Not that Prevail’s planning to flame out anytime soon, but Alpha Omega is the name of the new hip-hop group he formed with his sister’s son.
The Vancouver-based MC feels the Greek words for ‘the beginning’ and ‘the end’ aptly describe the partnership between himself (Prevail is a veteran rapper and half of Swollen Members), and his real-life nephew, an MC who’s relatively new to the hip-hop scene.
“I’ve had a longer tenure in rap,” said Prevail, who performs with Alpha Omega on Thursday at Wild Bill’s Sports Bar in Red Deer.
At age 40, he realizes some people might see him as heading toward the “twilight” of his career, while 26-year-old Neph is just getting started. “I’m in the ushering out phase, while he’s in the ushering in phase.”
Prevail and Neph (also short for Nefarious One and Nephilim) started working together because they’re family.
They soon discovered something that fans are already starting to notice on Ghost Town, the first single off Alpha Omega’s up-coming six-track EP, The Concept.
Their rap styles blend seamlessly.
Ghost Town is a moody, atmospheric duet of their hypnotic vocals, interspersed with voice-over clips from a B-movie style announcer. “It transfixes people,” said Prevail, who was happy to see the familial chemistry he shares with Neph translate in the studio.
“We had no preconceived notions of what it would be like, but it happened to be absolutely amazing.”
Prevail used to bring his young nephew foreign coins from his overseas tours. Later, the two started playing chess together, and eventually, making music.
Their Alpha Omega tracks have less angry edge than Prevail’s tunes with Madchild of Swollen Members. But the MC believes The Concept still shows many dimensions — from the high-energy Toxic Avengers and A.O. to the more subdued and melodic Bluntly Speaking — with chorus written by Neph.
The latter is about power of words. Both MCs name their favourite authors — Hunter S. Thompson for Neph and Herman Hess for Prevail, who explained, “Siddhartha is one of the books that helped guide me as a young man.”
While words can be considered shallow in this age of Twitter, Prevail believes there’s always an intellectual underground of “those who are seeking” who look for ideas in literature “to validate their own thought process … You have to be a seeker and you end up finding others who are seeing.”
These days harsh — and not necessarily wise — words are being exchanged between West Coast rappers Madchild and Snak the Ripper. It all started with a dissing Tweet from Snak and led to an vicious exchange of rap tunes on Youtube.
Is the vitriolic spat a publicity stunt?
Prevail claims he doesn’t have any insider’s knowledge. But he mentions that rap has always been about settling hostilities in a non-violent way — a test of verbal skill, wit and rhythm. If there’s some high drama involved, why not? he added, with a chuckle.
“Life can always use a jolt.”
Doors at Wild Bill’s open at 9 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance.
lmichelin@www.reddeeradvocate.com