This is my Bio. I was gonna write it in 3rd person but i wanted to directly tell you my story.



         I was born in Brooklyn NY, in the 80's. Before hipsters & bike lanes. If you road thru my hood on your bike you might end up walking back. I've had bullets fly thru my apartment door. I remember stepping out my front door as a kid and seeing everything from blood stains , crime scene tape and crack vile’s somewhere along the walk to school. I remember learning the difference between the red and blue tops of the crack bottles during 4th grade lunch room conversations.

         Hip-Hop was my first love.I Wrote my first rhyme at age 9. In high school It was dreads, fatigues and Timbs until a friend of mine played me "father of mine" from EverClear. Next thing you know I'm walking thru the hood with neon green hair and an eyebrow piercing listening to powermac 5000 and Marylin Mansion. 

          I knew music was what I wanted to do, so I majored in composition in community college. I took up the guitar because I wanted to be Mike Eisinger from Incubus. I was still Rapping at the time and got tired of doing my songs over other artist beats until one day I realized that this music "composition" I've been studying was the same thing as beat “production". Something was missing though. I was a rapper who's music collection consisted of the arctic monkeys, avenged sevenfold , Cold War kids and whichever album Kanye released that year. I was playing guitar on  the  beats I made, but everything Changed at a show one night when i decided to grab a guitar and freestyle while i was playing. That was it. It connected and made no sense and perfect sense at the same time. 

I've never fit in. I was never bullied tho. 

When I showed up to  play hip hop shows they always thought I was an R&B singer 

When I show up to play at rock shows (with a guitar on my back mind you)I always get asked 

If I'm Dj'ing  

Thru all of that , I can't recall one situation where I wished I fitted in, or wished I looked or

 sounded like "everyone else"


        Fitting in is corny to me. I remember playing a show and someone came up to me after and said "I heard you playing from outside and it drew me in, when I saw you I was shocked because you look nothing like you sound"

I took that sideways comment as a compliment. There is nothing doper than being yourself. Yes I'm black, yes I grew up in the hood in Brooklyn, But  yes I like John Mayer, yes I like 2Chainz, no I can't play basket ball, yes I watch WWE, and no I don't drink, snort or smoke. 

       The time in between the last show and the next show whether it be hours ,days or weeks can not ever pass quick enough. The connection made &the transfer of energy in the room is addictive. I write these songs alone, in solitude & when I take the stage to perform them they become  OUR songs. The recordings that you play  to re-call the feelings of the night and to learn the words so you can sing along next time we are together become YOUR songs. Sing along in the front, mosh in the middle, dance in the back,  it's all vibes.

I write songs about relationships. Relationships of all kinds. Relationships with lovers, exes, friends, enemies, & my relationship with New York City. The good, the bad, and the ugly. I've never been good at dealing with heavy issues. I'm usually the one who cracks the joke to break the tension in the room, sometimes it's right on time and sometimes it's in bad taste. so every "joke", "punchline" or "wise ass remark" you hear in my lyrics is my awkward way of dealing with some serious Sh%t.

 I’m not telling you my story expecting you to be amazed by it. Be amazed at the fact that my story is the story of millions of kids and even adults out there and if your story is something like mine, just know you aint the only one. My story is our story, My songs are our songs.

Nothing's Free Out Now: https://angelolsen.jagjag.co/nothings-free

MY FACE HURTS FROM SMILING - THE MIXTAPE - OUT FRIDAY 6/27

MSL is following