Nestled somewhere in the Virginia countryside lies Thomas Jefferson’s famous estate, Monticello, an architectural masterpiece that served as the third president’s abode during the construction of one of his great accomplishments: the University of Virginia.
Located just 120 miles south of political crossroads of Washington, D.C., the crown jewel of the state’s university system served as the birthplace of Seven Heads Entertainment. A collective of seven young students interested in developing a grass-roots hip-hop community, the label was founded with the intention of concentrating on a more homegrown and organic hip-hop sound, as opposed to the jigginess that was prevalent at the time.
As the first group signed to the label, the Unspoken Heard released two EP’s, Cosmology in 1997 and Jamboree in 1999, with limited distribution, but D.C. native emcee Asheru and his New York-based partner Blue Black worked with Seven Heads President Wes Jackson to get the gears rolling on a label release that served as the group’s formative introduction to the larger hip-hop community.
“In ’94-’95 I first started giggin’ with a live band,” Asheru said while relaxing in his Maryland home after a fatiguing day teaching school children. “Then what happened was that seven of us wanted put on a show at UVA and it was called the ‘Seven Heads Showcase.’ Then in ’96 Wes had been interning at a couple of labels. He moved back to Brooklyn and then ended up staring his own label and stepped to me and Blue Black, and we just talked and we have been doing everything that we are doing now.”
After creating a buzz in the Mid-Atlantic, the plans were set to distribute Soon Come, the groups first full-length LP and the record that would help to establish the group over a larger geographic base. Originally intended as an early fall release in 1999, the album was put on hold so that the group could reformulate its launch into the tumultuous rap world.
“What happened was that the version that we were going to release at the time seemed boring to us, and we had a lot of old stuff on there,” Asheru said. “There were maybe about four new joints and like six old ones that we had previously released to get out name out there. And then we were like, ‘We need to record new stuff.'”
The group ended up going back into the studio to reconstruct the album, including the previous D.C. favorites “Smiley” and “Jamboree,” while searching for a better distribution deal. Filled with old-school nostalgia, crisply delivered lyrics and well-crafted beats compliments of J. Rawls, 88 Keys and other production specialists, Soon Come is over 60 minutes of iconoclastic hip-hop. Taking their own experiences as teachers and community workers, Seven Heads and the Unspoken Heard seek a larger goal than just scantily clad women, celebrity-packed videos and gaudy jewelry.
“In ’99 I stopped teaching full-time and started to develop a program called Project NOMMO,” he said. “I take different forms of media, and I mix them with lesson plans that include literary works and throw these workshops that stimulate literary and writing. I would do a week at one school and a few days at another, and then I would collaborate with the Smithsonian and the D.C. Commission on the Arts and other organizations.”
Inspired by the independent lifestyle of being an artist and teacher, Asheru took Jackson’s work ethic and applied it to his own life, eventually writing the song “Live At Home,” an anthem dedicated to his work and hometown.
“Seven Heads started from an efficiency apartment in Brooklyn, and then it just expanded from there,” Asheru said. “Everything we do is from our home base, from helping and teaching and just making music. That is what is good about being independent. My whole approach [about education] is music appreciation . . . getting people to actually be analytical and critical in their appreciation. You meet kids all the time that listen to stuff that their parents wouldn’t want them to hear. I want to make people critical thinkers and critical consumers.”
With the current success of the album’s first single, “Elevator Music,” rising on the East Coast, particularly on the commercial WPGC in D.C, the Unspoken Heard is slated for success, all while enjoying complete independence in a game where it only helps to have a name brand.
“Seven Heads in me,” he said. “I was there at the beginning, and it is a unique management situation. That is what I love about being independent.”
So maybe going to school in the land of the man who authored the Declaration of Independence was influential for this group of entrepreneurs. Whoever said you never learn anything in college?