About

A TAV Curator’s Pick.

The Sound Providers are a jazz rap duo formed by producers Jason Skills and Soulo. Formed in 1998 in San Diego, California, it originally included a third member, an MC named Profile, who left the group shortly before they were signed by ABB Records. The Sound Providers produced a number of singles before releasing their debut album An Evening with The Sound Providers, recorded and produced in San Diego and Los Angeles, in 2004 on ABB Records.

In early 2006 they released another album entitled Looking Backwards: 2001 - 1998, which is a compilation of earlier songs made when Profile was still a member of the group. These songs were previously available only as 12" singles. The album also includes a number of radio promos and other beats and songs which had never seen the light of day before.

The Sound Providers sound is predominately jazz orientated hip hop, though their work can consist of a much wider array of genres. Their style is a mix of socially conscious lyrics with new school rap beats, with samples taken from jazz, funk, and reggae. They have cited artists such as Gang Starr and the Native Tongues Posse as influences for their work. - Wiki

“The compilation Looking Backwards: 2001-1998 is a solid overview of the group's first incarnation, with Profile's low-key, positive-themed raps over Soulo and Skills' clever, jazz-based samples-and-scratching settings on terrific underground hits like "Dope Transmission" and "Yes Y'All." Timeless-sounding thanks to the production team's unapologetically retro taste in cool jazz and easy listening exotica samples and Profile's mellow, conversational mic style, the 16 tracks on this anthology sound like they could have been recorded at any point since the birth of acid jazz, and still sound fresh to-day.” – AllMusic

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