GENESIS ELIJAH & KRATE KRUSADERS NEW ALBUM

ARTIST GENESIS ELIJAH & KRATE KRUSADERS
ALBUM BEFORE I WAS FAMOUS
LABEL OUTTA TOWN SOUNDS
RELEASE 6TH DECEMBER 2010

THE BIGGEST UK HIP HOP RELEASE OF THE YEAR - GET SET FOR GENESIS ELIJAH & KRATE KRUSADERS "BEFORE I WAS FAMOUS"

Since his first release in 2005 with Broken Souls Productions, the classic "Deh Pon Road", Genesis Elijah has been one of the true heavyweights in the UK hip hop community.

With anthems such as "So Hip Hop" and the mix cd The Industrial Revolution selling over 10,000 units since 2007, Genesis Elijah, real name Nathaniel Bygrave, raised the level with his fierce delivery style and conscious subject matter. Regularly addressing issues surrounding the corruption of government schools, prison and justice system, crime and poverty, he uses his rare gift as an MC to give vent to his views with a level of intelligence that sets him aside as a cut above.

No stranger to artist collaborations since he began at the age of 15, he's performed with luminaries such as KRS-1, GZA, Phi Life Cypher, Semtex, Task Force, Blak Twang and toured internationally with Atomic Hooligan with whom he recorded "Spread New Vibes" and "Shoot You Down" for their album "Sex, Drugs & Blah Blah Blah". He was spittin fire in the lab with Terra Firma, Wordsmith, Skinnyman and Tom Gist at a time when he was also performing at a festival such as Glastobury, or playing various European spots throughout the continent. Despite an intense schedule, he featured in the advert launching B.E.T. UK, participated in the anti-violence campaign KNICE where the advert was carried by MTV, TMF and national cinemas, and his single "Hard" was used in the Puma Frangrances promotional launch.

He had spent most of 2009 working on new solo project when he then met with Krate Krusaders.

Krate Krusaders are the production duo 1 Step and Badhabitz, originally from Plymouth but now split between London and Bristol.

Relatively fresh out the blocks since 2008, they wasted little time in putting together their first KRATE KRUSADERS VOLUME 1 album in 2009, featuring some of the UK's most notable names in Farma G, Remus, Kasha and Ramson Badbonez which is still heralded for the quality of the sound, combining classic hip hop beats with a hugely impressive array of MC skills. Backed heavily by BBC's Ras Kwame, they had made their initial mark, but were keen to draw on the tradition of reaching out to the global hip hop community.

With this approach, they have ventured on 2 new projects. KRATE KRUSADERS VOLUME 2 is in the making, this time with a series of international collaborations including The Visionaries, Arsonists, Wordsmith and Jurassic 5. But their immediate focus has developed since late 2009 when producer 1 Step was listening to some classic tracks from a homegrown MC, Genesis Elijah.

1 Step explains:

" I got in touch with Gen about the idea of a collaboration and soon beats were gettin exchanged for lyrics. Pretty soon he came into the studio and we were laying the foundations for what would become the album Before I Was Famous. It just became a situation where the quality of beats and rhymes were a perfect match, we just knew we'd chosen the right artist to work with on this. We're really trying to set our standards high and feel we've achieved it with this"

On listening through, there's no doubting 1 Step's words. From the lead single Doing My Dam Thing, which has an accompanying video, to straight hip hop bangers like What I Am, Fuck It and Keep Going, the production & vocal delivery lend themselves to an era still regarded by many as the best times for the genre. Other soul-tinged cuts like One Day and Day Dream show Krate Krusaders can switch up the style while keeping a consistency in the overall musical scheme. The album informs, entertains and impresses in equal measure, is a celebration of the best hip hop traditions, and is another benchmark release for these uniquely talented artists.

A series of live dates in the UK are being arranged now to mark the release of the album

Regular promo updates on twitter @urbanelitepr

www.kratekrusaders.com

twitter @genesiselijah @kratekrusaders