Esoteric | |
---|---|
Birth name | Seamus Ryan |
Born | July 24, 1978 |
Origin | Boston, Massachusetts, United States |
Genres | Hip hop |
Occupation(s) | Rapper |
Years active | 1996–present |
Labels |
Fly Casual Records Demigodz Records Babygrande Records |
Associated acts |
7L Inspectah Deck Army of the Pharaohs Demigodz Jedi Mind Tricks Vinnie Paz Apathy Celph Titled OuterSpace John Cena |
Website | www.esoterichiphop.com |
Seamus Ryan (born July 24, 1978), better known by his stage name Esoteric, is a Boston-based underground hip-hop artist. Esoteric is 1/2 of the hip hop duo 7L & Esoteric, 1/3 of Czarface and he's also a prominent member of both underground hip-hop collectives Army of the Pharaohs & Demigodz. He started his solo career in 2007.
The duo formed in 1993 when Esoteric DJed a hip hop show at a college radio station, WMWM 91.7FM north of Boston. 7L, a DJ and producer who listened to the show, contacted Esoteric in the interest of collaborating. The two found they shared a common love of the golden age of hip-hop and decided to form a group.
After performing for some time in the Boston/Cambridge underground, the duo, with MC Karma known at the time as God Complex, released their first single in 1996. The b-side "Secret Wars" gained a lot of attention as Esoteric paid tribute to the heroes of Marvel Comics in rhyme form. This led to the release of the Rebel Alliance LP, featuring acts such as Virtuoso, Mr. Lif, and Force Five. Also at this time the two dropped the God Complex moniker becoming simply 7L & Esoteric.
Soon after, 7L & Esoteric put out their first 12” with re-mastered versions of their Rebel Alliance songs “Protocol” and “Be Alert.” "Be Alert", the B-side on the record, began to receive significant radio play, due to its unique sampling of the Transformers' TV theme song. The track, which was produced by Beyonder, became very popular in the underground scene, leading the duo to several European tours, major label interest, and becoming one of the first New England hip-hop acts to appear on the world famous Stretch & Bobbito WKCR radio show in NYC and get spins on the Wake Up Show with MTV's Sway & King Tech. URB Magazine had chosen 7L & Esoteric for their "Next 100" issue in 1997.