Hottest Up-and-Coming Producer

Boi-1da (aka Matthew Samuels, 23) was born in Jamaica. He moved to Toronto at 5, and started toying around with beats on virtual studio software at 16. He was introduced to fellow up-and coming artist Drake in 2006 and began making beats for him. Word spread about him and that led to more success working with artist like Eminem and Dr. Dre. The highlight of his success came when one of his songs with Drake got picked up for a Sprite commercial. He briefly appeared in the commercial with a robotized Drake. The track caught the attention of Eminem and he reached out to Drake to do a collaboration song using that beat. The song was entitled Forever, and it went on to win an award for Boi-1da. I like the style of Boi-1da’s loud, hard hitting kicks and snares in his productions. His beats will bust your speakers if you not careful. Check out Forever above featuring Drake, Kanye West, Lil Wayne and Eminem.

Not the Average Rapper.. He's Better!!

       Blind Fury (aka Steven Norris), represents hip hop to the core. Born blind at birth, Fury's mother was told by doctors he wouldn’t live pass the age of one. Not only did he live, but he has grown into one of hip hop’s greatest artist. The South Carolina native was attracted to music at an early age. He learned to play the keyboard at the age of four and began singing at five. By the age of nine Fury began writing rap lyrics in his head, and performing them to friends. As he got older into his teens, he decided to showcase his talents in local clubs and made a name for himself around the South Carolina area. His growing talent landed him on Bet’s 106 & Park’s Freestyle Fridays. Fury destroyed his competition week in and week out becoming an undefeated champion in dramatic style. Fury proves that against all odds, you can follow your dreams and become successful at anything, no matter what the challenges are in our lives.

9th Wonder: A Soulful Genius

Record producer, 9^th Wonder (Patrick Douthit), was born in January 1975 in Winston Salem, NC.  He is known for his smooth, soulful sampling style of producing music. Content with just being a hobbyist in his craft, 9^th Wonder started uploading beats on the internet that contained soulful loops samples from artists like Al Green. Impressed with his work, 9^th Wonder was contacted by Jay-z’s studio engineer Young Guru, which led to 9^th Wonder’s breakthrough into the mainstream.

 9^th Wonder produced the Jay-z song Threat. When I first heard this song I was amazed at how 9th Wonder sampled just the chord sections of R. Kelly’s song Woman’s Threat and turned it into this urban, hip hop, up-tempo track.  9^th Wonder’s style of producing music influenced me to be more open minded in the creative process of making music and to not be afraid to let the world hear what you have created from your heart.  Check out the video above to hear 9^th Wonder's point of view on his craft and how the art of sampling affected music in the mainstream.

Fuze The MC

Lance Coleman Aka Fuze The MC is a 20 year old, unsigned rap artist from Marietta, GA. He got his big break opening up local shows in the Atlanta area for artists Wale and J. Cole. He was notice by Big Boi from the group Outkast, who encouraged Fuze to continue to pursue his dream as a hip hop artist. Fuze reminds me of rappers like Lupe Fiasco and Mos Def, with his style to deliver his lyrics smoothly over mellow beats. Definitely look out for Fuze to make noise in the underground mixtape world of hip hop.You can download his latest album and check out some of his music videos here at fuzethemc

"MC Jin" FreeStyle Legend

Mc Jin is a Chinese rapper, song writer and actor, from Miami Fl, who made a name for himself in freestyle rap battles. He began rapping in middle school with his friends and participated in rap battles for fun among his peers. He grew a passion for this skill and when he graduated from high school, he moved to New York to pursue a career in music.  In New York Jin began performing freestyle raps on street corners, and selling his mix tape cd’s. His big break came on the Bet show 106 & park, where he competed in the Freestyle Friday segment, winning all seven battles in a row. After being crown the champion of Freestyle Fridays, Jin announce he had sign to major rap label Ruff Ryders. Jin had very little mainstream success with his seven albums. To me he will always be known as one of the best freestyle rap artists to touch a microphone. Check out some of his best battles here Jin's Rap Battles

Dr. Dre Beats Headphone Reviews

Dr. Dre Beats Headphones are the hottest headphones on the market. If you are looking for a good set of headphones to mix and engineer music, then these are what you need. Developed and release in late 2008, Beats by Dr. Dre headphones enable listeners to listen to music the way they should. They are equipped with a built in equalize advanced software equalizer with a preset optimized for higher quality sound output. Priced at $299 retail, makes the perfect gift for any inspiring audio engineer. But be careful, there are a lot of fakes out there on the market selling for the same prices.
Dr. Dre Beats Headphone Reviews

Hot New Artist Anthony (The One) Moonie

Anthony Moonie is an upcoming artist from Gastonia NC. He is driven to be one of the hottest gospel rap artist in the industry. He just released his latest mix tape titled Higher Thinkin. Which can be downloaded for free here The One Muzik . He is currently working on his new mix tape, recording some of the songs here at Gaston College.