Team Embassador 'System Overload' album

Team Embassador, an eclectic fusion of Hip-Hop, R&B, Roots Reggae, Soca and Pop Rock that you can't help to sing and move along to will be opening for Def Jam Recording artist and songwriter, Ne-Yo on two dates in New York before headlining a few dates of their own. The first performance is May 1st at Ne-Yo's Album Release party at Avalon, 20th Street & 6th Avenue hosted by Power 105.1 Radio personality, Ed Lover, with DJ S&S and DJ Dallas Green on the turntables. The second date is May 12th with Ne-Yo, Monica and friends at Utopia's Paradise Theater located at 2413 Grand Concourse at 187th Street in the Bronx.

Comprised of Trinidadian native, R-DeLeon (R-DeLeon means "Rhymes of Leon"), and Jamaican, B-Tizzy who have built their street buzz from a mixtape series, Team Embassador Presents Pirates (now in its third volume), Team Embassador will release their debut album, System Overload this Summer 2007 on EMB/Lightyear Records. Tracks from the album have already been leaked to the streets, so the duo will add tracks and re-release System Overload with new music just before the back to school season begins.

On their debut, R-DeLeon's raspy voice layers against Tizzy's melodic vocals and the result is an album that sways, rocks, dubs, jumps up, and leans back at the same time. A writer, producer, and former radio show host R-DeLeon's music has appeared in many TV shows and movies including MTV, Oxygen Network, UPN, NFL Network, E! True Hollywood Stories, Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood, and America's Top Model. Tizzy is a singer and dancer formerly with Jamaica's legendary dance group, Bone Crusher. Together their live performance set against a full band (drums, bass, keys, percussion, guitar, and horns) brings the audience to frenzy.

To ensure that the album had a little something for everyone, Team Embassador brought in Adam Kling aka Madadam (Britney Spears, Black Eye Peas, Snow, and Bush) who co-produced the majority of the songs on System Overload. Special guests include Big Diz, Shad, singer Nakiea and rockers Jonny Lives. You'll hear rock, hip-hop, reggae, soca, and pop influences from crowd-pleaser, "Get Something And Wave," to "Island Girl," inspired from Harry Belafonte's trademark song, to the laid back "That's What's Up," featuring Jonny Lives, the album's first single.

"There's no fun in records anymore," shares Tizzy. "On our album, we wanna take people to a place where they can just have fun with music again."! R-DeLeon adds, "We recently performed at HOT 97's 'Who's Next,' concert and before we got on the stage, everybody had their ice grill on. At first we thought it was gonna be a rough audience because we're not straight hip-hop or straight reggae dancehall, or even straight rock, but by the time we left the stage it was all hands in the air. When we were done, the party went with us. People were having fun and that's what music should be about."

After setting the stage on fire with Ne-Yo, the duo will launch several dates on their own bill including June 8th, 7pm at Montclair Highschool locate at 100 Chestnut Street in Montclair, NJ. The performance will benefit Montclair Police and Fire Department's annual charity basketball game and funds will be distributed to three different recipients who are suffering from hardship. "These are serious needs right in our community so when the Montclair Civic Association asked us to perform, we wanted to bring the fun and peace to the lives of these families if only for 30 minutes," explains R.DeLeon

You're guaranteed to get something new and different on every song selected for System Overload. So load your IPOD and disc player, free your mind, and lace your Chuck Taylor's. Team Embassador's gonna take you back the mosh pit, back to dancing and partying and if you can catch them onstage 'get something and wave." Yeah, that's what's up!

Biography
"We are "e"mbassadors of a universal movement to unite people from all over the world with our music." - Team Embassador.

Remember your last carnival in the islands, dancing with the locals, experiencing island culture for the first time. It was a fiesta that blew your mind and you couldn't figure out if it was the rhythm of the drums, the tinkling of the steel pans, or the rum drenched elixir you were sipping out of a coconut that had you dancing with people you didn't even know. If you could take that ecstatic feeling and place it on 14 tracks of a CD it would probably sound like Team Embassador's debut album, System Overload to be released on EMB/Lightyear Records.

Influenced by a wide range of artists themselves, System Overload is a well-balanced collection that transcends genres; an album that any true music lover will undoubtedly enjoy. In the tradition of internationally successful artists like Beenie Man, Sean Paul, and Elephant Man, Team Embassador has created an eclectic upbeat festive mixture that blends hip-hop, R&B, reggae, and pop music seamlessly together 'overloading" their disc even more adding Soca and a rock edge into the mix.

Instead of glorifying the negative, rude bwoy' persona, Team Embassador's mission is simple to make energy infused music that embraces everyone. "It's team EVERYBODY, we changed the A to an E in the word Ambassador to represent a universal movement, uniting people from all over the world with our music," explains R-DeLeon (Trinidad) whose raspy distinct voice is complimented by partner B-Tizzy's (Jamaica) melodic vocals. ""Team Embassador is a foundation. We represent people, we don't just represent ourselves. We're a fun, nuff energy, up-tempo group…and we just want to take people back to a place where they can just have fun with music again," adds B-Tizzy.

To translate their stage energy to the recording process, Team Embassador brought in Adam Kling aka Madadam (Britney Spears, Black Eye Peas, Snow, and Bush) who co-produced the majority of the songs on System Overload to ensure that the album had a little something for everyone. "We didn't want to be categorized which is why we overloaded' the system with some many styles. You're guaranteed to get something new and different on every song we selected for System Overload," explains R-DeLeon.

On the album's opener, “Island Girl,” Team Embassador represents for all the island women behind a mellow track accompanied by witty lyrics. "We were in the studio one day with a girl who was looking like she was fresh from the islands," explains B-Tizzy as he recalls how the concept for the song developed. "She had on some pum pum shorts and a little Bob Marley T-Shirt; she just had that island feeling. Watching her flex is how the tune came about."

On “Crazy,” another one of the many ladies anthems that cascade the album, B-Tizzy and R-DeLeon flow collectively on the chorus singing, hey girl/ you're driving me crazy/ got me in the mood/ lady, you're driving me crazy/ girl you turn me on/lady, you're driving me crazy/ come and dance with me…you got what I need…, reminiscing about the "crazy" affect women have on men.

The hip-hop tinged, "Sweet Music” featuring Shad almost didn't make it onto the album," explains R-DeLeon. "This is the one of the songs that we couldn't decide on. At first it was a straight up hip-hop beat, but as time passed and we added more instruments to the production, it started sounding really hot," says R-DeLeon. "We have two different styles that we bring together and that's what creates Team Embassador and helps establish the whole diversity of the group. I have what I like, Tizzy has what he likes, and we bring it together to create what WE like, there's no I in team."

The Soca flavored carnival tune, “Wave It,” puts you in the middle of the carnival, somewhere between the speakers of the big truck and the sound system. If you've ever been to a carnival in the islands, The West Indian Parade on Labor Day in Brooklyn, or even Caribana in Toronto, this is where the revelers hop over the barricades to follow the sound system down the street. The duo chants, "get something and wave it....wave something/ shake something" and the festive carnival vibes comes straight from Trinidad and Jamaica into your ears. "Wave It is a song that came about because of all the dancing, partying, and drinking that that goes on during carnival time. It's a happy time back at home and we wanted to share that feeling on the album," shares B-Tizzy with a smile remembering the many Monday night carnivals he enjoyed in his native land, Montego Bay Jamaica.

The music of the album takes a slightly different turn on rock-edged tune, “That's What's Up” featuring J. Dubowsky from Johnny Lives. She knows just what she wants/ you see it in her eyes/ she walks the way she talks/ she's always on my mind, are the lyrics that usher in this uplifting song about a woman who is extremely intriguing, ultimately coining the phrase and title for the smash. "That's What's Up is a Team Embassador thing, it's something we always say that's caught on to all the people who roll in our circle and since it's so signature TE, we decided to write it into the album," explains R-DeLeon. "People try to classify our sound as reggae/caribbean music but it's interesting that this like many songs on the album has no reggae or island influence at all, yet it still sounds like Team Embassador," he adds.

Team Embassador was formed back in 2002 when R-DeLeon and B-Tizzy met while attending Montclair High School in New Jersey. R-DeLeon's (born Leon Collins) and B-Tizzy (born Sheldon Maxwell) released The Pirates Mixtape a couple years later and managed to develop a huge street following that created a dynamic buzz all over the local circuit eventually establishing their independent label, EMB Music Group.

While The Pirates Mixtapes gained the tri-state areas attention with catchy hooks and appealing lyricism, the duo managed to solicit numerous licensing deals, featuring their work on outlets like MTV, Oxygen Network, UPN, NFL Network, E-True Hollywood Stories, Entertainment Tonight, America's Next Top Model and Access Hollywood. Now with their new album, the first of five completed albums that are in the vault ready for release, Team Embassador is ready to bring their high energy performance on tour. They've already started on the right track bringing audiences to frenzy opening for Def Jam recording artist & songwriter, Ne Yo, for several dates of his New York dates.

While you might need your passport to travel from the U.S. to the islands, for System Overload, all you need to do is load your IPOD, so lace your Chuck Taylor's, and free your mind because Team Embassador's gonna take you from the carnival to the mosh pit and back to the dance floor. And if you catch them bringing the carnival to your city, "get something and wave."

Do you also would like to share your opinion? If so, please register or login here.

Details

Popular Songs

New Songs

Tracklisting

Team Embassador - System Overload