Last time I spoke with Terrell Jones and Dometi Pongo, the high-schoolers had just launched their first rap album. Back then, their group, called SG, had a recording studio in a large closet that one of their moms cleaned out for them. That was two years ago, but I still remember the two enthusiastic teens, and I was excited to hear from them again.
The 2007 TF North grads called me last week with some big news.
"We have this song 'Get it jukin.' We're trying to gain popularity for it," Pongo said. "We wanted another chance to establish ourselves. A lot of people have been asking what we've been doing lately."
Radio stations 107.5 WGCI and Power 92 have received copies, and the future music stars hope their hometown shows support by calling in to request the new single.
Jones and Pongo also talked about a new challenge they face - distance.
Pongo attends Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville and is majoring in business administration and minoring in marketing. His dream is to start a record label. Jones is still in the south suburbs networking and working on music. They said they communicate a lot via e-mail, but with Pongo home on winter break, they have been getting a lot done.
Their album, "Time to Claim the Throne," should hit CD players this month. They have already completed 16 songs, and this time they purchased studio time. They have also added new members to their group including producers and a singer, also TF North grads.
Their sound is a mix of rap and hip-hop.
"Right now, we feel like our music shows talent," Pongo said. "The music is more mature. We have a lot more confidence in this next project, and this is the one we're pushing the most."
"We make music for teenagers," Jones said. "Some songs might be about love. Or some songs might be about pain you're going through or going to the club with your friends. Usually you have hip-hop artists or rappers, but our music is both. We have songs about society, and we also have songs about partying. We have songs for pretty much every mood - songs from love songs to songs about why we hate love."
For information, visit http://www.myspace.com/straightguttasg or e-mail str8guttasg@yahoo.com.
"Our main plan is to get a record deal, so we can take the music to another level," Jones said. "And show them, from a teenager's point of view, and that we do have talent and can reach all types of people. Chicago is a happening place, and we always get overlooked. We want to show them the real side of Chicago."
The opinions are solely those of the writer.
