L.A. Symphony may be the best hip-hop group that no one’s ever heard of before, but will real soon. Unless you’re a die-hard fan of the underground scene, you wouldn’t already know that these lyrical emcees and producers have been tearin’ it up for almost 10 years now. The five-member group gave heat at a recent show at the Temple Bar in Santa Monica. It worked the audience into a hot frenzy, spittin’ out dope rhymes with head bobbin’ beats, giving you no other choice but to move.



These talented rappers, Sharlok Poems, Joey the Jerk, UNO Mas and CookBook – FLYNN the fifth member was out of town – have accumulated a hardcore fan base that both upcoming and veteran performers would envy. Everyone mouthed along to every song and got especially loud when their favorite track played.



What’s distinct about Symphony from other groups, besides making great music worth listening to, is that coming from different backgrounds – U.S., Africa, Puerto Rico and Mexico – adds that necessary diverse flavor that hip hop has lost. During the nearly one-hour set, the members’ styles complemented one another.



Emcee Cookbook has a completely different flow from his dred-locked friend Joey the Jerk. But when they come together, they’re awesome. Add Sharlok Poems and UNO Mas and it’s damn near explosive. Backed up by the group’s phenomenal DJ Bird behind the wheels of steel, both the crowd and Symphony were on point in giving it their all.



After a poppin’ intro, the members of Symphony easily combined their energies and vocal prowess to set it off. A lot of the band’s songs came from its latest album, Disappear Here (Gotee Records). The group jumped off with its hot single “Timeless” which is a lyrical piece of art.



They don’t give praise to the familiar staples of the hip hop: wearing expensive ice, scantily clad women and driving Escalades with Lamborghini doors. To be honest, it’s not even in the band’s vocabulary. Its members are too down-to-earth and real for that nonsense.



With its mixture of banging hits (“Here To Party”) and a more kick back tune with a Bob Marley hook (“Gonna Be Alright”) expressed that Symphony has the right ear for beats. In between the rhymes, the group tossed out t-shirts, caps and copies of its current and previous CDs. It know that promotion is key in keeping alive.



Much, much love goes to CookBook who kept the crowd wilding out and hyped with his high-octane energy. Each member handled his own just fine and it was obvious that it’s their music and fans that move that has kept them strong for nearly a decade. And, when they come together, their collaborative effort creates one powerful voice for hip hop.



Seeing them live was reminiscent of going to an old school hip-hop show when words mattered, made sense and the beats were too damn good. Shows where it was a sin to sit down and not surrender to the band’s hypnotic spell.

Symphony is a group that reminds those of us who are saturated with bling and grillz that smartly written lyrics and hard-hitting beats never go out of style. They may have been misplaced for a minute, but never forgotten.