Punk Poetry Blues meets Alternative Hip-Hop. The originality of the concept behind this band as a whole, is incredibly imaginative. A mosaic in sound, broad in range & style bound to please anyone who loves something different in their music.

13 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Classic Rock, HIP HOP/RAP: Alternative Hip Hop



Details:
Ragz Mo' Rocka is the latest & hippest animated band, in the tradition of Fat Albert & Britain's animated import, Gorillaz.

The talent behind this animated band is impressive. Rising of the Phoenix, their debut album release, promises an interesting ride through the minds of The Ragz Unit (T.R.U) aka "The Real Us", a live band which is the creative lifeline behind Ragz Mo' Rocka.

Al Diaz, Ish Allen & Mike Santoro (know as Alias D, MistaIsh, and Sacred Bull) are The Ragz Unit (T.R.U), the lifeline behind Ragz Mo' Rocka. Having grown up in New York City as a young graffitti artist, alongside artists such as Basquiat, Diaz would take his artistic skills to Suny Purchase to polish a more commercial style & eventually, the School of Visual Arts where He quickly caught the attention of his professor, Joe Orlando (former Executive Vice Publisher of DC Comics). Orlando selected Diaz to work with him on projects for companies such as DC Comics & MAD magazine. Warner Brothers, Cartoon Network & Disney soon secured Diaz's talents to assist them with their respective projects. Def Jam recordings had Diaz create their first web site, which went on to win an AOL award for "best new website" that year. Diaz was also responsible for creating the independent 4 part comic book mini-series "OAK" in the mid 90's, which did well among the comic book circuit & it's fans.

Ish Allen is the musical foundation of Ragz. Ish Allen's production credits include work playing with artists such as Jimmy Cliff, Black-Eyed Peas, Cypress Hill, Talvin Singh, GZA of the Wu-Tang Clan, Roni Size, Jungle Brothers, and The Roots.

Mike Santoro, Ragz' co-vocalist & lead guitarist, is an accomplished musician by his own right. He has played with pros such as KiddusI, Ivan Kral (Patti smith, Iggy Pop & Eastern Bloc), and Ron Wood. Rising of the Phoenix also showcases guest talent such as spoken word artist, Josh "Maestro" Vasquez & vocal veteran Kirsty Rock of "Trumystic"(#22 in CMJ Raggae charts with their latest 2 disc set, album "Dub Power")

Kevin Altieri, the latest addition to the band, handles all of the animation direction & live show visuals for Ragz. Kevin was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1998 for Pearl Jam's animated video "Do the Evolution" via Todd McFarlane Studios. Kevin has directed several animated movies & animated series (Striperella, Batman, Gen13, etc.) in the past and is currently in development with several music videos for Ragz.

Prior to all the focus on Ragz Mo' Rocka, Diaz was part of a rap group known as "Da Woodchukas", produced by Ish Allen. They performed at the Apollo Theater, the Uptown Comedy Cellar, among many other venues, and as fate would have it, DJ Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito the Barber had them perform on their top rated underground radio show on WKCR.

After the "Da Woodchuckas" parted ways, Diaz continued to shape his music skills by learning to play several instruments and working on a broad range of new ecclectic songs, much different than what his original rap group had been writing & performing. Al continued to work with his partner, Ish Allen & formed The Ragz Unit (T.R.U.) - The Real Us.

Ragz Mo' Rocka, the cartoon characters, are compelling personas of their own. As struggling band members working the music circuit, Sir Reel, Big Dub, Flu, Grayscale, Lil' Russ and Doozy seek recognition and respect from the rest of us in the human world. While facing strong opposition in the midst of merging the surreal to the real, they use music to break the barrier between our imagination and their reality, the NoZone Layer. The characters are wonderful creations by Diaz, and the visuals enhance the (sur) realness of the unique identities of the members of Ragz Mo Rocka.

Musically, the album is an interesting composition, broad in range and style. Ranging from hard-hitting hip hop, to Latin lounge sounds, to introspective soundscapes, rock and roll, and blends of all & none of the above, Ragz Mo' Rocka will have you asking the age old question, "Does art imitate life, or does life imitate art?"