Simple Citizens

Hailing from Los Angeles, Simple Citizens are one of the few modern-day live hip-hop groups who's instrumental make-up and on stage energy more closely resemble a 60's soul/jazz combo than anything else in the contemporary hip-hop scene. With a small musical arsenal and just one MC, the Citizens are able to incorporate not just hip-hop, but heavy doses of soul and jazz that resonate seamlessly with lyrics creating a fresh sound that holds true to the early 90's hip-hop aesthetic. In 2008 the Citizens released "Early Morning" which quickly gained them recognition not only throughout the LA scene but internationally. Select cuts from the album became favorites among college radio dj's across the nation, not to mention local attention receiving airplay on KXLU, KPFK and KCRW. The underground success of "Early Morning" quickly prompted numerous North/West and South/West tours and countless numbers of Southern California dates providing direct support for Talib Kweli, KRS-One, Orgone and Breakestra. From 2010 to the present, Simple Citizens have been expanding and progressing both as a band and as an in-demand rhythm section. Recently the Citizens were not only recruited to open for Del The Funky Homosapien, but also to serve as his backing band for an on going live hip-hop series at Yoshi's Jazz Club in San Francisco. Individually throughout the year (aside from writing and recording tracks for a new album) different members of SC have also been busy recording and touring with LA based groups Orgone, Jeremey Sole's MUSAICS, Emily Wells and Bei Bei as well as the Citizens' new instrumental soul outfit The Rugged Nuggets.