Interview: U-N-I (11/11/09)

Yonas, aka Y-O, and Yannick, aka Thurzday, formed U-N-I in 2006 after having already performed with each other in a high school hip hop group.

Shortly after forming, the duo dropped their debut album, the satirically titled Fried Chicken & Watermelon.

The album brought major attention to the group from various media outlets including MTV.

This buzz led to them meeting up with Mick Boogie for the “Before There was Love” mixtape, which served as a prelude to their latest work, A Love Supreme.

The name U-N-I is short for “U-N-I To The Verse,” as the group aims to make universal music that appeals to people of all age, race, and background.  Their mission seems to be working, as last night’s diverse crowd thoroughly enjoyed the duo’s honest and soulful music.

U-N-I is currently on their first major tour with Warren G and Kidz In The Hall, and it sounds like they’re haivng a lot of fun with Curt@!n$ and Theo Martin coming along for the ride in a 12 passenger van.

HipHopAtLunch.com caught up with U-N-I during last night’s sound check.  The group touched on recent projects outside of their music, the inspiration behind their “Pulp Fiction Part 1″ video, featuring Fashawn, and their view on Twitter.

I agree with Y-O that being able to follow pop icons such as Hulk Hogan and Michael Jackson on Twitter during their prime would have been amazing!

The group is currently giving away tickets to their upcoming shows via Twitter, so if your city’s on the tour, start following @YonasAfrica & @Thurzday.  Also, if you know of any great Chinese restaurants and U-N-I is coming to your city, you might as well tweet them the info as well!

The Land of The Kings hat shown in the interview can be purchased here.  It’s no secret that U-N-I has a major interest in fashion, as one of their first hits was K.R.E.A.M. (Kicks Rule Everything Around Me), a remake of Wu-Tang’s C.R.E.A.M.

Here’s the video for U-N-I’s “Pulp Fiction Part 1,” featuring Fashawn and produced by Ro Blvd.

Thank God Thurzday told Ro Blvd to play him that beat again because “Pulp Fiction Part 1″ is one of the years best videos.  Obviously modeled after the movie “Pulp Fiction,” this video doubles as a short film narrated by Thurzday.

All the lyrics put forth by Y-O, Thurzday, and Fashawn effortlessly carry along the plot.  For example, listen as Y-O orders a Kahuna burger:

“I need some food inside, my stomach mumblin,
I’ll take a Kahuna burger with no onions,
Extra mayo on the bread,
Fries to the side, with a glass of lemonade to my head,
Now get it right and hurry back with my plate,
Leave us two alone so we can conversate.”

Y-O and Fashawn proceed to speak about working for Hispanic drug lord, Hector Ramon, who Thurzday later profiles with lines such as:

“Fuckin with his money,
Like fucking with emotions,
And many bodies been dumped in the Pacific Ocean,
So, you fuckin with the devil, bound to hurt you,
Money in three weeks, or estas muerto.”

The video ends with a “To Be Continued,” and I hope they decide to create a part 2!

Another sick video from U-N-I is “Land of The Kings.”

The duo stays true to their lyrical, left field style in this pop single with lines like:

“Critics tryin to leave me pissed,
Gotta be dead, stupid to sleep on this.
More like chess, the pawns move once,
to jump you square chumps,
Army was built from the ground,
The vertical shot at the corks,
Shot by the rooks,
From the pinnacle you fell,
Knights move in letters,
you take L,
for them cats that wanna talk sideways,
Bishop pimp ya’ll the arms way,
And me I’m right by the queen,
It’s obviously, I’m the king,
Checkmate.”

That’s impressive how well Thurzday worked chess metaphors into his rhymes.

Getting back to last night’s performance, the group had one of the best endings to a set I’ve ever seen.  They energetically performed “Hollywood Hiatus” as the crowd circled around them, dancing along!

Big shout out to Bronx emcee Donny Goines, standing behind Y-O in all black, enjoying the show!

Unlike other artists who come into the crowd and simply jump around or walk through fans, U-N-I acted out their verses and really got the fans hyped.

I was too busy taking photos to get footage, but luckily U-N-I has an official video for the track that samples New Edition’s “Cool It Now.”

It seems as if U-N-I has an endless supply of clean videos that really showcase their creativity.

Here’s the footage I was able to grab from the nights show, “Voltron,” “Windows,”, “Beautiful Day,” “Land of The Kings,” and Y-O doing the moonwalk.

Keep an eye out for A Love Supreme 2.0 due out this February, as well as the group’s upcoming blog, YoThurz.com.