The Lytics, Special Guests

In hip-hop, as in life, few things are more important than family. Few know this better than The Lytics. Brothers Andrew and Anthony “Ashy” Sannie have been trading rhymes together since childhood, as well as with cousin Mungala “Munga” Londe, who moved in to the families Winnipeg home as a teen. Big brother Alex “B-Flat” Sannie provides the beats and production duties. As the sound grew, so did the family- with “adopted” brother DJ Lonnie Ce coming on board to get the dance floor going.

After years spent throwing down over Dilla, Premier and Pete Rock instrumentals, 2009 saw the band drop their self-titled debut EP, melding their various influences into a sound that is more concerned with what sounds and feels good than complying to any strict ideas of genre. This fusion of ideas,?influences and outlooks fed into 2012’s They Told Me, taking in everything from vibraphones to New Jack Trumpet fills, spacey synths to pimp rolling 70s swagger, Afrobeat to 60s R&B – an amalgam of old-school soundscapes and boom-box bangers that celebrates, inspires and challenges.

The band consciously set out to make music people can both relate and move to. For them music has never been about empty boasts and bravado, preferring instead to promote the same brand of street level optimism espoused by early influences Mos Def, The Pharcyde, and A Tribe Called Quest. This energy is clear in the live show, where the easy beats and infectious enthusiasm quickly win over even the most cynical of crowds. Little wonder then that over the years the band have shared stages with the likes of Charlie 2na, K’Naan, Naughty By Nature, Shad, Cadence Weapon and The Roots as well as the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.

2014 sees the band further developing their sound in the studio, honing their beats and flows, and preparing to bring their new record to the crowds across Canada and beyond.