InGnious is a Canadian Hip-hop group consisting of rapper Eric C and producer Jaydus Ceasar. They've been creating music together since 2014, but they wouldn't officially become a group until releasing a few singles together in 2016. Deciding it was time to take it to the next level, InGnious is back with their debut album, “Double Dragon.”
Setting the tone for this body of work, Eric C and Jaydus Ceasar have taken it upon themselves to intricately create a soundscape that touches on numerous themes related to the two artists themselves. Allowing the focus to rise in a miscellany of nostalgic soundwaves, “Double Dragon,” exemplifies a series of traits that make Hip-hop what it is today. Through the entire body of work, Eric C ensures that each song is dense with his lyrical dexterity. Adding sentimental framework to each song on “Double Dragon,” the punchlines and metaphors are filled to the brim. Using “Catch Me,” the introductory single as the prime example, the organic nature of how each cadence flows is truly notable as the instrumentation directly steers you into the meticulous meaning of confidence that the emerging creatives want for you to submerge yourself in.
As you take in specific tracks such as “Escape,” “Mirror Sessions 101,” and “Hate X Love,” you’re propelled into the cognizant universe that InGnious strategically carves out in their music. You’re able to emit a sense of uneasiness that allows you to be free with the spirited verses being depicted. Although each song that falls into a more cognizant category from “Double Dragon,” varies in meaning, we’re treated with subjects representing reinforcing confidence, being authentic with yourself, and putting your head down while you navigate through the highs and the lows of life. With “Mirror Sessions,” being a personal favorite of Eric C, the lyrical impact remains supreme as he takes an in-depth dive into putting off issues that only result in them resurfacing as trauma.
Eric C is known for his knack for wordplay and various cadences. The energy that simmers through your emotions on this album is top tier. Making pristine flows and impeccable rhyme schemes the staple for InGnious, “Late Nights,” and “Red Light Freestyle,” are your golden ticket to a full-on wordsmith exhibition. Being the musical architect that he is, Jaydus Ceasar maneuvers around the production aspect and implants a fortified foundation that varies in technicality to compliment the vocals that are being laid down. Illuminating a heavyweight track if there ever was one, “G O D,” takes the cake as it stews as defiant in the face of the non-believers doubting InGnious.
The personal touches veiled throughout “Double Dragon,” are truly the sprinkle on top of the album. With “Anthony's Interlude,” being Eric C’s baby boy speaking on the track, it relates to him primarily as a first-time father, and secondly as an emerging artist. The way that Jaydus Ceasar paired the tantalizing tones with a medley of golden saxophone notes to radiate the optimistic lens is breathtaking. With his son being the biggest source of motivation for Eric C, the two worked together to have that be more apparent than ever.
Closing “Double Dragon,” with the perfectly placed outro “F.4.C.T.Z,” this record blends the overall quintessence of InGnious as we reach a moment both subdued, and victorious. Shaping the future path that InGnious will venture on their next endeavors, this outro is the moment that states they have finally arrived at a newfound level of glory and they won’t be pumping the brakes any time shortly.
With the emotional intelligence of InGnious embarking on a sonic expedition, “Double Dragon,” is exactly what their fan base needed in order to further see how the bigger picture will pan out, and how the stars will align for this charismatic duo.
Welcome to BuzzMusic, InGnious, and congratulations on the release of your debut album, “Double Dragon.” We love the moments spent tapping into who you both are through a different lens outside of your artistry. What was the overall concept of this album supposed to be?
We wanted to make an album that was a true representation of who we are as a group & we work better without attaching any concept or elaborate idea to projects, when we've tried to do that it never worked out for us in the past so the concept was really simple our best beats + our best rhymes = Double Dragon.
How did you two come to create music together in the first place? What made it certain so you could both feed off of each other’s energy without comprising one another artistry?
We met each other in 2014 while working in a furniture store, we were both already making music by then so it wasn't too long before we got together in the studio & the rest is history. As far as our chemistry goes we just trust in one another that's really what it comes down to & as the saying goes "In Jaydus We Trust."
We know your favorite song on the album is, “Mirror Sessions 101,” but is there a particular song that resonates with you more at this moment than that track? Why?
Jaydus Ceasar: The other track for me that resonates is escape cuz all were doing is trying to escape the loop of life, in which we don't belong and we gotta continue working to achieve what is needed to escape that loop.
Eric C: For me, it would be Late Nights I just love the vibe of it that song resonates a lot with me.
Eric C, how important is it for you to be vulnerable with the lyrics that you put out to your fan base?
It's not something I find hard to do, so long as I'm being myself and it feels right to me I think my fan base will appreciate the fact that I'm so open about my life and that I don't hide behind a gimmick.
We would love to be taken into the creative process on the production side by Jaydus Ceasar! How did you know which beats would make the cut?
I tried to stay in the whole jazzy vibe and the type of beats Eric would listen to, and basically, it's a back and forth between me and him to see which one fits with the whole album, and I kept in mind the smoothness of the transitions between each beat so it doesn't sound off or "not the same style".