by SCOTT C

Straight out of Detroit's rich musical history and tradition come two kids who aren't wasting any time making sure things fall in their favour. Curtis "Black" Cross and Ralph "Young R.J." Rice make up the production team B.R. Gunna, a collaborative unit that is responsible for joints from Slum Village, Dwele, J Dilla, Guilty Simpson, Rhian Benson, Royce Da 5'9" and D12's Proof - to name a few.

At just shy of 21, these true young guns are no strangers to the industry. R.J. Rice, executive producer of Barak Records, is father to Young R.J., and Black's cousin was technical support for many Slum Village tours. Connected or not, these guys are making music that's turning a lot of heads. "We were doing ghost production for Slum Village," says Cross, "and I'm not going to say who was getting the credit, but if you listen to the music and check the production credits, you'll hear some programming similar to us on there."

Giving much respect to J Dilla, B.R. Gunna also cite the Neptunes and Just Blaze as constant inspiration in the very competitive world of hip hop production. With tracks like "Don't Hang Up" and "Something Good," the pair keep moving towards the release of their full-length LP. B.R. Gunna join Slum Village, Royce Da 5'9" and Phat Kat for this new leg of the Family Tree tour, but they've already been out on the road, doing their thing. "It's always good to tour with the family, but it's not like this is our first time out there or anything. We opened for Mos Def's tour last year and that was beautiful. We have to keep it up."

With Slum Village, Royce da 5'9" and Phat Kat at Club Dôme on Wednesday, April 6, 9 p.m., $25

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