Music – Tucson
\"I just tell them I\'m a scholar with diplomas, a hoodlum with aggression, multiple personas, quotables for grown ups, noble and a learner, notable to loners, closure for the posers\"- is the way Al Basics describes himself on the leading single \"Envision\" from his well received debut album, Doomed Enterprise.
Al Basics makes his own version of progressive hip hop, having elements of grunge, spoken word, and indie rock. Basics has a slow cadence, his rap abilities are complimented with scholar and street allure. Although he has technical rap abilities, he\'s first and foremost a poet at heart. One Basics song may consist of spoken word, the next may be a boom bap classic new york rap.
Born in Queens, NY, Al Basics (Allan Holguin) discovered he wanted to rap at the age of ...21. When most Emcees pride themselves with starting their music careers in adolescence, Al started out with poetry. Usually found scavenging books at the used-book store, he\'s the kind of guy to spark up a conversation about politics, 20th century American Modernist Poetry, or love. Al began crafting his art by blending his love of poetry and Hip-Hop into what became his recognizable slow-cadence profound lyricism. Al studied at The University of Arizona, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Creative Writing. Upon graduating Al decided to stay in Tucson and make the most out of his new South Western home. With a couple of non-fiction publications and poetry awards, Al has already begun his career as a writer. His sound has been compared to the likes of Sage Francis, Eyedea, Cecil Otter, and Slug (Atmosphere). Al continues to push his poetics by balancing both socially conscious themes and personal subject matter. Currently, he is working on his sophomore album which is expected to be released in early 2012, and he plans on taking his art on the road as well.