Crown City Rockers

Comprised of the Cali bred MC Raashan Ahmad, producer Woodstock, the Berklee trained keyboardist Kat Ouano, bassist/producer Headnodic, and drummer Max MacVeety, Crown City Rockers formed in Beantown's Roxbury section during the late nineties. Raashan, who'd moved from Pasadena at the time to pursue his dreams of emceeing ran into the Berklee contingent at various open-mic and freestyle sessions aroung the city (Kat hails originally from Wichita, Kansas, Headnodic from Wisconsin, and Max is from Massachusetts).

Raashan, who'd moved from Pasadena at the time to pursue his dreams of emceeing ran into the Berklee contingent at various open-mic and freestyle sessions aroung the city (Kat hails originally from Wichita, Kansas, Headnodic from Wisconsin, and Max is from Massachusetts). Everyone clicked, sharing an interest in organic hip-hop and live instrumentation, bonding musically as well as personally.

"We did some shows in Boston trying to get our name out," recounts Raashan. "And then we decided to move out to Cali to record an album."

And so, the group, then known as Mission: which at that time included Moe Pope (check Project Move), set out West. The trip to Cali proved to be an adventure in itself. An 18-wheeler totaled all of the group's instruments and the car they were driving. Once the group finally made it out west, they used the insurance money from the accident to put out a self-titled EP to get their name out.

Soon after came their first full-length, called One. The album quickly established the group as subterranean scene stalwarts in the Bay Area hip hop community, where they were now located. After that, the group, who in 2003 changed their name to Crown City Rockers after Mission UK, (a British goth dance rock band) asked them to switch monikers, hit the studio hard recording countless songs, eventually placing 19 on their 2004 debut, Earthtones.

The group are currently (mid-2008) working on their third album.