Martin Jackson aka Muggsy Malone is from the talent rich DMV (D.C./Maryland/No. Virginia area) and has a story to tell. Without a mixtape flooding the market or a strong internet buzz the D.C. native was able to secure his deal with Warpath Records after a label executive heard his music on his MySpace page.
Muggsy’s road to this point in his career included homelessness, a life changing event while in the US Military, and other road blocks before reaching this goal. Muggsy’s passion and work ethic shows in his music and his mindset regarding this game.
You may have noticed his name from our most recent “Take Off” Remix Contest, you may have heard his widely played and acclaimed hit single “Paper Chase,” or you may have just seen the name around the site (like when he got the party started off right for the Gza Concert), JD Era has certainly been around the circuit long enough for anyone to notice him. Born and bred in Canada, Era has put in work to become an established emcee not only in the Canadian hip hop scene, but around the continent. As he’s worked alongside other Canadian heavy weights like Kardinal Offishall, Saukrates, and Drake (with whom he’s all very close friends with), he’s planted his footprint in the sands of hip hop as one to watch out for. JD Era got a chance to sit down with KevinNottingham.com and talks about ….
Rapper/Producer Slim Chance has been building a name for himself on the underground scene for the last couple of years. Slim’s hard work paid off last year when he was able to produce a track for Camron. Although the track didn’t make Crime Pays it was well received on the internet.
The Rochester, New York native has a mixtape dropping soon and a compilation coming out later this year. Let’s get to know Slim Chance…
Coming from Cincinnati, Ohio a city known for not being the most supportive of local artists The Red Giants (Jermiside & Brickbeats) have helped put their city on the map. The duo has been featured on both Tanya Morgan albums and a host of features with various artists from around the world, so these guys are definetely not rookies. This year is turning out to be a very promising year with the duo dropping several mixtapes and albums. Be sure to check out the Chain Reaction EP dropping today. I had a chance to finally catch up with The Red Giants while they were taking a break from recording and get a insight into what plans they have up their sleeves. Check out the interview after the jump.
Jean-David Aime, Jr (AIME) knew he had a gift for putting words together after writing his first rhyme as a 6th grader. AIME continued to hone his craft by performing raps for class projects and performing for his friends, however, he eventually stopped rapping because of his family’s belief’s regarding Hip-Hop music.
After his family moved to Pennsylvania AIME connected with another rapper in high school that rekindled his love for writing and music. Since this chance meeting the Temple University student hasn’t looked back. After the cut Get To Know AIME…. [read full article…]
Hip Hop is international, baby. When a Canadian (DJ Chong Wizard) hooks up with an Italian (Roc Beatz) to remix some of New York’s Boot Camp Clik’s best tracks, you know it’s gone global. Producer Roc Beatz is definitely on the come up after the much talked about Tonz of Gunz (Boot Camp Clik Remixes) mixtape [listen here] hit the Net a couple of weeks ago. We had the chance to catch up with Roc and learn what he’s all about. Check it out…
Mickey Free, the talented rapper/producer from Maryland is a relative unknown in the music business, but has some potential to make some noise.
After being able to score a placement on Big Pooh’sThe Delightful Bars album [read review] he’s still trying to find his way around this thing called the music business and get his sound out there. Let’s find out who Mickey Free is…
As you all know, we get loads and loads of music submissions all the time. Because my main man Keezy had mentioned him prior and spoke highly of Mr. Theo 3, the next time Theo submitted work, it naturally caught my eye and ear a little more. With that said, and all biases aside, the dude was dope. Pure, raw mc talent. He recently caught some buzz with his 50 bars-same pattern video and hopefully will continue to develop a name for himself amongst hip hop’s elite underground in North America. Working with some of Canadian’s hip hop best, Theology 3 continues to grow as an artist and is truly someone who takes his craft seriously. Check the interview for all you need to know about the man.
An everyday morning at work magically turned into this artist spotlight. After receiving a link in my drop-box (Thanks Drew!), I automatically fell in love with the sultry sounds, passion and soul of Liya. Having worked with recently spotlighted artists Ayah [read here] and Eternia [read here], she’s well versed in both the R&B scene and the hip-hop scene. After (very) recently dropping an EP, she’s generating a lot of curiosity and praise around the way. Although an unconventional interview format, thanks to Tanya at S4 Entertainment Inc., KevinNottingham.com is once again proud to present an up and coming artist, her name being Liya.
H.I.S.D. (Hueston Independent Spit District) was born in 2005 through the collaboration of eight artists of varying mediums wanting to introduce a refreshing perspective to the sound and visual aesthetic of hip hop culture, classic soul music, poetry, visual art, fashion, and photography.
Mutual respect and appreciation for the cultural significance and influence achieved by creatively bridging these art forms, brought Savvi (hip hop artist/entrepreneur), Equality (poet/writer/emcee/architect/visual artist), LdaVoice (emcee), Scottie Spitten aka Lenoge(emcee), plus GoldenSoulClassics which consist of producers, King Midas, Soul One (DJ/radio personality), E-Classic, and Jason “Flash Gordon Parks” Woods (photographer/DJ), together to form H.I.S.D. Get to know them after the cut…
Since the announcement of my new label (HiPNOTT Records), I want to introduce you all to my most recently signed artist, Speek Greene. Speeke and I go way back… 25 years to be exact. And though we had lost touch over the years, it’s funny how hip hop recently brought us back together. After a the following words and a quick Q&A, make sure you check out a few of the tracks Speeke just recently finished for his album, The Long Look, which is executively produced by Kev Brown and will be released this October on HiPNOTT Records.
Toronto-raised lyricist/singer/song writer P.A. is among the up and coming unsigned talents on the east coast underground scene, he has put in a great amount of hard work to earn that reputation. He has dropped several projects and appeared on tracks alongside legends he was influenced by as a kid such as: Tragedy Khadafi, Kool G Rap, AZ and also the newer class of elite lyricists such as: Oddisee, Kev Brown and many others. Let’s get to know P.A….
If you don’t dig jazz, you can’t truly appreciate hip hop. As one of the leading foundations of hip hop, jazz has been sampled time and time again by almost every hip hop producer imaginable. I grew up on jazz, but hadn’t listened to it in a while. I was not aware that there was any really good jazz being made anymore. Props to Deez for turning me onto Chico Hamilton. Look out for Deez’s review of Chico’s new album, Twelve Tones of Love, sometime this week.
Finishing up our week long look at up and coming artists on the scene is the Bronx’s own MaG. A long time reader of the site, MaG finally hit me up with some of his music. I gotta say I was impressed with his skills. He’s worked with a bunch of familiar cats in the game; it’s amazing I hadn’t heard of him before. You’re gonna be seeing more of MaG on the site as we’ll be doing some work with him on some side projects. But for now, let’s get to know MaG…
“The future of NYC hip-hop” said Buckwild, famed producer, when speaking of MaG. Born and raised in the birthplace of Hip-Hop, Bronx, NY, MaG began his emceeing career at the age of 18. MaG can be heard on new mixtapes/albums by Chanudon , Rich London, DJ Denox, and DJ Wristpect, among others. MaG released the mixtape/album Reaganomics, featuring Darien Brockington, G.O.D. of Pitch Black, Torae, Skyzoo and others and was produced and mixed by MaG, Vega Benetton (”XXL”, Scratch”) and Dan the Man (mixed albums by Lil Kim, Big Pun, the Boot Camp Click, Skyzoo, and others). MaG was a featured artist on hiphopgame.com. MaG was also the winner of DJ Green Lantern’s Sonicbids Mixtape compeition where he landed a coveted spot on Green Lantern’s “Alive on Arrival” mixtape. MaG is currently working on his follow-up mixtape as well as other projects in the upcoming year, marking the transition from MaG the emcee to MaG the artist. Look for more projects and collaborations from MaG, and as hiphopgame.com put it, “this Bronx-bred emcee is worth checking out.”
Lots of great hip hop coming out of the DMV as of late. Some known, and some unknown. We’re gonna give you a chance to listen to the unknown. CJ The Genesis, a talented young emcee/producer, is hittin the scene hard pushing out 5 mixtapes by the end of this year (he already has three out). Dude has a nice flow, I think we’ll be hearing more of him. Get to know CJ after the cut…
