Rhyming is an art form. Just like painting, dancing and hustling. If you don't know the techniques of the genre you can easily be swept off your feet. Enter Hip Hop staple, Poison Pen, a battle MC turned street prophet. The Brooklynite started in 1996 at the first online radio station 88HipHop.com, before tearing through the streets as the undefeated champ of the NYC MC battle circuit. After participating in the Blaze Battle, Pen decided to retire in 1999 and later host the most popular lyricist competition to date, Da Cypha Emcee Battles featured throughout NYC including special showcases at Kevin Powell & Russell Simmons' Hip Hop
Speaks.
It was hunger, not chance, that brought Poison Pen to the forefront.
Founder of indie rap clique Stronghold, members including Breez Evaflowin'
C Rayz Walz, Immortal Technique and DJ Static before the group released
the acclaimed mixtape Stronghold Volume 1. The result was a classic
collaboration. "As far as the recording, I don't do Pro Tools rap. I
don't do that record & send it out to a nigga I don't know have him email
me a verse back... Naw, I don't make music like that."
Good music has always been his focus. His first appearance on wax "On the
Mic" floated off the shelves in '98 just two years before receiving his
own distribution through Landspeed Records for his debut single "Top of
the Food Chain". But the microphone monster didn't stop there. He lifted
Rainmakerz Records with his second solo joint "Fall Back" before slaying
the video game industry lyrically. Lending his voice to high selling vids
The Warriors and Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories Pen's rhyme
schemer duality would keep fans thirsting for his own album. "I been on
everybody's else's shit – but never my own", says Pen, with more fervor
and honesty than agitation. "I did MF Doom's "Bloody Chain", the
Beatminerz album, Apathy's "Eastern Philosphy" album and both of Immortal
Technique's Revolutionary Volume 1 and 2." He smiles that wicked wattage
unusual for a grimy street survivor. "We helped the whole NYC come up....
Now NYC needs to let me do the same".
He makes it look easy. Making records, appearing in Dave Chapelle's Block
Party, VH1 Hip Hop Honors and MTV's The Shop, & DFX, spitting countless bars on albums not your own. Pen has a way of keeping his name on the tongues of Hip Hop heads without breaking a sweat. Poison Pen continues to tour Hungary, Amsterdam and Norway with the gutter mentality and linguistics that fans have grown to love, and released his unofficial first solo album, titled "Pick Your Poison: The Mark Of The East" on Fontana/Universal records.
His upcoming project "The Money Shot" album will be available on August 4th, 2009 . Pen describes the album it as an aural, rap, climax “Where everything builds up to that particular moment nothing else (before that) matters.” “The Money Shot” is an extension of Pen’s persona and a view into another side of his personality. He explains that with this album, “I don’t want people to think that I’m the nicest rapper on the planet. I proved I was nice when I was 18. I’m just trying to bug out and entertain.” This album has a lighter tone and the colorful rhymes combined with odes to alcohol and drunken shenanigans will bring a smile to anyone’s face. This rhyming life is definitely an art form.
Every week, we will post episodes of the brand new series where artists, fans, and YOU get shit-faced with Poison Pen. Here is the first of this series:
EPISODE 1
ft. Freeway, Jack Frost, PH & Bishop Brigante
Plenty of Duj stuff to talk about, but first things first: R.I.P. Michael Jackson. Quite simply, Dujeous wouldn't exist without him. From D rocking the "Beat It" jacket in third grade to the crowd's reaction when we played "Billy Jean" at a birthday party last Saturday, Mike and his music have been the source of countless good times, good memories and good inspiration for our as long as we can remember. We'll miss him.
THANK YOU! We need to thank all our fans, friends, and supporters for voting our "Break Bread" Video to the No. 1 spot over at IndimusicTV on WLNY Channel 55, which reaches millions of TVs throughout the NYC metro. Last Saturday was the final episode of the show's second season, and they did an interview with the Duj, as well as showing "Break Bread" again. We couldn't have done it without you.
Oh, and in case you didn't check it yet, here it is:
Vote for Meta4ce by texting 'motv20' to 99134 on your mobile phone. MTV2 televised '1 World Hip Hop Championship' and for $1,000,000 prize. His performance was taped on May 3 and rebroadcasted on June 7th(after Sucker Free). The voting for the first round ends Friday June 12th 11:59pm est. You can vote as many times as you want...So vote fast & often (the whole episode will be posted on the main site: www.worldhiphopchamp.com
Pen! It was nice buying you Tequila at SoundSet. Thanks for coming through Minneapolis again! I sent you an email or two with some of my work, but in case it's easier to reach me on here for you, then please feel free to! Besides that, here's an example of one of my videos!
Vote for Meta4ce by texting 'motv20' to 99134 on your mobile phone. MTV2 televised '1 World Hip Hop Championship' and for $1,000,000 prize. His performance was taped on May 3 and shown on the 17th. You can vote up to 20 times per phone. So vote fast & often...
Rhyming is an art form. Just like painting, dancing and hustling. If you don't know the techniques of the genre you can easily be swept off your feet. Enter Hip Hop staple, Poison Pen, a battle MC turned street prophet. The Brooklynite started in 1996 at the first online radio station 88HipHop.com, before tearing through the streets as the undefeated champ of the NYC MC battle circuit. After participating in the Blaze Battle, Pen decided to retire in 1999 and later host the most popular lyricist competition to date, Da Cypha Emcee Battles featured throughout NYC including special showcases at Kevin Powell & Russell Simmons' Hip Hop
Speaks.
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