Jayryde & Lil Sleep Da KingThe mighty Mississippi River has been a major artery for music distribution since the earliest days of jazz and the blues. For generations, music has traveled from the mouth of this majestic tributary down in New Orleans, up through Memphis, on to St. Louis and as far North as Minneapolis. Although the genres have evolved into soul, R&B and hip-hop over the generations, not much has changed in the way this powerful pathway connects cultures from the bottom of the map to the top.  Case in point is hip-hop tag team Jayryde & Lil Sleep Da King. Both were raised in North St. Louis and bring the best in hot, buttered lyrics to the table. But Jayryde boats a nail-biting hardcore style while Lil Sleep Da King borrows from his dance-laden New Orleans background with an R&B appeal. Together, they formed We Already Rich conglomeration and brought the both worlds with their 2015 mixtape High Definition. Now after brining the spotlight back to their city, they are loading up once again with their much-anticipated follow-up High Definition 2 and seductive lead single “She Likes to Dance.”                                                                                            “When you got two people who are street but one is more real and the other has a more club feel, you gone have a good record every time,” explains Sleep. “We make music to make girls dance, music for the street and music that makes you feel good.” Jayryde agrees, “Our music is influenced by the South but it’s influenced by music from all over. And it gives us our own style. Sleepy’s style is real melodic. I’m basically straight street, switching up styles in the middle of the verse, swagging on the track, riding the beat.” Sleepy was born in Louisiana and later moved to The Gateway City as a child. He spent many summers down South and began recording his music in ninth grated. In his tenth grade year, he gained local attention with a 10-song mixtape he and a high school friend had recorded and distributed through school. Jayryde was already a staple in the local music scene. He had already amassed a following of fans with mixtapes series Don’t Sleep on Sleepy 1 and 2 and The Phenom 1, 2 and 3. This dynamic duo joined forces after Jayryde got ahold of some of Sleepy’s music through a mutual acquaintance.  “I heard about Sleep for a few years,” Jayryde recalls. “And then, I heard some of his music. I was like ‘damn, this shit is kinda hot. We need to put our heads together, do a project and make something great, for real.’” And that’s exactly what they did. Of the first joints they recorded together, the single “Drugs” from The Phenom 2 in 2013 became an instant regional hit. After pushing out well-received singles “Neva,” “Aye,” “She Got It” and “Celebration” featuring Shan as well as 2015 collaboration mixtape High Definition, Jayryde & Lil Sleep Da King is giving their city the shine it deserves.  “St. Louis has been off the scene for a while so people don’t know what to expect,” says Jay Ryde. “Most people around here are doing the street type of drill music, Chicago-type of music, but we are versatile. We don’t sound like nobody else and that definitely is key.” Jayryde & Lil Sleep Da King are now on the verge of dropping their much anticipated project High Definition 2, fueled by the energetic and exotic lead single “She Likes to Dance.”  “We feed off each other,” says Lil Sleep Da King. “Jayryde is more hood but I sing and rap. Our music is hood but we bring that commercial feel that can touch everywhere.”