2020 was supposed to be the most important year of my career. After 8 years of grinding and going through management and staffing issues, promotion problems and empty venues, long road trips and winded performances, I had FINALLY found a label home! 3rd week in February brought me to BMG Records under Supreme ENT, where I signed my first ever Record Deal. THEN STARTED THE CANCELLATIONS. Like most artists, a lot of my income comes from shows and appearances. With a government shut down, due to thousands of cases of COVID-19 , that becomes virtually impossible... or so we thought. After a couple of weeks dumbfounded about what direction I would be able to take for the rest of this year, I picked up and began brainstorming different ideas to persist on and stay relevant. With remote broadcasting, the shows, interviews and appearances won't stop. I’ve converted my managers porch into an actual stage and interviewing area to allow for live broadcasting feeds and will be using all available social media outlets for streaming. If you haven't, go check out the new downloads available on soundcloud! You'll gain access to FREE STREAMING of Vee-Intro, Back Down, The Bigger Picture and The PaperChase, as well as all the previous works posted there! Make sure if you like it, you heart it! and if you can, SHARE it to your personal social media! The connections I make through my fans is a blessing. Building an organic fan base has always been my goal and you guys make that possible! New Merchandise Available through Rageon.com! Direct Link available at the end of blog post! www.bmi.com/news/entry/bmi-joins-musicares-and-the-record-academy-covid-relief-fund There is help for working, paid artists everywhere! Click the link above for info on help for artists through BMI for registered BMI Artists. Click the photo Below and read the details on applying for help. If you click the photo below that, you will be brought directly to where you need to to apply for possible unemployment benefits for working, paid artists everywhere in Mass!. STAY SAFEARTIST SPOT LIGHT - STATIZ BEYPoverty drugs violence and uncertainty describes a life in the "Port City", Mobile,Alabama. Though not directly effected, DeMarcus Ratcliff, AKA Statiz, was no where near a stranger to the street life. A stable 2 parent household growing up wasnt enough to block the allurement of the street life from Statiz and his older brother. Sneaking out of the house as a teen, Statiz found his way into the streets of Mobile, Al. Robbery and stealing cars was most appealing, until the age of 19 when it all led Statiz and his older brother behind bars. "Yea my parents have been together my whole life. Me and my brother just had some wild hairs and just couldnt sit steal. I was mostly influenced by the Hot Boyz, 36 Mafia and even though I wasnt a dope boy, Young Jeezy and T.I. were 2 of my favorite artists in the early 2000's. They helped shape my mentality as far as the streets were concerned. Lil Wayne's solo career sky rocketing is what influenced me to pursue a rap career." With a group of his friends, Statiz started rapping at the age of 15. He was part of a "clique" called TNT (Trill Niggas Thuggin), along with friends T-Fly, Big Hawk and Visa, mostly doing cyphers around the school yard at Murphy High Statiz Continued to developed his craft. At the age of 17 he recorded a mixtape a Fab 4 collaboration track over singer Mario's "let me love you (remix)" instrumental, which they performed at a homecoming pep rally at school. "It was my first performance. I was kinda nervous, but luckily Visa had the first verse and I followed his lead. I had fun. The crowd was hype. We were hype. I loved it." After gaining support from his peers, Statiz continued to work and later in 2006 recorded a compilation mixtape with close friend and now producer C-Low Bambino entitled "Standing Tall". With That Mixtape Statiz performed at many open mic and talent shows perfecting his craft and growing as an artist. That was until he hit a major road block in his life. July 20,2008, Catching 3 1st degree robbery charges and later being sentenced to 30 years in state prison. After being sentenced to the Alabama state prison system, Statiz had two choices, continue on the road he was on or find something constructive to do to make his time easier. 20 years old with 30 years over his head, Statiz began to work on and perfect his craft of music. Doing Talent shows and joining cyphers is what made his days fly by. Then finally, December 11, 2017 Statiz paroled out of the Alabama state prison system with the mindset to use his artistry to build a wealthy empire and strong legacy for him and his family. Grinding hard, networking, writing and recording, Statiz has been moving towards his dreams of being a wealthy rap artist. On August 8, 2018 Statiz released his first mixtape "Here Me" with very little marketing and promotion or knowledge thereof. Not wanting to quit, Statiz decided then that he needed to learn the levels ins and outs of the music business if he wanted to be sucessful.
Future online events interviews |