L.A. Symphony

L.A. Symphony is a Los Angeles-based, Christian hip hop collective formed in 1997 by Cookbook, Flynn Adam, Sareem Poems, Uno Mas, Joey the Jerk, Pigeon John, BTwice, and J-Beits (Great Jason).

What started as a Bible study that frequently ended in freestyling led to the formation of a crew. The success of independent debut Composition No. 1 led to the album getting picked up by Eartube Empire and an eventual record deal with Squint Entertainment. The group’s major label debut Call It What You Want was set to be released in April of 2001 when Squint Entertainment folded, its assets sold to Warner Bros., and the album was never released.

The group persevered, independently releasing the EP Baloney, which saw their biggest success when the track “King Kong” was featured in the soundtrack of the video game Tony Hawk’s Underground.

L.A. Symphony then signed with Gotee Records, releasing two LPs, The End Is Now (2003) and Disappear Here (2005), as well as an EP, Less Than Zero (2005), to promote Disappear Here. During this time, Pigeon John, bTwice, and J-Beits left the group.

In 2007, the group released a mixtape of rarities and remixes, Unleashed, after which they went on a hiatus from 2009-2012.

The group reunited with all eight original members in 2014 for the release of You Still On Earth? in honor of their 15th anniversary. It was the first album to feature the original eight members since 2003.

Former members: Coy, J-BoogiE, Trendi MC