Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably aware that there has been a national spotlight on Memphis’ rap and hip hop scene for quite a while now. From Three Six Mafia and 8 Ball and MJG, to Yo Gotti and Al Kapone, this city has a particular sound that dates back to the early eighties and has influenced a slew of influential musicians. However, not all Memphis rap and hip hop artist prefer the gangsta approach that has been so prevalent. Take for instance The Tunnel Clones, comprised of MC’s Deverick “Rachi” Sheftall and James “Bosco” Catchings, and a DJ/Turntablist, Luke “Redeye Jedi” Sexton.

Their world music influenced debut album, Concrete Swamp, received four out of four stars from The Commercial Appeal, and was called one of 2005 finest local albums by the Memphis Flyer. It is the antithesis of the ghetto declarations of most successful local hip hop acts. However, it’s alternative vibe and unique flavor has set the group apart in a city that still feeds off separation rather than unity. It has also enabled them to bring more diverse national acts to a local scene that otherwise might not be exposed to groups like The Alkoholics, Dead Prez, Digital Underground, and Pigeon John. Saturday night at The Complex, they’ll host a show with Defari, a west coast rapper with a master’s degree in history.

It’s been a uphill battle for the group who got together after Bosco and Rachi played a impromptu set in 2001 at Redeye Jedi’s Thursday night hip hop night at The Hitone. The seasoned DJ, one of the founders of the Memphix record label and sole artist behind the exclusive Red and the Eyesight releases, had low expectations for the performance.

“I was surprised, I thought it was gonna be some slaw. But it turned out really good, they had a few back-up singers and I was surprised that they had stage presence and it was organized” says Sexton, 31. “The music wasn’t mixed worth a crap, but it was a good show performance and the crowd was digging it”

The threesome began working together on beats and coming up with a name.

“We actually put some thought into it, it took us like three weeks. You don’t what’s at the other end of the tunnel” says Catchings. “And we’re all clones if you think about it, especially in hip hop – everyone kind of builds off each other . You try to reinvent and create your own style, but early in the day, everybody was just making music from samples of other people’s music.”

In order to create their own singular sound the group has strayed from sampling beats and has instead looked to Sheftall, a classically trained musician, skilled at the euphonium and the trombone, and the turntable skills of Sexton to conceive their own individual style.

“It’s high energy with a lot of instrumentation and our tracks sound more like songs with a climax to it than just making a hot beat and rapping over it” says Catchings.

While Sexton has been sought out for commercially successful projects, assist Scott Bomar, Willie Hall and Skip Pitts of the Bo-Keys in producing parts of the score for the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, Peoples Choice Award winning movie “Hustle & Flow”, gaining support locally has not come very easy.

“What many artists in Memphis really want to do that’s original they can’t because no one is interested, when in reality when something really new comes out it makes tons of money and then the record industry wants every new act to do that” says Sexton.

“We want to live off of our music obviously, but we aren’t aiming for the money, we just want to make music that’s tight” adds Sheftall.

The Tunnel Clones hope to release their second album, The World’s Wide Open, by the end of the year. It will again contain many collaborations with other like-minded artists, including saxophonist Hope Clayburn, Empee of Contrast, The Mighty Quinn of the IMC, and rapper and soul singer Cosmo.

“We’re trying to bring other people who have been working just as long and as hard as we have and have been through the same struggle cause Hot 97 won’t play your music” says Sexton.

In the meantime, they’ll continue doing what every indie act does; search for the perfect record deal.

“We’re waiting on a “sugar” label, but we want one that will sign us and not screw us.” laughs Sexton.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites