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• D.C. hip-hop trio, Likeblood, (from left) Mbea Da 1, Yung E and Dre Strong, are the opening act for Raekwon's "Only Built For Cuban Linx, Pt. II" nationwide tour.

How does a fairly unknown group from Washington, D.C. end up opening for a New York hip-hop icon on his nationwide tour?

Likeblood’s Eric "Yung E" Mann will tell you “it's a little bit of politics and a little bit talent.” The Metro area trio is on the road with Raekwon for his “Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Pt. II” Tour and admitted that it was a chance meeting with the Wu-Tang legend, that led to their relationship.

"It's crazy how the chips fall," said rapper Andre "Dre Strong" Strong. "Before we even talked any business with him, we met him on some real humble shit at Howard Homecoming, right on the block."

A brief conversation was all it took for the group to come away impressed by how receptive he was to them.

"We knew who he was, he ain't know who we were," Dre Strong said. "The nigga was so cool, [he] ain't switch up from the time when he ain't know us to the time when he figured out who we were. ... [he] was just so smooth with it and like the old saying goes, real recognize real and everything else is history."

After looking up to groups like Wu-Tang, Outkast and Boot Camp Click growing up, it was extremely rewarding for them to hit the road with someone they respected so much.

"As a group we always looked towards guys like that, who were really taking their movement and moving forward and making it happen together," Mbea “Mbea Da 1” Bassil said. "That togetherness is not there with a lot of guys and we really look up to them because [after] all these years, they're still together, dudes done went to jail, died, all kinds of stuff and they've been together as a family and they're still holding down and put out music together, in unity."

The group, who all attended D.C.’s Duke Ellington School for the Arts, thinks Raekwon saw a little bit of himself in them and hopes the opportunity to get national exposure leads to it being recognized as D.C.’s premiere hip-hop group.

Its route toward that goal has been a little different though.

Unlike lot's of groups that start with music and later gravitate towards acting, Likeblood started out as a double-threat. The group had the opportunity to star in the movie, Jazz in the Diamond District along side Wood Harris and Clifton Powell as well as doing the soundtrack.

Balancing rapping and acting is something they've been doing for years. "We're one of the first groups being introduced to the game through music and a movie... we've been doing this, we've been studying this for years, we're entertainers," Dre Strong said.

"We had training to really act and be characters, not just be yourself or a rapper in a movie," Yung E said. "You have to really take the role seriously and become that character and we've been trained to do that."

"We've all trained in school for acting, and we trained in the street school for rapping so we're gonna give it all to you," Dre Strong said.

With the recent success of Metro area artists like Wale and Raheem DeVaughn, the group has noticed that things are different for D.C. artists trying to breakthrough to national audiences.

"The outside world is way more receptive to District of Columbia artists but at the same time, we still kinda considered to be in a box," Yung E said. "It's good to have the recognition coming but we really need to get this movement moving."

The DMV (D.C.-Maryland-Virginia) movement has been in the works for years, but only bits and a pieces of the sound have trickled out to mainstream success through artists' like Jill Scott, Timbaland and the Neptunes, who've all released go-go influenced tracks.

"Go-go influenced us just like hip-hop influenced us, we were just a little closer to go-go, us being from D.C.," Dre Strong said. "It's always been around, people just actually starting to notice where it's coming from and now they're able to pinpoint the sound."

After being on the road for a little over a month, the group already has special moments from the road.

Whether it was performing at the House of Blues in Los Angeles, on the same stage where 2Pac had his last performance or adjusting to new found celebrity, it's all been a surreal experience.

"The craziest thing I've seen on tour is how people gravitate to you when you put out good product," said Mbea. "People listen to you and kinda get a feel for you, get to know you personally within themselves...that's the most beautiful thing in the world man, to see all those people with their hands with us."

Even with those moments, Likeblood's still using the first, major tour as a learning experience. Whether it's realizing the wonders of hot tea and Halls eucalyptus or taking time to let it all set in that they're traveling the country, performing in front of a nt crowd every night.

"One song that was killing in one city, might not be so hot in the next city," Dre Strong said. "We're just learning how to rock every crowd and enjoying being able to travel all over the nation."

"This is the life right here," Mbea said. "We've been working all this time to really get the opportunity to show the nation what we can really do, and that's exactly what we're doing on this tour."

Likeblood is finishing out the last leg of the nationwide tour with Raekwon, rapping up at the end of the 2009 and pushing their new single, "Money Over Here" featuring Bobby Valentino. Their album, Dabiness, will hit stores in 2010, before that look for a Fallout 3 inspired mixtape called, Capital Wasteland, as well as several movie projects.

Find out more about Likeblood on their official website and Twitter.