Clev aka Sun Down Charlie (/ˈ klev/ klev-er emcee/) born Carl R. Brown, is a member of the group AudibleSol. Born in Mt. View California, raised in East San Jose with deep Midwest ties and roots to Cleveland Ohio. Music runs deep in his family blood line. His father Carl Brown Sr. was a member of The Hepsters, one of the most exciting groups of Cleveland Ohio’s 1950’s doo-wop era and inducted into the State of Cleveland’s Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.
The five fellows got together at East Technical High School and would practice their harmonies in the schools’ hallways loving the echo effects. Their lineup consisted of Paul Hayes, Carl Brown, Raymond Harvin, Joe Little Williams, and a fifth member whose name nobody remembers. They cut popular records such as “I Had To Let You Go”, “Rockin’ And Rollin’ With Santa Claus,” in 1955, and “I Gotta Sing The Blues” b/w “This-A-Way,” in 1956, on Chicago’s Ronel Records. “I Had To Let You Go.
Clev cut his teeth in the hip hop world as a b-boy break dancing in local San Jose groups, then later as a promoter as part of Wallace-Brown Entertainment. He promoted dance competitions under the “World War III” moniker. The competitions would draw some of the dopiest dance crews in the bay area as well as have headliners of then underground artist like “Souls of Mischief”, “Lords of the Underground” and “Pharcyde.”
The success of the shows became so large that he started creating and promoting larger concerts. Lodi Dodi concert series featured “Too short”, “Domino”, “Celly Cel”, “Lisette Melendez” and “Lighter Shade of Brown” toured from San Jose to Tucson AZ. Working with the likes of Davey D and Jeff Clanagan which inspired him to further his business ambitions. The love of hip hop inspired him to write spoken word poetry and short play productions. However, it was after writing and performing at his church did he desire to rap and record hip hop music.
He would begin to write, freestyle in rhyme ciphers and perform within San Jose’s underground scene. The art of making music always has been his passion and the opportunity to do it on a full-time basis, seemed to always be put on hold due to a desire to be a successful business man. “The Maze of Life” was Clev’s first album release. Promoted as a “Christian” hip hop album, it featured some of the pioneers of Gospel Rap like Soup the Chemist, B-Twice of the Brainwashed project, Peace 586. Natural Method was atop the Christian charts for six plus weeks.
Clev, met Epik as he was out promoting, performing and working with the youth at a church functions. The highlight coming during his missionary journey to Ethiopia and performing for 1500 kids as part of a youth conference. A couple years after returning to the states, exchanging freestyles and breaking bread. Epik became a hype man for Clev alongside Dj Shep on the turntables.
Performances at coffee shops, churches and fairs kept the team busy. So much so, the team decided to form a group known today as AudibleSol. It means “to allow our souls to be heard out loud” and our name embodies our vision and purpose. The group dope performances caught the attention of a local production company, who offered a production deal in 2004 to produce more content. The deal didn’t fully pan out & the trio became a duo, but the grind didn’t stop.
That passion, drive and belief produce two projects, the first being “Hustle is Capital” released in 2008 released independently and available for purchase on iTunes. The second project released in 2011 “More Hustle More Capital” released independently and available for purchase on iTunes and streaming on all platforms. Videos on YouTube as well as live performances.
After several years of performing in the Bay Area and various venues in Los Angeles, Clev is ready to create music that reaches a worldwide audience, perform and gain mainstream exposure. The music written by Clev is influenced by his faith spirituality, hustle, ties to East San Jose, Cleveland Ohio, and travels around the globe. His style of music is one of lyricism, passion, uplifting and street for music enthusiast and followers eventually brokering a partnership deal with a major label for distribution for AudibleSol featuring Clev & Epik. In the meantime, more music is being prepared under Heddnodd music group with focus of elevating our records atop the Billboard charts. Stay tuned & press play.
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