The SA-RA production group is among
releases planned for Kanye West‘s label, G.O.O.D Music label,
which already finds, Common, John Legend, Consequence, Farnsworth
Bentley and Keyshia Cole as present members. The trio consists
of Taz Arnold, Shafiq Husayn and Om’Mas Keith will drop their
debut release, Set-Up and Justifications, August 15. The material will feature production as well as
the group stepping in front of the machines.
The artists have worked with various producers over the years including Dr.
Dre, Killer Mike and Jurassic 5. They have released material
before on collaborative efforts Glorious
and Second Time Around. Their earlier material worked with a
mixture of hip-hop and funk. The release will work under the SONY Urban Music banner.
“This is something we talked about and
joked about for years, all of us were producers and artists as individuals, but
we knew each other and were fond of each other’s work,” Arnold said.
Arnold worked primarily under Dr.
Dre working as a creative consultant and talent scout for his historic
return Chronic: 2001 album. His work with Dre originally
landed him a deal with Aftermath Records. Husayn‘s resume includes Zulu
King, Ice-T’s Body Count group, Lorn Finesse, Afrika Bambaataa, Prince and
Duran Duran. He also provided the soundtrack for New Jack City and
scored Deep Cover. Keith started working at 15 as an intern
at RCA records and as a staff producer for Jam Master Jay
(R.I.P). He also engineered tracks for Onyx, Run DMC, Lauryn Hill and
a much younger 50 Cent. A later production deal with Suavehouse
Records would allow him to work with 8-Ball & MJG, Mobb Deep, Foxy Brown
and Ice Cube.
“…the vision of this album is to
liberate people. To let them know that they can do whatever the f**k they want
to do—musically or otherwise. They are going to hear so much on this album that
they’re going to say, ‘I didn’t know they could make music like this and still
appeal to the masses.’ We are bringing everybody back to the table. It’s about
to be fresh to be Black again. From the thugs to the elitist, we are about to
level out the playing field, “ Arnold added.
The group is clearly ready to make a splash in the early fall.
