Who put this idea in their heads? 7L & Esoteric, a Boston-bred duo with roots traceable to golden age greats such as the iconic Gangstarr, have boldly stepped out of the box with arguably their most creatively inspired release to date, 'A New Dope.'

Originally achieving notoriety as one of the East Coast's finest hip-hop tag teams for the better part of the last decade, 7L & Esoteric felt it was time for a rebirth.

'When I was young, I had mono for a whole summer and never knew. I got so used to feeling like shit that I thought that's what 'good' felt like. I can liken that to some of the studio sessions throughout our last few records' said Esoteric, the emcee of the duo. 'Psychologically dueling with engineers can hinder your creativity, and as a result, you become less picky about the music and more enthusiastic about leaving. With this new album, I recorded the whole thing by myself; no guides, no drama, no two cents, no nothing. There was nobody there to stop me and say 'hey, is this what your fans expect of you? ?What are people going to say?' I just stood in front of the mic and got personal.'

The man behind the wheels, DJ 7L adds:


'Eso played me some stuff he had recorded on his own, which to me was some of the best stuff he has done, and that in turn inspired me to just make music that matched what he needed...we didn't consider anyone's
opinion, we just had a lot of fun making it.'

Cinematic samples and metaphorical death threats are what the group is notorious for and ultimately what the group has relied on throughout their career to date. Nobody would expect a duo that recorded with Marley Marl, collaborated with Inspectah Deck from Wu-Tang, rhyme alongside Kool Keith on this album and celebrated the boom-bap era with such valor to re-emerge on 120+ bpm tracks peppered with Kraftwerk-like soundscapes.

Website

www.babygrande.com

Other Artists

Wu-Tang, Gangstarr, Jedi Mind Tricks

Band Members

7L and Esoteric