Audio

<p class="bioSubTitle">Hip hop hasn&rsquo;t evolved drastically in some time, and with all the new comers making catchy and infectious records for a quick ring tone sell, there&rsquo;s a lack of creativity in hip hop today and the focus is more about how many units can be sold. Every generation a few new artist&rsquo;s come forth with something to set a pace for a whole new sound and vibe&ndash;this time around, the south delivers another innovative group to break down barriers and set trends.</p><p class="bioSubTitle">Eric Plemons (Rip Ravul) and Virgil Bohannon III (V-Tre) met each other while working at a local music store in Plano, Texas just north of Dallas in 1999. They formed Soundness of Mind, and began to plunge into their music careers together. Signed to their own record label imprint Discord 72 LLC., Soundness of Mind recorded and released <em>100% Ghetto</em> in 2001 and then took it to the streets. It created such a buzz in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area that the group wanted to release a series of EPs known as The Exhibits, exhibiting to the world their eccentric music. <em>Exhibit A</em> was released in 2003 to boost exposure for the group&rsquo;s next studio album named <em>Hypnopedia</em> in 2004. Soundness of Mind then returned with another EP called Exhibit B which dropped the following year in 2005. The plan was to come with a full length album following the realease of <em>Exhibit B</em>, but the project never saw the surface that year. Three years passed and Soundness of Mind finally was ready with their full album to release. &ldquo;We just felt we needed to take our time with this one, and make it one great concept album&rdquo;, says Rip Ravul. But with such a long wait in the making of the album they decided to release the last of the Exhibit series called <em>Exhibit C</em> in 2008 to promote for the release. Creating a hype like never before they finally put out the full length album entitled <em>Seasons of Aspect</em>, a few months afterwards, in 2009. There were no huge hit singles, but critics lavishly praised the album's unified, progressive vision, hailing it as a great leap forward. The group also felt it was proper to display the best of their catalogue with a greatest hits album, sort to speak, which brought forth the release of <em>Best Kept Secrets</em> in 2009 as well. The group is currently slated to bring a new mixtape out in early 2010, <em>Soundness of Mind &ndash; Zoned Out&hellip; Vol. 1</em>. <br /><br /></p>