Biography
New York serves as home base for the rap trio Northern State, whose members make no claim to funky-diva status. Julie “Hesta Prynn” Potash, Correne “Guinea Love” Spero, and Robyn “DJ Sprout” Goodmark assembled the hip-hop-focused group in 2000. All three women hold college degrees and display a polished command of rhyme schemes, positioning themselves to reshape rap’s image for the twenty-first century.
Potash, who completed a theater degree and worked on Hillary Clinton’s 2000 Senate campaign, first encountered Spero and Goodmark during their shared time at Half Hollow Hills High School in Dix Hills, Long Island, in the early 1990s. Spero, trained in audio engineering, earned a women’s-studies diploma from Oberlin College. Goodmark, originally drawn to environmental causes as a self-described hippie, obtained a degree in environmental education and later taught kindergarten. The three shared admiration for Liz Phair, Queen Latifah, De La Soul, and Grand Puba. At a party in mid-2000, Spero and Goodmark floated the playful notion of becoming rappers; the idea led them to spend the following six months inside Potash’s East Village apartment, composing material and refining a distinctive, New York-bred white-girl rap aesthetic.
Northern State first performed live at Luna’s Lounge in April 2001. By year’s end the group had completed more than twenty shows throughout the New York area, attracting early critical notice. Both The Village Voice and Rolling Stone highlighted the trio by the autumn of 2002. Around the same period the members searched for a record deal while circulating a four-song demo, Hip Hop You Haven’t Heard, that had been recorded the preceding January. Their debut album, Dying in Stereo, surfaced on Star Time in June 2003 and drew enthusiastic notices. Columbia soon signed the act and issued the follow-up, All City, in 2004. Dissatisfied with the creative constraints imposed by the major label, the trio extricated itself from the agreement and enlisted Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys along with producer Chuck Brody of Shitake Monkey to craft the third album, Can I Keep This Pen? After reviewing the finished tracks, Mike Patton placed the group on Ipecac’s roster, which released the record in August 2007.
Potash, who completed a theater degree and worked on Hillary Clinton’s 2000 Senate campaign, first encountered Spero and Goodmark during their shared time at Half Hollow Hills High School in Dix Hills, Long Island, in the early 1990s. Spero, trained in audio engineering, earned a women’s-studies diploma from Oberlin College. Goodmark, originally drawn to environmental causes as a self-described hippie, obtained a degree in environmental education and later taught kindergarten. The three shared admiration for Liz Phair, Queen Latifah, De La Soul, and Grand Puba. At a party in mid-2000, Spero and Goodmark floated the playful notion of becoming rappers; the idea led them to spend the following six months inside Potash’s East Village apartment, composing material and refining a distinctive, New York-bred white-girl rap aesthetic.
Northern State first performed live at Luna’s Lounge in April 2001. By year’s end the group had completed more than twenty shows throughout the New York area, attracting early critical notice. Both The Village Voice and Rolling Stone highlighted the trio by the autumn of 2002. Around the same period the members searched for a record deal while circulating a four-song demo, Hip Hop You Haven’t Heard, that had been recorded the preceding January. Their debut album, Dying in Stereo, surfaced on Star Time in June 2003 and drew enthusiastic notices. Columbia soon signed the act and issued the follow-up, All City, in 2004. Dissatisfied with the creative constraints imposed by the major label, the trio extricated itself from the agreement and enlisted Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys along with producer Chuck Brody of Shitake Monkey to craft the third album, Can I Keep This Pen? After reviewing the finished tracks, Mike Patton placed the group on Ipecac’s roster, which released the record in August 2007.
Albums
Singles
