The Underachievers are an American hip hop duo from

Flatbush, Brooklyn Flatbush is a neighborhood in the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood consists of several subsections in central Brooklyn and is generally bounded by Prospect Park (Brooklyn), Prospect Park to the north, ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Formed in 2011, the duo is composed of rappers AKTHESAVIOR and

Issa Gold Marlon Fung (born July 26, 1990), better known by his stage name Issa Gold, is an American rapper from Brooklyn, New York. He is one half of the hip hop duo The Underachievers, along with AK. In 2014 the rapper considered leaving a career in ra ...

. American

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

Flying Lotus Steven Ellison (born October 7, 1983), known by his stage name Flying Lotus or sometimes FlyLo, is an American record producer, Disc jockey, DJ, filmmaker and rapper from Los Angeles. He is also the founder of the record label Brainfeeder. Flyi ...

signed the duo to his

Brainfeeder Brainfeeder is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California, founded by Flying Lotus in 2008, focusing on electronic music and instrumental hip hop. It has signed artists such as Ras G, Samiyam, The Gaslamp Killer, Thundercat, The ...

record label in 2012. Following that signing they independently released two mixtapes, '' Indigoism'' and ''Lords of Flatbush'' in 2013. Their debut studio album '' Cellar Door: Terminus Ut Exordium'' was released on August 12, 2014. The Underachievers released their second official album '' Evermore: The Art of Duality'' on September 25, 2015. Their third album, ''

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

'' was released on May 19, 2017. They released '' After the Rain'' on November 9, 2018, and ''

Lords Of Flatbush 3 Lords may refer to: * The plural of Lord Places *Lords Creek, a stream in New Hanover County, North Carolina *Lord's, English Cricket Ground and home of Marylebone Cricket Club and Middlesex County Cricket Club People *Traci Lords (born 19 ...

'' on June 21, 2019.

History

2007–2010: Early beginnings

Marlon Fung (Issa Gold) and Akeem Joseph (AK) grew up just a few blocks from each other in

. The duo first met in 2007, after AK's friend brought Issa to his house one day to smoke

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

, where they clicked instantly and discussed

psychedelic drugs Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...

, which they would later do together along with fellow Brooklyn rappers

Meechy Darko Demetri Simms, better known by his stage name Meechy Darko, is an American rapper and songwriter from Brooklyn, New York. He is best known as a member of the hip hop trio Flatbush Zombies, with whom he began his rapping career with his longtime f ...

and

Zombie Juice Antonio Lewis (born July 8, 1990), better known by his stage name Zombie Juice, is an American rapper from Brooklyn, New York. He attended Midwood High School in Brooklyn. He is one third of the hip hop trio Flatbush Zombies. Along with his rapp ...

, two of the

Flatbush Zombies Flatbush Zombies (stylized as Flatbush ZOMBiES) is an American hip hop group from the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York City, formed in 2010. The group is composed of rappers Meechy Darko, Zombie Juice and Erick Arc Elliott, with Elliott al ...

2011–2012: Career beginnings, signing to Brainfeeder

AK began

rapping Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

at the age of eleven, later on in high school he would work under the

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

The Underachiever. Issa Gold started rapping much later, not taking it seriously until around late 2011. The duo then began making music together under the name "The Underachievers" after a producer pushed them to work together, which resulted in them forming the group. Issa explained the name saying, "I feel like the things that we do could be considered underachieving, like we smoke pot. People would probably meet us at first and be like, They're probably just potheads. And then they'll talk to me, or talk to AK, and be like, 'alright, they're intelligent.' So it's just a flip on that. Like, The Underachievers, even though technically we're doing underachiever things, we're bringing positive energy." In May 2012, they released their first music video for the song "So Devilish". Following the videos release they began gaining attention quickly, with their second officially released song "Gold Soul Theory" getting played on

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...

in August 2012, even though they had yet to sign a recording contract. Their music was also passed on to

, who the following day flew them out to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

to meet them the day after they talked for the first time. After they met a few times and performed a few shows for him, he signed them to his

record label. Flying Lotus said he already wanted to sign the duo after listening to one song for only 20 seconds. Around the same time they signed they released their third music video for "Herb Shuttles", which has gotten over seventeen million views on YouTube. Around mid-2012, The Underachievers,

Pro Era Pro Era (short for The Progressive Era) is an American hip hop collective group from Brooklyn, New York. The group is a collective of rappers and record producers that includes East Coast rappers Joey Badass, CJ Fly, Kirk Knight, Nyck Caution ...

and

formed the New York hip hop

supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to: * Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields * Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry * Supergroup ...

Beast Coast.

2013: ''Indigoism'' and ''Lords of Flatbush''

The duo released their first official mixtape '' Indigoism'' on February 1, 2013, via Flying Lotus' Brainfeeder record label. ''Indigoism'' featured psychedelic lyrics, allusions to the

third eye The third eye (also called the mind's eye or inner eye) is a mystical invisible eye, usually depicted as located on the forehead, which provides perception beyond ordinary sight. In Hinduism, the third eye refers to the ajna (or brow) chakra. In ...

and spirituality. The mixtape was met with very positive reviews from

music critic ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...

s upon its release, including by

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

2013–present: ''Cellar Door: Terminus Ut Exordium'', ''Evermore: The Art of Duality and Renaissance''

Ab-Soul Herbert Anthony Stevens IV (born February 23, 1987), better known by his stage name Ab-Soul, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. Raised in Carson, California, he signed to indie record label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2007, where ...

Chevy Woods Kevin "Chevy" Woods (born May 13, 1981) is an American rapper and songwriter from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Throughout his career he has been affiliated with rapper Wiz Khalifa and his respective Taylor Gang record label, also serving as Khalifa ...

Talib Kweli Talib Kweli Greene (; born October 3, 1975) is an American rapper. He earned recognition early on through his collaboration with fellow Brooklyn rapper Mos Def in 1997, when they formed the group Black Star. Kweli's musical career continued with ...

Gravitas ''Gravitas'' () was one of the ancient Roman virtues that denoted "seriousness". It is also translated variously as weight, dignity, and importance and connotes restraint and moral rigor. It also conveys a sense of responsibility and commitment ...

Cellar Door: Terminus Ut Exordium

Musical style and influence

psychedelic hip hop

Psychedelic drugs Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...

such as

acid In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a sequ ...

and shrooms have a significant effect on their musical style. Issa Gold credits

Lupe Fiasco Wasalu Muhammad Jaco (born February 16, 1982), better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco ( ), is an American rapper, singer, record producer, and entrepreneur. He rose to fame in 2006 following the success of his debut album, ''Lupe Fiasco's ...

and

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

as his greatest musical influences, whereas AKTHESAVIOUR cites rappers from the 90's, such as

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ( ...

, as influences. The group also significantly listens to other genres of music, with Gold saying his favorite artist is

John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Born and raised in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Mayer attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but left and moved to Atlanta in 1997 with ...

. Issa also includes artists like,

Fleet Foxes Fleet Foxes is an American indie folk band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 2006. The band consists of Robin Pecknold (vocals, guitar), Skyler Skjelset (guitar, mandolin, backing vocals), Casey Wescott (keyboards, mandolin, backing vocals), Ch ...

The Lumineers The Lumineers are an American alternative folk band based in Denver, Colorado. The founding members are Wesley Schultz (lead vocals, guitar) and Jeremiah Fraites (drums, percussion, piano). Schultz and Fraites began writing and performing toge ...

Freddie Gibbs Fredrick Jamel Tipton (born June 14, 1982), better known by his stage name Freddie Gibbs, is an American rapper from Gary, Indiana. After initially being signed to Interscope Records in 2006, Gibbs recorded his debut studio album under the label ...

and more.

Personal life

Issa's family is from

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

and his father is half-

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

. AK's family is originally from

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

. His father is a

corrections officer A prison officer or corrections officer is a uniformed law enforcement official responsible for the custody, supervision, safety, and regulation of prisoners. They are responsible for the care, custody, and control of individuals who have been ...

. Issa was very good childhood friends with

of the

, as they grew up in the same building in

. He also has known

, also of the Flatbush Zombies, since they were 12 years old. He did

for the first time at the age of fourteen. Both members of The Underachievers are good friends with the members of Flatbush Zombies and

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Mixtapes

References

External links

* *
The Underachievers
a
HipHop Archief
(Dutch) {{DEFAULTSORT:Underachievers African-American musical groups American musical duos Hip hop duos Hip hop groups from New York City Musical groups established in 2011 Musical groups from Brooklyn People from Flatbush, Brooklyn Brainfeeder artists 2011 establishments in New York City