INTERVIEW with Coast Contra

Coast Contra brings brotherhood and hospitality to their hip hop

RioLoz, Eric Jamal, Taj Austin and Ras Austin make up the brotherhood that is Coast Contra. The four artists and rappers met in Los Angeles when they moved in together at The 505 Apartments. They found their rhythm and work ethic while serving together at soul food restaurant My 2 Cents. Their latest single “Intentional” has been featured on Spotify’s Rap Caviar Twitter and their album, Apartment 505, comes out next year. KXSC’s Elle Davidson sat down with the rap group to find out more about how they incorporate their brotherhood and sense for hospitality into their art and community.

Elle Davidson: How did you guys get together, and when did you start making music?

Taj Austin: We've all been doing it for a while. We all started doing music together six years ago. That was when everything really happened. We all got together living at a spot called Apartment 505. Our brotherhood was formed there, and the music came shortly after.

Eric Jamal: That's the name of our album coming up next year: "Apartment 505." It's just letting everybody know how everything went down. We work together, and we live together. That real brotherhood formed just by being around each other 24/7. They say you never really get to know somebody until you live with them. And when I say I know these guys, I know these guys.

Elle: Did you always want to do music, or what did you think you’d end up doing?

Eric Jamal: I never wanted to do music at all. My parents kept me away from hip hop growing up. There was a lot of gospel in my house, but when my older brother would take me out, he would introduce me to artists like Nelly, Jay-Z, Nas and all of them. I grew a liking to it. When I started, I always would freestyle, and my brother was like, "Yo, you should write." And I was like, "You know, it's not nothing I want to do, I want to be a realtor." But I got the chance to start writing in college at Temple University. Then after, I realized that it was something I was actually good at. That's when I realized I could make money from this, and then I came to L.A, met these gentlemen, and now you got Coast Contra sitting in front of you.

RioLoz: I have always gravitated toward music. I mean, like, my pops loved music, and when I was younger, I used to play the trumpet. Then I fell in love with hip hop. And that's what really motivated me to start rhyming.

Taj Austin: Our stories are similar. I have been in this from a very young age, so I always aspired to do it eventually. But it was a blessing to do it with my brothers. That just made it even more fun.

Ras Austin: Same here. For me and my brother, our parents do music as well, so we grew up around it and were submerged in music our whole life. It was almost the same as taking up the family trade for us.

Elle: So how does that background in freestyling and hip hop come together to make your sound today?

Eric Jamal: From living together and working together, we know whose strong point is what and whose weak point is what. We have a strong foundation of communication. We all worked at a restaurant, so we take the same kind of things that we learned at a restaurant and take it over to the studio. There's no ego, and we know whose role needs to be what. We all allow each other to share our thoughts and ideas. Now, one idea might be wild, corny and bizarre, but we encourage ourselves to share those ideas, because we never know what they might turn into. And that's how I always start. Now I know with these guys, these three guys, I know they like a singular sound when it comes to instruments. These guys taught me to listen to instruments and pay attention to the sounds in the background. It's not just only about your voice rapping about what's hot and cars and stuff, but also understanding that your voice is an instrument as well. This bond that we built is from creative confidence and artistic integrity.

Elle: What restaurant did you guys all work at?

Taj Austin: My 2 Cents. It’s on Pico and Curson. Shout out to Chef Alisa Reynolds.

Elle: I know you guys used to do Cypher Sundays there. What’s up with that post-pandemic?

Taj Austin: We just had one in August. It was amazing. I believe we'll be bringing it back in November.

RioLoz: It’s in Leimert Park.

Elle: What happens there?

RioLoz: We have so many different things: dance offs, catering by My 2 Cents, performances and a cypher at the end. We perform just to shut it down for the family. So many emcees from the city come out, and we all have fun and make it a real community event. We have an open discussion and ask a question to open our community space and give everyone a chance to talk. It’s always cool, because you can’t judge a book by its cover. You might see somebody and think about them one way, but then you hear them answer a question, and it’s really profound and introspective. The answer that they give you makes you go, “Wow. You’re really dope. I didn’t think that you would think like that.”

Eric Jamal: Cypher Sundays is something that when we started it, we didn’t think that that many people would come out. The first one was only like seven people. We did it at the restaurant. Just from those seven people, we understood the essence and the importance of continuing to build our community. Once we did the second and the third, there were like 78 people there. It is such a family vibe. Once again, we learned that from the restaurant. We learned how to give five-star service; us being employees and giving back to the customers and making sure they’re catered to. We know how to take care of people. You got us performing, but also we’re like, “Hey, would you like a cupcake?” When you walk in, we have these icebreaker cards. We give you a card and you have to ask someone you don’t know whatever the question is. Everybody opens up. We mentioned the dance off… You’d be surprised how many people miss dancing. Everybody’s too cool and has their phone in their hands. But we separate the room and do Pharrell versus Timbaland. People just go off. We have two cyphers… A cypher of knowledge and a cypher at the end. The most amazing emcees come through.

Elle: I love that. I totally want to come in November. I’m glad you brought it back after the pandemic. It’s important to bring life back and not leave things canceled. So, you guys did a song for the “Queen and Slim” soundtrack, right? How did that happen?

Taj Austin: That actually came about from our label head. His wife, Melina, directed the movie and allowed us the opportunity to make the song. It was really our jumping off point. We are grateful.

Elle: Are you trying to do more work on soundtracks? What kind of genres do you want to write for, like Westerns? Horror? Comedy?

RioLioz: We want to do all that. Something for Marvel would be really cool.

Eric Jamal: I know it’s not a movie, but it would be cool to have our music in 2K.

Ras Austin : Anime too.

Elle: That’s awesome. I don’t know how any of that works, but you should get on it. The music is awesome. I feel like people probably ask you for your musical inspirations all the time, but music isn’t just music. Music has style. So, who are your style inspirations in the sense of how you carry yourself, how you dress and how you write music?

RioLoz: I’m inspired by so many different things… even nature. As far as how I dress, I like to keep it old school. Like baggy clothes and camo pants. Real old-school underground vibes, that’s the essence with me. Sometimes I like to switch it up and get real clean-cut. It depends how I’m feeling that day. You might catch me on a different type of drip. For hip-hop, Mos Def, Andre 3000, Method Man, the whole Wu-Tang Clan and A Tribe Called Quest. They’re everything.

Eric Jamal: Andre 3000 for me personally. I love his style and how he articulates the words he says. Nipsey Hussle, I know he’s gone, but he’s still teaching me a lot. Every time I watch his interviews, I’m like, “Damn, thank you for that.” I love Jay-Z. He just knows how to pause and give space in his music. Lauryn Hill taught me how to educate through my music and not just be hot but be responsible for the words that you’re giving to the world. As far as my dressing style, y’all know I love Zara.

Taj Austin: Black Thought and Common at this point. As I’ve gotten older, I’m very selective about what I choose to listen to. I find myself gravitating toward people who speak to me in a grown way. A lot of times that means the people I listen to are a lot older. I love Nas. As far as dressing, I really look up to J. Cole. Not necessarily the style, but the simplicity. I never see him in chains or nothing like that. He’s more down to earth. I don’t want to be too fresh. It’s just not me.

Ras Austin: I think I'm inspired by all the artists they said. I agree with my brother. Right now, I'm really inspired by people that have a more mature sound to see hip hop as it has evolved. Common is definitely one of the first rappers that comes to mind for me. Andre 3000 of course. As far as contemporary rappers, Kendrick Lamar and Rapsody, are the two that currently keep me inspired. For style, my brain goes so many different places at so many different times, so I'm probably inspired by a lot of different styles. Right now, I would say I feel like Rio. I want to keep that underground hip-hop vibe, like baggy clothes and stuff like that but still keep some color.

Elle: Music wise, what’s next for you? You mentioned you have an album coming out next year. What can we look forward to, and where can we find your music?

Eric Jamal: We just released our first single off of “Apartment 505,” last night. It’s called “Intentional.” Check it out. It’s upbeat and fun. We’re lyricists, so the song is refreshing and shows that we aren’t just rap. We have fun too. The album is coming out next year. Right now, we are working on an EP with Jansport J. He’s a dope producer. He just did two tracks off of Nas’ latest album. We are hoping the EP comes out right after our album.

For more Coast Contra, follow them on Instagram @coastcontra, and check out their Youtube channel for music videos and more. Look out for shows coming up in November and Cypher Sundays at Leimert Park.