Los Angeles native, Ryan ‘Ryu’ Maginn’s story in Hip-hop is one integral thread in the tapestry of the underground Los Angeles Hip-hop diaspora. From his early years ruling the Los Angeles radio and cypher scenes, to breaking necks and banging heads with Styles of Beyond via their critically acclaimed seminal debut album 2000 Fold and their sophomore follow-up MegaDef through to his work with Mike Shinoda in Fort Minor on their Jay-Z over-seen Rising Tied album.
Experiencing both mainstream and independent successes, Ryu is finally venturing into a realm of soloist for his album Tanks For The Memories’. “Tanks For The Memories is a metaphor for the battles I’ve fought throughout my career in the music business. That would include the bad and the good. You win some, but in my case I’ve lost a lot as well. In the end, I believe I’ll win the war.” Ryu explains: “Going into it, as I’ve always done when recording an album, I try my best to stay out of my own way. Try not to let expectations and the second guessing stifle the creative process. The album usually will start to take on a personality after we lay down the first few tracks, and that’s how it went down with this album as well.”
The first single from Tanks For The Memories is “Been Doing This” which is a take on the Gangstarr song “BYS” and the video exudes a Beastie Boys ‘Root Down’ vibe. “The song is a brief look at my past and present, as well as a tribute to my good friend Redeem, who recently passed away. He was the first one to believe and me as a rapper and always wanted me to do a solo record.” Ryu concludes “He was also a huge fan of DJ. Premier, who produced the original song.”
“Been Doing This” is also a perfect representation of what to expect from the Tanks For The Memories album as a whole. “I really wanted to go back to beginning and try to capture the original feeling we had with early Styles Of Beyond, without sounding like a throwback. I think we’ve accomplished that with this album.”
Reuniting with Divine Styler on production was a no-brainer for the San Fernando Valley Rambo as he explains “Divine was instrumental in the development of the “S.O.B. Sound.” So it was a very natural process when working together on the ‘Tanks For The Memories’ album.”
“We tend to like the same kind of beats and Divine’s production fits my style perfectly,” Ryu concludes. “He’s always been my favorite producer and I really wanted to take it back to where it all started, and work with all of the people who were there from day one.”
Tanks For The Memories drops in September. Pre-order the album on iTunes.
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