Lord T & Eloise

Lord Treadwell and Maurice Eloise XIII (aka Lord T and Eloise) dubbed their own unique rap style “aristocrunk”, a combination of the terms aristocratic and crunk. Aristocrunk, also the name of their first album, is meant to describe both a philosophical lifestyle as well as the musical genre itself. Many songs from their albums Aristocrunk & Chairmen of the Bored are accompanied by harpsichord and baroque style music, while others stay close to the traditional Memphis crunk sound. Lord T’s raps were similar to the slow train lyrical style of Snoop Dogg, Eloise’s style drew more comparisons to Chuck D of Public Enemy. Drawing from a diverse palette of influences, the group admitted that the Beastie Boys, David Bowie, Busta Rhymes, The ODB, 8Ball and MJG, Al Kapone were all been influences. While tracks like “Million Dollar Boots” and “Penthouse Suite” have a more refined, classical edge with the incorporation of strings, other tracks like “Pillz” and “Dance Move” have more of a crunk, dirty south edge to them, featuring 808 drums and a heavy bottom end.

(Lord Treadwell is Justin Timberlake’s guitarist Elliot Ives side project and they are one of the premier draws in Memphis)