Warm Brew 2014 Brownies & Lemonade stage

L.A. is home to music legends in every genre, from Rock to Classical to Hip-Hop and more. Now Ray Wright, Serk Spliff, and Manu Li have adjusted the California sound dial once again.

Friends during their years at Santa Monica High School, where their focus was primarily on sports and girls, the trio picked up their microphones in 2009. Fed up with the music on the radio and the direction of the mainstream, they’ve decided to donate their talents to Hip-Hop. They have a natural chemistry, and live in one of the most inspiring cities in the U.S. Those factors, combined with their willingness to show you their own ups and downs in life, are what make these three MCs worth listening to in an industry oversaturated with unauthentic artists.

Though Warm Brew might draw comparisons to groups like A Tribe Called Quest and other Cali acts like 213, the group welcomes those associations and remains flattered by them. Still, their work isn’t derivative in the slightest. Sure, they cover the familiar touchstones – women, weed, weather, etc. – but don’t get it twisted. Warm Brew raps about anything and everything, and their songs aren’t throwbacks as much as they are a fresh take on a timelessly potent formula. In other words, the group isn’t following in the footsteps of their influences, they’re an amalgamation of them, carving out a parallel path all their own.