Riders Against the Storm

Speak the Truth

Austinites by way of Providence, R.I., transplants Riders Against the Storm are brimming with positive vibrations. The husband-and-wife team of Jbro and Tiger Lily declare themselves hip-hop healers, a maxim that might ring corny if they weren’t certifiably nice on the mic. Opening salvo “Notebook” is a stripped-down cipher session reminiscent of Freestyle Fellowship as the two inner-city griots spit autobiographical while the back-in-the-day musing of “Reminisce” name drops influences from C.L. Smooth to A Tribe Called Quest. RAS’ BDP-styled edutainment is more the Coup than Dead Prez; they’ve got a lyrical agenda but aren’t afraid to have fun while shining light on the prison industry complex in school yard skits or chanting down Babylon on the Rasta-tinged “Yamentals.” Despite arriving only seven months ago, Speak the Truth catapults Riders Against the Storm into the upper echelon of the local hip-hop hierarchy.

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This article appears in July 16 • 2010.

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Thomas Fawcett has been freelancing for The Austin Chronicle since 2007. He likes good music and does not fake the funk.