Down Low Connection is exploring some interesting combinations – hip hop with Indian raga and classical, John Coltrane jazz with George Clinton funk … ‘We want to be with what’s happening now but integrate different cultural styles. We want to pick up where the great funk bands of the ’70’s left off.”
– Boston Herald, 1995
“…few will remember an early ’80’s crop that yielded “Wild Style,” a ground-breaking, graffiti film that captured the neighborhood origins of New York rap music. Electric with the energy of community and connection, Wild Style showed how great soul-to-soul, rapper-to-rapper immediacy could turn a corner pub into the coolest of scenes. Thursday nights at the Western Front on Prospect St. in Cambridge, a long-standing club known mostly for its commitment to reggae, the Down Low Connection hosts live rap-jazz-funk-blues sessions that recall the Wild Style vibe.”
– Boston Rock, 1995
This city is hardly known as the home for hip -hop but, if the Down Low Connection has its way, people will get the word soon enough. The Down Low’s good grooves mix a deep, boombastic rhythm section; sweet, soulful horns; and top flight MCs to create some flavorful hip -hop spiced with jazz overtones. Ray Archie, the band’s bassist and mouthpiece, who worked with Digital Underground before moving to Beantown in 1992, stresses the group’s positive vibe. “Let’s face it,” he says, “there are a lot of people, black and white, who love this music, but they are denied seeing it performed live because of the problems clubs have had in the past with hip -hop shows in Boston…. The act’s members believe that through their music of inclusion, they can make a difference and help heal the racial divisions that have plagued Boston for years. Archie says, “As the hip-hop generation comes of age, you’ll be seeing more black-owned stores and black-owned labels and publicity firms. Hopefully, with that substantive change will come a shift in consciousness as well. Boston is not the most tolerant place for hip-hop, but we can change that”
Billboard Magazine (June 15, 1996 – page 20)
“Indeed, the malleability and virtuosity of this impressive live hip-hop enterprise… are its greatest strengths.”
– Boston Phoenix, May 23, 1997
It’s one of the few genuine hip-hop bands that is able to cross over and play all the major rock clubs in town as well as other places like the House of Blues and the noted reggae club the Western Front in Cambridge. The Down Low Connection could, in fact, become the only hip-hop band to emerge from our scene and gain national attention
– Billboard Magazine (Jan. 20, 1998)
“The DLC are back in full effect, ready to sign the deal and cash the check. They are true architects of the craft.”
– North East Performer, April 1998
“Down Low Connection aren’t just Boston’s best live hip-hop experience. If they wanted to, they could probably compete for Boston’s best funk band title as well.”
– The Boston Phoenix, May 15, 1998
