It’s ever so fitting that Xplicit’s solo debut was a balls-out batch of hip-hop anthems released under the moniker “Uncensored.” If anybody embodies that ideal, it’s Xplicit. Of course, it’s not a case of shock for the sake of shock or cultivating a tough image to sell records. Many hip-hop artists rap about the hard life but not all of them have the credentials to back up their words, however rhythmically or poetically those words may be delivered, however big or hook-laden their beats may be. Xplicit is speaking from perspective of real, rough-and-tumble experience. His words aren’t for show and he has bigger concerns than, offending listeners. Real life is what his music is all about – and it’s that same tough urban growing up that gave him his love for the very music he uses to talk about it. “Growing up in the ghettos of California, there was always some hip-hop blaring out of somebody’s boombox on every corner or in somebody’s loud sound system in their car,” Xplicit recalls. “Listening to hip-hop was unavoidable to me.” So was learning to love it. “So many things are appealing about hip-hop … For one thing, when I hear the beat of some good hip-hop, it makes my mind start racing. It make me just start moving and it expands everything going on at that time.” Xplicit also declares his love for the genre because it is, he says, the only style of music he’s ever known that could bridge cultural boundaries so effectively. That he would seek to make his own mark in the hip-hop field was inevitable, as inevitable as first hearing it and loving it. He had the background to rap about truth from a first-person perspective without relying on generic stereotypes. “I think there are many stereotypes – and many truths,” Xplicit says. “It’s about 50/50. About half the people in hip-hop recognize the stereotypes as a guideline for something they have to rap about, even if they don’t live that lifestyle. So when a kid from the suburbs gets into rapping he feels obligated to rap about being a gangsta from the projects. But those of us who really do live that life don’t feel obligated to write about all those things – those are just the type of things going on around us so naturally that’s what we write about. It’s the life we lead.” Xplicit kicked off his controversial rapping career in 2000, lending his talents to the hip-hop group Konspiracy. He honed his craft and made a name for himself, eventually putting out his independent solo debut, the aforementioned “Uncensored.” That he followed up with “Parental Advisory,” “Ghetto Star” — released while he was deployed to Afghanistan — and the recently released “Cartunez,” an album made available free to fans that made the release party and still available at no charge as a digital download. But all those albums are but the prelude to his most important hip-hop treatise yet – the upcoming album “Born 2 Die.” That release is produced entirely by OG Dogg Productions and features a guest appearance by Shady Records artist Cashis. The greatly anticipated “Born 2 Die” boasts Xplicit’s highest budget yet, as well as some major promotional moves. “It’s going to be a big landmark in my career!” Xplicit is currently working with A&R Select, the premier A&R firm based out of Los Angeles, CA. More information is available by visiting www.xplicitrap.com, www.abstractrecordz.com and www.promofm.com/xplicit and www.myspace.com/xplicitsoulja.