yU Bringing Back Real Hip-Hop with New Solo Album

Before Taxes is yU's answer to hip-hop fans' cry for a return to real hip-hop. The artist describes hip-hop's golden era of boom-bap greatness as being akin to one's personal finances... before taxes, that is. With watered-down commercial rap eating away at the cultural wallets of hip-hop fans worldwide, with his new album the DMV MC looks to take great strides at filling his listeners' pockets with a rich cultural currency.

The album is an exciting step forward for yU. After helping put the Washington DC/Maryland hip-hop scene back on the map with the seminal Diamond District album In The Ruff, the celebrated emcee has a lot to live up to. "Before Taxes is different than In The Ruff in a lot of ways," says yU. "I've been told that the sound is more mellow or experimental at times. There's different subject matter and approach to the rhymes." While perfectly capable of flooring listeners without his Diamond District crew, yU brings a few other friends along to help turn up the heat. Underground hero Grap Luva appears on "Brainwash," a cautionary tale of the ills that befall urban life, while appearances by Bilal Salaam, EyeQ, ERK, Omun, Op Swamp 81, Finale and yU's partner in rhyme from The 1978ers, SlimKat round out the remainder of the album.