These Guys

Everyone seems to Love "THESE GUYS" so much. But if you ask me we sound more like DISTORTED RETARDS from the Mid 80's. But at the End of the Day.. There remains to be just SOUND IN MIND All productions done by Teen Beats You can say it all began in August, 1987. Christina, the newest ...

Everyone seems to Love "THESE GUYS" so much. But if you ask me we sound more like DISTORTED RETARDS from the Mid 80's. But at the End of the Day.. There remains to be just SOUND IN MIND All productions done by Teen Beats You can say it all began in August, 1987. Christina, the newest addition to the Robinson family, lived with her mother on a family-dominated block in Brooklyn, New York. Never quite knowing her father proved to have a bitter effect on the growing Christina. Some may say she was the poster child for weird, never watching cartoons or hardly any television like other children. One thing was for sure, Christina was captivated by music and its make up. In her 7th year, Christina’s mother moved the family to Chicago. Although the change alienated her from everything she had grown accustomed to, it exposed the young girl to many different music genres. She always thought outside the box, but the change in scenery opened her mind to many new things. Despite her mother only playing “house music”, never allowing rap, Christina did listen to artist such as Lauren Hill. In grade school, she even performed Hill’s song in a talent show. Seven years after the initial relocation, the now teenager, returned to her home state and settled in Staten Island. It was in this same year that she began to rap. In high school, she joined the school’s marching band as a drummer. In fact, she created the bands’ cadence which is still in use. The maturing girl was a rebellious one, which put a strain on the already tainted mother-daughter relationship. The internet aided Christina’s in her discovery on how to make beats. It was in her sophomore year that she began to make beats on a program called Fruity Loops. At 16, she enrolled in piano lessons, and it became an addition to her list of many talents. Brooklyn Hospital, September, 1990. The Robinsons welcome Jeremy into their ever-growing family. Coming up, Jeremy naturally fell into music and it mesmerized the young boy. His father, being a DJ for MTV, showed Jeremy the ropes at a very young age. The now 5 year old began to follow in his father’s footsteps. From the start, he was a shy, quiet boy, hardly ever speaking above a whisper. At the same time, he was still incredibly outspoken. By the time he was in grade school his parents had divorced, dissolving the father-son bond for numerous years. As a youngster, he was athletic but was just as interested in sports as he was in school. English did, in fact, spike Jeremy’s interest and he excelled in the subject. He even took up the writing of poetry in the 5th grade. The preteen did still DJ, “Real Love” by Mary J. Blige being one of his favorite songs to mix. As Jeremy grew, so did his defiant side. Growing up, he was a die hard Bad Boy fan, even purchasing their greatest hits CD. Notorious B.I.G’s, Life after Death, album was on constant spin in his player. He, himself began rapping at the age of 12 going by the name of J. Flip. The Origins It was around this time that Christina’s younger cousin, Jeremy, began to visit Staten Island. The Robinsons would have weekly parties on Fridays. One weekend, the two were returning to a barbeque when they crossed paths with an artist named Boo Blaze. At the time, he was self promoting when the two came his way, and he gave them both a CD and a T-shirt. Although it had only lasted a few moments, the encounter forever impacted the adolescents. Inspired, the two raced back to Christina’s home and spent the entire night in her mother’s Mary Kay office, turned studio. Here they made their first ‘serious’ beat entitled “Ready for War”. After this, Jeremy began visiting every weekend, and the duo began writing and producing full songs on a program called Magic Studio. The summer of his 8th grade year, Jeremy visited his aunt and uncle in Maryland. He grew to favor this environment and decided to stay. He attended Perry Hall High for his 9th grade year. That side of his family, however, did not share his love for rap, and the teen did not DJ anymore. He first was introduced to gospel music and attended church during his stay. The move only lasted a year, and he returned to Brooklyn to attend George Westinghouse High for his 10th grade year. It was in this school that Jeremy became known as Flip, the rapper. Flip battled many in the school, only ever losing once. He wrote books upon books of material, barely ever using it. He felt the best raps just came to him, at the right time, to the right beat in his head. It wasn’t until his junior year that he began to find himself, gain self-assurance, and break out of his shy shell. He always said it, jokingly but Flip now knew that he would be a superstar. In the last year of his high school career, Jeremy’s mother moved him to Pennsylvania. He, once again, found ways to adjust but his love for New York would not fade. It sometimes put the young man in a depressive state. In the town, He befriended a young man, similar to he, and the man became his mentor, in a way. He introduced Jeremy to a book based on the law of attraction entitled The Secret. He also encouraged Flip to write everyday. He would put on a random beat and insist that Flip freestyle it. Whether it was a good beat, or not, didn’t matter. Rusty on his freestyling, the daily challenge strengthened his skills as a rapper. At 17, Christina formally became known as Teen. She began showing her, always present, independent side by moving out of her mother’s house. Naturally, the young woman began working in sales, though she never stopped making beats. Her introduction to a MPC helped further her beats. She gained confidence in her work and many people took notice. A local group called Riot Squad began buying her beats and did so for three years. Shortly after high school, Teen cut her hair and began to grow dread locks. This showed she didn’t fear being bold and different. When the buzz over her beats showed only to be local, Teen began to second guess herself, slipping into a “depression” of some sort. It was almost like she had lost everything until she was introduced to a book entitled The Secret by Rhonda Byrnes. The new and improved Teen made a breath taking beat titled “Both of Us Know It”, which was almost bought by, member of the R&B soul group Floetry, Marsha Ambrosius. During this time, she began to work for a company called Cutco, selling sets of very expensive knives and other utensils. She was a fine saleswoman, taking after her mother. Here, she decided, that if she could sell Cutco with such excellence, then she could sell herself and her music. In 2009, as fate would have it, the two united again, both moving back to where it all originated, Brooklyn, New York. So where are they now, you may ask? The two are currently in Brooklyn. The time spent apart focused them, as artists, and they are now putting their all into their career with full confidence. Going by the name of “These Guys” the dynamic duo write, produce, and promote themselves. Living by the law of attraction the two, in fact, have created their own sound of music that only fits “These Guys”. Teen is portrayed as the “Kanye West” of it all, while Flip assumes the role of “P. Diddy” in the operation. Some say they sound like The Fugees; others say they sound much like Black Eye Peas, but if you were to ask them, they will tell you they sound like “distorted retards from the Mid 80’s”. The description alone shows their separation from everyone in the industry. “These Guys” have two different roles, two different tastes, two different styles but only one Sound In Mind. Some may question how two people can be so different in music yet still have songs pleasing every crowd. Others may question how people so young could be so musically inclined, but to them it is nothing out of the ordinary, shrugging it off by saying, “It’s in our blood”, or simply by replying, “It must be a New York thing”.