(HED) PE RULEZ:: G-PUNK WORLD

Bio

Official Bio - S/T 1997

Source: GripMedia - Sonia Muckle/Rey Roldan, Publicity
Line-Up:

M.C.U.D. - vocals
Wesstyle - lead guitar
Chizad - rhythm guitar, vocals
Mawk - bass
B.C. - drums
DJ Product - turntables

Punk and hip hop have always shared one thing in common: a genuine D.I.Y. aesthetic. Back in the day before either sonic genre was seen as a viable commercial endeavor, both camps alike had to press up their own records, book their own shows and generally fend for themselves. Not much has changed, except that now the hard driving guitar angst of punk and the low-end rumble of rap dominate both SoundScan and the commercial radio airwaves.

Though the fusion of the two styles has enjoyed some success over the years and both share the same underlying ideology, their sounds are still miles apart. For the most part, when a rock group attempts to appropriate rap into the mix, the result is often forgettable or, at best, predictable.

But forget all that. Enter (hed) pe out of Cali's Orange County with a style they call "G-Punk," and representing this style to the fullest. (hed) pe's sonic assault warps a metallic density with a nearly surreal sense of texture and invention that suggests a grand collision of Rage Against the Machine, Bad Brains, Funkadelic and The Bomb Squad-sometimes in the same song. Comprised of M.C.U.D., Wesstyle, B.C., Mawk, Chizad and DJ Product the turntable arsonist, (hed) pe is poised to hit the world with a blast of raw, unfiltered punk-hop.

"G-Punk reflects our mass consciousness. It's the next step in the natural evolution of hip hop/hardcore styles," says M.C.U.D. (Jerred Shaine). "We basically got together with the idea that we were gonna do a really authentic hip hop/hardcore thing. We've seen so many bands tryin' to pull it off, but doin' it all wrong. Most folks just grab a rock ensemble and throw a rapper in with 'em without the authentic hip hop beats; they just play rock beats with a rapper."

Wesstyle adds, "It just seemed like that idea of merging those two styles, everyone was thinking it, but no one was really feeling it. No one was really capturing the true soul of both punk and rap."

What sets (hed) pe apart is that they are by-products of a generation which has grown up being equally assaulted by the sounds of alternative rock and underground hip hop. In the last several years, the lines between the two genres has been seriously blurred thanks to the likes of Ice-T, Cypress Hill, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Rage.

"I grew up listening to punk," recalls Wesstyle. "But then there came a time when all the punk guitarists started tryin' to play metal and I thought, 'Hmmm, that's not what punk's all about.' That's when I got into hip hop, because it seemed more punk to me than punk rock was at the time. That's why we're really influenced by gangsta rap-Dr. Dre and Ice Cube-and hardcore." "But not topically," adds M.C.U.D. "We hit up different topics-but we use that vibration."

"We're fully on the positive tip," explains Wesstyle. "Our songs are always about overcoming obstacles. There's a recurring theme of being put through tests and overcoming them. We write songs about questions that everybody's had or issues that you've had growing up. Y'know, that turmoil in your head."

Sonically, (hed) pe utilize the ominous, mysterious sound that producers like Dr. Dre, Muggs from Cypress Hill, and others in the hip hop milieu have become famous for. To this they meld solid hardcore chops to create the overall (hed) pe vibe. Their unique sound was originally unleashed on a self-released indie EP entitled "ChurchOfRealities" in 1995. Now (hed) pe are poised to hit the world with their self-titled full length LP.

While hardcore (hed) pe fans will notice that many of the EPs songs have manifested themselves on the new album, don't expect the same old songs. "There's a lot of different versions on here," says Wesstyle. "They've all changed in some way. We did a rewrite on 'Ground' since its inception. Other songs matured in some ways, too, and others like 'I.F.O.' were reconstructed, as was 'Darky.' A lot of the samples were taken out of it for the new version." "A lot of it's changed, but a lot of it's the same," concurs M.C.U.D.

One thing's for sure, like it or not, (hed) pe is prepared and fully qualified to provide that authentic G-Punk vibe. And they've declared war on the constricting limitations of genre categorization. In the end, (hed) pe is a tight blend of punk rhythms, rap bravado, and creative, sonic mayhem. It's just like M.C.U.D. says, "To me the vibe just comes from the reality of embracing a very hard, evil, hip hop sound with intense, aggravated hardcore. It's that ambient evilness meets that pensive anxiety."