Detroit: (de-chroit’) noun ‘(1)An economically poor, crime-ridden American city. (2)A mujsically rich, soul-inspiring American city, where RobOnBass was born.

R.O.B was raised in a community where it seemed everyone sang or played an instrument, and even if you weren’t a musician, your love of music was something you took very seriously in Detroit. Now, with more factory closings and a murder rate twice that of New York’s, the people cling more than ever to the hope and redemption they find, that we all find, in music.

R.O.B. started out on the guitar, but soon switched to bass after a friend told him that he was playing the guitar like a bass, thumping and plucking on it and playing bass lines. Thus began a linfe-long practice of R.O.B.’s of using unorthodox techniques.

At 17, he entered Berklee College of Music, where he majored in audio engineering. After two years at Berklee and a few years of playing “other people’s music” in nightclubs and casinos across the country, RobOnBass felt the need to move to New York to perform in the venue that probably allows the most artistic freedom in the world — the streets of New York City.

Today he plays the TrebleBass(TM), a unique ten-string instrument that has a four-string bass and a six-string guitar on one neck. R.O.B. employs a variety of techniques — thumping, tapping, strumming, harmonics, scratching, and more — and applies them simultaneously on independent parts to produce his innovative sound. His 1992 solo album (RobOnBass: Straight from the Street) received international critical acclaim.

New York City in the 1970’s and 80’s: DJ’s Grand Wizard Theodore and Grand Master Flash are battling in the park in the Washington Projects, the Rock Steady Crew are break-dancing and boggieing at Roxy’s, Afrika Bombaata and the Zulu Nation are just beginning to organize, graffiti artists are bombing the trains, everybody’s hanging out at the school yard jams, and an impressionable, enthusiastic child drummer and dancer, raised in Harlem and The Bronx, is given the name LOCKATRON, and he is there to witness and participate in the birth of not only a musical style, but arguably one of the most important cultural and political movements in history — hip hop.

In his early teens, LOCK and the uptown dance crews headed downtown to make money dancing on the streets, unknowingly acting as early ambassidors of hip hop. Soon, he was bringing his drums downtown as well, rocking the streets with real funk beats.

Expanding his role as street-level cultural ambassador, LOCK went on to travel the world as a street performer, adding singing, rapping, percussion, and an audio engineering certificate from Center for the Media Arts to his arsenal. He displays these talents on his first album (The Next Generation: Positioned for the Kill), recorded in Tolky.

LOCK always returns to his roots, and can often be found performing on the streets of New York City, bringing his music straight to the people and making great music and cultural enrichment accessible to all, ideals to which he remains dedicated.

Today, more than ever, to say that you are “from the streets” seems to be the greatest claim of credibility for recording artists. This phrase has different meanings, but in the case of this musical duo, the claim could not be more literal. They are both street musicians in New York City, and the street is where they met, where they write all their music, where they rehearse, and at the time of the release of the album below, the street is exclusively where they perform and earn their living.

And so, LOCK & R.O.B.’s unique and pioneering sound is a combination of two factors: (1) the streets, and (2) the full musical orchestration achieved by just these two musicians. LOCK’s creativity and polyrhythmic abilities on the drums are a signt to behold and a sound to be inspired by. R.O.B. has for years amazed audiences with his imaginative solo work, playing indepenent parts with a variety of techniques in his ongoing search for the fullest soulful sound one man can produce.

LOCK & ROB met and began playing together five years ago. They have since worked on honing their sound and melding their unque individual abilities in to a cohesive unit. The result is this innovative album — a product of focused and inspired dedication to one thing alone — making great music …