Phony Ppl is a young Brooklyn crew that immersed themselves in the classical art of being a true “band”. This is something quite uncommon within hip hop and R&B circles, however. The “band mentality” is actually dying off in R&B and never came to true fruition in hip hop outside of the Roots and a few others. Yet, this is how they best function. With Phonyland, they accomplish something quite remarkable: the construction of their own unique genre called Brooklyn Soul.

The beauty of Phony Ppl is that they never try to be classified as anything outside of their own genre. On “4 the 1st Time.”, you witness the collective having a crew mic check with free-flowing rhymes that caresses the funk-jazzy production in the background. Yet, when one listens to the upbeat “morning light.”, they are taken into a world of vibrating R&B. Then, with “John Jay.”, you get something even jazzier due to the singing and improvisational like approach to the making of the music. All of these contrasting approaches actually come together to work. In turn, Phony Ppl are quite unique because they work off of a vibe instead of a laser focus of making a “type” of music.

The production, in its own right, is as diverse as the musical approach of the emcees/lyricists/singers. “Current Events” comes with some heavy synths and bass heaviness that works with the message laden lyrics. Right after that, a more cosmic sounding, keyboard heavy “Break It Off.” comes in to show a different side of the crew. Yet, the majority of the album is really as acoustic as “Does He Really.” in more forms of variation. If there is any confusion about any of this, just know that the collective comes together to make “music”.

Phonyland is just that: as self-titled as the music comes across as. More than anything, this “band of brothers” come together to organically construct music that they life. Sometimes, its R&B and other times it may be hip hop. But instead of sounding like a forced commercial approach to reach audiences, it comes off more fluid and like-minded. In the end, Phony Ppl are masters at purveyors of Brooklyn Soul and we are just visitors in their land.