NEW NOISE
UNITYTX
They’re the Texan band mixing hardcore and hip hop in exciting new ways – and making space for minority artists in the process
WORDS: ALEX DELLER • PICTURES: KAT MARTINEZ
IF THE BEST new music tends to catch you unawares, hearing metallic hip hop act UnityTX for the first time is like opening the door to a surprise party and getting a party popper to the face. The band’s mix of rap, hardcore, industrial and nu metal allows them to blend earworm catchiness and effortless groove with juddering, hip-stomping heaviness to exhilarating effect. Having honed their craft for the best part of a decade and lit up stages alongside the likes of Silverstein, Deez Nuts and The Acacia Strain, they’re now preparing to take on the world -and make a positive change while they do it.
“My whole motive was to open the door for kids who look like me,” says UnityTX frontman Jay Webster. “It’s alienating to be in a circle of people who claim to be outcasts but don’t accept you being there. And once you speak out on things like this, you start to get more naysayers -people are like, ‘Why does it have to be about colour?’ Well, because wherever you look there are no Black or Hispanic people!”