Gnotes is a multi-instrumentalist producer and underground MC from Seattle. Lyrically taut and musically sound, Gnotes layers his boom-bap beats with politically-charged lyrics for a unique style of bohemian outernational hip-hop.

    Born Sean Dwyer in Seattle, Washington, Gnotes been playing guitar, bass and drums since he was selling home-dubbed casettes of his grunge band out of his backpack at recess in the 5th grade.

   Deliberate like a judge, but funky like an ol' batcha collered shirts, Gnotes sharpened his fangs freestyling in the global cipher while touring abroad in Cuba, Italy, and Brazil. After being recruited to play college football in Boston, Gnotes refined his flow performing on-stage at live shows with Devin the Dude, Louis Logic, Glue, and CunninLynguists, in addition to regular performances with Gnawledge label-mates Elemental Zazen and Afro DZ ak

      With rhymes like razor blades, Gnotes cuts to the point with a sincere passion and progressive political focus. This is hip-hop with a purpose: "Seeking a change in position / against the same evil forces that keep history in repetition."

     Torn between dirty breaks and distorted electric guitars, Gnotes brings together his diverse talents as a poet and musician for the new album Rhymes and Beats. Rooted in live instrumentation and progressive lyricism, Rhymes and Beats is a 21st century outernational hip-hop record with a tinge of nostalgia for 90s grunge and golden era rap.

     With beats made of bangers&mash, Rhymes and Beats features ten riddims self-produced by Gnotes, plus four exceptional tracks contributed by J.Ferra, Organizer, Scroll and Boogie Cy. Content on either side of the blurry border between electronic and organic music, Gnotes pushes further the expanding boundaries of hip-hop.

     Released October 9, 2007, Rhymes and Beats reached #25 on the CMJ Hip-Hop Radio Charts, while impressing critics from California to Massachussetts:

"Gnotes mixes different styles, delivers masterpiece with Rhymes and Beats... Gnotes blends lush production and thoughtful lyrics to form some of the best hip-hop in the world."
-- Ben Conant @ The Equinox

"Rhymes and Beats is a series of songs that exposes the diligent work of a man that raps like he's been waiting for this album his whole life... Few are shining brighter than gNotes right now."
-- PM Masterson @ Audiversity

"Musically it is innovative and pleasing, [with] care and effort put into virtually every bar in every verse, in each and every song - you can tell that Gnotes burns with a passion to be the best that he can be"
-- Jesal 'Jay Soul' Padania @ RapReviews

"With flowing lyrics that mirror Beck, and drumbeats that parallel Quest Love, Gnotes brings together revolutionary ideas and a revolutionary feel to his music." 
-- Matt Fulone @ Le Provocateur

   

     Following the 2004 release of his debut MC album Broken Spoke, Gnotes embarked on a creative detour from traditional hip-hop, recording a pair of concept albums in order to develop his art in preparation for Rhymes and Beats.

     The first album, 2005's Flow From Above, was dedicated to rhymes, featuring Gnotes in a cipher of spoken-word poets, exploring issues related to global justice and social responsibility.

     In contrast, Gnotes' next album was dedicated exclusively to beats. Composed as wordless dialogue between rappers, Inthrumental features Gnotes on the slide guitar and Afro DZ ak on the trumpet.

     After dissecting hip-hop and studying its constitutive parts, Gnotes now brings it all together for the new album - as he puts it: "Disc number four / rhymes and beats grown mature."

     In concert, Gnotes shines on the mic with a passionate delivery that flows naturally over his own organically produced beats. In addition to regular shows throughout New England, Gnotes has also performed at the Havana Hip-Hop festival in Cuba in 2004, a 38-city national US tour with Seattle's NocOnWood Records in 2005, and a Pacific NorthWest tour with Devin the Dude in 2007.

     Gnotes is currently producing Afro DZ ak's upcoming solo album and will be headed to Europe in 2008 to record a multi-lingual hip-hop album with rappers from Morocco, France, Senegal and Spain.