Funk’n Fresh: 80 Empire’s Soulful Sounds Are Setting the Big Screen on Fire
Get ready for a funky, soulful, and melodically diverse experience with 80 Empire.
This duo has been making waves for nearly a decade and is poised to make a major impact in the TV and Film industry.
Brothers Lucas and Adrian Rezza, multi-platinum recording artists from Niagara on the Lake, draw their musical inspiration from old-school funk, soul, and hip-hop. Now, they are bringing their unique sound to a new frontier, infusing it into TV and film projects you won’t want to miss.
80 Empire has long been a force in the music world, collaborating with hip-hop heavyweights such as Obie Trice, Cee-Lo Green, and Swifty McVay from Eminem’s D12. They’ve even had the chance to open for Snoop Dogg at live shows.
However, their venture onto the big screen marks an exciting new chapter for the duo.
Their entry into TV and film began with a YouTube series called “Hit the Mark” alongside their friend, Gino Cafarelli. Adrian Rezza, writer, singer, and rapper of 80 Empire, shared more about their recent work: “We just shot a video in New York last week, and we were actually down there shooting another music video with Jennifer Esposito because we did a good six, seven songs for her film, Fresh Kills… We shot a music video for one of the songs that’s in her film as well.”
The brothers are making major moves in the entertainment industry. Adrian excitedly added, “We’ve got another two songs on a Netflix TV show that’s going to be dropping in the new year, it’s called Tex Mex Motors. So, we’ll be featured in season two.”
In addition to their work in film and TV, Lucas Rezza, composer of 80 Empire, discussed their involvement in the NFT space: “We’re also with Gala Music and we drop a lot of exclusive songs on the Gala platform, which is incredible. The NFT world, it’s alive and well, crypto is alive and well.”
Lucas also spoke about some of their other film work: “We’re not just stuck on a certain genre of music; it allows us to get into another world. We did a film, a Hallmark movie, a couple of months ago, and they needed a French trap song. So, Adrian’s like, thank God for mom and dad putting us in French immersion. He’s like, I still got my French skills. So, boom, we did the song, and it was an integral part of the film.”
Their music can be heard during a love sequence in Savoring Paris, showcasing their talents in the cinematic space.
The brothers’ credit much of their musical influence to their parents, who exposed them to a wide range of music and the arts.
“Our parents weren’t musicians, but heavily into the arts, whether it was music or watching plays,” Lucas explained. “So as kids growing up, we went and saw Ray Charles, Commodores, Chaka Khan, James Brown, and Temptations.”
This early exposure to iconic artists deeply influenced 80 Empire’s sound today. Lucas fondly recalls their father’s passion for music: “Our dad, he’s a retired hairdresser, but he would go to Eglinton West to a place called Monica’s where you could get anywhere from hair products to beef patties and records. He’d bring home all these funk and soul records, and then eventually hip-hop.”
When asked to describe their sound, Adrian enthusiastically said, “I would say it’s like melodic, soulful hip hop because we got songs that are just straight-up rap, but then we have songs that are very soulful.”
He praised his brother Lucas, saying, “Luke is such a great architect of melodies, so it’s easy for me to come up with a melodic or singing chorus. So, I think soulful, melodic hip hop because, at the undertone of it all, it’s still hip hop. It still has that that driving bass and drum beat.”
This summer, 80 Empire signed a deal with Fat Beats/Rostrum Records and is set to release a vinyl project, hopefully before Christmas.
Don’t miss out on what this unstoppable duo is bringing to the world. It’s fresh, it’s funky, and it’s taking over! Stay tuned, because even bigger things are on the way.
