Reef The Lost Cauze
, born Sharif Talib Lacey
, is a prominent underground hip-hop artist based in Philadelphia. Aside from being a solo artist, Reef is a member of the hip-hop group The JuJu Mob as well as the hip-hop collective, Army of the Pharaohs.
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A VICIOUS CYCLE TICKETS
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Career
Reef started battling other rappers in high school and earned a reputation as one of the best battle mc's in Philadelphia. He received a film scholarship to the Philadelphia University of the Arts where he began to visualize a serious career as a recording artist. Realizing his true calling, Reef dropped out of college at the age of 19 and teamed up with Philadelphia-based producer Sleep E to begin working on his first solo project. The 10 track album,
The High Life
, was released in 2001 and opened doors for Reef as he began performing at area clubs and generating praise from both fans and local media.
In February 2003, Reef released his second solo album,
Invisible Empire
. He distributed the album himself by way of a national schedule of shows during which he won the Mic Check Battle in Philadelphia and took second place in the Blaze Freestyle Battle in Oakland, California.
Reef took his freestyle skills to another level early in 2004 with an arousing performance at the Beat Society production competition in New York, and a fierce win in the Riddle Records Mic Control Battle. He was also the End Of The Weak (EOW) Challenge Champion at the Rock Steady Crew 27th Anniversary in July 2004, and went on to take the EOW Grand Championship title in 2005. Mindful of his stunning battle prowess, Reef places a determined emphasis on balance with his songwriting and performance abilities.
Feast Or Famine
, Reef's third solo album, was released in 2005 to critical acclaim. Also in 2005, Reef was a member of The JuJu Mob whose debut album,
Black Candles, was lead by fellow Army of the Pharaohs rapper
Chief Kamachi. The debut album from Army of the Pharaohs entitled
The Torture Papers
, was released in 2006 and featured two songs with Reef as a featured member.
Reef kicked off 2007 as the featured artist on the song "Never", the lead single by The Snowgoons; a four-man German-based production team. The Snowgoons' album, German Lugers, was released February 27th on Babygrande Records. The single and its accompanying video can be heard and seen on Reef's myspace page.
A Vicious Cycle
, Reef's follow-up to
Feast Or Famine
, was released digitally on November 4th, 2008 with a physical street date of November 18th, 2008 through independent upstart Well Done Entertainment Corporation in association with his imprint, Fuck You Pay Me Records. The album includes guest appearances by Termanology, King Magnetic, Eternia, Taragirl & Scandal of 40D. Additionally, the online version of the album includes remixes of "Listen To Me" & "Get It? Got It? Good" by Brooklyn producer J.J. Brown.
Reef also has a cameo in the new
Frank Henenlotter film
Bad Biology produced and co-written by
R.A. the Rugged Man.
Discography
Albums
| Album Title
| Album Information
|
| The High Life
| Black Maverick Entertainment Group, Inc.(2001)
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| Invisible Empire
| Gladiator Films (2003)
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| Feast or Famine
| Good Hands Records / Eastern Conference Records (2005)
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| A Vicious Cycle
| Well Done Entertainment Corporation in association with Fuck You Pay Me Records (2008)
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| The Stress Files
| Creep Records (2008)
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Collaborations
| Album Title
| Album Information
|
| Contradiction Volume I
| Dr. Noh featuring Kenneth Masters and Scandal of 40th Dimension, KRU Records (2003)
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| Cult Status
| Chief Kamachi "the cactus", Good Hands / Eastern Conference Records (2005)
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| Black Candles
| Chief "the cactus" Kamachi & The JuJu Mob, Good Hands / Eastern Conference Records (2005)
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| New York Nigger Yankee
| Access Immortal, Early Spitter Records(2006)
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| The Torture Papers
| Army of the Pharaohs, Babygrande Records (2006)
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| German Lugers
| Snowgoons, Babygrande Records (2007)
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| Ritual of Battle
| Army of the Pharaohs, Babygrande Records (2007)
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| Drumline Anthem
| GAZA, Intifada Records (2007)
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| The Night Shift
| Dev Rocka,Traffic Entertainment/Good Hands Records (2007)
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| Do You
| Returners & Radio Rewers, Asfalt Records (2008)
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| Shook Crews Runnin
| Rob Kelly, St Patrick's Day Massacre mixtape (2009)
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| Never Knows More
| Yameen feat. Maylay Sparks & DJ Icewater, Rumble Pack Records (2009)
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