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It would be easy to label the members of 4 Wheel City as your average urban tough guys. Ricardo "Ricfire" Velasquez (producer) and Namel "Tapwaterz" Norris (vocalist) have the whole persona down to a T. Their uniform: baggy pants worn with expensive shades, pristine sneakers and a fair amount of bling. Their aura comes off at first as decidedly cool. So cool, in fact, that one almost forgets these two charismatic men command the presence of a New York photo studio from the seats of their wheelchairs.

Ricardo Velasquez was only 18 when he was accidentally shot by a stray bullet coming home from school in his Bronx neighborhood in 1996. He says, "I don’t know who did it. I don’t even know why. I woke up in the hospital, Next thing I knew they told me I wasn’t gonna walk ever again."

His recovery process was long and slow, but he had a drive that kept him pushing forward- music. "At the time, I didn't know anyone in a chair, but I just took it one day at a time. I always had this passion for music. That's what kept me motivated."

After coming home, he found that his days could be spent behind a beat machine, honing his skills and crafting rhythms that spoke of his experience finding new ways of survival. While Ricardo found solace in his music, he still felt isolated, but a collaborator was closer than he ever imagined.

Namel Norris was also shot accidentally in 1999. His strong features turn somber momentarily as he tells his story: "I also was shot accidentally by my cousin. He had a firearm in his possession and was handing it to a friend. It went off and shot me in the neck, which left me paralyzed from the chest down." Norris had been a member of a rap group before his injury, but found that the studio they had worked in was not accessible. "It was hard coming home to the same house where I'd been shot. I felt like a completely different person. I think I met Ric at the perfect time, when I had questions but I didn't have the time to be depressed. I felt optimistic."