Keelay and Zaire
Encyclopedia
Kyle "Keelay" Pierce and Tim "Zaire" Lewis (born March 1, 1980), better known as Keelay & Zaire, are hip hop
producers from the San Francisco, California
and Newport News, Virginia
areas respectively. The production team met on an online message board.
, now resides in San Francisco, California, and is in charge of the duo's West Coast production headquarters, The Torta Oven. Keelay is a talented producer who got his start in hip hop by working with the likes of Cali Agents
, Fortilive, and Saafir
, prominent emcees within the hip hop genre.
Zaire, originating from Dayton, Ohio
, now resides in Newport News, Virginia
, and supplies the other half of the production work from Sole Vibe Studios East, located in Newport News as well. On the east coast, Zaire maintains a constant flow of music by collaborating with local Virginian artists, most notably emcee/songwriter Khizman of Trophy Winner Records, a native of the city of Norfolk, VA, and Newport News' own singer/songwriter Jonathan Moore.
Keelay & Zaire released a free EP
in January 2009 entitled 'Prelude To Drive EP' on Myx Music Label, featuring artists such as Supastition
, Khizman and Tiffany Paige, and will release their debut LP 'Ridin' High' on February 24, 2009.
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
producers from the San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
and Newport News, Virginia
Newport News, Virginia
Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...
areas respectively. The production team met on an online message board.
Biography
Keelay, originally from the city of Salt Lake City, UtahSalt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
, now resides in San Francisco, California, and is in charge of the duo's West Coast production headquarters, The Torta Oven. Keelay is a talented producer who got his start in hip hop by working with the likes of Cali Agents
Cali Agents
The Cali Agents are a rap group consisting of California rappers, Rasco and Planet Asia. The group released their debut album, How the West Was One , which featured the single "Good Life"...
, Fortilive, and Saafir
Saafir
Reggie Gibson, better known as Saafir is an emcee, producer and actor from Oakland, California. After moving from Fresno, California to Oakland, he lived with Tupac Shakur and became a dancer for Digital Underground...
, prominent emcees within the hip hop genre.
Zaire, originating from Dayton, Ohio
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
, now resides in Newport News, Virginia
Newport News, Virginia
Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...
, and supplies the other half of the production work from Sole Vibe Studios East, located in Newport News as well. On the east coast, Zaire maintains a constant flow of music by collaborating with local Virginian artists, most notably emcee/songwriter Khizman of Trophy Winner Records, a native of the city of Norfolk, VA, and Newport News' own singer/songwriter Jonathan Moore.
Keelay & Zaire released a free EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
in January 2009 entitled 'Prelude To Drive EP' on Myx Music Label, featuring artists such as Supastition
Supastition
Supastition is an underground hip hop artist from Greenville, North Carolina, now living in Charlotte. He has worked with rappers like KRS-One, Cunninlynguists, and Little Brother....
, Khizman and Tiffany Paige, and will release their debut LP 'Ridin' High' on February 24, 2009.
Solo
- 2006: "The Sole Vibe-The Appetizer"
- 2006: "Smoke and Mirrors (The Sole Vibe Remixes)"
- 2007: "Ridin High EP"
- 2009: "Prelude To Drive EP", CD
- 2009: "Ridin' High", LP/CD
Production Credits
- 2005: "Scion CD Sampler Vol.12"
- 2007: "NCAA College Hoops 2k7"
- 2007: Emilio Rojas-"A Breath Of Fresh Air"
- 2007: Surreal-"Intelligent Design"
- 2008: Shaya-"Fallen Awake"
- 2008: Supastition-"Leave Of Absence EP (Digital Version)"
- 2008: Crew 54-"Aggressive Soul"
- 2008: DJ JRonin-"All Elements Mixtapes Vol. 8, 9 and 10"
- 2008: Evangillest-"Quit Ya Dayjob Mixtape"
- 2010: Mario Dones-"Ring To It"