THA POPE

About me:

.. Imagine utilizing your gift for the good of humanity in the form of entertainment through its many forms of art including dancing, singing, lyrically rhyming, acting and playing an instrument. With a full package comes an all-around entertainer who is ready to take the world by storm. Then enters … Tha Pope. In the span of 4 years, Victor Harland a.k.a. Tha Pope has created a hysteria and mesmerized fans young and old alike to his smooth and energetic dance moves and rapping abilities. His idols and peers the late Michael Jackson, Usher, Chris Brown and Lil’ Wayne has influenced him to become more than a dancer, more than a rapper but a versatile entertainer who plans to lead by example with finesse, charm and tenacity. The journey for Tha Pope began at an early age, as he knew he was destined for greatness. Born and raised in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood a diverse melting pot of ethnicities and backgrounds, Tha Pope was able to view life from all angles including affluent city-dwellers on one end. And on the other end, the inner city where working lower and middle class families knew the words of survival and hustling by all means necessary. His motivation is his passion to entertain people. His thoughts were always imaginative and creative and sometimes very aggressive especially in grammar school. His research in history class established that world leaders like king, president, bishop were powerful. He decided that using the title The Pope as irony would find in history there was a Pope that was named Victor (Later in 1870, Victor Emmanuel II seized Rome from the pope's control and substantially completed the unification of Italy) thus birthing his stage name. As Tha Pope explains the meaningful significance of the name doesn’t blaspheme anything that is associated with the highest spiritual authority in the world. “The Pope is known as one of the most powerful people in the world. P= Power O= Opportunity P= Purpose E= Evolution. This is what Tha Pope means to me,” His curiosity for knowledge led him to the local community center where he was able to escape the world of gangs, drugs and violence. This discovery led him to dancing as his therapy, which eventually would be a road for greater opportunities. He also was able to learn about acting as he participated in a few plays in lead and supporting roles. Tha Pope was dubbed as “ Chicago’s Youngest Celebrity” as he became more active with his dancing and footwork that thrilled the crowds and many of core fans. He mastered the skill of ‘footwork’ a rapid style of dance that incorporates various dance elements like hip-hop and street/breakdance moves from the 80’s. Tha Pope embraced his pure talents as a dancer. And in 2006, he opened for Chris Brown (who was a brand new teen star on the rise) with the ‘Dance Down’ competition where the momentum was thick as thousands came to see their native son ‘Tha Pope’ and the industry’s next ‘Usher’ compete. The electricity infused as Tha Pope blended his famous ‘BOB’ dance and footwork making the crowd go insane. In 2007, NBA legend, Michael Jordan and Nike personally hired Tha Pope to perform at the 2007 All-Star game in Las Vegas where he showcased his energetic skills to a new base of fans. These stellar highlights were just the beginning as Tha Pope shared the stage with some of the industry’s top artists including Bow Wow, Ciara and Ludacris. . He also served as an opening act for Lil’ Wayne, Hurricane Chris, Florida, Twista, Shawnna, Lloyd just to name a notable few. 2007 was the catalyst for the single ‘Bob That Back Down” an infectious dance anthem which created a new craze in Chicago and the surrounding Midwest states of Indiana and Wisconsin. In 2008, Tha Pope honed his rapping skills along with his production and released “Candy Luv" produced by dance/R&B producer/remixer Terry Hunter (Raheem DeVaughn, Zhane, Crystal Waters and Masters at Work) which became a staple on both Power 92 and WGCI in Chicago. The single displayed Tha Pope’ s skills as a rapper and sensitive side who integrated no profanity and his appreciation for women. The track was very reminiscent of a young LL Cool J pledge to his girlfriend with the smash “I Need Love.” Tha Pope explains his style of rap is a blend of different things he wants to express as an artist especially his legion of female fans. “I would say my style is a mixture of every artist. I admire like Michael Jackson, Nelly, Chris Brown, Lil’Wayne, R. Kelly, P.Diddy, Jay-Z and the list goes on. I try to take some of their strengths and mix them up with mines. My style of rap consists of real things I’ve endured h in my life. So, whatever I talk about in my music is real. I don’t degrade women in my music and I keep profanity to a bare minimum” Tha Pope soon learned that being an entertainer was more than being on stage and the humanitarian evolved where he became involved with the ‘Stop the Violence Tour” which partnered local politicians, businessmen and radio personality Trey Da Choklit Jok (Power 92 – Chicago). On this tour, Tha Pope visited Chicago public and charter schools speaking to the youth about the epidemic of gun and gang violence that beleaguered many inner city communities in Chicago. After the discussion, Tha Pope treated students to a special high energy performance. In addition, Tha Pope secured an endorsement deal with K-Swiss who sponsored city school tour. Currently, Tha Pope is in the studio finishing up his highly anticipated EP titled I am Tha Pope, which is a collection of tracks that truly define his brand as an all-around entertainer. The first single ‘Body Sweat’ features singer/songwriter Drew Sidora (Slip N Slide Records/Def Jam) and lyrical assassin Twista (Capitol/EMI) who are both from Chicago as well. The single produced by JayJosh entertainment is pop and a dance masterpiece. Tha Pope introduces his fans to his singing ability as he seduces his mate with subliminal sensual lyrics. The track have stirred a buzz in Chicago and online as well as capturing the international markets of Toronto, Canada and Amsterdam, The Netherlands.. “Bob That Back Down” the remix produced by Live and Tha Pope enhances the potency of this anthem track. Plus, there are a few other tracks to satisfy his loyal fans and listeners. Always aiming for higher learning in the entertainment business, Tha Pope has taken acting courses and revisited his interest in playing an instrument as he is taking acoustic guitar lessons to add to his show for future recordings. As an independent, labels are in search for a new voice for the new generation to implore excitement and flavor. Tha Pope has all the ingredients to becoming the next superstar and he credits his idol and colleague as his motivation for him obtaining this goal. “The recent passing of Michael Jackson played a very huge role in my life. His life story is amazing to me. Anytime you can sell 750 million records while you’re still living, you deserve to be called the King of Pop. Chris Brown is a friend of mine is a phenomenal artist.” Crossroads to fame has its many obstacles and rewards and Tha Pope has absorbed this as he sets his sights on the ultimate prize that have many of his colleagues and peers clamoring for the top spot as the entertainer left vacated by the late Michael Jackson. His passion and drive for music and entertainment keeps him moving forward to becoming successful and conquering the world with the soundtrack to life …. music. Discography • Candy Luv (2008) • Body In Motion (2008) • Your Body – Remix by Slique featuring Tha Pope and Teefa (2009) • Body Sweat - Tha Pope, Drew Sidora and Twista (2009) • Bob Back That Down – Remix (2009) Videography *Available upon request or you can go to youtube.com/thapope’s music videos Show Highlights • Headlined Sold-concert @ The Congress Theatre in Chicago on 6.23.07 a huge feat for an independent artist • Co-headlined 2006 Chris Brown - ‘Dance Down’ in Chicago and 2007 in Gary, Indiana competition concert 2007 Lil’ Wayne concert 2008 Souljah Boy, Lloyd and Hurricane Chris – ‘Dance Down’ 3 competition concert • Opening Act 2007 Lil’ Wayne with his celebrity guest Shawnna (DTP) and Crucial Conflict 2007 Bow Wow and Mims concert Myspace –myspace.com/thapope Facebook – Tha Pope Twitter – twitter/thapope1 Booking/Management Allison Jordan – Jordan Management allisondjordan@gmail.com 708. 351.4897 DJ Slugo – Blok Club djslugo@gmail.com 773.963. Press/Media Inquiries David Nobel – DLN Marketing Communications & Consulting (DLN MCC) nobel.david@gmail.com 312.420.2274 ..   I edited my profile with Thomas Myspace Editor V4.4 (www.strikefile.com/myspace)

Pope 8yr Old Birthday Appearance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uZz6kdizqE