The 49ers


The 49ers is a hip-hop duo from Newark, Delaware and consists of members Jas Mace and Marchitect. They were also the focal members of another hip-hop group called The Outfit. The 49ers are known for their laid-back, jazzy, and soulful hip-hop music.

History

The Outfit

Jas Mace and Marchitect were introduced to each other through little league baseball in their hometown of Newark, Delaware. It was later realized that the two shared more than just a passion for sports, but also for hip-hop music. They began writing raps and recording music at Marchitect's house, which is also where their group's name was created. The origin of the name is the street address of where the two emcees honed their production and emceeing skills.
Marchitect's older brother, Grouchy Greg Watkins co-CEO of AllHipHop.com, organized a group called The Outfit. The Outfit released three 12" singles and a full-length album on Oblique Recordings, a label that was also created by Grouchy Greg Watkins. The first 12" was released in 1995 and featured "Beauty of the Week" b/w "3 Mics, 2 Marks, and 1 Jas." In 1997, The Outfit released their second 12" that featured the songs "Why I Don't Know"/"Day In, Night Out" b/w "The Outfit Presents"/"Rise and Shine." Their final 12" release was in 1999 and featured the singles "Outta Sight" b/w "The Telephone." The 49ers were featured on all three of these releases. In 1999, The Outfit finally released their first and only full-length album called The Soundtrack to Life.

The 49ers

The members of The Outfit eventually went their separate ways, but The 49ers continued recording. In 2007, they released their first full-length album called Equilibrium. The underground success of this album caught the ears of the Japanese record label Goon Trax, a subsidiary music label of Media Factory. This led to their first Goon Trax album called State of the Art. The album included few new songs from The 49ers, and consisted mostly of previously released songs from The Soundtrack to Life and Equilibrium. Included on the album was the 12" single that featured the songs "Breath of Fresh Air", "Champagne", and "Music." The 12" single also included a remix of "Breath of Fresh Air" that was produced by DJ Chika of Cradle Orchestra. In 2009, Goon Trax released The 49ers' second album in Japan called The Ultrasound.
After two albums on Goon Trax, in 2011 The 49ers decided to move in another direction splitting with the label and releasing their 4th album called Musaic, this time on Libyus Music. The album's title is a play on two words: Music and Mosaic. According to their website, The 49ers "wanted all the songs to have their own flavor and color, but to come together and make a complete picture. Like a musical mosaic, hence Musaic.” In the same year, The 49ers also released a collaboration album with the Japanese production unit ZDW!? called Soulstice. The album featured various concepts and instruments providing a unique blend of both American and Japanese flavor. Not wasting much time, a year later in 2012, The 49ers sought the help of P-Vine Records to release their 5th album in Japan called The World Record. Staying true to their goal of spreading authentic Hip-Hop throughout the world, the album features many producers and artists from Korea, Japan, France, United States, England, Jamaica, New Zealand, Taiwan, Australia, and Poland. Featured on the album are platinum selling America Hip-Hop artist Positive K and the Japanese Hip-Hop group Samurai Troops aka SMRYTRPS.
In 2006, The 49ers were featured in, and produced the Portobello Film Festival award winning documentary Guilty or Innocent of Using the N Word. Since 2007, The 49ers have been featured on many albums and compilations released in Japan. Their most successful release is titled "Imagine" and was featured on Re:plus' album called Everlasting Truth. In 2013, The 49ers and Tribeca provided the rapping vocals for "Never Say Never", the opening theme of the Japanese anime series, . In 2015, SoulChef and Jas Mace of The 49ers provided music for a Sonos television advert that was narrated by A Tribe Called Quest's Q-Tip. The song is called "We Gon Turn It Out" and was originally released on SoulChef's Here and Now album. The 49ers' provided a song for episode #38 of Japan's Netflix Original Series called Terrace House. The episode aired on July 19, 2016 and the song featured was "Dope Emcee," originally released on the World Record album.

Discography

The Outfit