Thadd Williams - Recording Artist
Born in South Carolina and reared in Virginia, Thaddeus Williams brings a rare palette of business acumen to the industry, which boasts 14 years of entertainment experience and 4 years of military service. As an Inspirational Speaker, Artist, and CEO of Mic Fiend Music, Thadd has accrued an extensive resume that includes opening for T.I., Young Jeezy, Lil’ Wayne, KRS-One, Big Daddy Kane, Jadakiss, MC Light as well as working with DJ Drama, DJ Chuck T, DJ B-Lord, DJ Mick Boogie and The Mic Fiend.
Thadd has also generated major radio play in two regions, performed at the SEA Awards and garnered multiple award nominations. Having developed a love for music early on and rapping since the age of 10, it seemed a natural progression to pursue music. Motivated by family and success, Thadd has incessantly thrown himself into his craft over the years, with a work ethic that rivals many. “I think I’m addicted to succeeding. I don’t mean money, but just the respect and love from knowing that my music touched someone,” he adds. Described as humble by peers, Thadd extends a unique perspective through his music, one void of gimmicks. He elects to stay true to himself during an era where imitation is glorified on the radio airwaves. His plans include establishing the Mic Fiend brand as a force in the industry, releasing a series of tapes and gaining fans worldwide. “I’m not concerned with a deal, as long as I give the people what they want. I want to soon have my official first release ready and packaged for the world to enjoy. Within the next five years, you gotta mention me among the top 5 dead or alive. Don’t have to get the money, but I definitely got to get the love,” he adds.
Embracing the many challenges that come with business ownership within the music industry, Thadd approaches it with an audacious spirit of achievement. The very talent, creativity and tenacity that has served as his catalyst for success thus far, will inevitably catapult him to unforeseen heights in the future.
Contact Information:
Follow Thadd on Twitter: http://twitter.com/thaddwilliamssc
Facebook: http://facebook.com/thaddwilliamssc
E-mail: info@micfiendmusic.com
(757) 256-3542
Damo - Recording Artist
If a million people heard you’re voice, what would you say? Many people will never have an answer for that question. Even the music business doesn’t seem to get it right anymore, with dwindling record sales, stale subject matter, a bunch of dope singles and underwhelming albums it seems that everyone is pretty confused about just what they need to say. However, since 10 years old , Damo (birth name Andamo McCullough) has been prepping his grand opus and just patiently waiting for the rest of the world to open our ears and simply listen. His road to the center stage hasn’t been any easy one, to say the least.
Born in Philadelphia’s notorious Richard Allen Housing Projects, drugs affected the life of this young hip hop prodigy at an early age. “My mom had to move us with our grandmother when I was around four years old because she couldn’t take care of us and try to get off of drugs at the same time, it just wasn’t happening,” reflects Damo. Just a few years later, Brenda McCullough came back to North Philly and picked her three kids up and moved to South Philadelphia where she would begin a new chapter of her life, drug free. School was a breeze for Damo; his first year at McDaniel Elementary he got skipped up a grade and placed into the mentally gifted program. A jack of all trades, Damo would excel at everything he did from drawing to playing basketball. “ I wanted to be in the NBA at sixteen until I picked up a pen, then that’s when everything changed,” he explains. Grades begin to drop, and Damo’s behavior begin to change in school when he believed that he had a chance at getting a record deal at a very young age. By High School the goal was only to become the best rapper in the school, Damo knew that College was out of the picture for him. However, he did not know that these antics would result in him being left back as a senior at Bartram Motivational High School.
After the fifth year of high music begin to pick up for Damo and his group, The Faculty, which consists of a bunch of high school friends and his younger brother, Montana. After almost signing a writing contract with Bad Boy records in the summer of 2004, most of The Faculty moved on to their lives as sophomores in respected Universities around the country. For a year, Damo formed a duo with long time friend and current aspiring artist, singer Fortae. They began performing shows for small venues, and negotiating recording contracts with local independent record labels. A particular label wanted the duo to team up with 2 girls, and have all the artists dancing and singing as their very own “Making The Band” experiment. The two up-and-comers refused and they eventually went their separate ways, Fortae moved to New Jersey and Damo moved to Jacksonville, FL to further his musical career.
“ By 2006, it seemed like the south just had a better handle on things than the north, I needed a piece of that,” admits Damo. He began recording his debut album, The Revolution, at Vision Sound studio and working with a group named Street Royalty. Recording wasn’t cheap, Damo realized that he needed a way to make money and enough to be able to finish his record. While selling drugs was something that most of his close friends chose to do, Damo refused that hustle. In March of 2007, Damo enlisted in the United States Navy and committed himself to 6 years. After blowing his a majority of his signing bonus on beats and studio time that all kind of fell through for the rapper, he quickly learned that he had to begin his career from the ground up. Damo scrapped his album, The Revolution, and begin working on a mixtape, The Proof, which he ensures will be a classic and promises will be out either the end of ‘09 or the begin of 2010. “It’s still about the lyrics, for me, and a long as they coming, I’m coming,” boast the new future of hip hop.
Damo is currently working on The Proof, and his debut album, Save Yourself, both of them he hopes to release sometime this year. As the newest member on Mic Fiend Music, he’ll finally be able to be heard. Let’s stay tuned, great things are coming.
www.youtube.com/biggestdamofan
www.twitter.com/damogeneration
www.facebook.com/damotheproof
saveyourselfdamo@gmail.com
Myspace page coming soon
Ko-Kayn - Producer
Hailing from the Midwestern streets of Dayton, Ohio’s west side, Ko-Kayn Rey (born Devon Reynolds) brings an abundance of aggression and energy with his triple threat approach to hip hop music and the entire industry.
Baring the same December 4th birthday as one of Hip-Hop’s icon, Kayn graced the world with his presence in the early 80’s and was raised in one of the roughest neighborhoods of Dayton’s west side. He would often say “Comin’ up on Marion and 3rd wasn’t a walk in the park; drive-by shootings, sightings of dead bodies, and crack deals were pretty much a daily occurrence, not to mention, the insect n rat infested house I grew up in” but oddly enough, unlike some rappers, Kayn would never be one to glorify street life. As an inner-city youth, Ko-Kayn wasn’t your average hoodlum that was just a product of his environment, he was much more; he was something special. From birth, it had been said that he had many special abilities and talents (some used for the goods of evil) but most used to make him a more positive person. “When I was mad young, I had a crazy memory and a special ability with numbers, sounds and measurements” he states when briefly describing his abilities. One of the first people to discover Kayn’s uncanny ability of math and memorization was his late brother, Darnell, who instantly put Kayn’s abilities to use in the business of street pharmaceuticals. “My brother trusted me so much with the numbers that if I ever said they were short, someone could lose their life!!” It was unbelievable to have that kind of power at such a young age!! Even though it felt good to be respected and protected in the streets, Kayn knew that the street was not where he belonged; he knew that he had a calling much greater than that!
That same uncanny ability of memorization was again discovered by Kayn’s second grade music teacher, who found him playing a selection by Beethoven that had been playing earlier in class that day. Kayn’s teacher approached him and asked if he’d taken any lessons, but of course, due to having such humble beginnings as a child, his family could never afford something like that. It was then found that young Kayn could memorize musical notes and play piano by ear. His unbelievable writing ability was discovered in the 4th grade when he wrote a 4 page poem about his life that shocked his English teacher with its well composed structure and violently graphic content. Shortly after those discoveries, Kayn started to become serious about his pursuit of self-improvement and success, “I realized early that if I was going to make it out the hood and still feel like I’m a part of it, I have to do something that makes me successful and tells my story so that others can learn from it” and at that moment, he made the decision to pursue his music!
Once Kayn entered high school, he was fully into writing his own lyrics, producing his own tracks, and performing at several shows and was very well known around the city for his aggressive displays of lyrical ability. Even at that time, Kayn would draw comparisons to Twista and DMX as a rapper and to Timbaland as a producer, which is of course because these are all much respected favorites of his! As he left high school to enter the Active Duty Air Force, Ko-Kayn knew that music was still his destiny and that was further confirmed when he met fellow artists, Thadd Williams and Rush Hour, who each seemed to had been led to that very same destiny at the very same time. “Man we clicked instantly and we gelled together so perfectly that we formed a group called the Regime and everybody wanted to be a part of it somehow. We were them niggaz for real!!” Soon after, Kayn started becoming very well known for his production as he perfected his craft so he started to enter beat battles and began racking up notoriety and even a couple Beat King ti
Ko-Kayn is now on the fast track to success, doing track submissions to the likes of: Flo-Rida, Plies, Eminem, Lloyd Banks, 50 Cent, Donnie Klang, and many more! He now has his own production company, Beat Regime Productionz, which is fully operational and is due to take over in 2010. He states “I am great and I just pray that I can become greater as I make upward progression. Thanks to my Mic Fiend fam and my Regime ridahz, I know it’s bound to happen. I guess you can say you didn’t have to take the hood out of the nigga to get the nigga out of the hood, I made it out… in fact, the hood is what got me here and I’ll never forget it!!”
VA Swagger - Promoter/Graphic Designer
VaSwagger.com was created in early 2008 by myself, Ms. Chasity. I started off as a model in 2001, started doing image manipulations, designs, and photography in 2002. Along the way, I have had the pleasure of meeting quite a few talented people, a few of those being my very own friends. After participating in talent shows, modeling showcases, open mics, etc...I realized just how much talent was right here in VA that was being overlooked due to poor promotion. This had to change. After coming to this realization, I decided to do something about it. I decided to create this site in recognition of the talent here in VA. Not to gain money or popularity, but for the simple belief that one person CAN make a difference. If I could gain one thing out of all this, it would be to see those who deserve it succeed in their dreams, to help those who have doubt in themselves, believe in themselves. And to help people realize, that if you work hard, and believe in yourself, you can accomplish anything! Don't sleep on yourself, nothing comes to a sleeper but a dream.....aint that right Jack ;o)
Lowz - Engineer/Producer
Born in Norfolk, VA, Lowz was introduced to music and sound by his parents and older siblings at a very early age. At the tender age of 3, he was already recording with tape players, playing electronic keyboards and raiding every family member’s record collection. "We used make our own recordings with cassete tapes and those built in mics found on some boom boxes. I also remember sitting in front of my dad's stereo for hours just amazed how the sound came forth," he recalled. Lowz then took a strong liking to various instruments and began a long journey as a musician when he took up piano lessons at the age of 7. Several instruments later, Lowz found his musical niche with the trumpet at the age of 11 and has stuck with it ever since. His passion earned him the title of an all-city trumpeter and a Jazz band ensemble member at the age of 13.
Lowz’s most influential genre of Jazz music was abruptly changed when he became a Hip-Hop enthusiast in middle school. " I became a real Hip-Hop junkie. One Christmas the only thing I wanted was more Hip-Hop cds (laughs)," he said. Upon entry to high school, Lowz began to make beats and joined forces with various neighborhood friends to form rap groups and collaborations. This continued all throughout his high school years and through his limited college years. Lowz obtained many collaborations throughout those years for his unique beats and sound. Many of those artists he worked with went on to pursue music and some now have successful music industry careers.
Daunted by the subsequent change in Hip-Hop music, lack of opportunity and distain for a career without music, Lowz remembered his beginnings and decided to pursue a career in the field of audio engineering. "I can't see myself doing anything other than something I have a passion for," said Lowz. In 2007, he moved to NYC to attend the Institute of Audio Research. There Lowz obtained the title of certified audio engineer. He hoped to make NYC his indefinite home but due to a change of events moved back to Norfolk, VA. Lowz is now one of the most renown engineers in the Hampton Roads area of VA. He has engineered and has been involved with a plethora of projects both locally and internationally. Lowz currently engineers at Radio Ready Recording Studios in Norfolk, VA.
Lowz’s Contact Info:
Email:
1lowz1@gmail.com
Cell:757-572-9138
Myspace: Coming Soon
DJ Precise - DJ
Born and raised in Mount Vernon, NY, DJPrecise1914 grew up to hip-hop music. As a teenager, his love for hip-hop led him to joining a group of individuals deeply rooted in Mount Vernon's hip-hop scene called the PathFindaz. This group was led by DJs such as DJ Chuck and DJ Psych Norm (RIP), but would eventually be the breeding ground for not only DJPrecise1914, but also NY's Underground Mixtape King and Remy Ma's Official DJ, DJBedtyme357.
In 1997, Precise enrolled at Norfolk State University, then transferred one year later to Old Dominion University, where he would become acquainted with WODU's own DJ Doughboy. Precise watched and learned from not only Doughboy, but other ODU DJ's such as DJ Casper, DJ RNS, and DJ Rob Stacks. Towards the end of his college career, Precise was introduced to DJ Vince, who was just starting his company, All City Entertainment, which controlled the college party scene during that time.
In 2005, Precise felt it was time to apply all of the knowledge that he had acquired. Starting with an unplanned opportunity to DJ at a local house party in the newly built Village apartments, Precise finally made his start into the world of djing. After forming his company, Blue Light Entertainment, countless house parties, fraternity functions, and collegiate and private events would follow. Then in 2008, local mogul Curt Anderson opened The Ultra Lounge in VA Beach, VA. After finally convincing Curt to give him an opportunity to showcase his skills, Precise eventually became the Happy Hour DJ on Friday nights.
Since then, Precise has DJ'd at several Hampton Roads establishments while working alongside various radio DJ's such as DJ Ruckus, DJ Phillie and DJ Green. In 2009, after working with Mic Fiend Music on several early projects, Precise became the official DJ of Mic Fiend Music. "I do this for the love of music. The Lord blessed me with this ability and I love doing what I do". Precise's projects include following up on the successful Radio Killa mixtape series with his labelmate Thadd Williams, his VA or Die and Tastemaker series, while spinning as the official DJ for Rock The Mic University, the popular open mic platform for VA underground artists. His work with VA independent artists has earned him the title of the "Underground King of VA".
DJ Precise's Resume:
Establishments Spun: Ultra Lounge (Virginia Beach, VA), Ibzia (Norfolk, VA), Entourage (Norfolk, VA), Blurr (Newport News, VA), and Blakely's (Chesapeake, VA)
Hosted Mixtapes: Radio Killa 1 (Thadd Williams), VA or Die Series (Various Artists), TasteMaker Series (Various Artists), Radio Killa 2 (Thadd Williams), Welcome To The GoodLyfe, Vol. 1 (Various Artists), and 7 Cities and Beyond Vol. 2 (Various Artists).
DJPrecise1914's Contact Info:
Email: djprecise1914@gmail.com
Cell: 757-618-5296
Facebook: www.facebook.com/djprecise1914
Myspace: www.myspace.com/djprecise1914
Follow Precise on Twitter: www.twitter.com/djprecise1914