’92 Discuss Their Favourite Long Beach, CA Artists

Long Beach is a well-known locale within Los Angeles County for its culture and music, with ’92 being one of its latest products. And the band wears those influences on their sleeves, a genre-bending ensemble with no regard for categorizations. They combine the aggressiveness of hardcore with the street-level influence of gangster rap and G-Funk. Where the G-Funk comes in is within the swagger, and the gangster rap is evident within the band’s expertise in storytelling. There are so many influences within ’92’s sound, but you may think of them as a grittier, heavier, modern-day version of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

’92’s latest release is their self-titled debut EP, released last month via Rude Records. Consisting of five songs, the EP explores themes of rebellion that are rooted within the 1992 Los Angeles riots that began in response to the acquittal of four police officers in the death of Rodney King. This type of commentary aligns with their stated mission to speak up for the unheard and take a stand. It’s the type of political commentary that the world needs now. The band has been working on these songs since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Finally, they are seeing the light of day, and ’92 is wasting no time putting people on notice that they are a force to be reckoned with.

The members of ’92 join us today and, much like a Top 10 feature, offer a rundown of their all-time favourite Long Beach area artists.

Nick Sturz: “We are from both Long Beach and the Antelope Valley, so I’ll include artists from the greater LA area. In addition, are some other honourable mentions.”

1. Dr. Dre

“I grew up with a big family that would party all the time, and The Chronic was the soundtrack to many of those parties during the early ’90s. So, from a very early age, I became familiar with the way those songs made you feel. The instrumentals are infectious, and you have no choice but to bob your head. And that was something I definitely wanted to incorporate into ’92s sound.”

2. Rage Against The Machine

“Really not too much of an explanation needed here. I’ve been listening to Rage for as long as I can remember. While the instrumentals are embedded into my brain and heavily influence the way I write music, the things Zach De La Rocha talks about in their songs become more real as I delve deeper into adulthood and have my own experiences trying to stay afloat inside capitalist America.”

3. Snoop Dogg / Warren G / Nate Dogg

“Gotta lump these into one, as they heavily contributed to the formation of the G-funk sound that we all know and love today. They took influence from funk icons (mainly Parliament and George Clinton) and added a gangster rap twist to it that basically created a new genre. Much of it is sourced in Long Beach around V.I.P. Records. We want to make a further contribution by taking that G-funk sound and adding a more aggressive, punk/hardcore-inspired twist to it. But instead of talking about gang shit, we want to speak to the greater economic issues at play and address solutions that will heal the hoods of America. The music is just one small part of that.”

4. Onyx

Brandon DeVincenzo: “Onyx plays a huge influence on ’92. The vocals are raw, gritty, and in your face, just like a hardcore band and Suicidal Tendencies… No explanation needed.”

Quinn Barnum: “I really like the sounds of late ’80s to early ’90s alt-rock, the kind of stuff you could call ‘proto-nu-metal.’ Of these bands, Faith No More happens to resonate with me the best. The way the Beastie Boys are able to express their punk roots through hip-hop is something I look up to. They can craft a sound with an ethos and vibe that compliments the respective styles while still feeling relatively authentic to what they are trying to do.”

’92 ‘’92’ album artwork