Black Connection Bio
THE BLACK CONNECTION
'The Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis of the streets' are one of the many well deserved titles given to the multi-talented production duo 'The Black Connection'.
Jason 'Illustrious' Sams and Maurice 'Skitzlive' Sams have created original, refreshing, innovative and hard hitting soundscapes to their brand of Hip-Hop music. The Black Connection has successfully fused the sounds of 'Golden Era' Hip-Hop (late 80's-early 90's which produced ground breaking releases from A Tribe Called Quest, Big Daddy Kane, De La Soul, Rakim and Ice Cube) with today's contemporary music that unfolds into a timeless collection of its own. To help recapture the vintage sounds of these masterpiece recordings, the production duo records with equipment of that era (E mu's SP-1200 and 2' tape reel to reel recorders), Illustrious concludes “We want to bring back the feel good music of that era of Hip-Hop. The music we grew up with, but updating it with new and creative sounds, rhythms, and melodies for a new era of music.”
The brothers Jason and Maurice Sams were born in Long Beach California and raised in The Inland Empire. Illustrious and Skitzlive are the two oldest of a family of six. Music was a major force in their upbringing, as their mother, aunts and uncles were popular musicians in the Los Angeles music scene in the early 1970's, “My mother and aunts would handle the vocals and my uncles played the instruments, they had quite a following and even today we get people who come up to us and say how live our family was back in the days” laments Illustrious. Coming from an immensely talented family, it would only be a matter of time before the brothers would venture down the same path, “Music runs deep in our veins, it's always been a part of us and our lives. I couldn't imagine doing anything else.” says Illustrious. The duo began rapping and producing for a local unit performing in many venues throughout the Inland Empire. The Black Connection's addictive and head-nodding tracks became well-known in the Inland Empire music scene, but due to creative differences, they would split from the group they help start. After the break-up, the Black Connection would step away from music and pursue educational goals that would better equip them for the music business. Skitzlive would obtain his degree in Recording Technology and Illustrious would receive a degree in Business and is currently working towards his Bachelors degree in Business with an emphasis in music.
The Black Connection is now geared up to leave their mark on Hip-Hop. The production duo is now hard at work on the completion of their opus “The Blessings”. The project will showcase their banging tracks along side the hottest up and coming MC's and singers, including Anterluz and Q-Dubb of The Emmaculate Team. The duo is also producing rappers in their area. The Black Connection are also working towards their future goals as Skitzlive plans to own and operate an successful recording studio and become a well sought after recording engineer, while Illustrious plans to own and operate a flourishing recording company and become a dominant figure in the music industry. Once listening to the hypnotic rhythms of The Black Connection, and seeing the strides they are making to become better musicians and businessmen, one comes to realize that success is but a touch away for the talented producers.