Crown City Entertainment

Black

www.crowncityentertainment.com

www.myspace.com/blacknmildcce

Black is the latest addition to the Crown City Entertainment roster. He signed with CCE in 2005, and showed his tireless (or "Restless") work ethic by completing his Crown City debut, "Bottled Up", less than two months after coming to the label. Black brings a more hood approach to the "hooligan hip hop" style that XL Middleton has already pioneered, fusing tales of intoxicated celebration with more familiar subject matter, such as the ills of street life and dreams of one day overcoming those struggles. He almost signed a deal with Def Jam Records but turned it down because, as a young artist in the struggling West Coast hip hop scene, it was painfully clear that he would be put on the backburner ahead of other, more established Def Jam acts at the time. At that point, it was time to "lease out the Slacker Pad," as Black puts it about his move to Crown City. XL Middleton saw the talent in the Altadena, CA, native, and was simply waiting for the right moment for them to cross paths, which more than likely would have happened in the liquor section of any Pasadena supermarket. With Black's drunken approach to creating music, it was inevitable the two would work together on some level - even their rap names were derived from the Middleton Black & Mild cigars that clouded many a recording session during their early days creating demos at home studios around Pasadena.

What really sets Black apart as an artist is his down-to-earth yet flossy rhyme style. You hear the talk about nice cars and flashy chains, but you also hear the story of an everyday person who is always down to mix up a few drinks & chill out at your local backyard party. "After the show it's the afterparty and, after that it's Albertsons for Bacardi", he spits in one verse. "Hop in the Benz with a pack in back of hoodrats, where we headed, Roscoe's or Jack's?" he rhymes on his underground single "Till It's Time 4 Breakfast". He's flossy, no doubt; but he mixes in everyday events that anyone can relate to, such as buying Bacardi from Albertson's or hitting up Jack In The Box after a party, and it's all done with his trademark West Coast-country boy accent that is so characteristic of Pasadena / Altadena.

Black's next album, The Black Bar, is scheduled for release later this year.