Identity Crisis

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Blending 'Golden Era' hip-hop with contemporary underground, Identity Crisis forms a sound that pays homage to both styles while creating its own niche among their peers. Inadvertently named by radio DJ Suga Bear - who mistakenly took the title track of their EP as the group moniker - Identity Crisis embodies their name with constant exploration in self-discovery. As a group known for high energy, passion and precision on stage, their reputation has translated into opening spots for national acts including De La Soul, Little Brother, RJD2 and DJ Quik.



The two main MCs, John “Sumatyme” Summers and James “CTX” Calbert have shared a life long friendship and mutual interest in all genres of music.



Summers started life in Chicago and grew up in the Tempe/Scottsdale area. The son of a jazz pianist, he picked up his first instrument at the age of six. Striving to expand his abilities, Summers ultimately gained command over the viola, trombone, saxophone, piano and clarinet. He segued from jazz to hip-hop in 1994 when a friend exposed him to A Tribe Called Quest’s “The Low End Theory.” Tribe’s blend of hip-hop and jazz sent him in a new creative direction and Summers began crafting his own blend of metaphor-laden rhymes.



Calbert was born in Tucson and raised in Phoenix. Growing up the youngest in a family of musicians inspired him to start writing at the age of seven. After a brief period of drum/percussion lessons at the age of twelve, Calbert began putting his words to music. He continued his musical education with lessons and self-instruction in bass, piano, sound engineering, and composition. The self-instruction, especially in sound engineering, inspired Calbert’s unorthodoxy in production and mixing.



Spending a few years of refining their individual sounds, Sumatyme and CTX released their first recording efforts with solo albums. The two EPs were locally successful and inspired the duo to focus on combined efforts. On September 12th, 2007 Identity Crisis released their debut album: "The Life n Times of Darnell Jenkins: as told by Sticky & Dicky.” They followed the success of their debut album with a new addition to the Crisis family in 2008: DJ Choice One.



Summers and Calbert met Josh “Choice One” McAdam while he DJ-ed and MC-ed for Arizona label, Espionage Records. Identity Crisis used McAdam to DJ for various shows and, recognizing the natural chemistry between them, added McAdam to the group. During 2008, Identity Crisis also completed the recording of their latest album: “Battle Scars.” With all of the music recorded and mastered for “Battle Scars,” the group will release the album in 2009. The group is now focusing their energy on the future of their musical journey as their sales and buzz continue to grow.



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Identity Crisis is now on Facebook!