Enter Yusef: A true son of the Queens, NY streets. Raised among the
times, sounds and people of Hip Hop’s first golden era. Those New
York City roots stick to the essence of his production, even after
relocating to the DC area. If Yusef could describe his music, it would
be in the form of a love poem to life on those streets, to the people
that dwell in similar circumstances, and to the fearlessness of
generational icons such as Marvin Gaye, Malcolm X, James Brown,
and De La Soul to name a few.
“This is gritty hip hop man; it’s about the cold winters, the hustle,
and new beginnings. A raw glimpse of the past, present and future of
not only trying to just sustain life, but of the journey through the
love of life and God that glues it all together. It’s part desperation
that that life might eat you up.” A part of Yusef’s genius is to take
that known formula of hip hop and to combine it with elements of
the new. Hidden between the beats are essences of jazz, house,
drum and bass and the newer sounds that are being created now in
the moment. His music is about evolution. The world doesn’t need
any more people making the same songs and sounds of today. “I
want something fresh each time, I want people to feel something
different”, says Yusef.
At the heart of the matter, Yusef’s music is an ode to the listener; to
not only follow him on a journey, but to join in. This brings us to the
upcoming release of Yusef’s debut album “Jazz & the Joint Forces”.
A concept album by nature, JJF aims to combine some of the many
forces of jazz music (primarily improvisation) while melding it with
his very own flavor of hip hop. Soaking in the heart and soul of
featured instrumentalists, Yusef aims to shine his light on some of
the roots of jazz music while simultaneously looking forward to the
future of hip hop and good music in general.