MySpace a place for friends

Before Mr. Finley picked up the mic at the age of 13, he was already immersed into music. “I was singing before I was rapping when I was a kid. Pop’s used to have me in the house singing 20 hours a day like Jackson 5, just me and my cousin,” he says. “When I found out that I could rap around when I was in the eighth grade and just for the fact I resented singing so much because everybody used to want me to sing when company came over to the house and all that shit – I really went hard at it just so people would leave me alone.” He admits that his family wasn’t the biggest supporting cast during his transition into Hip-Hop but despite the lack of approval he stayed at it and when he wrote and performed his first song, he knew that this was the lane for him. “I could see on people’s faces that their minds were kinda blown you what I’m saying and everybody from that day on was like, ‘man you got to get on this song with me,’ so I’m like there might be something to this rap thing, so me and my friend - we started a lil’ rap group.” Joined by a third member, they would go on to call themselves “Desert Squad” and Mr. Finley would adopt his first stage name - “Wease Mac.” Before the group disbanded because of shady management years later, they released their biggest song in 1999 called “Bounce That Ass.” The song was played often throughout the clubs in Vegas and brought a lot love to the group but more importantly – it helped to build a name for Mr. Finley while he was only 16 years old. “A lot of people know me from that song which still goes hard today,” but it was his “King of Vegas Vol. 1” mixtape in 2004 and the following Volumes 2, 3 and 4 in summer 2005 that brought him even more attention.

After making many mixtapes and perfecting his skills, an opportunity in 2004 opened up to get a record deal and he got on his grind. He goes on to explain: “My old manager, Mario Davis, met my current manager Keith “WOK” Watts at first in Cali and when he came back to Vegas, he was like - ‘there’s this guy and he said he used to be a manager for this guy and that guy. He said if we got anything that’s hot, he’ll be able to help us. So Mario Davis went and collected everybody’s CD from Vegas that he knew. He got CD’s from singers, rappers and producers. It was like 15 people, including myself, and we drove down there to Cali. Again, my manager at the time went inside with Keith Watts and played all the music for him. When he came back out, he was like ‘he didn’t like none of that shit but yours. He said he can get you a deal right now if you want one.’ “I’m like ok… well shit that’s what it is.” It was at this time the birth of K.A.M.P Wess Entertainment with Mario, WOK and Mr. Finley came about, and it wouldn’t be long after they would merge with Ghet-O-Vision Entertainment to push the momentum forward even more. After flying to New York and running the rounds with visits to Island Def Jam, Jive Records and SONY Records, much promise was there but a couple of unexpected hurdles rose up and no solid offers were put on the table. In the following months former Senior VP of A&R for SONY Urban Kawan “KP” Prather, made contact with Mr. Finley and invited him out to Atlanta to visit his label Ghet-O-Vision Entertainment. KP created the label in 1999 and the first act signed was Atlanta based group the YoungBloodZ. For KP, his name is synonymous with the word success. After starting out at La Face Records doing A&R for L.A. Reid, KP guided the careers of Goodie M.O.B, Usher, Pink and high school friends Outkast at the label. He also courted the then unknown T.I. and helped him develop his talents so he could become star-quality. T.I.’s debut album “I’m Serious” was released under Ghet-O-Vision Entertainment/La Face in 2001. As for Mr. Finley – he went into the studio while at Ghet-O-Vision - layed down 2 tracks that impressed KP enough that he was signed to the label. A joint venture between Ghet-O-Vison Entertainment and Island Def Jam would soon commence once KP accepted his current position as Senior Vice-President of A&R for Island Def Jam.

Mr. Finley joins a circle that many have found success under and KP’s instincts are renowned for being dead-on. “The first time I heard Mr. Finley, I thought of all the times that I’ve been to Vegas and I had never left the strip. What I liked about his material was that he told the story of both sides of Vegas, the bright lights and the poverty stricken desert hoods and not to mention he was a really dope MC that knew his Hip-Hop beyond his years in it,” he says.

“Mr. Finley’s music is reminiscent of when Outkast first came out in how it’s raw and you keep wanting more,” says Def Jam VP of Marketing Chris Atlas. Mr. Finley admits that artists like Outkast, Devin the Dude, Jay-Z and 2 Pac were some of his biggest influences growing up and if you ask him to describe his sound - he’ll tell you, “I don’t want to categorize my music. I don’t just make hood music. I don’t just make club music. I make music… I make great music!” Mr. Finley’s debut album “The Talented Mr. Finley,” features production from Don Cannon (Young Jeezy/Asher Roth), DJ Toomp (T.I./Kanye West/ Mariah Carey), KP and his production partner Malay (John Legend/Big Boi of Outkast/Killer Mike).

Mr. Finley offers logic behind the album title. “It’s a spin off on the ‘Talented Mr. Ripley’ - that was the catchy part, but it’s also for everybody that knows me in Vegas that still call me Wease Mac. It’s just a subliminal message to say this is what I go by now.” “As far as the name change goes, we didn't want to confuse people with the Wease or Weezy thing because when you think about how real Mr. Finley’s music is - real people will recognize real and what's more real than his real name. Mr. Finley demands respect for himself and for Vegas,” says KP.

Wanting to be a voice for Vegas is real and it’s something that he aims for because he wants more people to know about the potential that’s in his city. “Most people, even when I tell them that it’s a whole different world in Vegas than what they think, it’s like they still won’t get the gist of it.” Ultimately… he’ll let the music do the talking and all his asks in return is for people to remember this, “I’m Vegas man and Vegas ain’t the strip!”