AU student duo CJ Posey & Nick Neighbaz will unleash its unique brand of hip-hop in their first album to be released this December.
Neighbaz, College of Arts and Sciences junior Nicholas Neighbours, is currently working on a full-length album with Kogod School of Business junior Cedrick “CJ” Posey. It is a match made in heaven as Neighbours crafts the beats and Posey provides the rhymes.
“I honestly believe that our tracks are better than 90 percent of current hip-hop,” Neighbours said. “We don’t want to be known for just one kind of track.”
Neighbours and Posey said they want to distinguish their music from the one-dimensional aesthetic of mainstream hip-hop. Listeners won’t catch too many strip-clubs or “bad girls” in their lyrics – they have grander ambitions.
“We’re willing to do something different,” Posey said. “We’ve got something really special.”
The duo plans to cover a wide swath of the emotional spectrum, from serious and socially conscious to humorous and self-aware.
“We’re very goofy lads,” Posey said.
The duo’s influences range from modern superstars Eminem and Jay-Z to past legends like Tupac Shakur and Nas. Snatches of classics by John Coltrane, Aretha Franklin and Sam Cooke keep the album rooted in the traditions of the past.
Though Posey focuses on producing the best music he can, he enjoys the spirit of competition in modern hip-hop.
“The more competition, the better the product,” Posey said.
Long road to rhythm
This dynamic duo first united two years ago when Neighbours met Posey while walking between Bender Library and the McKinley Building one afternoon during their freshman year. They knew each other through a mutual friend, but had never interacted in person. Neighbours mentioned he had just seen a J. Cole concert, and Posey knew a partnership was soon to blossom.
They didn’t waste any time demonstrating their musical prowess as Posey dropped a few rhymes on the spot, impressing Neighbours.
“Then I started recording him over beats he bought for other people,” Neighbours said.
Eventually Neighbours started crafting beats with Posey’s rhymes in mind. They already have some songs in the works, including a track called “Doctor” that they hope to release as their first single by the end of the semester.
The collaborative process allows Neighbours and Posey to bounce ideas off one another and hone their individual skills before coming together to try to capture magic.
“I focus on a lot of flow and delivery,” Posey said. “We try to capture how we feel as people.”
For Neighbours, this partnership is the culmination of years of hard work. He started drumming when he was six years old, graduating to GarageBand and more sophisticated technologies in middle and high school.
“These tracks would take me 30 hours,” Neighbours said. “It became something I could rely on to take out emotions, express myself. I was pretty self-conscious about it. I never felt like it was good enough.”
While Neighbours and Posey are both passionate about music, neither expects to pursue it full-time once they leave college. However, they would not be opposed to a career in music if the cards line up.
In the meantime, Neighbours is hoping to work in health promotion and education in an urban setting, while Posey said he might try to infiltrate the music industry with his experience in marketing.
But for now, they’re focusing on making their music the best that it can be by influencing their listeners.
“We don’t want to make tracks that just depress people,” Neighbours said. “We want people to feel uplifted.”
mlieberman@theeagleonline.com
