O&S

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June 28, 2009 04:38 AM PDT

Never Departed
twitter.com/OnealSkee

Podcast Summary

Straight outta NY's Lower East Side – Jacob Riis Houses aka Alphabet City comes Oneal and Skee; Rap Duo O&S. Oneal and Skee met due to a fight they had with each other in their neighborhood as young boys. Even though the two lived directly across from each other they didn't get along until a mutual friend in Junior High School brought them together and they instantly developed a friendship and began hanging together consistently from then on. That was the beginning of O&S. Oneal was always into rapping and creating music and ultimately influenced Skee after he began to act as Oneal's hype man. One year later they were writing and rhyming together as a team. "I didn't know how it was going to turn out till we did a couple songs, but the chemistry was so great," Oneal remembers. "We make each other look better, feel better and we build each others confidence levels. We bring out the best in each other." O&S have endured the strains and pressures of the music industry for the past 7 years in pursuit of a major record deal. They put the groundwork in that's needed to get recognized and started making progress based on the strength of their talent. The duo recorded two Hood mixed tapes "Super Fly" and "Day After Tomorrow", which one of the group members Ron Oneal caught the ear of production heavyweights like The Heatmakerz and Rockwilder, and also received positive feedback from highly regarded emcee Prodigy of Mobb Deep. Even though they were very pleased with this recognition the duo was still not satisfied, because these people weren't looking to work with them in an extended capacity and they needed a more concrete situation. That opportunity would present itself when a friend of theirs from the neighborhood Affree a.k.a Kato received one of their mixed tapes. Kato lived on the next block and watched them grow up but never knew they were rap artists. "I knew them as Ronald & Jeffrey till I got their CD and found out it was them" Kato says. Kato used his industry connections and set up a meeting with Producer Chris Styles, Owner of Dangerous LLC Productions (50 Cent's "Window Shopper" and "Disco Inferno," Fabolous, Christina Aguilera). Styles was so impressed with their talents that he gave O&S some beats to create songs, and now the duo has recorded over an album's worth of songs laced by the multi-platinum producer. O&S released their third mixed tape, Never Departed on Nov. 4, 2008 with the likes of Sickamore of The Famous Firm. The project was based on the loyalty they have towards each other and is a twist to the Leonardo Dicaprio-starring film The Departed. The Duo remakes industry songs that showcase their chemistry through out; Oneal has his flamboyant, sarcastic bars, and Skee specializes in street narratives and lady pleasers. With lines like "Before I finish spittin' fam, I body shit, like Wesley in 'Demolition Man" on songs "Gun 'Em Down" and "The Ave" it exhibits them spewing cocky, abrasive punch lines East Coast rap is rooted in, while they use "Get That Doe" to spit game at women who are holding their own. While promoting Never Departed, O&S realized that more fellas was diggin the music rather than the ladies. Some ladies loved it ,some thought it was too hard for their taste and wanted something strickly for their ears only. With that being said O&S decided to go back in the lab and start working on GoodGirls GoneBad Mix tape and teamed up with who better than Dj Rob e Rob to host it. 16 tracks written strickly for the ladies and you know whatever the ladies like the fellas follow. GOODGIRLS GONEBAD Coming June 2009, " This is some of our best work yet O&S Says". Their goal is to create a bidding war based on their incredible buzz worthiness and the winning label will house the duo's album.