Somewhere within a city known for its indie rocking, coffee drinking, bike riding hipsters, the True School Hip-Hop group Animal Farm has spread its infectious sound and won over a wide variety of listeners. Portland, OR’s favorites are back with their new album, Culture Shock. The album features a host of legends including Talib Kweli, X-Ecutioners’ DJ Rob Swift as well as Abstract Rude. The first single, “Test of Time”, which features the incomparable Talib Kweli, has been featured by URB Magazine, Rcrdlbl.com, Nah Right, 2dopeboyz, djbooth, hiphopsite, hiphopdx, okayplayer, and hundreds more, and is a great example of Animal Farm’s ability to blend a soulful, funky sound with potent lyricism. Have a listen to the single, which received over 10,000 online plays in its first week, here. According to Okayplayer, “Talib Kweli jumped on this soulful track with Portland’s hip-hop kings Animal Farm with predictably strong results. If they keep growing joints like this down on the farm, the Pacific Northwest could be a new mecca for true-school rap."

The follow up to “Test of Time” was Animal Farm’s hilarious first video, “Pop Music”, which chronicles the rise of a pop star and his fall from glory. In “Pop Music”, Animal Farm’s Fury, Serge Severe, Gen.Erik, and Hanif Wondir use clever wordplay by utilizing the names of numerous pop acts to tell this entertaining tale. The video has been featured on OnSmash, the Smoking Section, Hypem, KevinNottingham.com, and many more.

Culture Shock was entirely produced by group member Gen. Erik, whose production has appeared on MTV and a new behind the scenes Powerade commercial with NBA Superstar Chris Paul. Animal Farm’s “Back in the Days”, which appears on Culture Shock, was also recently featured on NBC and MTV2's coverage of the Dew Tour.

Animal Farm first burst onto the scene in 2008 with the album The Unknown, which earned the group high acclaim from XLR8R magazine and URB Magazine’s Next 1000 column, partially due to an unforgettable guest appearance by the legendary KRS-One. The album was also featured on a number of prominent websites, including hiphopdx.com and okayplayer.com, and received radio play throughout the US, peaking at #3 on the CMJ Radio Hip-Hop Charts, where Animal Farm remained in the Top 10 for seven straight weeks.

Animal Farm has risen to defy the odds and create a dedicated following by sharing stages with significant Hip-Hop acts to touch down on Northwest soil in the past five years, including Common, Method Man, Redman, LMFAO, GZA, RZA, Ghostface Killah, Wiz Khalifa, N.E.R.D., KRS-One, The Cool Kids, De La Soul, The Game, Del, Dead Prez, Talib Kweli, Ozomatli, and more. They have also toured and participated in festivals such as CMJ Music Marathon, The Dew Tour, MusicFest NW, SXSW, and NW Reggae Fest, to help build their buzz.

Animal Farm’s Hanif Wondir, Fury, Serge Severe, Gen.Erik, and DJ Wels are poised and ready to make good on a promise made by Hiphoplinguistics.com, which claimed "It won’t be too long before Animal Farm becomes a favorite among hip hop heads." Culture Shock delivers the goods.
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