Winston-Salem Rap Duo Speak N’ Eye Releases New Album "Cypher At The Gates of Dawn"

Winston-Salem rap duo Speak N' Eye started performing together back in 2010. Made up of brothers Aaron and Josh Brookshire, they've released a steady stream of distinctive hip-hop that pulls inspiration from rock, punk and experimental music.

They've been putting their rhymes to the grindstone, and with production from Baltimore rapper/producer Height Keech, they're dropping their new album, Cypher At The Gates of Dawn. The album will be released on June 18, and celebrated with a release party at Monstercade in Winston-Salem on June 20.

WFDD's Eddie Garcia talked with the brothers about their early days of making music, the Winston-Salem creative community, and creating art with family.

Interview Highlights

On their early days playing music:

AB: I was playing live music when I was like 11 or 12 years old, live on the beach at Emerald Isle at this strip mall that all the kids would hang out at on Friday nights. I discovered that they had outlets under the benches, and we would roll these huge amps out on skateboards and we'd just play live - busking basically. And then when Josh went to college in Greenville, he would take me to shows when I was in high school. It kind of tied in with the whole East Coast underground music thing.

On the Winston-Salem creative community:

JB: After I moved here from having such a close-knit community in Greenville, I felt a little bit of self-pity. I used to think, "Is there anyone here doing any of that? Where are all the cool kids?" Through trial and tribulation and random chance encounters, we finally connected both ends of the wire together, and now it's beautiful. The city of Winston-Salem has a beautiful diversity and scope, of not only the music scene, but also the visual arts scene, the cooking scene, everything downtown. It's beautiful. It's a lovely city to be in, and everyone's so passionate. We're really grateful to have a spot and people that support us here.

On being brothers making music together:

JB: Nothing's really changed since we were little kids. No matter how old we get we still have a childlike nature between us. We have times where we'll fight. We're brothers, that's what happens. But he's my best friend. This man is my blood. See, that's the one advantage that we have over most bands, is you can't break up family like that.

AB: Exactly. We're not going anywhere.