Artists:
Tools, Famoso, Mokeout, Hta, Enormus Tha Ox, PR Dean, Young Canarsie & War Bixby.
Producers:
Live! & Peoples.
Mokeout aka Machete Mokeout:
Mokeout was born in Santa Cruz CA. After nearly dying at birth from blood poisoning Moke was soon healthy and his mother and father moved back to New York being that his fathers side is ironically from the south bronx, the birthplace of hip hop. Unfortunately Mokes’ father left him and his mother shortly after they moved back east. Moke and his mother moved around alot residing all over the East Coast (NY, MA, CT, PA). At about 7-8 yrs old Moke had fallen in love with hip hop. He wrote his first rhyme at 10 yrs old and was considered a talented young MC by the time he was 15. In the next couple years Moke also became heavily involved in criminal activities, and not long after that his son was born. Moke soon found himself a single father balancing fatherhood, music, and the street. Shortly before Mokes’ son arrived he linked up with a group of friends and associates and HardTimes Records the independent label based in Brooklyn was formed. After years of grinding, struggling, and putting his life on the line, Moke finally finds himself focused 100% on his music and walking away from the streets. Moke has appeared on many albums and mixtapes including his street classic “Savage Slang” solo mixtape. As well as being one of HardTimes Records solo artists he is a member of the group H.T.A.(HardTimes Alliance).an His HardTimes team includes C.E.O./Artist PR Dean, super producer Live, and fellow heavyweight spitters, Tools, Famoso, Enormous the Ox, and War Bixby. He has also appeared on songs wit a number of artist such as Tools, Buke Badnews, Brooklyn Academy, Tone of the Problem Addicts, X-1 (R.I.P), Minnesota Phats, Famoso, Shabaam Sahdeeq, Curtains, Benefit, Roosta of Fear Nuttin Band, and Crooked I. He continues to create beautiful music and is more focused and dedicated than ever as he fights, works, and grinds to give his son the life he deserves. Be on the look out for this kid and the whole HardTimes camp in 2010, because as most of his listeners would vouch, he is the truth!
Famoso:
BORN A. PIRIS JR. IN CORONA,QUEENS IN THE EARLY 80′S. SON TO A. PIRIS SR. AND MOTHER M. RODRIGUEZ. TWO YOUNG LATINOS WHO MET IN NEW YORK CITY AFTER LEAVING THEIR NATIVE COUNTRY PUERTO RICO TO LIVE OUT THE AMERICAN DREAM AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. DURING THIS PERIOD THE ARTIST YOU KNOW AS “FAMOSO” WAS CONCIEVED. AS A YOUNGSTER HE GREW UP LISTENING TO THE LIKES OF MUSIC WHICH VARIES FROM:THE FANIA ALLSTARS AND DONNA SOMMERS TO MIAMI SOUND MACHINE AND ROB BASS. “BUT IT WASN’T UNTIL I HEARD “MILK IS CHILLIN’”,THAT I KNEW THIS IS WHAT I WANTED TO DO” MOVING TO THE BUSHWICK AREA OF BROOKLYN IN THE MID TO LATE 80′S. HE BEGAN TO HONE HIS SKILLS IN THE CULTURE:”I WENT FROM GRAFFIN’ AND B-BOYIN’ TO BEAT BOXIN’ AND SPITTIN’,”AND TIL THIS DAY I’M NICE WITH GRAF IT’S CRAZY!,” BUT HARDTIMES SOON AROSE AFTER HIS FATHER HAD FALLEN TO CRACK ADDICTION FORCING HIS MOTHER AND TWO OTHER SIBLINGS TO MOVE BACK TO PUERTO RICO.”IT WAS HARD CAUSE I LOVE MY FATHER TO DEATH AND AS THE OLDEST OF THREE AT THAT TIME,IT WAS HARD FOR ME TO PART WAYS WITH HIM LET ALONE UNDERSTAND WHAT WAS GOING ON.” WHILE IN PUERTO RICO HIS LOVE FOR HIP HOP NEVER WHITHERED.”I WAS IN P.R. FOR 8 MONTHS LISTENING TO ALOT OF FREESTYLE MUSIC CAUSE THAT’S WHAT WAS POPPING THEN”,”DIENG TO GET BACK TO N.Y. AND HEAR SOMETHING RAW!”,”I LOVED P.R. THOUGH,” ITS BEAUTIFUL; TRUST.” HIS WISH SOON CAME TRUE AND HE WAS BACK IN NEW YORK CITY. BUT HAPPINESS WAS SHORT LIVED. WITH HIS FATHER’S RECURRING DRUG ADDICTION THINGS WENT FROM BAD TO WORSE.HIS FAMILY WAS ULTIMATELY EVICTED FROM THE HOUSE THEY LIVED IN AND FORCED TO MOVE INTO THE HOUSING PROJECTS IN DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN.”HERE MY FAMILY GOES FROM A TWO FAMILY HOUSE BACKYARD,STOOPS, BASEMENT. TO THE PROJECTS, CRACK VILES,PROSTITUTES,PISSY HALLWAYS,AND SERINGES.” “SHIT WAS CRAZY!”,”AFTER A YEAR WENT BY I GOT USE TO IT.” IT WAS THERE IN THOSE BROOKLYN HOUSING PROJECTS THAT FAMOSO STARTED PUTTING PEN TO PAD WRITING RAPS.”I MET ONE OF MY CLOSE FRIENDS” RICHIE ANGER” AND WE CAME TO AN AGREEMENT I’D SHOW HIM HOW TO TIGHTEN UP HIS GRAF GAME,HE’D SHOW ME HOW TO TIGHTEN MY DELIVERY,IT WAS A PERFECT COMBINATION.” A COUPLE YEARS AFTER THAT THEY BEGAN RECORDING SONGS WITH PRODUCER SIZZAH SANCHEZ, ALONG WITH OPTIMO A.G. A MUTUAL FRIEND OF NEIGHBORING HOUSING PROJECTS.WHICH LEAD TO A SITDOWN WITH RCA/PRIORITY RECORDS WHO OFFERED A SEVEN ALBUM DEAL.”THEY OFFERED US FIVE PROMOTIONAL VANS,ADDS IN THE SOURCE AND VIBE,IT SOUNDED LIKE A DREAM COME TRUE.”BUT DUE TO CLAUSES IN THE CONTRACT THE DEAL WAS NEVER FINALIZED AND EVENTUALLY FELL THROUGH. DISSAPPOINTED BUT NEVERTHELESS HUNGRY FOR STARDOM ALONG WITH PR. DEAN,TOOLS,AND MOKEOUT.FAMOSO TOOK THE INDEPENDANT APPROACH.”I’M STILL A MEMBER OF URBAN.ODYSSEY.”(RICHIE ANGER,OPTIMO A.G.,SIZZAH SANCHEZ,FAMOSO).”BUT DUE TO CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES I FEEL I HAVE TO TAKE IT UPON MYSELF TO GET WHERE I HAVE TO GO.” THIS LEAD TO HIS CURRENT STANCE ON THE HARDTIMES RECORDS ROSTER. AN INDIE LABEL WELL NOTED ON THE UNDERGROUND SCENE WITH MAINSTREAM CONNECTIVITY. THIS FORMULA COUPLED WITH CONSTANT MARKETING IS WHY THIS BRAND IS SO RECOGNIZED,NATIONALLY AND INTERNATIONALLY.” I HAVE GOOD REPIOR WITH MY LABELMATES AND WE ALL SHARE THE SAME VISION.” SO THERE YOU HAVE IT. FAMOSO… LADIES AND GENTLEMEN…”
Tools aka Tools Beastly:
Tools Beastly an artist that can easily be described with ‘many’ lives, born in Liberia, West Africa, Tools Beastly started listening to hip hop at an early age where he is self described as “musically born”. At the age of 12 civil war broke out and his family fled to Sierra Lione eventually sacrificing everything they had and moved to the United States more specifically Virginia Beach, Virginia. It was in his high school years where Tools Beastly started freestylin’ and writing music. In his mind, he was doing what he loved as making music was more of a passion than a desire to be an artist but like many artists past and present, his natural ability as a lyricist took him on a new direction and that is where his dream to become an artist came alive. At the age of 20, Tools Beastly moved to NY and worked on his music going back and forth to Massachusetts where his producer lived. His dream was starting to turn into reality. Tools Beastly’s music has been described as avant-garde perhaps because it trades its unblinking confession, or maybe because of the thrilling innovativeness at its core. Tools Beastly marries hip hop/in your face lyricism and well-grounded composition with yearning themes, experimental musicianship, and confident emotive phrasing, connecting with audiences in electric deeply personal live performances. Tools Beastly is releasing his debut album, “Crushed Ice” in 2009 through Hardtimes Records as well as digital distribution with guest appearances by: Sha, Stimuli, Famoso, Termanology, Black McCloud, Nina B, & ROOSTA from the FEAR NUTTIN BAND’. “The album took almost a year to come together but it was written within a couple months. There was a lot of good in making it as far as recording with other artists who I really like working with and respect”.
Enormus Tha Ox:
Live!
Nicholas (Live!) Court was born in Western Massachusetts but quickly moved to Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay area with his mother, stepfather, and brother. He and his brother were raised between various parts of Virginia Beach / Norfolk neighborhoods,
And Brooklyn New York Where his biological father lived. Growing up in the tip of the south traveling back and forth to New York’s Pen Stations or Port Authority is where the inspiration for this producer extrodinaire’s years of original and ground breaking urban production were developed through the nineties till today. Live! Has produced for hundreds of hip hop, R&B, and reggae artists including: Buckshot of Black moon, Grafh, Slash of unusual suspects, Block Mccloud of Brooklyn academy, Roosta & Prowla of Fear Nuttin Band, H.T.F feat Ness of Alikes, Stash, Rap-p feat Ty Nitty of infamous mobb, Tony benefit of Earatic Statik, the whole Hardtimes Records artist roster 2001-2010, Nature former member of the Firm, Hostyle of Screwball,
the whole Comparable To None Entertainment Roster 2002-2009 and much more.
With years also spent in one of the west coasts most musically influential areas experiencing San Francisco’s mission districts then heavy poverty and gang activity was a complete opposite view from either of the not so easy walks of life he was a custom to in the east coast. This life experience is what has created his extreme versatility ear for music and his ‘Hard Work No Play’ ethics that set this producer ahead of the rest. With the management and group of talent he has recently surrounded himself with plan to see but most of all hear a lot from him in the near future.
Hardtimes Records
www.myspace.com/hardtimesrecords
Tools
www.myspace.com/toolsaka2lo
Famoso
www.myspace.com/famosonyc
Mokeout
www.myspace.com/mokeouthta
PR Dean
www.myspace.com/prdeanmultimedia
Enormus Tha Ox
www.myspace.com/enormusthaox
HTA (Hard Time Alliance)
www.myspace.com/htamusic
Dj Haze
www.myspace.com/djhaze
Allout Mixtapes
www.myspace.com/alloutmixtapes
War Bixby
www.myspace.com/warbixby
Top Rank
www.myspace.com/toprank101
Minnasota Phats
www.myspace.com/minnasotaphats
Live!
www.myspace.com/thereallive
Knucklehead
www.myspace.com/knuckleheadhiphop