Tribe Mafia Biography

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Rap duo Tribe Mafia came up in Austin, Texas underground circles, going from recording their songs in the bathroom of their high school to international touring. The group's blend of contemporary rap styles came to life on their 2020 project Teepee Gang.

Tribe Mafia was formed by friends Chinasa Broxton and Carlos Moore in 2010 when they were still in high school. Growing up in Austin, Texas, the two aspiring artists were influenced by their city's nonstop musical energy, and experimented with a wide variety of approaches as they found their creative voice. Tribe Mafia was highly active in their hometown for years, collaborating with other Austin artists, performing at the annual South by Southwest music festivals and hosting their own listening parties that offered local creative talents to meet and build a community. After releasing multiple one-off tracks and singles, they released a six-song EP For You in 2017, a brief example of their blend of cloud rap production, R&B-tinged hip-hop, and understated trap beats. They explored harder instrumentals and more forceful rap styles on 2018 EP The Come Up. In 2019, Tribe Mafia released "Like Cola," a collaborative single off of their " It's a Tribe Tings" EP. 

The song brought together Tribe Mafia's diverse rap styles with a dancehall flare and, along with significant airplay, the song's video was viewed over one million times. That year the duo also traveled to Brazil on tour with Akon. In March of 2020 their most fully formed release materialized with the eight-song mixtape Tee Pee Gang. The project was a step even further away from the subdued style of earlier albums, with high-energy rap flows, solid beats, and tighter production than ever before. Tee Pee Gang featured guest performances on some songs by Sam Sage, RJ Maine, LeekThough and others.

SOURCE: ALLMUSIC