Roc-A-Fella. Rawkus. Def Jux. There’s a long history of talented musical collectives launching a fleet of careers, and the Justus League, with its loaded roster of local hip-hop talent, is poised to make its move. Little Brother and 9th Wonder have laid the groundwork, and the musical troops are pouring ashore.
This Friday the Brewery will host the latest joint from the Justus League, the three-CD release of National Mayhem, which features brand new discs from the hip-hop duo of Sean Boog and Khrysis, The Away Team; Little Brother’s DJ, 9th Wonder; and the debut of L.E.G.A.C.Y.
“There’s my Project Mayhem, The Away Team’s National Anthem, and we also have 9th Wonder’s Dream Merchant I, which is like a prelude to the new album. It’s all the old material from the vault, and it’s all rock-solid,” says L.E.G.A.C.Y.
Raised in Fayetteville, L.E.G.A.C.Y. (which stands for ‘Life Ends Gradually And Changes You’) hooked up with 9th Wonder in 2001, and together they created Project Mayhem.
“There’s actually some stuff from 2001, songs like ‘Nice.’ That’s vintage 9th Wonder recorded in 2001. There’s two or three of them,” L.E.G.A.C.Y. confirms. “We’ve just gone through a lot of things–three years to finish an album. A lot of people don’t know you can’t just make an album, get it pressed, get it mastered, and it comes out in a couple weeks. It’s a process. I put in a lot of work, blood, sweat and tears. A lot of us put it in, but we’re finally starting to gain the recognition we deserve.”
The Brewery show will feature Justus League members Joe Scudda, Cesar Comanche and L.E.G.A.C.Y. as well as K-Hill Da Instigator. But it’s not just local talent.
“I’m trying to give some new kids a shot. I’ve got some young dudes out of Greensboro opening up, Next Level. They’re pretty good,” L.E.G.A.C.Y. says. “We’re carrying the flag right now, we’ve got this movement. It’s not just a collective–we’re not a rap group. We’re not the Wu Tang, just one group and everyone splits up. We’re collective–Justus League is the collective, Hall of Justus is the movement. We’re flagshipping right now, we’re about to conquer all. That’s that.”
With the Little Brother album The Minstrel Show due later this year on Atlantic, this is just the first salvo in a bum rush that’s destined to put North Carolina hip hop on the map.
