July 29th: WRITE BROTHERS PARTY at Nectars

Learic and Dante DaVinci have created something monumentally heavy with their "Write Brothers" project. We've already documented some of the nationwide buzz they've been getting just off the first two singles. Tuesday night at Nectars will be your chance to hear the entire project get debuted at one of Vermont's finest establishments, the legendary Nectars on Main Street Burlington.

DJ Fattie B will be in the house showcasing his increasingly awesome remix/mashup work, and Wombaticus Rex will be kicking off the Rap with special guest Godforbid. We'll be doing the new EP "Fear of Death and the Need for Reproduction" straight through.

It should probably be mentioned that this show is completely free.

C'mon down.

"Come Back" - The Write Brothers

You're riding with the Write Brothers, first in flight. A second single from the increasingly impressive cross-coast collaboration featuring Learic and Dante DaVinci. Tablas, firebomb synth chops, and a damn catchy hook drive the point home: this will almost definitely be the best rap project coming out of Vermont this year.

"When the pens in my hand, your attention span tends to expand." Fuck yeah.

Write Brothers is Kinda Blowing Up Right Now

First of all, you've heard this, right? If not, fix that...



This single has been legitimately blowing up. The Write Brothers are making waves way beyond the 802, and this is good because they should be. Since being debuted on Earmilk.com, they've been getting writeups with hip hop diehards KickKickSnare, being featured on the Seven Days website, and even landing a spot on DJ Booth.

Still, my favorite coverage so far was this: a long-form interview with Dante Davinci, an excellent read that offers a lot of gems for independent artists. Good strategy is good business.

"Extraordinary I" - The Write Brothers

More fresh produce from Learic, fresh off the release of The Precepts debut album "This is How it Must Be" and his mixtape project with Kin, Unusual Subjects -- clearly the man is aiming to make a statement out of 2014. (And he's far from finished.)

The Write Brothers is his collaboration with Dante Davinci, a talented & dedicated producer who has been working behind the scenes here in the 802 longer than most of us have been drinking legally. This is a powerful team, as evidenced by the lead single, "Extraordinary I." You can catch Learic live on July 5th at Nectars with MC B-Free and the Ice Coast Band.

2013 Updates from the Aztext

One of my first projects here is going to be tracking down pretty much everyone making rap music in Vermont and get a quick interview about where they're at and what they're up to. The only logical place to start was, of course, The Aztext. Freestyle phenom Learic dropped some science like so...

37: How is the next Aztext album shaping up? Has your process changed?

Learic: The new Aztext album is called Four.

We're very close to finishing it, just a few more tracks to write and record. We're very excited about it; the album features some tracks that are us at our most creative as well as some very personal ones. The beats are a highlight, featuring our usual team of producers (Dub Sonata, E-Train, TouchPhonics), the SoulSlicers (who we worked with for 'Press it Onto Wax' which was on their album), as well as two producers we'd never previously worked with. We're excited about the addition of these two to the mix and I'll let it be a surprise as to who they are. There will be a series of music videos accompanying the album release as well. We're shooting for a summer 2013 release date.

As far as our process, it's still just the two of us going where the beat takes us, following whatever instincts it tells us to take it to, and never feeling like we have to keep whatever we come up with. There's a total freedom there because we've been working together for so long. So usually one of us will come up with a melody for the hook, then maybe the other one starts thinking of the words, and we go from there.

37: Can you tell us about The Write Brothers?

Learic: The Write Brothers is a project I've been working on for the past year and a half with Dante DaVinci. The EP we'll be releasing is called First in Flight. Dante produced all the tracks and we co-wrote some of the hooks but he wrote a lot of them. A couple tracks we co-wrote completely. There will be seven tracks but I feel they are each so diverse from each other that listeners will be very satisfied. We're planning to release this summer 2013.

Also coming out of the same studio (Upsetta) is a project from a group I'm in called The Precepts. It consists of Jer Coons, Eric Maier, and myself. The project came about from them making these sick hip-hop beats using live instruments and involving me on a couple tracks, then the more we got together the chemistry grew, and before we knew it we were a group. They're incredible singers and songwriters as well and we've put together an album that's slated for a tentative August release. Look for a single release (A-side and B-side) in early summer.

37: Your youtube channel has been extremely entertaining. Will you be dropping more freestyle video this summer?

Learic: I definitely have plans of releasing more freestyle videos. Kin (who I was making those with) and I have a lot of ideas on different spins we can put on it, so look for those this summer. Kin and I also have an album called Unusual Subjects that we'll be dropping this summer.

Throwback: "I Make Records" - The Aztext

The Aztext are at work on a fourth album. Learic is also doing a side project called The Write Brothers and has been busy doing (crazy good) solo sets with DJ BP around Burlington and New England. On a beautiful Sunday like this, though, we can't imagine a better blast from the past than their single "I Make Records."