Da Buze Bruvaz Cheesesteakz N Beat Breakz EP

Ever since they were young boys these blood brothers (Him Lo and Clever One) repped the culture. MC'ing was the last element of Hip Hop that they took their hands to and Philly was always a major city for B-Boy culture. As well as cats like Steady B, Schooly D and Cool C doin music, the graf and breaking scene went as hard as anywhere. Him-Lo remembers that you could feel Hip Hop "in the air" back in the late 70s and early 80s. Even goin out for a ride in his parents' car he was in awe of the throw-ups and pieces which coated the inner city walls. As a kid he always knew he'd never be able to shake it - he'd be livin Hip Hop for the whole of his life. Ha, and that's been a while - Him-Lo is now 39 and his younger brother Clev One is 35 - and this is the first time they have released a physical product. Why?

The boys have been droppin rhymes since around 1992, when they started to become more serious about the craft. They were involved in a part-time crew called Bermuda Triangle. It was hard gettin stuff done cause members were in and out of jail or dealing with various addictions. The brothers too had been naughty boys!! Typically, they were both thrown out of their respective high schools for writing on the walls and before long they were jackin' cars. They were introduced to Lo-Life B-Bill through a chick they knew called Big Shirley who used to go out boostin' and would hide the gear in her fat rolls (!!). B-Bill AKA Michael Culley, one of the founding fathers of the Lo-Life movement, had moved from Brooklyn New York and the boys started to hang out around 1993 and that's when their Lo boostin addiction began. Cats didn't have money to cop Lo, so boostin' was the only way to look dipped. The brothers would be out on the daily destroying racks. I asked Him-Lo about any particular boostin adventures he'd been on. He told me about one mission that always made him laugh when he looks back. He'd been boostin for most of the day, in and out of different stores in Philly. In one store that afternoon they noticed some store workers talkin on walkie talkies, so they bustin out and Him's homie Ant jacked a Cutlass Ciera. They drove the stolen vehicle down some back streets and got caught up in (of all things) a police block party. Appropriately Lo, they found themselves swervin between police horses and cars, while carryin mad garms and ridin in a stolen vehicle. Him remembers just jumpin out the car while it was still rolling and sneakin' off down the subway stairs and gettin the hell out. They always had a lot of fun and always ended up with ill GEAR. Welcome to Da Buze Bruvaz....