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Dover’s own Cypher Clique talks Firefly and the local hip hop scene

Delaware Public Media

Of the few Delaware bands tabbed to play Firefly Music Festival in the past, most received a phone call out of nowhere. The call, in most cases, came as a surprise, if not a shock, to learn they were fortunate enough to be selected.

Either someone on the local music scene had put in a good word with Red Frog, the Chicago-based event production company that organizes Firefly, or the Red Frog talent scouts did their own research.

But Cypher Clique, a hip hop/rap trio selected to play Firefly this summer in their hometown of Dover, worked their own grassroots campaign, directly contacting the Red Frog folks as soon as Firefly was conceived in 2012.

“I’ve been trying to get us on the bill there for three years,” Jamal James, aka “Relay,” said recently in Delaware Public Media’s Dover studios. “Every year I’d send them a mix CD and direct them to our videos and website, and every year we’d get a ‘Thanks, but maybe next year.’”

“Next year” came earlier this year, when in February, Christiane Pheil, Red Frog’s “Tackler of Talent,” called Relay to give him the good news. It was a dreary day, Cypher Clique member Michael Thomas, aka “Mic Anthony,” recalls, but that changed immediately.

“It was kind of a sad, rainy day, and I was working when I got the call from Relay,” said Mic Anthony. “It took me a minute to really realize what was going on, and then I just lost it. To play a festival as big as this, it’s a game changer for us.”

For Cypher Clique, which also includes Daryl James, aka “D-Major,” getting into Firefly mirrors the uphill climb they’ve had on the local hip hop and rap scene in Delaware. The underground movement, they say, is alive, but the venues are few and far between.

“I doubt anyone locally recommended us to Firefly, because of the lack of a real scene around here,” said Mic Anthony. “The culture is really grassroots; we hand out CDs, talk to people on the streets, and play mostly in Philly and Baltimore. But it all started for us when we began handing out mix tapes in high school.”

Cypher Clique started out as a group of eight high school friends free-styling in their parents’ basement. Cypher, for the unfamiliar, is a term frequently used in the rap and hip hop genres, and refers to a sort of cyclical style of rapping, wherein each member performs their lyrics in succession, one after the other.

“The ‘Clique’ part came because there were so many of us,” said Relay. “That was back in 2007, and over the years some of the guys went their separate ways. In 2009, we officially started recording tracks and videos as a trio.”

Jamal and brother, Daryl, played piano and drums, respectively, as kids. They met Thomas in church as teenagers and formed a strong bond from the start. Now, as a full-fledged group, they see Firefly as an opportunity to put them on the map.

“Obviously we’re gonna have fun while we’re there,” said D-Major. “But Firefly is really all about networking for us; the fans, the agents, other bands, all of that. It will definitely be work for us, but it’s fun work.”

Cypher Clique also plans on bringing a full band to back their music, which relies in part on “old school” rap and hip hop beats from the likes of A Tribe Called Quest, but also bears strong influences from more contemporary artists Lupe Fiasco, Kendrick Lamar and Nas.

“My buddy, Randy McClure, contacted me about playing with us at Firefly,” said Mic Anthony. “He was a music major at Del State, and since we know how much a full live sound can have an impact at festivals, we invited him along.”

The band will consist of bass, keyboards, guitar and drums, and Cypher Clique is currently practicing with the full band to adjust their sound for Firefly. Otherwise, Cypher Clique relies heavily on samples and beats from some of the aforementioned superstars of hip-hop and rap.

“Because we use those samples on our music and release the tracks for free, we take out the possibility of getting sued,” said Relay, commenting on the perils of copyright infringement. “It’s for promotional use, so to say, which allows us to use different tracks, like Tribe’s ‘The Hop,’ on our song, ‘Hop To It.’”

Although Cypher Clique plans on playing many of the tracks they’ve released online and through mix tapes over the years, the trio is also about to drop a full album just in time for Firefly. Titled, “Love The Universe,” the 12-track record will be released on June 23, but available online leading up to Firefly weekend (June 18-21).

Firefly organizers have yet to release the master schedule, but Cypher Clique knows their set will take place the opening day, Thursday, at approximately 5 p.m., and only lasts 30 minutes. That being the case, the trio will have to be diligent in the tracks they select, but will definitely be playing one of their more popular songs, “Party & B.S.”

The three-minute, 17-second track, which can be heard at reverbnation.com/cyphercliquemusic, bears a beat that’s very reminiscent of Slick Rick’s “Mona Lisa.” It also opens with the appropriate line, “There ain’t a single weekend that I’m sober in Dover,” which could get the crowd going from the jump.

“Yeah, I think we’re gonna play that track second or third,” said Mic Anthony. “It will be different playing that early in the day, with the sun still shining, but I think our music works for any time of day. We’ll get the crowd hype, for sure.”

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You can check out all of Cypher Clique’s songs and videos at their Reverb Nation site, as well as at soundcloud.com/cypherclique and YouTube, and you can follow them on Twitter (@cypherclique) and like them on Facebook.

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