Every once in a while a group comes along with both undeniable mass appeal and a truly forward-thinking sound. Meet Laze & Royal, two 19 year old rapping/singing brothers who are also the writers and producers of their own material. Having spent nearly a decade honing their craft on stage and in the studio, Laze & Royal are now poised for breakout success with their newly signed record deal with industry powerhouse Warner Bros. Records.
Laze & Royal's devotion to their music runs deep. Born to an African-American father (who sang tenor for The Platters) and an Austrian/Sicilian mother (herself a stage singer), the brothers were raised in Los Angeles solely by their mother. "Our mom was always playing everything in the house from Al Green to Kenny G, or The Platters," says Laze. "Of course for us like every other young kid at first we were all about Michael Jackson. Then through our older brother Jeff we got into Snoop, N.W.A, Sublime, Eve 6 and Nirvana."
Having traveled the country on multiple nationwide tours, collaborating with E40, Scott Storch, DJ Unk, Cherish, along with scoring many major movie and television shows (CSI:Miami, Four Brothers, Barbershop 2, Bring it On 2, Like Mike 2,.etc.) Laze & Royal began singing and rapping, since the age of 11 when they were discovered by producer Christopher "Tricky" Stewart (Atlanta-based co-creator of Rihanna's "Umbrella"). The situation soon ended leaving Laze & Royal no choice but to become self contained artists and producers. "We realized that if we took music seriously it could be a career, we could make something out of it," says Royal. "So when we were 12 our mom bought us a little recording set-up. She had no money so she couldn't pay the electricity bill that month so we had to wait a month, but we started getting it together." In 2003, Laze & Royal met the man that would change their life, David Esterson, CEO of Monopoly Music. As a manager and production company, he supplied them with everything they needed to get to the next step. Together they would travel regionally to stations gaining heavy radio play and quickly becoming noticed by major labels.
Then bad news struck. Their mother Rhea received a terminal brain-cancer diagnosis when the brothers were 6. She initially beat cancer, only to be subsequently diagnosed a second time when Laze & Royal were 13 and third time when they were 16. Incredibly, she has outlived all three terminal diagnoses, and while currently hospitalized her health is improving. "She's a huge inspiration for us," says Laze. "Knowing how hard she's fought keeps us motivated." As Royal puts it, "Our mother is our biggest fan. We talk to her every day, and when we visit her in the hospital she's got our records and t-shirts around her bed. She put as much into our career as any single mother possibly could."
In 2008, their song "Like A Pistol" grabbed the attention of world famous songwriter/producer and newly appointed judge on American Idol, Kara DioGuardi. Having created platinum hits for artists including Christina Aguilera, Celine Dion, Gwen Stefani, Kelly Clarkson, and Santana, DioGuardi fell in love with Laze & Royal right away.
As Laze explains: "In February 2008 we were sending out CDRs we burned ourselves, and sending emails blasts to A&Rs. We already knew who Kara DioGuardi was, she's such a huge songwriter, and we got a call that she wanted to meet us at Warner Bros. We came in thinking it'd be just another label meeting and we'd go see Iron Man afterwards. Kara said, 'You've got a hot record. What else you got?' We played her some other songs along with beats we had produced and she said, 'You're not leaving. Hold on.' Within twenty minutes she'd walked us into [Warner Bros' CEO] Tom Whalley's office and they were saying, 'We want this. We need you here.' We said, 'Can we go get some food and talk this over?' And they said, 'No. We'll bring food in. You're not leaving.' Eight hours later the deal was signed."
After touring the country with acts such as Pretty Ricky, Shwayze, and Tyga, they are currently wrapping up their reality show which also features Kara Dioguardi. Laze & Royal are also busy in the studio with artists such as Christina Milian, Scott Storch, Brian Kennedy, Cisco Adler, Tyga, along with many others. Laze & Royal are also hard at work on their debut album which is Executive-produced by Kara and Laze & Royal themselves.
While the tracks that will make their album have yet to be determined, Laze & Royal promise that their diverse musical tastes will be represented. "We're a product of America," says Laze. "We represent diversity, just like a lot of other kids." Royal picks up the idea: "In society everything has to fit a category. 'Put it in rock or put it in hip-hop.' 'That belongs over there.' 'That person is black and Asian but they look more Asian so put them in the Asian category.' But that's not how it is nowadays. Kids on their iPods go from 50 Cent to Jesse McCartney to Green Day, that's the way we listen to music. So we do what we feel, we do what comes natural. To us, music doesn't have boundaries. It's either good or it's not."
Laze & Royal "Strobelight"
LAZE & ROYAL - Like A Pistol
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