There are few U.S. hip-hop crews more underrated than Cyne, an acronym for Cultivating Your New Experience. In fact, the Gainesville quartet is the epitome of what indie hip-hop should be: impressive beats that subtly push the envelope; thought-provoking, politicized lyrics; and songs that display a distinctive and challenging worldview.
First debuting in 2001 with the “African Elephants” 12-inch for Miami label Botanica del Jibaro’s Rice & Beans imprint, Cyne has released two albums to date, including 2005’s Evolution Fight; and an awesome compilation, Cyne (Collection 1999-2003). They’ve just completed a third album, Pretty Dark Things, for Berlin electronic imprint City Centre Offices. It features several guests from Florida’s indie community, including ROM, the Mercury Program, Feathers, Towers Of Hanoi, Africa 2000, and MC Stress from the hip-hop group Antennae.
To promote Pretty Dark Things, which is tentatively slated for a February release, Cyne has assembled a free four-song EP, Grey Matter.
“Two of the tracks (“Noir Angst” and “Six Shooter”) were remix collaborations we completed with Gainesville hardcore veterans / No Idea recording artists, Asshole Parade,” reads a MySpace bulletin from Cyne. “We recorded these songs in 2006, and wanted to share them with you. … The other two tracks were spawned during a BDJ visit to Gainesville, in 2004. After a series of shows, Seven Star, Stres, and Soarse Spoken all got stuck in North-Central Florida because of a hurricane. So, with nowhere to go and nothing better to do, we sat down and recorded these collaborations … We’ve also included all of the instrumentals for these tracks.”
You can download Grey Matter EP at Cyne’s website, www.cyne.net.
www.cyne.net
www.myspace.com/cyne
Cyne logo by Florencio Zavala.
