The name Organic Thoughts isn’t your typical hip-hop group name. In fact, the name alone probably reminds you more of a vegetarian food market or agricultural cultivation. But then again, the group members Fraze, Diwrekt, El Gambina, DJ Reason and DJ onPoynt aren’t your typical hip-hop artists either. At an OTS show, you’ll observe the customary emcees and DJ’s rockin’ the stage. But get to know the group more closely and you’ll discover that this crew actually consists of an art director/graphic designer, a financial specialist, a computer programmer, and two college students. Finance, programming, rhyming, and turntablism in the same breath? Now that’s an interesting concept. To trace the origins of the Thoughts, we would have to rewind to around 1995 when Fraze and Diwrekt met in high school at Tenafly, NJ. Realizing that they were both aspiring emcees and DJ’s, they began to share ideas and record tracks together. Countless lunchroom ciphers later, and the original Organic Thoughts crew was born. At the same time, Fraze was also spinning local parties with partner Reason, while cross-town rival onPoynt had his own party DJ crew. It was only a matter of time before all four joined in on the sessions, and the group expanded and began wreaking havoc on local high school talent shows. For a couple years, however, the OTS project was put on hold as Fraze, Reason, and onPoynt pursued their battle DJ ambitions. It was in 2000 when a friend of Diwrekt entered the picture and resurrected the group. With her distinctive delivery and diverse concepts, El Gambina proved to be the missing piece of the puzzle. Having been injected with new life, the Thoughts put together a homegrown, self-promoted, and self-distributed EP entitled Perceptions. This release created a buzz within the NY/NJ hip-hop community, as word about the group quickly spread. No longer confined to high school talent shows, Organic Thoughts was now rocking shows up and down the eastern seaboard, from Boston to Virginia. OTS would eventually make two unofficial additions, with emcee/vocalist Tonio and producer Illmind joining the fray. The unbelievable talent that these two brought with them propelled the group even further and resulted in several new recorded tracks. Blaze the World Records promptly picked up on their demo and the rest is history. To say that Organic Thoughts “does it for the love of the music” would sound cliché, but there really is no other way to put it. Embedded in their music is the obvious influence of an old school b-boy vibe and the graffiti artist’s mentality stimuli that they grew up with. And even as the members finish school and move on to professional careers, they continue to express themselves through this thing we call hip-hop. The group's motivation? To create original hip-hop music and keep true to the artform’s roots. Their debut single is “Be Alright”. The Spanish-infused melodic track, featuring Prince Poetry of Organized Konfusion and R&B vocalist Uniq, was produced by Illmind (known for Akrobatik’s buzz-worthy “Remind My Soul”). The B-SIDE “Get It Right,” features Peril-L of Mountain Brothers exchanging wordplay with El Gambina, the fierce female MC of the group. Organic Thoughts’ classically influenced brand of music harkens back to the golden age of hip-hop. “Our mission,” explains Fraze--who has won Guitar Center’s 2000 turntable competition, along with being runner’s up in Linkin Park NYC Battle and NY’ DMC 2000 to name a few--is to create the kind of music we actually want to listen to.” “As far as the group being all Asian,” notes Gambina, “We’re not trying to make a statement. It sets us apart, but it’s not a gimmick. It’s pure coincidence.” “Organic Thoughts are the complete opposite of the commercialized hip-hop,” explains Jonah Fialkoff, CEO Blaze The World Records, of why he signed them. “I want to give artists the opportunity to make the music they love and not worry about following trends. Ultimately, I think this type of hip-hop will prevail.”