ONE. There is a growing population of Hip Hop artists. TWO. Despite redundant beats and all too familiar sounding lyrics, every artist is different. THREE. Some differences give an artist an advantage and some a disadvantage in the inevitable struggle for success. FOUR. Nature will select the most fit differences to survive in this struggle. FIVE. Over time, these differences, these changes, will be so great that a whole new breed of artists will appear on earth... A good artist copies, a great artist steals --Pablo Picasso "I grew up in Hip Hop's heyday (early 90's) so the bar for an emcees' lyrical ability was set real high. I also grew up watching MTV and VH1...I'd go through my Mom's old vinyl, I'd listen to how Bill Withers did something and try to imitate him, I'd dig how Depeche Mode would arrange a chorus and try to imitate it. I think that's why my sound is this genre-bending, pop and Hip Hop fused monster." Describing his music as "an ever-changing, collection of my favorite traits in music," the 12nine sound is mostly influenced by early 90's Hip Hop, artists like Redman and Ice Cube. With a more clean-cut and witty, rap style, he's a black sheep compared to the harder-edged urban music played on the radio. sur*vive; (s r-v v ) v. intr. 1. To remain alive or in existence 2. To carry on despite hardships or trauma; persevere re*pro*duce; (r pr -d s , -dy s ) v. tr. 1. To produce a counterpart, image, or copy of. 2. To bring (e.g. a memory) to mind again; recall The title of the CD is inspired by his interest in science. "Survive and Reproduce is the basic function for all life on this planet. That's the foundation," Kamali says. "I figure that's a good title for me to start things off." The CD is just the beginning.