Malice and Mario Sweet, the “foremost man and wife of Northwest R&B,” break into Doc Brown’s shop and hijack (temporarily, I’m sure) the DeLorean for a quick spin back to their wedding day. “Fantasee Island” was release in celebration of the duo’s sixth wedding anniversary, from their ’80s loving nostalgia piece, Enjoy Like Love.
Photo courtesy of the artists’ Facebook page.
THE SIX is a regular interview feature on 206UP.COM with a simple format: One member of the local hip hop community and six questions. For past editions click here.
The Physics had the best Seattle hip hop album of 2013 — by this website’s estimation, anyway — with Digital Wildlife. And that record wouldn’t have come together as well as it did without the musical talents of the group’s two vocalists: real-life couple Malice (given name: Crystal) and Mario Sweet. Their R&B harmonies with The Physics generally act as subtle but vital backdrops to the crew’s deep hip hop roots, and the natural chemistry they share with rappers Thig Nat and Monk Wordsmith, and producer/rapper Justo, makes for the most appealing collaborations in Seattle rap.
Malice and Mario stepped out on their own with 2011’s Happy 2 Year, a celebration of both their love for music and second wedding anniversary. H2Y was followed in July of 2013 by Enjoy Like Love, an upbeat collection of original songs unapologetically inspired by R&B/soul from the ’80s and ’90s, as well as pop culture touchstones from those decades. For those of us born in the late ’70s and early ’80s, Enjoy Like Love feels like an audio love letter written just for us.
Malice and Mario jumped on THE SIX to answer questions about their backgrounds in music, what it’s like performing and touring as The Physics, and what their musical futures might hold.
Malice and Mario Sweet, the indispensable back-up vocalists for The Physics, recently dropped their second excursion into hip hop/R&B/soul territory: Enjoy : Like : Love. The record takes its cues mainly from the ’80s, with big hooks and heaping amounts of danceable pop-funk. I commented to Malice the other day on Twitter that Enjoy : Like : Love is the type of music I listen to every day, the type that fits in any occasion, and always leaves the soul smiling.
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