2004 Client Roster: Out of Bounds

Out of Bounds (Minneapolis)

Published in The Pulse of The Twin Cities

By Kandis Knight

I met a zealous Stephen Wayne from local Hip-Hoppers Out of Bounds while hanging out a few weeks ago at Tonic in Uptown. He was a ball of excitment and eager to chat about his group and their album, Hedfonmuzik. Wayne co-produced Hedfonmuzik for Twin Cities Hip-Hop group Out of Bounds.

Although they released their first CD in 2003, Out of Bounds has been performing underground for several years.

I heard of the group from several friends and so I was also excited when Wayne disappeared into the nightclub and came back with a copy of Out of Bound's freshman offering. "It’s electronic Hip-Hop, kinda it's own style," says Wayne, trying to explain the group’s unique sound. Chris Caesar, 27, is the front man for Out of Bounds.

His voice is hard-core and full of passion yet also capable of pulling off more reflective low-key moments. Throughout the course of Hedfonmzik his lyrics charge hard, coming across with an energy rarely seen outside of Red Bull addict circles. As I listened I had to ask, where does he get all of that intensity? The beats and samples complement each other like Hip-Hop set to a sci-fi movie soundtrack or Music Choice Soundscapes if you like that kind of thing. If not, trust me, it’s all good. I chose to listen to the CD while running around the lake so I could focus all of my attention on the lyrics and aesthetics.

Although it’s difficult to decipher all of the lyrics I was thoroughly satisfied with this project. I found myself listening to “Song For A Friend” four times, mesmerized by its rawness. “Wake Up Call” was another standout track. The lyrics on that track are dope, "Your beats are corny, your whole style bores me to death, I slept cause it's done so poorly. . ."

"We recorded on a Roland MC 505 Groove Box and so sometimes we got a cheesy sound," said Wayne. "Eventually we upgraded to an MPC 2000 and recorded into sonar, at a basement studio called Profile Music in St. Paul."Wayne graduated from Music Tech and is also working on his own Drum and Bass/ambient trip-hop album. "So far we have 30 beats finished for the next Out of Bounds Album. It took us four years to complete Hedfonmuzik," said Wayne. From track to track, Hedfonmuzik has a lot to offer, including cameos from Try-D, Josh Johnz, Dessa Darling, Zai and Joe Keith. Instrumentally, Out of Bounds collaborated with the likes of Cheap Cologne, Bill Collins, Anders Sonnenberg and Tom Lewandowski from Wookie Foot.

At the end of the CD comes a proper Twin Cities anthem, “Twin Towns,” featuring the scratches of Cheap Cologne. On this track Caesar gives Twista a run for his money with rapid flows destined to make everyone get up and get loose. Keith Goya, aka KG, 26, is the DJ for Out of Bounds.

While listening to the breaks and scratches you can almost visualize the intense energy it must have taken to achieve the sound Out of Bounds accomplished. If every Twin Cities group had a first CD this good, Minneapolis/St. Paul would be guaranteed to stand out on the national Hip-Hop scene.

So far the group has their CD in all stores that sell consignment and the group has sold thousands of CDs out of their backpacks. Wayne is currently doing the promotions for the group and is trying to launch an on-line radio site that features the music of Out of Bounds, Unification Theory, Medida, Pleasure Pause, Negative One and Josh Johnz to name a few. For more information about Out of Bounds please visit http://www.outofbounds3000.com/ .