage and Northeast Minneapolis roots, though both now live on the North Side. In some ways their music remains a neighborhood project: Jess's father has sometimes joined the rappers on stage with buddies for a live backing band, while Mad Son's dad hawks his son's CDs at the VA clinic where he works.
The MC-producer (Big Jess) and MC-guitarist (Mad Son) have issued four albums as Unknown Prophets, three solo CDs, three EPs, and a two-disc compilation of themselves and friends--never mind what Jess has produced separately for others (Musab, Gamble) or his 2004 remix of Jay-Z's The Black Album.
The Prophets, known mostly for 2000's "World Premier" album, formed around 1997, around the same time that they recorded "The Prophecy". "It was just a tape [The Prophecy] that we made, in 1998, back in the days when we were going to Bon Apettit; we only pressed 100 copies of it", said Big Jess.
"World Premier" , which features Slug of Atmosphere, has harvested a lot of support for the group, something for which they are very thankful for. "He [Slug] did us a huge favor. I don't know if we can every repay him for it. For six years we've been thanking him for that (his appearance on the song 'Never')", said Big Jess.
The humble beginnings of the faction during the "World Premier" era included the transition from Mad Son's guitar and rock background to his writing debut.
"I recorded a verse over a Masta Ace song on a little karaoke machine and played it for Jess, and he was like 'That's tight'. We took it from there", explained Mad Son. "We had no idea what we were doing, to be honest, we just made songs. We tried to hit some party stuff, some emotional stuff, some stories, or whatever. We really just made an album", continued Big Jess.
With buzz and hype on the local scene, the duo looks to keep it independent, and close to the way it's always been, with Big Jess and Mad Son involved in every aspect of the group. "To do what we've done, I'm pretty proud of that. That we've done it all ourselves, we've had our hands in everything you see. There's no mastermind behind this, we're just a couple of Polish guys. Then again, Dre might come along and say, 'Hey, you guys stick to that Sauer Kraut and polka shit, I'll sign ya', said Big Jess. "We feel we can do it on an indie level and still be successful", continued Mad Son, in a slightly more serious tone.
As for the live show, the pair hopes to give fans a fairly clear message. "It can't just be two guys up there hitting play on the CD player. It has to be entertaining. I want them to walk away with a favorite song. I want them to walk away longing for more", said Mad Son. And they've had some good shows over the last few years; including a huge that they were a little under prepared to do. "I think the best show that we weren't ready for was the Atmosphere Ford tour at First Avenue , and it was sold out by like nine o'clock . People were everywhere. We kind of stepped on the stage and said 'holy shit'. It was just amazing. Cats just wanted to see some hip-hop. It's why we do what we do", said Big Jess.
Despre THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED:
After three years of relative rest from the public eye, the Unknown Prophets surface from the Northeast Minneapolis basement with their new voyage, "The Road Less Traveled".
With the release of "The Road Less Traveled" on March 4 th , 2006 , the group hopes to achieve a few things. "We wanted to make music that we liked that would have a positive affect on the youth", said Mad Son. Though he stands behind his work, Jess seemed slightly more skeptical of the project, adding, "This ["The Road Less Traveled"] is three years in the making, this better be good; seriously. Because if its not, then maybe we should be doing something else."
With three years dedicated to the new disc, Mad Son thinks the songs have stood the test of time, at least in his mind. "I wake up in the morning, and I go to work, and I'm bumming because I have to go to work, and I put in that damn CD ["The Road Less Traveled"]; and I just rock out", said Mad Son.
"Our Time Now", from the group's bracing new independent album, The Road Less Traveled, samples Kurt Russell in the 2004 film Miracle, giving a pep talk in an impeccable Minnesota accent as Herb Brooks--the real-life St. Paul native who coached the U.S. Olympic hockey team to victory against the Soviets in 1980. That hope for an eventual underdog win is religion to Unknown Prophets, who express their ambition in prayer ("Lord Please") and salesmanship. "Mr. Mainstream" addresses the commercial rap industry as if it were a person, with Jess pleading, "All we want is just a chance to be heard/With the hard work, we feel like it's a chance we deserve."
There's obvious resentment here. Unknown Prophets blame Mr. Mainstream for ignoring them--in their view, because they don't rap about prostitutes, jewelry, or firearms. Their moral syllogism (that vice sells and virtue starves) is a little too neat. But like all good moralists, Unknown Prophets at least preach in the first-person plural. "Seems as though we only rap about ass and dough, stones and gold," spits Mad Son on "Move Mountains." "Underground cats that finally got the chance to blow switch they flow/Now every song's a fashion show." (Mint Condition's Stokley Williams croons the song's refrain, "I've got your back.")
The Road Less Traveled is hip-hop music by guys who love Dr. Dre but understand the unease felt by parents of young 50 Cent fans. Both Jess and Mad Son work with kids, Mad Son as the director of a childcare program, Jess as a school bus driver and girls' basketball coach. (When he raps, "Just because I'm almost 30 doesn't mean/That I can't hear every word that's uttered by your teen," he speaks from experience.)
"My daughter, she's 11," says Jess. "And when she's with her mom, she wants to listen to B96 all day long. But I won't let her when she's here. There's a place for club music, and it's in the club."
The new Unknown Prophets disc isn't club music, but it's more pleasurable than most pop. The rappers neglect choruses, but adore singers (Joia Senser, Craig D., Samahra of Black Blondie) and scratching (Willy Lose, mattering more than any local DJ next to Abilities). And, man, Jess sure loves to sample: Screamin' Jay Hawkins on "Let It Loose"; Mad Son himself, fingerpicking on "Lost in Time"; classical music everywhere.
"We'll be the first rap group to work with the Minnesota Orchestra," says Jess, adding that he was hooked on 89.3 FM back when it was still classical.
"I play opera in my car," says Mad Son. "I bump opera."
The lyrics on Road hold you with their sincerity, even when a flow goes into a holding pattern. And sometimes the pattern becomes hypnotic. "Imagination" is Unknown Prophets at their most moving, with Jess conjuring a utopia free of crime, gangsters, storms, or disease. He flits from the fantastic ("Nobody's obese or overweight here/We eat whatever we want and still look great here") to the just-sad-when-you-think-about-it (in this impossible alternate reality, "When you ask me how I am, it's always 'Very well'").
Jess isn't happy. But you gotta dream.
Surse:
http://www.citypages.com/databank/27/13 ... e14161.asp (Peter S. Scholtes)
http://www.dunation.com/pages/news/unkn ... hets.shtml (Brady O'Rourke)
Parerea MEA:
va servesc very short version-u, ca deja v-ati plictisit, cre ca, la cat ati citit mai sus.
e un album peste asteptarile mele (ii urmaresc pe oamenii astia de mai multi ani de zile).e un album exceptional, un album anti bling-bling.soft ca sound, dar hard ca lirici si mesaje.sound-u e mai mult decat ambiental si cre ca poti sa-l asculti mai tot timpu, indiferent de starea de spirit pe care o ai, pt. ca contine atat piese vesele, cat si piese un pic mai triste.io personal nu ma satur sa-l tot ascult. 
(maaaama, nu cre ca as fi bun de recenzor...!! 
)trebuia sa existe si un PS:
s-ar putea sa fi torturat un pic lb. romana, dar asta e, sunt cam obosit (si la propriu si la figurat ) si magrabesc sa plonjez in pat. PS2: ca sa va fac si mai tare pofta
va ofer un mic preview al liricilor:"See, I remember when hip hop
Was all about fun, peace and love
Instead of clubs, weed and thugs
But nowadays if u talk about shiny rings & chicks
U're pretty much guaranteed dat your record's a hit
See, we can rap about popin guns & pimpin da hoes
But in reality dat's really not da life dat we know
And I ain't gonna lie just ta get 'r records ta sell
We try ta make a statement & if u don't like it, oh, well..."
(am scris din cap, ca nu prea le gasesti pe ohhla.com...
"the most underrated group of da century", cum zic si ei intr-o piesa... 
PS3: videoclipu la piesa LORD PLEASE o dati jos de pe http://www.unknownprophets.com/media/Lord_Please.mpg cu Save Target As...
(daca nu va merge linku, clipu puteti oricum sa-l vedeti de pe siteu oficial
http://unknownprophets.com/multimedia.html )PS4 (prototip
) : pt. mine CEL MAI BUN ALBUM DE HH AL ANULUI 2006... 