Substance Abuse

As opposed to groups who either force change or resist it, Substance Abuse embraces natural progression. The duo creates earnest hip-hop music, combining equal measures of intelligence, clarity, innovation, and polish to evoke the unpretentious consciousness of the Golden Age era, while avoiding corny retro posturing.
Group members Eso Tre and Subz grew up together in Los Angeles, where they became hip-hop fans at an early age. In high school, the duo could often be found in the audience at the legendary Unity events that have since come to define the progressive LA hip-hop scene of the early 90's. Inspired by the shows' emphasis on positive expression through creative art, the friends began working on their own music.

Substance Abuse's first release was a 1998 EP with Santa Barbara's mic.edu called Brand New Crime on Rocketship Records. The project received extensive college radio airplay and critical praise, and led to the filming of a video for the track "Spontaneous Egos", directed by independent filmmaker Jesse Felsot, which became a favorite of underground West Coast video shows. This was followed by the filming of the video for the celebrated anti-party anthem "Night on the Town" featuring Kool Keith, which received nationwide exposure.

Throughout the next year, Eso Tre and Subz bolstered their reputations as crowd movers with a series of performances sharing the stage with mic legends such as Souls of Mischief and Aceyalone. In turn, the group's lyrical prowess earned them a slot on Sway and Tech's Wake-Up Show, where they premiered the lead track from their debut single, "What the Fuck You Rhymin' For?" Not surprisingly, Substance Abuse was soon named in URB magazine's Next 100 as a group to watch.

After gaining much acclaim for their collaboration with MF Doom on the infectious "Profitless Thoughts," Substance Abuse dropped their debut full length, "Overproof," a term signifying "more than ample evidence" of S.A.'s eminent mic skills. The album received four stars in both Urb and Scratch Magazine.