The story of Chester French is an unexpected one. After finishing their demo while stilled enrolled at Harvard University, the duo of D.A. Wallach and Maxwell Drummey sent it to various labels, garnering significant interest, but mostly among the hip-hop community. A bidding war for the rights to their debut album broke out between hip-hop labels run by Pharrell Williams, Kanye West, and Jermaine Dupri (Pharrell won). Which is a little surprising because Chester French is not a hip-hop group. Their debut Love the Future, was an upbeat rock album with 60s tints and smart lyrics. Nonetheless, Chester French has been aligned with the hip-hop community, not the indie rock community, since their inception.

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