Each person has their own incommunicable reality — the way they see the world.
Unlike many Southern rap groups, the members of the New Orleans-based Illegal Alias do not see the rap world as a vehicle for gaining fame and money.
Rather, they see it as a way of creating change in the world and conveying a message of positivity.
The group puts on a thrilling show that embodies the ingredients that make hip-hop art.
Audiences can watch break-dancers get down or graffiti artists paint murals, then turn to the stage for a freestyle performance.
“Ricky” Ricardo Jeffries, aka “Gray Matter,” said in an interview from his dorm room in Jackson Hall that performing is the most enjoyable part of being in the group.
“If you could mix every drug in to some kind of crazy smoothie and then snort it, it still couldn’t match it,” Jeffries said of the feeling he gets from performing live.
Jeffries, the most outspoken of the trio, is Honduran and grew up listening to Latin and jazz music. He is currently a mass commuincation sophomore at the University.
Also Honduran, Ben Silva, aka “DJ QuikSilva,” is a quiet guy and newest member that lets Jeffries and Justin Colomb, aka “Exact” and the third member, do all the talking.
Colomb works in the Music Co-op Office, a studio in New Orleans where Illegal Alias will put the finishing touches on their debut album, “The Illegal Has Landed.” Most of the album was recorded at a studio in the School of Music and should be out within a month.
“You’re going to find something you like on the record,” Colomb said.
The album is diverse with topics including politics, rejection of materialism, legalizing marijuana and the state of rap.
“We made sure there’s not one dominant theme,” Jeffries said. “The only real theme is a message of positivity and hope.”
Jeffries is the president of the Cannabis Action Network of Louisiana on campus and his dorm room is littered with marijuana legalization pamphlets and posters, along with underground hip-hop fliers.
To promote awareness of the benefits of marijuana, Illegal Alias will perform at CANOLA’s annual 4:20 party on April 20 at the Spanish Moon.
While many artists these days are siding with the Recording Industry Association of America on the issue of file trading, Illegal Alias, in typical fashion, defies the norm.
“Download it a thousand times, send it to Napster, Kazaa, whatever you roll on, get it out there,” Jeffries said.
They just want their music to be heard.