Last week I got a package in the mail from Audible Treats. The envelope contained some promo material from the Oakland trio iLL-Literacy. I was instantly intrigued with the artwork (shown above) so I decided to give them a chance. Glad I did… this stuff is pretty sweet. Here is the first part of three “chapters” from their new album iB4the1 (I Before The 1). Confused? Yea… read the quote below.
iLL-Literacy will be releasing iB4the1 in three chapters. The first, Chapter 1 (iB4the1.1), is available today. Because iLL-Literacy believes that traditional means of marketing and distribution have become obsolete, they are releasing all three chapters for free on their website (www.ill-literacy.com). In an effort to further obliterate the mold, iLL-Lit has partnered with street fashion legend C+ Jewelry to create USBiLL (pronounced “Us Be iLL”), a line of custom limited edition flash drives. A convenient and reusable alternative to CDs, USBiLL will be the primary physical form of the complete iB4the1 trilogy of releases.
If you want to check their music before you download, you can stream a couple songs below. If you like what you here, hit the jump for the EP.
Finding Emo
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The HereNow f. Passion
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01 Hi How R U
02 Gentleman’s Kool-Aid
03 The HereNow f. Passion
04 Finding Emo
05 Circus Nights
DOWNLOAD: iLL-Literacy – iB4the1.1 EP
That downloadlink is kind of missing …
^^fixed.
I am downloading because of the cover haha. Though from what I heard it sounded good, look forward to hearing more stuff, good post.
ohh nice up Shake…i seen them when they was still at Davis/Sac Area and heard their spoken word. Nice to see them getting some coverage
SHOUT OUTS TO ILL-LITERACY!!!
these cats may be in NY now but they still rep the Boondocks!!!
Big ups to Dahlak—UC Davis alum!.
Genius of a cover.
Use to follow them back in ’06 and lost touch. Excited about this.
iLL-Lit!!!!
Here Now **** stars. Love it
yeah!! THREE dope boys :) good lookin for posting this.
Definitely refreshing to hear new undiscovered artist will real direction thats fresh with raw talent. We need more of this type of new creativity…Like when Outkast, Goodie Mob, Dungeon Family days in the basement music.
This is a great album! I want to hear more from them. When will the other chapters be released? I love that on top of it being great, it’s FREE!
this is why im come to this site! thanks!
This is a really good look, props to 2dbz. My organization has brought iLL-Literacy to perform 3 times in the last 4 years and these dudes kill it every time. Look into Dahlak’s “Dual Consciousness” and “Commencement” projects too!
good feature by 2 dopeboyz. dahlak is my dood. great intellectual. creative work by this group.
Had a chance to listen to it, or rather, had a chance to listen to it three times now and all I can say, or type that is, is wow.
Yo, the album is hot! I’m feeling this “Finding Emo”
these kids are something special. seen them perform & been waiting for something to actually drop. wasn’t even expecting it to be this good either!
Keep doing what you are doing, I like it
Yo if u like ILL-Lit check out Rafael Casal and Dahlak, they semi part of that whole crew! Both had solo projects worth checkin’ out…
^ Dahlak IS part of the crew (it’s Dahlak, N.I.C. and Drizzletron). Rafael’s in the Getback, but they’re all fam. he just dropped a free LP as well, called “Monster.” also highly recommended.
like everyone else has said, this is some iLL shit. but there’s a reason everyone’s talkin bout seeing them live. these cats hold it down on stage. now if they get off the college circuit and start rocking more clubs…