Burnt

California-based reggae-rock group BURNT came together in 2002, initially based around Coachella Valley, relocating to San Diego in 2005, and eventually settling in San Francisco. The group's sound combined reggae, dub, ska, soul, hip-hop, punk, and acoustic rock, and featured environmentally and politically conscious lyrics, as well as songs about partying and relaxation. The group maintained a strictly do-it-yourself approach to recording and releasing music and booking shows, playing anywhere from street corners and parks to festivals across the West Coast. BURNT have released seven full-length albums and two mixtapes on their own Stems and Seeds label, beginning with 2005's Chorro. Esperanza and Tortillas both followed in 2006, featuring contributions from members of the Debonaires and B-Side Players, as well as MC Karmic Basis, all of whom would become regular collaborators with the group. Brains Keep Cookin' was issued in 2009, followed by La Quinta in 2011. Released in 2012, Radio Quemado, funded through a Kickstarter campaign, was the first BURNT album to be professionally engineered. The group's seventh full-length album, Headlamp, arrived in 2014, a year that also brought two mixtapes of live and unreleased material, The Red Tape and The Blue Tape. - Paul Simpson, AllMusic