HYDRA

GMS and Wild Child met in Grade School and soon collaborated on their first Hip Hop song – a homework assignment where they rapped and beatboxed their report. By Junior High they began earning their stripes in local contests and talent shows and by high school Wild Child’s younger brother LR Blitzkrieg joined the group. 

Growing up in Brooklyn, the trio strived to surpass the lyrical mastery of their “Golden Era” role models. They began to make noise in the underground music scene, performing all over New York, battling rivals with their crew, The PLAGUE.

For awhile, the three entered as many open mics and competitions as possible, gaining valuable stage experience. They formed HYDRA in 1999 and when it became clear that HYDRA could attract a crowd to fill a venue, promoters and club owners began booking them. They performed at S.O.B.’s, Knitting Factory, The Tunnel, China Club, CBGB’s, Wetlands, Joe’s Pub, The Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Lion’s Den, Downtime, Pyramid, Marc Ballroom, Culture Club, Southpaw, at several colleges and Lyricist Lounge events, just to name a few.

The strength of their following led GMS & LR Blitzkrieg to create STORMTROOPERS ENTERTAINMENT, producing and promoting Hip Hop concerts, parties and events in NYC for several years. In 2006, they replaced Stormtroopers with their current brand MCMI Incorporated, under which they have developed MCMI Records, MCMIreport.com, MCMI Apparel, MCMI Studios, MCMI Radio and MCMI Warzone (MC battle league).

Over the years, HYDRA’s lyricism, musicality and showmanship developed them a following and earned them mentions in The Source, Trace, Stress, Mass Appeal & Frank151, dozens of music websites, and a few appearances on local Hip Hop radio.

For years, HYDRA focused on collaborations with members of their crew The PLAGUE, releasing 2 CD’s, “The Plague: Gang Green” and “The Plague: 28 Tracks Later“, appearing on highly acclaimed QN5 Music’s EF@MM album “Happy F*ck You Songs”, PUMPKINHEAD’s “Orange Moon Over Brooklyn” (Rawkus/SoulSpasm) and other Hip Hop mixtapes and compilations.

In 2010, they focused on the release of the album “Know The Ledge” by Plague member and label-mate PH (formerly ‘Pumpkinhead’). GMS & LR Blitzkrieg appeared on the song Never Had, Never Will and LR Blitzkrieg was also on the album’s lead-off single County of Kings.

Individually, Keith “WildChild” Middleton joined the cast of the musical sensation STOMP at the Orpheum Theater, later touring the world with the show, doing a 3 year residency in Las Vegas, staring in films, commercials, HBO Specials and TV Drama’s as an actor and musician. During this time WildChild performed at The Oscars (Academy Awards), on David Letterman, Jay Leno and even Sesame Street, teaching kids how to make music with bobby percussion and found instruments. He wrote and/or produced some off-Broadway Theater productions and even did some choreography and comedic writing for the hit animated film “ROBOTS“.

While WildChild was performing with STOMP and working in theater, film and television, LR Blitzkrieg was further developing the MCMI brand as a graphic artist, creating the designs for MCMI Apparel, logos and album covers, while GMS started DJing and working on his own music production, dropping several DJ mixtapes and the single “Freedom (How We Get)” with singer Chordz Cordero, in January 2012.

On December 23, 2012, HYDRA released a one-off concept single called “Twelve” , in collaboration with Plague members PackFM, Substantial & MrMecc, on MCMI Records. The song was inspired by the number 12, which was the original amount of members in The PLAGUE (-aka-Army of the Twelve Monkeyz). It was recorded on 12/12/12, each MC on the song spit 12 bars, etc. Although a Plague song, it was marketed as a collaboration between two sub-groups DOMINION & HYDRA and is the first time the name “HYDRA” appeared as the artist on any official release.

In 2013, they decided to put out the HYDRA song “Love Is“, originally a demo, that had gotten a lot of praise at performances, as a digital single on MCMI Records. Both “Twelve” and “Love Is” feature the production of WildChild, the main producer of the group.

HYDRA is currently in the studio working on a project that will feature all three members as individual artists, as well as a group. This is slated to come out sometime in 2015. In the meantime, WildChild is releasing his solo spoken word debut “TRANSITIONS“, a unique merging of his original production and poetry written as he lay up recuperating from a near-fatal car accident. The singles, Supreme, B.M.F and FeelsGood are available now with pre-order of the full album, here. You can check the videos for B.M.F & FeelsGood at YouTube.com/MCMIreport.