Influenced by hip hop and the 5% Nation of Gods and Earths at a young age, Mount Vernon native I Born began his journey to be one of the greats. Ignited with a vengeance to succeed, I Born caught his second wind and teamed up with reggae legend Junior Reid. Together, they have pieced a classical masterpiece of real hip-hop that’s been highly anticipated and is now ready for the world to hear.
“The record with Junior Reid came about through Rsonist from the Heatmakerz,” I Born explains. “While at the studio, Rsonist was making the beat and I walked in on it and was like ‘yo what’s that!’, but he didn’t complete it so after recording Look What I’ve Become, I asked him if he ever finished the beat, so Rsonist played it and he said a Reggae artist would be fire on the song. I was a fan of Junior Reid and told Rsonist if could he link me with him, and a day later, he had a number. Junior Reid and I spoke, I sent him the beat and he sent the vocals back in 20 minutes. The rest is history.”
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Check it out as LA-based and South Carolina-bred rapper Tek-Neek continues to push his new single, “Play Some Tek-Neek” which swindles Siri with a command to play his new single at the top of the track.
Hoping to infiltrate phone after phone, Tek-Neek hangs on to words and themes he found as a youth reading comic books and diving into the world of superhuman characters of anime. In releasing this song Tek-Neek hopes to set off every Apple phone within earshot of the DJ spinning his record almost like an anime supervillain taking over people’s phones.
“You know, Play Some Tek-Neek is a crazy song because first and foremost, the song starts off, like, ‘Hey Siri, play some Tek-Neek.” I’m hoping that when the song plays, everybody who has an Apple phone will immediately see their phone go off with the command. And it kind of like, it’s my way of hacking Apple, you know what I mean? But I’m the first to do it. I’m doing it as an artist almost like an anime villain would do, you know what I mean?”
Growing up in South Carolina, Tek-Neek comes from humble beginnings as his rap career started off with nothing more than a Casio keyboard and a vision that he wanted to make music with and for his friends.
Extremely proud of his roots in South Carolina and the Gullah Geechee way of life, Tek-Neek hopes to help people find their own roots by discovering his music as he seamlessly incorporates the Gullah culture in his music.
“Gullah Geechhee is where, my people basically come from. We are all from places like Sierra Leone, the Congo, Angola, you know, and the islands were like a mixture of all of that into one. When we were brought into slavery, it was either that we were born into slavery or we were brought into it. So, if you were brought into it, you know, you still stuck to your roots, your heritage, the way you talk and everything. So, us Gullah people, we’re the remnants, we are exactly, what it was when we got here, how we talk, how we eat, how we carry ourselves, our culture, everything,” Tek-Neek said.
Also influenced by his mother’s work in the church playing for the gospel choir, Tek-Neek grew up around 80’s R&B, gospel and soul music which you can hear permeating through his music to this day.
“If I wanted to listen to music, I was listening to it on record. So I was listening to Billie Holiday records, you know, the Herbie Hancock records, the gospel records, that was first and foremost for me. Then my mother, she played piano in the church, so when she wasn’t there I was always playing on it and learning my way on the keys. But the music I was really influenced by was eighties music, really heavy. You can definitely hear that in my sound.”
Bringing everything full circle and aside from the trickery of “Play Some Tek-Neek,” this Gullah Geechee artist is more than 2500 miles away from home with a passionate vision to live out his dreams of musical success while also sharing his cultural roots which have clearly and rightfully made him proud to be who he is, Tek-Neek.
“I want to be 1% better than I was yesterday. That’s, that’s my goal for every day, every single day.”
Continuing forward, Tek-Neek has plans to perform at The Virgil, a popular venue in Hollywood at the end of the month, culminating with a month-long promotional push to fill up the venue.
“Between rehearsal and selling these tickets, I’ve been super busy. We got DJ Pia B, DJ Ash D and a bunch of very special guests so I’m expecting a great turnout and attendance for the show,” he explained.
For Benny the Jet, living in Iowa isn’t what you would call the music capital of the world. But he hopes to change your idea and the idea that good music can’t come from the middle of the map.
Born in Los Angeles California and adopted thereafter, Benny the Jet was influenced by his new families love of theater and music which cultivated his curiosity of the music business. Although still only in his early 20’s this young artist has the respect and love of hip hop that you would find in most veteran artists.
Being brought up in Iowa, Benny the Jet knew he had to find a way to make his presence known. His style and brand are a reflective of his roots in California, but his music style is all his own. Working currently on his first EP, he hopes to bring his style of pop/rap, and club to the forefront and put Iowa on the map.
He currently has his own podcast “In the Cockpit” which highlights successful musicians, DJs, and artists who currently work on a high-end independent level. He’s headlined his own shows and has grown his following from cult to now regionally. He’s ready to take his momentum on the road and tour.
With success building behind him Benny the Jet hopes to make his mark on the music world. Having lost his dad at an early age it’s not been an easy road but he homes that the road in front of him is the path that will guide him to exactly where he wants to be.
Darius Malik releases his R&B Smash “Satisfaction.” He claims it to be
an ode to women truly being satisfied by their man. This song
challenges the thought that only money brings satisfaction, and poses
the tough question of “what else do you bring to the table?”