They became fast friends after a hip hop battle. Now, they’re getting ready to release their debut album, “The Great Ones,” on Saturday. Listen to the Local Spins on WYCE interview and performance.
‘Positive Vibe’: JRob and Lady Ace Boogie exude that and more as The Great Ones. (Photo/Anna Sink)
THE BAND: The Great Ones
THE MUSIC: Hip hop
WHERE YOU CAN SEE THE BAND: 8 p.m. Saturday at Long Road Distillers, 537 Leonard St. NW, Grand Rapids (with Pistolbrides and Hi-Ker)
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Competition brought them together and the resulting friendship has spawned The Great Ones.
Grand Rapids hip hop artists JRob (aka Jeff Robinson) and Lady Ace Boogie (aka Linda Tellis) first faced off in a Hip Hop Heavyweights competition at The Stache inside The Intersection a couple of years ago, with JRob walking off with the victory that night.
On the Air: The Great Ones performing for Local Spins on WYCE. (Photo/Anna Sink)
But both of them ended up with something far more rewarding, unique and downright powerful.
“From there, we met and talked,” Robinson recalled. “She actually invited me over to her house where we talked about building and collaborating, and from there, The Great Ones was born.”
Added Tellis: “When we met, we really clicked and it made so much sense to create music together.
The overall theme is peace, love, unity and empowerment. I think overall, this project truly
brought our friendship closer and I now consider JRob one of my best friends.”
That camaraderie was on display this week when the pair made an appearance for Local Spins on WYCE, performing the songs “Hands Up Don’t Shoot” and “Breathe Love” in Studio X. Listen to the podcast here.
PODCAST: Local Spins on WYCE with The Great Ones
The duo’s debut album – which officially gets released Saturday during Long Road Distillers’ First Anniversary Party, with performances by Pistolbrides, The Great Ones and Hi-Ker – features 10 tracks recorded and mastered at the Red Room by Crossworm, aka Steve Weatherbie. The album is being distributed by Grand Rapids’ Hot Capicola Records and 250 “special edition” copies will be available on Saturday night.
Tickets for the show are $10 in advance or $15 at the door. Get details online here.
Songwriting Duo: Lady Ace Boogie and JRob. (Photo/Anna Sink)
“We have some great production on the album by Mozaic, Nova Beats, who I might add is only 17, G18 from Ohio, Dante Cope, Nixon and Brandon Coe – all phenomenal producers who help make this project great,” said Robinson.
The duo plans to independently release some videos (view the first one below) and may organize album-release shows in Ohio and Chicago.
They also hope to promote “a social campaign to bring awareness to one of the topics we discuss on the album” because the self-titled recording and the track “Just Be” also advocate freedom of expression. “Don’t let anybody tell you you can’t do something you want to do,” Tellis said of the album’s “very positive vibe.”
Although both artists plan to continue pursuing their solo careers, Robinson expects more projects from The Great Ones.
“The future for this project is to continue pushing it and possibly get some tour dates,” he said. “We’ve put a lot of time and effort into this, so we think that the sky is limit.”
Friday’s edition of Local Spins on WYCE also featured the premiere of new songs by Heaters, Bangups, Kari Lynch, Seth Bernard, Elroy Meltzer and Jonah Krull, as well as tracks from Vox Vidorra (this week’s musicians’ pick), Mid-Life Crisis, Matt Ten Clay & The Howlers and An Dro.
VIDEO: The Great Ones, “On Another Planet”
In Studio X: The Great Ones performed two songs from the new album. (Photo/Anna Sink)
Copyright 2016, Spins on Music LLC
