Styles of Beyond

Styles of Beyond
Styles of Beyond's Logo
Background information
Also known as	S.O.B.
Origin	Los Angeles, California, USA
Genres	Underground/Alternative hip hop
Years active	1994–2009 (hiatus)
Labels	SpyTech, Machine Shop, Bilawn, Ideal, Hi Ho, Mammoth
Associated acts	Fort Minor, Demigodz, Linkin Park, The Crystal Method
Members
Takbir Bashir (Tak) Ryan Patrick Maginn (Ryu) Colton Fisher (DJ Cheapshot) Jason Rabinowitz (Vin Skully)

Styles of Beyond is an underground rap group from the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. The group consists of MC's Ryan Patrick Maginn (Ryu) and Takbir Bashir (Tak), Colton Raisin Fisher (DJ Cheapshot), and producer Jason Rabinowitz (Vin Skully). They have released two LPs, one mixtape and were heavily featured on Mike Shinoda's Fort Minor project in 2005. At one point they were also signed to Shinoda's Machine Shop Recordings label, although they left the label in late 2008. They are also heavily associated with the underground rap group "Demigodz" which features similar underground artists such as Apathy, Celph Titled, and 7L & Esoteric.

History

Styles of Beyond first started making appearances on the Wake Up Show which was a breeding ground for respected rhymers and supreme lyricists, including Eminem, Jay-Z and The Notorious B.I.G. What followed were the two independent albums, 2000 Fold, and seething follow-up Megadef. S.O.B. made a mixtape on July, 31, 2007 entitled "Razor Tag", presented and mixed by DJ Green Lantern. They recently finished their third studio album, Reseda Beach which has yet to be released. The album guest features rappers RZA, Mike Shinoda, Apathy, Celph Titled & Sixx John. It is executive produced by Mike Shinoda.

On September 25, 2008, S.O.B. released their contract with Machine Shop Recordings with full ownership of their Reseda Beach record, which they plan to release under a different label or independently.^[1].

Since 2008 Ryu (along with Apathy, and Scoop DeVille) formed "Get Busy Committee" which is a new rap group. they released their first album "Uzi Does It" on October, 27, 2009. Tak has also formed a solo group along with singer Josy B called "Ribkat" (which is takbir's named spelled backwords) they plan on releasing a album entitled "Theory of Addicts" in December, 2009.

Ryu stated recently in an interview with LPLive that the current status of S.O.B. is unknown. in the interview he stated "The Warner thing I think mentally exhausted everybody, I think it was just time to do something fresh and new. Business wise and creatively. The status of the group is unknown at this point. It just felt like we were beating a dead horse after a while."^[2]

Apperances/Remixes

Grant Mohrman did a remix of the Megadef song "Superstars" called "Nine Thou" which was featured in the games WWE Day of Reckoning, WWE SmackDown vs. RAW, and on the TV show Prison Break. The song "Subculture" (from the unreleased album Terraform) was featured in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2

S.O.B. collaborated with Celldweller for a track entitled " Shapeshifter" which appeared on the soundtrack for the movie Redline and the game Need for Speed: Most Wanted (along with "Nine Thou")

Styles of Beyond has collaborated with SpyTech artists: Lexicon, Sandman, 4-Zone, and Divine Styler. They have also collaborated with: Awol One, The Crystal Method, and performed live with Linkin Park in 2001. [2]

Their song "Second to None", (which features Mike Shinoda), appears on the soundtrack to the 2007 Transformers film, and was also featured in a 30 second promo for FOX's season premieres for Prison Break and K-Ville as well as the trailer for the 2008 film You Don't Mess with the Zohan.

On December 17, 2007, it was revealed that DJ Cheapshot and Vin Skully had been chosen and hired to complete the entire score for the upcoming A&E original series L.A. Gang Unit, which was slated for an April 2008 release, but has yet to be released.

S.O.B. was on the Revolution Stage at the 2007 Projekt Revolution tour in Mansfield, Massachusetts however, during the main Projekt Revolution tour, they were not present.

S.O.B. made an appearance in the music video for the track We Made It by Busta Rhymes and Linkin Park^[3].

DJ Cheapshot opened his own bar called Cheapshot's, which is located in Long Beach, California.

Discography

• 2000 Fold (1997, Bilawn)
• Terraform (never released)
• Megadef (2003, SpyTech)
• Razor Tag (2007, Warner Bros.)
• Reseda Beach

References

External links

• Official website
• Styles of Beyond Fansite
• Styles of Beyond at YouTube
• Get Busy Committee's MySpace Account
• Ribkat's MySpace Account
• Ryu's MySpace Account
• Ryu's Twitter Account
• Cheapshot's Twitter Account