I was born June 21, 1984 in Rochester, NY. Shortly thereafter my family moved out west to Oregon. Hip-hop music captivated my attention from an early age. I still remember convincing my mom to buy me my first rap CD, Cypress Hill - Black Sunday, when I was in the fourth grade. Her only request was that I promised to not grow up to be a 'serial killer'. I have respected her wishes and haven't broken the promise to this day! Although I had been interested in rap music from an early age, I only really started to get going while I was in high school, always writing rhymes in the classroom, sketching down catchy phrases on the margins of my papers.   After releasing two rough-around-the-edges demos, I tried shopping them around to several record labels on the west coast. Looking back on the demo I was pushing, the songs on it in all honesty were pretty weak. This being the case I didn't receive much attention from the labels that I had contacted. One record label out of San Diego however did see some potential in me and offered me a lot of interest. Although we never have done any major business together, he offered me a lot of great advice and helped to show me the ropes and explain aspects of the industry that I was oblivious to. Determined not to fail, I decided to take the game to the next level and put out my debut album independently. I was able to maintain a strong online presence, which was very beneficial for me, winning a 16 person online rap-battle tournament called "The Search for Soundclick's Illest" for a place on the Streetz.org compilation record. One of my battle tracks I recorded for the tourney got thousands of plays on the Soundclick website, eventually peaking at the #4 song on their charts. Throughout my entire freshman year at college at the U of Oregon I was hard at work writing and recording the tracks that would become my debut album "Underestimated".  With a slew of talented producers from all around the country, I was able to release a compilation of my work that I am extremely proud of.  My goal as an artist is to someday be a staple of northwest hip-hop and eventually make my name known in the broader scale of underground rap music, and also to evolve as much as I can as an artist.  This album sets me apart from other underground artists because it is a full length album with NO FEATURES, something that is somewhat unheard of and difficult to accomplish. This album has helped me to register on a lot of people's radars throughout the Northwest, and has received many positive reviews. In 2003 I registered my company, Golden Mic Entertainment (GME), as an official business of Oregon. With Golden Mic Ent., I hope to get involved in many aspects of hip-hop and the music business. In the future I look to not only release several solo projects, but I would also like to distribute an Oregon Compilation album, evolve in promotional aspects, and eventually manage a small roster through GME and give hungry young artists the opportunities and knowledge that I wasn't so fortunate to be given. I am looking for a solid up-and-coming producer to be a part of the GME team (see contact info). I have been influenced by many people and artists, and have had many inspirations that have led me to the point I am at.  My main inspiration has been Big Pun, who floored me with some of his rhymes in the short time he was here, and with his album Capital Punishment more or less convinced me that hip-hop was something that I really felt I needed to get involved in.  Some of my other musical influences include Xzibit, Method Man, Ice Cube, Bubba Sparxxx, Tech N9ne, E-40 and many, many others. I think that you can learn something by listening to almost any artist regardless of genre. Most recently I recorded a song with platinum recording artist Dante Thomas whose hit song "Miss California" went #14 on the US Billboards and #1 in Europe. I have started recording for my sophomore release, which is tentatively scheduled to be out in late 2004. Look for a lot of different styles that you haven't heard from me before in the past. I vow to make my next album stand head and shoulders above the first one, and maintain my originality which separates me from so many other underground artists.