Today's Focus: The Greatness that is the Psycho Realm

Psycho Realm consists of two Los Angeles Brothers, by the name of Sick Jacken and Duke, real life brothers who managed to hook up with the Soul Assassins crew made up of DJ Muggs and B-Real of Cypress Hill. They released their self titled debut to little fanfare in 1997. Surprisingly on this album, most of the production was handled by Sick Jacken. A lot of people slept hard on this record, mainly cause B-Real was thought to be the outshining factor, while Jacken and Duke were taken for rather weak sidekicks.

It's pretty sad, because this is easily the best album of 1997, hands down. Sick Jacken puts down a very dark and gritty texture to each of the beats on this album, making each one more stark and dreary by comparison, and each of the members on the album come into their own lyrics wise. As cited by WikiPedia:

The group aims to inject pride and knowledge into those who live in the gang infested poverty ridden neighborhoods, but at the same time wants to open the minds of the ones on the outside who look down upon them. Jacken attempts to explain to outsiders with his statement, "my people’s exodus results in prejudice / you ask us why in poverty we become terrorists/ well let me tell you this we don’t choose to tote gats / and selling on the corner is to avoid tax". Duke views the group not as rappers but neighborhood reporters. They choose to document, "a time when its in fashion to be gun flashing, blasting... strapped ready for rivals harassing". The Psycho Realm spoke about the corruption of Rampart police officers from their experiences living in the Rampart district, before the Rampart Scandal hit the media. The group also promotes the unification of gangs with remarks such as "think about who dies when we let the lead out, we’re killing family tragically.

Since then, Duke was shot and paralyzed from the neck down, and is handling most of the business affairs for the Psycho Realm, who have been off their contract with Sony, and are now doing their own thing as Sick Symphonies. They have released a couple of independent albums, as well as mixtapes, such as the heralded Sick Jacken's "The Terror Tapes." Currently, Sick Jacken is working with DJ Mugss on a release called "The Legend of The Mask And The Assassin" which is set to release via a joint venture with Sick Jacken and Universal Music Latino, called Rebel Music Group. Set for release on 8/21, the album is set to blend Muggs' classic production with Sick Jacken's knack for vivid description and media assassin like lyrics, carrying on that role of street reporter that he has proudly held for all these years.