WILLIAM (SILK FOXX) S. GRAHAM
SEAN (DA-VINCI) J. MARSHALL
Icarus Gang is more than a rap group, it’s a movement. The group’s two main artists, Silk and Davinci (who also happen to be gang rivals turned best friends), formed the lyrically driven mob out of their undying love for hip-hop and a shared desire to raise rap industry standards. Maybe even impart some meaningful messages here and there.
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“For a while now, the rap game has been steadily declining,” the group’s foremost leader Davinci says. “Rap is the only genre of music that compromises the integrity of its form regularly. Very few new age rap artists respect the roots of hip-hop, pay homage to their predecessors, or extend the necessary reverence the artform (poetry, at its core) deserves. Rap music was one of my first loves as a child. It gave a voice to the voiceless. Delivered powerful messages. And becoming a rap artist was one of my earliest dreams, one I perused fervently, but never got to realize fully due to fateful circumstances. So I take it personally when I see the craft diminished or the successes of taken for granted. Now-a-days, absolute clowns are crowned kings. In today’s music scene, rap artists aren’t held to any type of standard. Or so it seems. Any Joe Smo, so long as he fits a particular image (which is often stereotypical and ignorant), can become a rap icon. Never mind lyricism, creativity, and substantive album content. Just look the part and mumble nonsense. Oh, also talk about how you blow your fortunes and how high off a particular drug you are. That’s today’s rap for you.”
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And so Icarus Gang emerged.
During the heart of the coronavirus pandemic, the group formed. But not under usual circumstances. A little known fact about the group is that all of its members (to date—in 2022) are prisoners. The three founding artists, Silk, Davinci, and Stoneface are currently serving lengthy prison bids for robbery and drug charges: however, all are changed men and on a path of redemption. Having committed their lives to establishing a positive legacy for themselves and refusing to let their talents be buried behind bars, Silk, Davinci, and Stoneface are resolved to using their poetic voices to enrich the rap game, promote social change, highlight their personal journeys, and hopefully change lives with their shockingly candid, cautionary tales.
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“Making money off our craft is the least of our concerns at this point,” the group proclaims. “It’s all about the message and making quality music.”
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At the end of the day, Icarus Gang desires to become a symbol more than anything. The group’s name derives from Greek mythology. Icarus was the son of a skilled craftsmen, Daedalus, and was given wings made of feathers and wax. Before flying for the first time (an effort to flee confines), Icarus was warned not to fly too close to the sun or too low to the sea, else his wings be ruined and he risk meeting his end. And sure enough, Icarus did just as his father admonished him not to: he flew too close to the sun and ultimately met his demise. The myth has long served to underscore the importance of finding balance in life. This invaluable is something Icarus Gang knows all too well. The members, while they vary, have all experienced extreme highs and lows in their own lives and essentially met their own demises of sorts. Now it’s about rebirth and maintaining balance, as well as restoring a necessary balance to their beloved rap game.
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And whatever the group has to do to make their voices heard. Possessing few resources, Icarus Gang has often had to resort to unconventional means to record their music, all to include recording tracks through a phone and collaborating with producers in the free world (i.e. Retro Da Project Kid among others) who are able to give life to the group’s words. They also tend to rap over whatever free instrumental tracks they can acquire online. Whatever it takes. With wings made of wax and feathers, Icarus Gang is resolved to soar.
But not too high or low.
Gang!
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