Niko

I don't have much experience when performing on stage but I have done a couple of shows. I would hope to assume they would enjoy the lyrical talent I do possess, so once I get on stage I'll try and bring the same passion and emotion I had when I first wrote the song. You can expect a lot of energy. Like I said, my stage performance isn't something I'm known for but I would like to think with the help of choreographers it will vastly improve.

Well the story goes is when I first got introduced to rap at a young age and one of my peers had told me about an artist by the name of Eminem. I had heard of him from the radio but didn't think too highly of his music until I actually began to listen to the records he was producing. I instantly fell in love with his rebelliousness to write music with such passion as he has. The way that he made it seem like, the life style, saying it's okay to be who you are as long as you strive to do the best you can. It really inspired me to start writing material of my own so when I was in the 4th grade, I picked up an old journal and began writing some of my first songs. No beats, just verses I had. I found it very fun and exciting so I kept at it but I never really told anybody about this new found hobby. Years passed, and I was beginning High School for the first time. Still writing when I could but I hadn't developed any interest to make something of it. Until my Sophomore year, when late one night, I borrowed my nephew's toy microphone recorder and figured I would try to put my vocals up for a test run. It didn't work as I had planned but then I remembered about our family computer in the living room and thought it would be easier to record off of that. Recording some of my first songs felt awesome! It was a humbling experience to know that I did by myself and soon became addicting! I wanted to record and record! Sometimes late in to the night where my auntie would have to tell me to keep down so the neighbors wouldn't hear! So once I got the hang of producing my records, I wanted to show people in hopes that they too would appreciate my talents. I got a lot of "it's alright," "the production is messed up," "the quality doesn't sound good," "you sound like 50 Cent" but no one told me that I was bad. So I got more into it, trying to develop better as a writer and my production skills. With each track I seemed to do better and better, soon some of my peers in school told me they heard my songs on my website where I posted them after I recorded and I started to get compliments for them. Now I felt like I might be going places with this rap... I kept at it, after High School I then upgraded to going to the studio and recording my songs professionally. Everything was really going well, I had recorded 2 studio albums and my fan base was starting to grow each day. I even created a fan page on Facebook for the first time but I still kept a MySpace for instant access to my music. Then it all started to hit me, is this something I wanted to do for the rest of my life? I began writing for fun and now I'm starting to reach this turn about of events that will direct me in where I should go but, am I ready for it? It was all too much for me, the pressure of it all. I had no choice but to quit in order for me to reanalyze where I wanted to take this. It wasn't easy for me, and I was seriously considering quitting rapping altogether so I held off creating any new music for a while. A few years pass, and I've declined a lot. I was struggling with addiction and depression. My friends have all moved on without me. I completely lost focus of what I wanted to do in life. I was hopeless... Ironically, the same thing that I was running from saved my life. Music found it's way back to me and brought me out of that slump that I so desperately needed to get out from. I knew what I needed to do, so I quit all of my bad habits, got my act together and found the focus that I needed to put me back in the fight! I felt alive again, only this time I had brought back something with me, a clear mind and some dedication. I lost it all before and I don't ever want that to happen again. I've learned my lesson, and music was the one thing that helped me escape the harshness of reality.

All I need is a mic, the stage, a DJ to play my beat, and I'm good to go.