T.H.E. Honoroll (To Heavens Eternity) is a multi-cultural group hailing from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. After releasing their first mixtape in April of 2015, the group has amassed over 6 projects and began developing a handful of artists to usher in a new wave of hip hop. With intricate lyrics, but the ability to carry a soulful tune and melody, this group proves to be a game changer in an industry where it is common to bite each other’s style. Explain who you are for those who may not know
We got to link with T.H.E. Honoroll and conduct an exclusive Q&A interview.
Check it out below to learn more about them.
Explain who you are for those who may not know
We are a group of artists, creatives, producers, and musicians from Sioux Falls, SD. In 2015, James Howe and myself (Ryan Adams) met through a mutual friend, and started producing and engineering our own music. About 8 months later, we met Hashim Gabon (HV$H 1XX) and LAFresh, two talented vocalists/producers who had been on the scene for a while. We are also developing a few artists/producers from around the area, most notably a young artist named ImVizible. Since we began making music 18 months ago, we have amassed over 6 projects and several singles to hone our production and artistry.
How did you get your start in music?
I’ve grown up making music my whole life, as I started in choir as a boy and learned to play the trumpet at the age of 10. As far as the rest of us, it’s pretty much the same across the board. James grew up playing piano and other instruments, and he handles most of the production. Neither of us pursued music in college, but writing lyrics and making songs was something we had kept as hobbies. As far as the rest of the group, HV$H grew up playing the clarinet, as well as singing in choir. We also have musicians who are talented guitarists, bassists, and pianists that we work with.
Who are your influences?
Man, this is a tough one. Yeezy is someone we always talk about in terms of production. He always has been on another level, regardless of what anyone says about him, his music is unprecedented. Chance the rapper is pretty influential to our sound and music, as we are looking to bring a rock feel into a lot of our music, similar like he does with Jazz. Lyrically I’m a big Kendrick fan, along with J Cole, and my old school pick is Slick Rick. James is heavily influenced by Dr. Dre, and we’ve even joked about calling him “Dr. J”. Atmosphere is a big lyrical influence for him, as well as Eminem. HV$H is very versatile, very much like Kendrick, but he’s got punk rock side that people don’t see often. LAFresh has very heavy Rasta influence as well. We try to push each other and the artists we are developing by encouraging individuality. Our biggest indie artist influence at the moment is Jay IDK, and if you don’t know who that is I suggest you get out your google machine and look.
What motivates you to make music?
This world, the business, the fans. We heard way to much of the wrong things on the air and what we were listening to as well. It got to the point where copy-cat artists were blowing up by the minute, while the artist who does this because they love it doesn’t get the love they deserve. All because they are something “new” or they didn’t sound like all the rest of the stuff they were used to hearing. That’s what motivates me, a new group of artists that I can be a part of that does everything different, independent, and with good intentions.
You guys have been described as a multi cultural group. What does this mean to you?
In the world we live in today, a lot. We all come from not only diverse cultural, but religious backgrounds as well. Everywhere we look there is so much racial tension and hate. Why? This world is already plagued by so much. Why worry about the color of skin? Same goes with religious views. T.H.E. stands for “to heavens eternity”, because we are driven by faith in a higher power, we just choose to call him different names. I’m not going to refuse to work with you, or James won’t refuse to produce you based off of anything but hardwork and talent (or, rather, lack of).
Your single “Drift Away” was just featured on Hot97. How did that happen?
It was really simple actually. We started talking to a connection out East who showed the song to their (Hot 97’s) content editors, and from there it was a go. It was really surreal seeing it the first time, and I don’t think they even expected a group from South Dakota to make music like that. I know this for a fact actually, because they put Sioux Falls “San Dakota” before we caught it and it was edited haha.
How did that make you feel?
The moment was cool for sure! I had a lot of people message and text me telling me they saw it and congratulated us on the accomplishment. It’s like the first step to that really long stairway to success you dreamt up as a child. Got a lot of growing still, but it’s an awesome start.
What are you currently working on?
In light of all of the political awareness due to the “election”, I’ll put out a pretty underground but production heavy EP around Halloween. That will be on SoundCloud, spinrilla, and YouTube. As far as major releases, we are doing an EP with “Drift Away”, and 4-5 other songs that will be our first drop on ITunes, Spotify, and other commercial streaming platforms. Also, look out for a single from ImVizible called “Permanent”, and HV$H’s highly anticipated “5XXX” project.
What is it like being artists from South Dakota?
It’s pretty interesting. There’s not the demographic of music listeners like a place with millions of people, but nonetheless it’s pretty laid back. I love the diverse weather for visuals though. And, Sioux Falls is very diverse with a lot of cool places to eat, drink, and vibe out to a variety of music. Most of us work at a Brazilian steakhouse, and I’d be lying if i said it didn’t influence the music we make! We get a lot of “You’ll never make it” attitude here, probably why we are working so hard to make noise in the industry.
Is there a decent music scene there?
There is a pretty decent one. It’s getting better and better, but there are established artists in this city who’ve been rocking the scene for a few years. Real Life Music has some artists that have been holding it down and touring throughout the Midwest, as well as some other groups/artists that have done some big things and are continuing to excel. Our live scene is really gaining momentum, and it’s exciting to be a part of something like this. We held our first show a couple months ago, and hopefully we can bring some acts here and throw a group of shows around the city at different venues.
If there is one thing in particular you want people to know about you guys, what would it be?
We are pretty regular dudes. No gimmicks, just kind of nerdy is all. Like we really like anime, but I don’t think that’s very important information. Music is what we love, and in between thrashing people on Super Smash Bros on N64 and Destiny for XBox one, we try to exhibit our emotions through our sounds.
Anything you would like to say to your fans?
Thanks for listening to the progress and the music. The real magicians are the engineers like James and the guys who make us sound pretty. So, go hug an engineer today.
-HipHopsRevival