Staxx

STAXX - CHRONICLES OF AN ABANDONED MIND NOW AVAILABLE ON

Staxx was an established rapper signed to Universal Records with an album release date set for August 28, 2007, but he was arrested just weeks before the release on a slew of charges and wound up being held without bail. With their recently signed artist suddenly looking at a likely minimum of a half-decade in prison, the label quickly released him from their contract. But Staxx beat the case, got out with a fresh lease on life, and now possesses a whole new outlook on what his future holds.

Staxx was born and raised in Taunton, MA, where he and his family were never well off, but conditions continued to deteriorate as his mother’s drug habit began to spiral out of control.

“When I was young, I always thought money was different colors, like Monopoly money,” Staxx said in an exclusive interview with 5StarMag. “When I started school I found out that money was green; what we had were food stamps. But it wasn’t until I was about eleven that things got really bad.”

Staxx’ mother, who had past issues with dabbling in drugs, now began staying out all night, and the longer the pattern held, the longer it started to take before she came home after work.

Soon she began to go missing for two and three days’ time, until finally she disappeared for two entire weeks. Staxx credits his school lunch tickets for providing him with at least two square meals a day, but when school ended Staxx came home to an empty house and even emptier fridge.

Through those difficult times Staxx found at least one positive way to vent his frustrations: writing.

He wrote poems, he wrote rhymes, and he wrote letters to his absent mother.

“But I didn’t know where to send them, so I just put her name on the envelope with no address. I didn’t know you needed one. I’ll never know who actually got those letters, if anyone.

“But when I wrote to her sometimes I wrote things that rhymed, and sometimes I’d write what frustrated me. That was when I started seeing how writing could help me express my emotions. People tend to call it creative, but I’m not really creating my life with words, I’m expressing it.”

But Staxx’ love for music in general and hip-hop in particular has roots that go even deeper.

“I was the kid in the car always rapping and singing along with the radio. I always turned the music up as loud as possible. If someone tried to turn it down, I’d flip. Even now I hate when people turn down a song I’m really feelin’ -- it aggravates the fuckin shit outta me.”

After growing up listening to rock, Staxx was exposed to hip-hop in the early 90’s by artists such as MC Hammer, Kris Kross, and Naughty by Nature, then by the mid-nineties he grew a strong liking to artists such as Tupac, Bone Thugs, and Dr. Dre.

Staxx also showed a talent for writing lyrics at an early age.

“When I was ten, I remember a class assignment to write a poem and all the kid’s poems were just regular poems; mine was the only one that rhymed. Back then, I thought poems that don’t rhyme were stupid, and mine rhymed so it was ill. That’s one of my earliest memories of writing a rhyme.”

When further displays of poetical ability in school drew admiration from classmates, a light bulb went off in Young Staxx’s head.

“I look back at stuff like that and it’s funny, I never knew (rhyming) would be like a career or anything. It just felt good. I wanted to show everybody; to impress people like, ‘Look what I can do.’”

After moving in with other family members, Staxx received some stability in his life. The combination of finally living in a steady household and his love for music only served to continue to improve his skills as an MC.

After a successful chance encounter online in a battle chat-room, Staxx’s confidence continued to grow. He purchased a karaoke machine and began recording his own raps for the next several years. At 17, Staxx happened to see a local DJ at Taunton’s mall and decided to take advantage of a golden opportunity.

“I saw him outside the mall and I told him I’m a rapper. He must’ve looked at me like, ‘Who’s the hell’s this kid?’ But I spit him a verse, and he liked it. He said, ‘I got a studio, if you wanna come down and record a song.’ So I got a beat from a local producer, wrote a song and went to record. And when it was done, hearing myself on cd, it was like an addiction. That was the only drug I did then, and I did it all day every day.”

Saddled with nonstop suspensions, Staxx was still only in his sophomore year of high school at 18. After being expelled upon the 42nd suspension of his 4 year high school career, he decided to get a full time job and continue rapping.

“But I didn’t really care (about being expelled),” Staxx told 5StarMag. “Because I knew I was gonna be a famous rapper, and school didn’t teach you how to do that.”

After hooking up with Tony Spears in 2003 after wearing the established manager down with dogged persistence, Staxx’ career began to take off, and he soon established his own label: Silver City Records.

In July of 2004, the first of what would soon amount to over twenty articles on the rapper would appear in the newspaper. A year later, Staxx was named one of the Top 10 Unsigned Mc’s in the Country in Scion’s Next Up Competition. In the summer of ’07, Staxx’s song about Red Sox slugger Big Papi “We Can’t Lose” became available on iTunes, and was played during Red Sox events.

Earlier that same year, Staxx received a deal from Universal Records after spending around $25,000 out of his pocket on his album "My Style" using a studio with certified gold and platinum records to its credit. The release date was set for August 28, 2007. Everything was looking up for the 23-year old. And then one morning it all came crashing down.

On August 7, 2007 at 11:32am Staxx was arrested on 16 felony drug and weapons charges and held without bail under the courts dangerousness statue. Soon after the arrest, he was released from his Universal contract, but had a much more important release on his mind: his own.

"I hired one of the most well-respected defense attorneys in the county, and he explained to me and later proved in court that my car had been illegally impounded, which was a violation of my rights as guaranteed to me by the 4th amendment of the constitution and article 14 of the declaration of independence, and any evidence found subsequent to my rights being violated cannot be used against me in trial, my motion to suppress was allowed.

After fighting and winning his case from jail, Staxx hit the streets on May 12, 2008 with all charges dismissed. But Staxx told 5StarMag that the career setbacks caused by his incarceration meant little next to the amount of wisdom he gained about his family, friends, and life in general.

“During that time, I realized what was important in life,” he said. “It taught me to stay around people who really care about you. Because when you’re in the position that I was in, everybody wants to be around you. But when you’re in a position that all you have to offer is ‘yourself’, you see who really cares. My friend count went from 500 to like 3 like that,” he laughed. “But it made me closer to my family. To never take my family and close friends for granted again.”

Staxx has managed to keep his environment drug-free upon his release, and has continued to pursue his love for hip-hop. After a seemingly endless search, Staxx found a steady well-paying job and released his highly anticipated “Chronicles of An Abandoned Mind” album on St. Patty’s Day 2009 through his own independent label, Silver City Records. The Album is now available on iTunes and at www.amazon.com

“What I do is keep it real when I spit,” he said. “I’m gonna change the game. I feel like hip-hop has been in a steady decline in the last few years and I’m tired of seeing it.”

But even more important than music is the new outlook on life Staxx now enjoys, and for the first time, can soberly enjoy with his mother.

“It’s ironic. My whole life, my mom did drugs, and then three years ago she got clean. My whole life, I never did drugs until three years ago, and then I got really bad. It was like I wasn’t there to be proud of her, cuz I was fucked up at the same time she quit. But when i was away (in jail) she sent me canteen money, wrote me, and visited all the time. I'm so proud of her. Now we're clean together, so for the first time in my life, we're both sober at the same time, and I can finally get to know her."

Staxx’s final words were aimed at anyone in a similar situation to his own. “All I know is, you got to make something happen. If life sucks, do something to change it. If you don’t try to change shit, then you need to quit complaining.”

There are more than enough of these stories about difficult upbringings, and not nearly enough of them end with those circumstances being turned around. Hip-hop has maybe more such stories than other musical genres. But it’s those stories that make the game what it should be about: True life.

Story compliments of 5 Star Magazine.


And now its 2010. I had relapsed but im clean now, and My mom just relapsed. and i just got a deal. and im coming soon. so be on the lookout. cuz shits about to get real crazy