Ciphurphace

"An Honest Day’s Work is a damned respectable offering to the underground from an emcee who clearly knows what he is doing."

-Sun Zoo, RealRapReviews.com
- Sun Zoo, RealRapReviews.com

"Baptized in the trial-by-fire traditions that produced razor sharp wordsmiths like Kool G. Rap, Big Daddy Kane, KRS-One, Canibus, Chino XL, Eminem and others, this Asian microphone fiend forged a formidable reputation rocking MC battles and rhyme ciphers across the Southwest "Terror-zona" desert."

"Simply stated, this 20-track album is an underground masterpiece complete with thoughtful street corner battle raps ("TRUTHFULLY, BRUTALLY"), soul baring journal entries ("BREATH OF 100 CIGARETTES"), and state of the industry soapbox sermons ("CLONE & MIMIC")."

-St. Paco, Kung Fu Grip! Zine
- St. Paco, Kung Fu Grip! Zine

"To those not familiar with James, the ink Drifter, Red Dirt, 13 Flok cat, your mind’s senses will be assaulted as soon as you pop this one in and "Forgotten Doctrine" starts playing. From "World Underground: My Humble Abode" on to "The First High" you can tell this cat lives hip hop."

You will completely believe James in "Down Misery Lane" when he says "...I always lived my life as a sick MC" and you can feel it in the music."

-Final Draft, tucsonhiphopscene.com

- Final Draft, tucsonhiphopscene.com

Biggie and Jay-Z came from the East Coast, NWA and Tupac from the West, and Outkast came out of ATL – is there any room in hip-hop for Arizona to represent? According to up-and-coming emcee James Ciphurphace, perhaps there is. Already a local success in ‘Zona, Ciphurphace’s battle-driven lyrics on his official debut LP, An Honest Day’s Work, may be enough to get hip-hop’s attention.

Ciphurphace comes out swinging from start to finish with an array of punch lines and metaphors: imagine Big Daddy Kane from the ‘burbs and on a liter of Red Bull.

James Ciphurphace is a solid first representative for Arizona’s up-and-coming hip-hop scene.

-Jordan Davidoff, OkayPlayer.com - OkayPlayer.com

This cd is one of the best I've heard in a very long time, and probably ever heard. James' music is like Einstein and Confucious combined into one with a dope beat in the background. Basically, his lyrics are the work of a genius and make you think. - Lee Wink

pure - street - raw - authentic...
lets all put our hands together
and welcome hip-hop back - RenDig

A mix between Wu-tang Clan and Jurassic Five...beautiful, classic, a breath of fresh air.
- Alexis aka DeadArm

very dope, authentic, originality... bringing hip-hop back to its essence. - Sudden

Opening act James Ciphurphace is an elder statesman of the Tucson hip-hop scene, having been an artist for the last 16-years with an established battle record. I caught up with Ciphurphace after the show and asked him a couple questions.

AZNB: Where did the name James Ciphurphace come from?

JC: James is actually my middle name. Ciphurphace came from this time when my girlfriend – now wife – and I we're looking at a picture of her and I was like "look at your face. It looks like a cipher face." Like when you're in a cipher of emcees. The way I apply it to hip-hop, like in athletics you got the game face, the coach says give it 110 percent, that's how I do it. I'm 110 percent dedicated and focused and that's what a Ciphurphace means. When an emcee sees that face, it tells him that cat means business.

AZNB: Tell me a little about the new album, An Honest Day's Work?

JC: Basically 20 tracks of some of my best work ever composed. It's battle driven. I'm taking it back to skills on the mic, the overall theme of it is displaying my lyrical wordplay. I'm just letting them know me as a lyricist with this one and the sophomore LP next year is going to be more of a concept album. My camp put An Honest Day's Work out with no distribution or nothing on Flux Jargon music, a label that my friend has got in the works


AZNB: You've been a figure in the Tucson hip-hop scene as long or maybe longer than anybody, how long have you been doing this?

JC: I've been doing this, at least in Tucson, since 1991. I've been in hip-hop since '88. I started emceeing, tried to dabble in some b-boying since the beat street craze but I never really molded that craft because the art of emceeing pulled me in and I realized that's where my gift was. In '88 I was actually in West Germany, father was in the service, that's where it popped off, and that's when I headed to the states, to Arizona. I've been doing' it since '88 in Tucson and came out as an artist in '91
- AZStarnet.com - AZNightBuzz

Kt213: Describe to us what your rapping style is like…what can our viewers expect?

JC: My style is like taking Big Daddy Kane, Kool Keith, Ras Kass, Redman, Chino XL and mixing them all together. It's pure hip-hop laced with raw energy and life....thought-provoking lyricism...punchlines, battle rhymes, concept songs, socially-conscious material...I am versatile....I can touch a lot of subjects.

Kt213: So how did it all start for you?

JC: The madness all started when I first heard Run D.M.C. back in 1983. Also when I was first exposed to Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, Melle Mel, Afrika Bambaataa...the pioneers and pavers of the road! That is when I first fell in love with hip-hop music and culture. It wasn't until the '87-'88 era with artists like the Juice Crew, BDP, EPMD, Public Enemy, Ice-T, Eric B. & Rakim that I first started writing scrolls and reciting rhymes.
- John Lee - Ktown213.com