Strange Fruit Project is an underground hip hop group from

Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and Interstate 35, I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin, Texas, Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the List ...

, which consists of producer and emcee

Symbolyc One Larry Darnell Griffin Jr. (born August 3, 1976), professionally known as Symbolyc One or S1, is an American record producer from Waco, Texas. He founded the group Strange Fruit Project and is signed to Kanye West's Very GOOD Beats as a producer. ...

(also known as S1, born Larry D. Griffin Jr.), his cousin emcee Myth (short for Mythological, born Kevin Gaither) and emcee Myone (pronounced "My Own", born Anthony Ligawa, originally from

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

).Brown, Marisa "

The Strange Fruit Project Biography ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

, retrieved 2010-04-11Willis-Aronowitz, Nona (2006)
In the End We All Want Balance: An Interview with Strange Fruit Project
,

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, f ...

, 20 June 2006, retrieved 2010-04-11Hoover, Carl (2006) "Strange Fruit Project proud of Waco beginnings", ''

Waco Tribune-Herald The ''Waco Tribune-Herald'' is an American daily newspaper serving Waco, Texas, and vicinity. Background The newspaper has its roots in five predecessors, beginning with the ''Waco Evening Telephone'' in 1892. The ''Tribune-Herald'' took its curr ...

'', August 24, 2006 The trio officially debuted in 2004, with a pair of underground releases, ''Soul Travelin'' and ''From Divine''. Their biggest exposure came with the release of their acclaimed 2006 album '' The Healing''. The group's name is derived from the

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop s ...

civil rights song "

Strange Fruit "Strange Fruit" is a song written and composed by Abel Meeropol (under his pseudonym Lewis Allan) and recorded by Billie Holiday in 1939. The lyrics were drawn from a poem by Meeropol published in 1937. The song protests the lynching of Black ...

History

Early years

The group's musical director S1 began playing musical instruments, including the

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...

, keyboards, and the drums, at a young age. His musical inspirations included legendary producers like

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

Dr. Dre Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and ...

Pete Rock Peter O. Phillips (born June 21, 1970), better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapper. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time, and is often mentioned alongside DJ P ...

and

J Dilla J, or j, is the tenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its usual name in English is ''jay'' (pronounced ), with a now-uncommon vari ...

. He and his cousin Myth began writing rhymes after hearing

Run-D.M.C. Run-DMC (also spelled Run-D.M.C.) was an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York City, founded in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history of ...

's classic 1986 album '' Raising Hell''. In 1996, the cousins formed a duo named Symbolyc Elementz, and in May of that year, the duo was featured in ''

The Source ''The Source'' is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or . It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by Jonathan Shecter. David Mays was the maga ...

s "Unsigned Hype" column. S1 met Myone, at the time still a high school student, while working on a day job in 1998. Between 1999 and 2000, the three began recording together, and decided to officially form a group, under the name Strange Fruit Project. SFP released their first group single, "All the Way" b/w "Soul Travelin", in 2003.

2004 to 2005

The track "All the Way" was included on the group's debut album, ''Soul Travelin, released in early 2004 on Spilt Milk Records. The album was produced entirely by S1, except for the single "Eternally Yours", which was produced by up-and-coming beatmaker

Illmind Ramon Ibanga, Jr. (born August 28, 1980), known professionally as Illmind (often stylized as !llmind), is an American record producer, songwriter, and educator. As of 2012, he lives in Brooklyn, New York. Illmind has co-written and produced hip ...

. The album received little attention, but "All the Way" received airplay on college radio stations, and was nominated for 2004 Song of the Year by

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 ...

. The group followed shortly with their second album, ''Soul Travelin'', released in September 2004 on Split Milk Records. Like their debut, the album received little sales and attention, but garnered the group more attention within the hip hop community. Jeff Wade of the ''

Dallas Observer ''Dallas Observer'' is a free digital and print publication based in Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan ...

'' described the album as "a soulful mixture of personal, from-the-heart lyrics, sweet harmonies and thumpin' drums".Wade, Jeff (2004)
In Their Groove
, ''

'', May 20, 2004, retrieved 2010-04-11 In 2005, the group collaborated with

Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop group formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its original members include RZA, GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, and Masta Killa. Close a ...

member

Ghostface Killah Dennis Coles (born May 9, 1970), better known by his stage name Ghostface Killah, is an American rapper and a member of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan. After the group achieved breakthrough success in the aftermath of ''Enter the Wu-Tang (36 C ...

and Trife da God on the single " Milk Em'", produced by S1.Brown, Marisa " ''The Healing'' Review,

, retrieved 2010-04-11 The track made the

CMJ CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...

college radio charts in July and August 2005. The group had a second CMJ chart topper in 2005 with "The Broke Song". Later that year, S1 and Illmind released a collaboration producer-album titled ''The Art of One Mind''. The band also provided the soundtrack to a '' Winterfresh'' gum commercial.

2006 to present

Following the acclaim of their first two albums, and the success of the single "Milk 'Em", SFP were listed in '' URB'' magazine's "Next 100", and signed a record deal with

Om Records Om Records is an American record label, established in 1995, which releases electronic music, dance music and hip hop. The label was founded in San Francisco in 1995 by Chris Smith. Om Records releases both artist albums and compilations, incl ...

. Their first single on the label, "Soul Clap" b/w "Special", was released in May 2006. The group gained considerable underground hype for their 2006 album '' The Healing'', released in July 2006. The album featured production from S1, as well as Illmind,

Jake One Jacob Brian Dutton (born May 11, 1976), known professionally as Jake One, is an American record producer and songwriter.Palermo, Thomas (2008)Jake One Readies New Album, XLR8R, September 5, 2008Matos, Michaelangelo (2004)Rocketship Blowing Up, Se ...

and

9th Wonder Patrick Denard Douthit (born January 15, 1975),
better known as 9th Wonder, is a Erykah Badu Erica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), known professionally as Erykah Badu (), is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Influenced by R&B, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the late 1990s when her debut al ...

, Little Brother, Darien Brockington and Yahzarah.Hughey, Jesse (2006)
Strange Fruit Project ''The Healing''
, ''

'', August 3, 2006, retrieved 2010-04-11 ''The Healing'' was generally well received,Arnold, Eric K. (2006)
Om Hip-Hop's future looks bright as the record label injects the genre with soulful sounds and jazzy overtones
, ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The pap ...

'', August 7, 2006, retrieved 2010-04-11 and earned the group "Now Hear This" status on

Okayplayer.com Okayplayer is an online hip-hop and alternative music website and community, described by ''Rolling Stone'' as a "tastemaker" and "an antidote to dull promotional Web sites used by most artists". The community was founded by The Roots' drummer ...

. Marisa Brown of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as w