Born in the late 1970’s, Gonzoe (born Ronald Moore) is a testament to
the old adage “Survival of the fittest”. Born and raised in the infamous streets known as South Central Los Angeles, Gonzoe, joined the Crips at an early age. The all too familiar story that followed included the
gangbangin’, drugs, death and violence that so many inner-city black
men face in their lives, but Gonzoe is a rarity…he survived.
Determined to survive the ghetto, Gonzoe took up rapping with the
hopes of securing a future for himself and his family. His tales of
South Central street life would attract the attention of rap icon and
film star Ice Cube, who would sign Gonzoe and his group Kausion to his
fledgling Lench Mob Records in 1994, and would lead to the release the
seminal rap classic “South Central Los Skanless” which spawned the
radio and video anthem “Bounce, Rock, Skate.”
As his street and music star began to shine, Gonzoe became affiliated
with Knight Life Entertainment (the management arm of Suge Knight’s
Death Row Records). This affiliation would lead to a close
relationship with the legendary 2Pac which lasted until 2Pac’s
untimely demise. 2Pac would even bless Gonzoe with his alias Young
Ritzy, and initiate him as a member of his Outlawz, an honor that
Gonzoe did not take lightly.
The success of Kausion’s debut album landed Gonzoe a solo deal at
Private I/Mercury Records which saw the release of his debut solo
album “If I Live and Nothing Happens”. Although critically acclaimed,
the album and his relationship with Mercury would be short lived as
the label changed ownership and Gonzoe would be lost in the shuffle.
Gonzoe managed to stay relevant during his post-Mercury Records period
by collaborating on dozens of others artists albums, most notably Dogg
Pound member Kurupt’s GOLD selling album “Kuruption”. In addition to
his role as an artist, Gonzoe landed a coveted role as music
supervisor of and contributed nine songs to the now cult-classic film
“Blue Hill Avenue” which starred Allen Payne (Poetic Justice, Tyler
Perry’s House of Payne) and William Forsythe (American Me, The Rock),
and was released on Artisan/Lions Gate.
Shortly thereafter, Gonzoe, aligned himself with PLATINUM artist
Yukmouth and was co-founder of the highly popular rap crew, The Regime
(which includes underground rap phenom Tech N9ne). Gonzoe’s
relationship with Yukmouth and The Regime resulted in collaborations
on several of Yukmouth’s most popular albums as well as the wildly
successful mixtapes, All Out War Vol. 1 through 3.
In 2005, Gonzoe took the initiative to form his own, Blocwize
Entertainment and released four albums including his second solo album
“Hard Dayz, Long Nightz” and the well received collaboration with Mob
Figaz member AP:9 entitled, “Kartel Kalifornia.” In addition to his
day to day activities as an executive, Gonzoe continued to expand his
repertoire as a writer and feature of 2Pac’s sixth posthumously
released album “Pac’s Life.”
As 2009 closes, Gonzoe has added an additional title to his many roles
as Vice-President of the newly formed Illburn Records which also
distributes his own Blocwize Entertainment. Among
the many ventures that are planned for the near future, Gonzoe’s
highly anticipated third solo album,
“Year Of The Dragon” is already being touted as a soon-to-be classic
and he will also make his acting and directiorial debut in his own
film “Young World” which also stars comedy and screen sensation, Eddie
Griffin (Deuce Bigalow, Norbit).
Gonzoe's latest endeavor finds him linked up with fellow West Coast
rap up & comer A-Wax for their debut album together entitled
"Recession Proof" which features the likes of E-40, C-Murder, Glasses
Malone & Brotha Lynch Hung.
There is much more in store for this young talent and the best is yet
to come…keep your eyes peeled!
Online!
