i've been doing this a little while, so this is a tad wordy.. but it's broken into chunks, and there's pictures too. so scroll on down and immerse yourself for five minutes.

_rap star
in the beginning, there was Microsoft Sound Recorder and a little computer mic. put those two seemingly innocent devices in the hands of two young rap fans and give them a night of nothing better to do and the results are messy. specifically, in this case, the results were 12 'tracks' of the worst rhymes, the bizarrest comedy, and singing of the utmost quality. and that's how it began.

the two perpetraitors were me, english bob, and squatting george. we went by the astounding names "don kuliMATTi" and "gdb" respectively and the stuff we did that night deserves to be forgotten. it wont be, just cuz every now and then i give it a play for a laugh, but still - it SHOULD be forgotten. terrible. but then everybody starts off shit don't they(?) everybody except orson welles of course..

at the time, i'm sure it was the most amazing rap album in the entire world ever. god bless the clarity of retrospective. what i now think it was, aside from bollocks, was the start of my love for this shit. before then, i'd been content to recite those wu-tang and 2pac rhymes i held so dear, but the second i thought i might be able to do it myself, i went for it. ish.

at the time, i'm sure it was the most amazing rap album in the entire world ever. god bless the clarity of retrospective. what i now think it was, aside from bollocks, was the start of my love for this shit. before then, i'd been content to recite those wu-tang and 2pac rhymes i held so dear, but the second i thought i might be able to do it myself, i went for it. ish.

i was still really disheartened by the way my voice sounded when it was recorded, so i decided to just write stuff and fuck the recording. yes yes, i became a 'netcee' or whatever they call them nowadays. went on the www and started putting up my lyrics for all to see under the astounding name of 'YOUNGblood' (the caps were important, being an internet gimp). obviously i was shit, but all the other shit people seemed to like me so i thought i was the bomb diggy.

_real audio
i spent about a year and a bit just putting up lyrics and 'battling' on the internet, during which time i actually started proper getting into hip hop as opposed to just playing the entire 2pac back catalogue interspersed with copies of various pete tong essential mixes. i wanted to start contributing 'properly', i wanted to have my own slice of the pie. i wasn't content busting those crazy dope 'keystyles' so i decided to get back into the swing of recording things.

me and squatting george (who went by the quicker to type name of 'G' back then) had written a mock gangsta rap type story called 'sexual murder' which we decided to make our first proper recording cuz neither of us had done fuck all since that session way back when. the track was comedy, and i wish i still had a copy. the mp3 should still be on the internet somewhere on angelfire but i'm buggered if i can remember the address. pants.

_maturing
most of the shit i was recording were 'battle' verses for various message board competition type things, and i wasn't too bad at it even if i do say so myself. i won a few things here and there.. even got a few prizes and whatnot. i EVEN made it to the exclusive rhymearena.com/rapmusic.com Grand Royal Battle end of year final thing in 2000 after placing just behind tonedeff in one of the earlier quarterly tournaments. yes, THE tonedeff. (sorry, i cant help it - i'm sure i'll be trying to tell that story to my grandchildren one day. starstruck.)

it was basically then that i got bored of the battling thingy. it was too much effort trying to insult these random people i'd never met on the internet so i stopped and concentrated more on trying to make songs. after about eighteen months or so of writing and recording, i felt i had enough material to put on a CD. i randomly selected 16 tracks from the vaults (ie. my harddrive) and put them together on 'random stuff'. a true classic if ever there was one. it's an eclectic expression of artistic expression.

when i put it out (via mp3.com, cuz i didn't have a cd writer or anything) i was so full of joy because it was the first time i'd ever really 'done' something that i could call my own. as time has gone on, i'm seeing all the faults in it that i were originally glazed over by the fact that it was MINE but still, i'm well proud of it and i give it the odd listen now and then.. twas a defining moment in my history as an mc, cuz it was when i reached the level of seriousness about this whole shit that i'm now at.

that is, not very serious, but enough to want to put out cd's and the like. 'random stuff' actually sold modestly well, and i'm still surprised that it sold at all but i suppose if master p can shift millions, then even i can unload a couple of dozen.

_golden years
towards the end of the production of 'random stuff', i ventured into the world of doing live stuff.me and squatting george (together as 'idiosyncrasy') managed to get a spot at a local battle of the bands type of thing and we put on a quality show!

well, it was quality to us. the crowd who had turned out for the various rock/teen-angst/punk bands which made up the majority of the bill were unusually accomodating of our unrefined hip hop stylings, but the organiser of the event wasn't so supportive. having gone through the best part of a bottle of cuervo to get rid of the nerves, i probably shouldn't've been on stage, but saying that, the bird who was organizing it should've done her research into what we were gonna be doing. deciding to cut us off mid-set didn't go down well with my induced stroppiness and we were forcibly ejected from stage. ah well. at least the crowd liked us. i have video proof.

because of that wonderful experience, i started looking for other places to get on the mic actually in front of other people. being (and looking) under eighteen however put a dampener on my early efforts, but when hit that big one eight, it was ON.

i still didn't know anywhere but as if on cue, i got an invite by a local dj to a hip hop night he was putting on called sureshot. (best. hip hop night. ever. oh how i wish it was still on..) a couple of months later, i was rocking that mic with all my heart and loving every second. quality, QUALITY shit.. as jon bon once said; those were the best days of my life..

_cut to now
university fucked up my hip hop life. abandoning plymouth for bournemouth left me with nowhere to do my shit live. in a year of student-dwelling, i found no regular hip hop night and pretty much gave up hope. ah well. not a major problem.. i'm not actually that fussed, although it would be nice to have the odd open mic spot. i'm sure they're out there but i'm not in a position where i can (or even WANT to) be seeking them out. give it some time, i'll be motivated again one day.

in the meantime, i'm working on the recording side of my shit. i think i'm at the point now where i've done enough tracks to start trying to knock out a proper, more thoughtfully constructed cd. i know i'm not number one on anybodys 'waiting to drop' list but i just want to throw my name in the hat with something more substantial than the shit i've done before. i've not done too badly considering, and i know i've got some shit thats worthy of being released, so i'll do it. i'm not expecting to sell with my next cd but i'm really not that bothered. i just want to be heard.. ya dig?

gimme a voice! but dont you dare stop there..