NYC’s Get Open Unites With France’s IAM for #IAmOpen (Mixtape)

Hip-Hop collective, Get Open, has been active in New York City’s underground scene for the past two decades. The quartet, comprised of founder Siba-Giba (producer/emcee), Kiambu (emcee), Zook (emcee), and VonMeista (producer/emcee) has shared the stage as an opening act for the likes of KRS-One, Tha Alkaholiks, Special Ed and De La Soul, to name a few. On top of these notable accomplishments, Get Open was also invited to open up for American jazz trumpeter Lester Bowie, alongside his Hip-Hop Feel-Harmonic Orchestra in 1995—four years before Bowie’s untimely passing.

As their movement would continue to pick up steam, Get Open would go on to release their first 12-inch single, “Here & Now” b/w “Mad Controversy.” Positive feedback from the single brought them to the attention of Yellow Productions, a France-based record label owned by renown record producer, Bob Sinclair. This led to the release of their EP, Here & Now, which features Brand Nubian’s Sadat X.

Since then, the talented collective have gone on to collaborate with Native Tongues-affiliated Soul singer, Vinia Mojica, while Siba went onto produce tracks for Everlast’s multi-platinum solo LP, Whitey Ford Sings the Blues. By 2014, Get Open released The Week-End, an ambitious 17 track effort that includes guest features from beatbox sensation baba Israel, and turnatblist extraordinaire, DJ Rob Swift.

Placing a strong value on the community in addition to various social cuases, Get Open are also the founders of The Hip-Hop Loves Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on “empowering aspects of the culture as a tool for social change.”

Now fully recharged, the crew is pleased to unveil, IAM Open, a 16-track project that serves as a platform for each artist to shine over instrumentals from Arts Martiens (Martian Arts); the sixth studio LP from the multi-platinum French Hip-Hop group, IAM. The project finds the group reunited with Swift on three of the album’s cuts. If you like your raps raw, funky and Boom bap abound, then this album just might be your soundtrack for the summer.