Phony Ppl is pushing the culture forward through music as the group leans on its inspiration to create songs that feel timeless. With the release of the members’ latest album ‘Euphonyus,” they give us a chance to experience legacy in full force as they offer listeners a project that fuses the past, present, and future.

There’s a certain level of beauty to be found in experiencing things for the first time. The initial feeling of hearing the opening lines of Stevie Wonder’s “Songs in the Key of Life” is enough to easily have you returning for more. This contagious energy to explore the bounds of music leads the members of the Phony Ppl – Elbee, Elijah, Matt, Aja, and Bari – into their own journey of music creation and self-reflection.

While each member has their own pathway into becoming a musician, one thing remained consistent– the impact of growing up and constantly being surrounded by music and sounds that touch the soul. This created a feeling that they did not want to stop.

The group's lead singer, Elbee, emphasized the music that raised them (shout out to the R&B Group Blue Magic) and set a standard for creating music and how it should feel. Moved by the idea that they “wanted to recreate this feeling instead of replacing it,” the group masterfully crafted songs like ‘Take It Easy’ and ‘Nowhere But Up’ to produce an album that is equal parts rooted in their inspirations and freedom to create.

We honor the culture by creating space for those who came before us. Their legacy lives and breathes through the songs we sing and the stories we tell. Each generation carries the gift of understanding the Black experience through music. It reflects our greatest loves, fears, and strengths. It’s playing John Coltrane’s ‘In A Sentimental Mood’ on a rainy day or starting the cookout with ‘Before I Let Go’ by Frankie Beverly & Maze.

It’s our culture personified, and it holds a power that demands to be felt. Whether it’s bold like Rihanna, powerful like Tupac, or as smooth as Marvin Gaye – music holds the story of our lives within each melody.

The group’s insightful bass player, Bari Bass, reminded us that “taking all of the experiences and turning it into music is the job description. Every type of experience, at any point in time, can turn into a creative piece”.

With the influence of the group’s friends, teachers, families, and peers to facilitate shaping the music, "Euphonyus' evokes a feeling of progressive nostalgia, which can only be attributed to a dedication to the classics and a worldview shaped by the digital age.

“Euphonyus” is a labor of love meant to inspire by offering tracks “that were a bit more uplifting and danceable.” Mega-talented producer, Ivan Barias, was tapped for the project. The result is a sound that defies genres.

Elijah believes Phony Ppl’s commitment to creating genreless music steps away from the traditional ideology of the Black music artform. They prefer to espouse a message that reflects the group’s desire to disrupt the system that created the concept of genres.

Elijah further explains that music  “genres were born out of segregation. They were born to separate black and white radio stations so that DJs wouldn’t play the ‘wrong music’ for the ‘wrong crowd.’

The “dismissal” of genres from “Euphonyus” essentially is a dismissal of antiquated principles that no longer serve a purpose.

Many popular genres of music, including rock and roll, country and pop, are the children of  blues, jazz and soul. By breaking the chains of musical genres, “Euphonyus” offers listeners a full-circle moment of pure rhythmic ecstasy. The album is “a snapshot of time” that listeners can return to repeatedly.

Through their music, they’ve paid homage to those who have paved the way and broken ground as a group who values the culture and their place within it; they are the ‘Pulse of the Culture.’

You can listen to “Nowhere But Up” by the Phony Ppl and other artists pushing the culture forward on BET’s “Pulse of the Culture” Playlist, now streaming on Spotify and Apple Music.