Sitting in his studio in the UK, Geoff Wilkinson, the producer behind the legendary UK jazzy hip-hop act Us3, talks to URB about his just released LP, Lie, Cheat, Steal. Featuring the Brooklyn-based Oveous Maximus & London-based MC Akala,Wilkinson says he likes to change MCs with each project to keep Us3 fresh. The inspiration for his 8th album: ”There have been so many scandals involving corrupt politicians, business leaders, journalists, religious leaders, sportsmen. It seems there is nobody left as role models for our kids to look up to.”

Sitting in another studio in Columbus, Ohio, is hip-hop producer J Rawls whose music is also heavily inspired by jazz. One of hip-hop’s most overlooked producers, Rawls just released a single from his upcoming album, LIQUID CRYSTAL PROJECT (out this month). For URB, the two sat down to chop it up about the state of history of jazz-hop (a term J Rawls coined), and how their music still gives voice youth all over the word. The two may lives miles away from each other, but they aren’t so far apart. …MORE