Elevate. Uplift. Inspire.
Taj Angelo grew up in Los Angeles California where his commitment to peace and unity saved his life, finding his voice through the language and power of hip hop. Taj found his passion for free-styling and storytelling, channeling his early experiences of conflicted inner city life into a way to uplift himself and his community. After moving to the SF Bay Area Taj began a freestyle collective of like minded Emcees and poets, and named this collective, Lyric Foundry in honor of the fire and turbulence from which lyrics, like all great art are forged. Taj combines a deep understanding of spirituality and healing traditions with his musical process, synthesizing his mastery of freestyle with a meticulous dedication to intention and detail in every bar of his rhymes and rhythms.
Craig Laupheimer (Uplift) is a San Francisco Native whose background as an adopted only child caused him to find connection in S.F.'s vibrant community of artists and musicians, discovering a love for creative writing and performing poetry, plays, and free-styling on street corners and cyphers in every neighborhood of San Francisco. While attending the University of Oregon, Craig founded Equilibrium Records with John (C-Well) Carswell, where he met his biggest influence in KRS One and began hip hop performances in Eugene, OR. Upon returning to San Francisco, Craig joined forces with Taj Angelo, and spearheaded the creation of their first mixtape. As Uplift, Craig combines a free flowing intricate style with a dedication to the craft of rap, storytelling and using music as a tool for healing and expanding the hip hop narrative.
Zeta's roots run deep in the East Bay, Where the streets of Oakland and Berkeley nurtured his passion for hip hop and art. Driven by an insatiable desire to create Zeta immersed himself in the cutting-edge world of technology, music curation, and visual arts, honing his skills. Zeta can be found painting, drawing, and tinkering with electronics, analyzing the processes and components required to see any project through to its completion. Zeta prides himself at being at the forefront of innovations and always seems to have the idea that people want to run with. He is a masterful emcee specializing in freestyles that "overflow" with a library like vocabulary. Zeta is a classically trained visual artist he is the visual designer for Lyric Foundry and is also a pro senior product designer in San Francisco.