Thug Life Army

As a thundering 808 bass drum announces the arrival of the latest hip-hop club smash from the rap artists Young Gunz, producer Swizz Beats chants "it's time to Set It Off, it's time to Set It Off." And with a whirlwind of activity surrounding the May 24th release of Brothers From Another, the sophomore effort from Roc-A-Fella Records'' "Youngest In Charge," the Gunners are holding true to their word.

Fresh off of a month long national promotional tour with label-mate rap artist Memphis Bleek culminating in a 3-day Roc-A-Fella Weekend in Miami, the Young Gunz - Chris and Neef - are set to take over BET and MTV next Tuesday, with appearances on BET's Rap City and 106 & Park, and MTV's Direct Effect. The Gunners will then hop on a plane to Los Angeles to shoot a video for their new single "Don''t Keep Me Waiting (Come Back Soon)" featuring 112.

Signed to Roc-A-Fella for years and affiliated with Beanie Sigel's State Property crew, the Young Gunz hit their mark in 2003 with the hip-hop smash single, "Can''t Stop, Won''t Stop." Chris and Neef had arrived. They dropped their debut album, Tough Luv, in 2004. Powered by "Can''t Stop" - nominated for a Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group - and the infectious, "No Better Love," Tough Luv announced the Young Gunz as the next generation of the Roc.

With their second album, Brothers From Another, the future is now. "Nothing too complicated on this one," remarks Young Chris, "This is just me and Neef growing as artists, trying to make the best possible music we can. Letting ourselves expand, try different things, but remain true to who we are."

"Don''t Keep Me Waiting (Come Back)" featuring 112, the absolutely ecstatic summer single, which samples Luther Vandross to dizzying effect, establishes the Gunners as hitmakers.

"That's our summer jam, man," says Young Chris. "We wanted it to have that feeling that the great summer songs have. When I was a kid, you know in Philly, obviously the jam was, 'summertime,'' by Will Smith, ''The plateau where everybody go," So we really wanted to have that feeling with, ''Don''t Keep Me Waiting.''"

On Brothers From Another the Young Gunz are able to effortlessly move from the pop ecstasy of "Don''t Keep Me Waiting" to the real talk of "We Still Here," showing the listener a complete picture of their lives.

"The album is just our everyday life. From the good times to the bad, the struggle and the success, everything is in there. We poured all the experiences we''ve had over the last year into this, and we just tried to shape the record in the same way we live our lives, just as honestly as possible."