Published Friday, March 7, 2003
locally
By Larissa Theodore
Herald Staff Writer
When he sits down to write his rhymes, LaMica Abram doesn't think about whether his words will come off as offensive or violent. The 28-year-old Sharon resident raps about his life experiences, which he says haven't been all sunshine and lollipops.
"I don't advocate violence, but I rap about everything a human being goes through," he said.
He began writing rhymes at the age of 14 while living in a Tulsa detention center. Along the way he lost many copies of those creative beats and, before long, he also lost his motivation to write. It was while doing time in county jail that he grappled with writing. A friend suggested he write and replace what he lost.
"My dude Pooker really made me think about it and gave me the inspiration to start back," he said. "I wrote about 30 songs."
Abram will have a chance to perform some of his material this weekend, along with members of the hip-hop circle Royal Family, when "Sonic Think Tank Tour," invades Sharon and Warren, Ohio, for two nights of spoken art and music.
Abram, alias Socrates, is considered one of the newer elements of Royal Family. Three years ago he brought the talent of Royal Family full circle after joining his skills with his musically inclined brother Kenindrel "Plato" Abram, 25, Sharon, and longtime friends Thomas "Tigga" Jones, 27, Sharon, and Rook Infiniti, 26, Youngstown.
When they bring their talents together, they all agree their music can't be touched. Also known on the streets as 300 block -- an address where they grew up together -- the twenty-something hip-hopsters describe their music as a collective blend of hardcore club, street and intellectual.
Rook Infiniti, whose alter ego hails from a chess piece, explained that Royal Family members work individually but also bring their respective talents together. In addition to their own distinct abilities and styles, Woody Wood Sound of Youngstown supplies a lot of the original music, beats and instrumentals they flow to.
"We're coming with original ideas. We're not capitalizing on other people's stuff," Kenindrel Abram said.
When Socrates raps, he's like a chameleon who changes personalities. Plato calls himself the controversial one, banging swift clichés, drawing away from the norm. And they call Rook the "Kurt Cobain" of hip-hop, because he constantly reinvents rhymes, always coming up with new stylistic beats.
At one point after chatting, laughing and joking on one another, the guys began freestyling together, picking up where the other left off. Jones mixed beats for them in the background.
"We build off each other's verses," LaMica Abram said, "He'll come at me with a verse and I'll have something to match his. It's a spiritual vibe. We do it without even trying."
For them music far transcends money. And though they do agree the cash flow that comes with stardom wouldn't be so bad, the thought of making it big isn't what drives them.
"I'm a poor black man who works at Denny's," LaMica Abram said. "One day hopefully I won't have to work at Denny's."
"We're all older now and have to take care of a lot of things besides music," Rook Infiniti added. "But we're not some rookies. We've done a lot of professional work."
He said the only reason they don't get radio play is because they are local, but their music speaks for itself: The way their music sounds stands out in this area because there aren't many around like it.
LaMica Abram agreed. "I don't want to offend anybody, but we have more of a chance of making it in this area based on talent. That's called confidence," he said. "Some will say they're the best and it's all garbage. But we all have talent."
Each artist has soon-to-be-released songs and they are working to put out more promotional material.
The Sonic Think Tank Tour is at 9 p.m. Saturday at Styles, 395 E. Budd St., Sharon; and 9 p.m. Sunday at 77 Soul, 4255 Youngstown Road, Warren.