WHAT IS AMG?

AMG are the Godfathers, Grandfathers, and Illegitimate Fathers of the HeaVy Mellow sound. 

The Don - Rhythm Guitar, Vocals

"The Don" Vincenzo is the founder of the Alpha Male Gorillas. He was allegedly born on earth sometime in the 1980s, possibly in the eastern hemisphere.  He is best described as psychedelic grunge incarnate, but has a soft spot for Italian love songs and hardcore gangsta rap.  Some believe he derives his supreme rock power from his super sweeeeet knotted locks, as most fellow band members would testify.  It is believed that AMG would dissolve instantaneously if their greasy leader found himself in a unisex salon on the receiving end of a welding torch / animal shears / bolt cutters.  The Don loves people and hates the government.   At the forefront of the mid 2000s Italian-American Renaissance, Vincenzo wore the triple duty hat of Writer/Performer/Director of AMG's video "Bleed Marinara".  Shortly after declaring victory in the war against shitty jar sauce, The Chairman of the Board decided to focus on melting faces, often times for FREE.  It is quite conceivable that any time a person hears music that makes them grind their teeth, seizure, or headbutt stuff, they're likely under the influence of Donny's distorted guitar.  The Don maintains his less than stellar complexion by washing with feedback and rinsing with gain.   Also known as "AMG's #1 Fan," his contagious passion for the band is the glue that keeps AMG's model airplane together.

Ant De Fraia - Guitar, Drums

Ant "DEEP FRY" De Fraia is the creative and technical guru in AMG, being able to rock any instrument and produce excellence across all genres.  Like any true genius, he his is own best friend and worst enemy, and has more issues with other people's music than Rolling Stone.  OH!  Defraia's ears receive frequencies unbeknownst to man without the aid of modern instrumentation, which is why he was asked to master Shamu's first solo joint, "Orca-strated."  The release was a splash hit.  His history with AMG includes drumming on their first two releases "Band of Bugouts" and "No Working Title," as well as writing, arranging, and playing the acoustic gem, "Beach Bum."  Don't be taken aback by the sweet serene sounds of a wailing goat during that song's breakdown, that's just De Fraia ramming his "artistic discretion" down everyone's throat.  He is currently focusing on rhythm guitar and penned the song "Ghost" off of the AMG EP.  Ant loves, greasy food, the cyb, Bjork, and loves to boycott barber shops by growing his hair out, which makes him infinitely more awesome.  He recently voted the "Best Moustache in a Winter Month" for January 2012, an award that greatly compliments having "Best Nose In The Band" which Deep Fry has won annually and un-contested since the Dragon left in 2007.  Ant skipped AMG rehearsal every day for a week in 2006, all for the same reason, "I have to buy new pants."  Fortunately he did, and even more fortunately, they looked nothing like Trainor's. De Fraia is also the bands current producer (AMG EP) and will be working on AMG's new music video.  When members of the band take more than 3 takes to record their parts, Ant usually lights a candle, says a prayer to Cliff Burton, and then busts out a few bars of Creed's "With Arms Wide Open" to put people in their place.  Ant De Fraia is also the founder of Chuck Marlboro Productions and drummer for SKYDADDY and The Beagles. For a information on purchasing beats, or scheduling production visit ChuckMarlboro.com or email antdefraia@gmail.com

OL' Bluenote - Lead Vocal and Lead Guitar

OL' Bluenote wakes up in the morning to the sounds and smells of vinyl records.  His love of all things analog makes everyday a struggle for him as the world around us becomes more cybed out.  Fortunately he has the blues to help him cope with his issues.  Born to a musical family, he was greatly influenced at an early age by the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Carlos Santana, Michael Jackson, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. These influences are highly noticeable in his role as AMG's front man. Offering what some feel today's music lacks, Bluenote's soul is easily noticed. His dirty blues leads, along with his general hatred for technology (the cyb), set him aside from other members in the band, and offers AMG its signature sound. This sound can be heard on such songs as DIRT $**, and My Soul, from "No Working Title".  When Bluenote is not wailing and howling from the very depths of his soul, he derives great pleasure in getting high fives from strangers, as well as commanding people to hop into their hot rods and "DO A BURNOUT!"  Also, nothing makes his day like a good backflip-- he's been known to beg for one, and has only gotten 2 backflips to date from the same person.  If you see him at the bar, and don't want to be hassled by him incessantly, do us all a favor:  DO A BACKFLIP.

Dave Heinz - Bass Guitar, Vocals

Dave Heinz, also known as Bass Ventura, loves the cyb all day.  Dave is the most cyb'd-out member of the band and has not only been known to "Get all up in the cyb," many question if he has ever left, or will ever leave.  During AMG's live show, the Heinz is known for his signature "chicken wing" arm movement on his right hand (which he affectionately refers to as his low-end tickler), doing a patented dance move known as the "invisible limbo," as well as engaging The Don in on-stage wrestling matches during the most rockin moments of AMG's jams.  With three of his greatest loves being professional wrestling, music, and butter, it's only a matter of time before Papa Heinz greases himself up with Land O Lakes on his way to the squared circle accompanied by 13 layers of his own bass solo performance, while doing backflips on the Titantron.  Many of AMG's improv performances are first proceeded with Dave Heinz' incredibly descriptive "inspirations" which are likely re-occurring chemical reactions in his brain from his days at Marist hanging out with Clancey, The Reverend Flannel Rob Banks, Fizzwald, and Greg.  Freud referred to this phenomenon as "fucked up shit."  Dave has a heavy writing influence on the upcoming AMG EP contributing a majority of the work on The Visitor, A Year and a Day, and Peace of Mind.  Dave puts the "ass" in bass (that's a compliment), and as long as he's around, to quote him directly, "This little pocket of happiness is about to get happier." Dave is also a member of H8FEST and SKYDADDY, as well as The Beagles (Lots of Dogs). 

EZI - Keyboard

EZI, keyboard player / bugout extraordinaire for AMG, is the writer for AMG's Aint No War, among many other great melodies currently in the works. EZI widely recognized as donning the most fucked up attire on all costume related events, and waxes poetic as AMG's official hype man,  "EAT A!"  A complete lunatic on his 88-Key Space Shuttle, EZ is like the Phantom of the Opera, minus the mask, plus a really great tan.  Also a master of the culinary arts, "Mr. Eye" knows how to cook it up gangsta-style the same way he knows how to flavor a song to make your ears bleed butter.  Filfthy piano lines, psychedelic organ sounds, and bugged-out synth transmissions from another dimension are always on the menu.   AMG's still-in-the-closet-Guido is currently working on his Solo album - Lazy Body Parts (sounds of a champion)  @ Chuck Marlboro Productions which will be released summer of 2012.  If you're in the room with him, and not sure whether he's talking to you, or the person 45 degrees Southwest of you, I can offer you no good advice.  If anything, strike up a conversation with him about Pink Floyd to put a damper on the awkward moment.

Chris Trainor - Drums

Chris Trainor aka, THE NIGHT TRAIN is AMG's newest addition.  Chris, a lifelong beater of eggs, old Cadillacs, and the drums, has played with many notable bands in the Hudson Valley and NY Metro area, and has worn tight pants in all of them.  He has recently grown a super sweet beard to help draw attention to the upper portion of his torso (thankfully).  His hard-hitting style emerged long before his beard, and shortly before he put on his first pair of tight pants (age 2).  Trainor doesn't fuck around.  He wails on his kit relentlessly hard and then brings hit home to massage it with baby oil, and usually touches up the paint job 2 to 3 times a day.  His solid rock influence has helped AMG transition from a hip-hoppin' blues circus to a rock and roll wonder of the universe.  Despite (wildly false) rumors of attending a Nickelback concert and enjoying it, the band is grateful for having THE NIGHT TRAIN step up and take the music to the next level.  In recording with the Gorillas, Trainor was asked to play his drums in Beacon, with the mics being set up in Newburgh to get his volume under control.  The NIGHT TRAIN'S perfectly equalized recording debut will be on the upcoming still-untitled AMG EP due out in the Spring of 2012.

  When I need to push myself, I think of all those nicely polished trophies waiting to be lifted up by the winner – and how that winner might be me. 
  I have a very big sweet tooth and I love treating myself to something that I wouldn’t necessarily eat during the tournament such as a nice-sized cake.  
  I love my parents. Coming out to them was sort of coming out to myself. I educated them, and I wanted our relationship to keep growing. I wanted them to be a part of my life still. I wanted to be able to share with them what I was going through. 
  I just want to be myself. 
  Boards and myself get along somehow.  
  I think I should be active politically. Because I look upon myself as a politician. That’s not a dirty work you know. Some people think that there are something wrong with politicians. Of course, something wrong with some politicians. 
  Only through destroying myself can I discover the greater power of my spirit.  
  Every time I write something, I think, this is the most offensive thing I will ever write. But no. I always surprise myself. 
  I’ve always said that one night, I’m going to find myself in some field somewhere, I’m standing on grass, and it’s raining, and I’m with the person I love, and I know I’m at the very point I’ve been dreaming of getting to.  
  At first, I only laughed at myself. Then I noticed that life itself is amusing. I’ve been in a generally good mood ever since. 
  Writing for somebody else is really fun ’cause I consider myself a songwriter first and foremost.  
  I could party in a cardboard box with people who are funny and don’t care. For me, it’s really about who I surround myself with, so I just try to always be with hilarious people.  
  It took me a long time not to judge myself through someone else’s eyes.
  I was in a queer mood, thinking myself very old: but now I am a woman again – as I always am when I write. 
  I’m grateful to God for His bountiful gifts… He gave me courage and faith in myself.  
  I’ve woken up from dreams and the whole song is there. I’m listening to it in my dreams. I consciously have to wake myself up and get a tape recorder because I hear it like a record.  
  Certainly I’ll never be able to put myself in the situation that people growing up in the less developed countries are in. I’ve gotten a bit of a sense of it by being out there and meeting people and talking with them.  
  I’m not trying to be sexy. It’s just my way of expressing myself when I move around.  
  I quote others only in order the better to express myself.  
  I have brought myself, by long meditation, to the conviction that a human being with a settled purpose must accomplish it, and that nothing can resist a will which will stake even existence upon its fulfillment. 
  I study myself more than any other subject. That is my metaphysics, that is my physics.  
  If I read a book that impresses me, I have to take myself firmly by the hand, before I mix with other people; otherwise they would think my mind rather queer. 
  The future rewards those who press on. I don’t have time to feel sorry for myself. I don’t have time to complain. I’m going to press on. 
  If I make a fool of myself, who cares? I’m not frightened by anyone’s perception of me. 
  The first thing which I can record concerning myself is, that I was born. These are wonderful words. This life, to which neither time nor eternity can bring diminution – this everlasting living soul, began. My mind loses itself in these depths. 
  I cannot persuade myself that a beneficent and omnipotent God would have designedly created parasitic wasps with the express intention of their feeding within the living bodies of Caterpillars.  
  O public road, I say back I am not afraid to leave you, yet I love you, you express me better than I can express myself. 
  More and more, it feels like I’m doing a really bad impersonation of myself.  
  When you’re singing you can hear the echo of people in the audience singing every single word with you, and that was that big dream that I had for myself. It’s happening. 
  Yes, and I had pimples so badly it used to make me so shy. I used not to look at myself. I’d hide my face in the dark, I wouldn’t want to look in the mirror and my father teased me and I just hated it and I cried everyday.  
  I am no longer sure of anything. If I satiate my desires, I sin but I deliver myself from them; if I refuse to satisfy them, they infect the whole soul.  
  I used to work in a funeral home to feel good about myself, just the fact that I was breathing. 
  I care not so much what I am to others as what I am to myself. I will be rich by myself, and not by borrowing. 
  I would describe myself as emotional and highly strung. If something upsets me, it really upsets me. If something makes me angry, I get really angry. But it’s all very upfront. I can’t hide it. I’m also loyal and I hope I’m fun. 
  I’m in trouble because I’m normal and slightly arrogant. A lot of people don’t like themselves and I happen to be totally in love with myself. 
  When I was waiting tables, washing dishes, or mowing lawns for money, I never thought of myself as stuck in some station in life. I was on my own path, my own journey, an American journey where I could think for myself, decide for myself, define happiness for myself.  
  I alone of English writers have consciously set myself to make music out of what I may call the sound of sense. 
  I’m not a fighter, but in my mind I’m fighting every day. ‘What’s new? What am I doing?’ I’m fighting myself. My soul is samurai. My roots aren’t samurai, but my soul is.  
  I find myself hoping a total end of all the unhappy divisions of mankind by party-spirit, which at best is but the madness of many for the gain of a few. 
  When I give, I give myself.  
  Henceforth I ask not good fortune. I myself am good fortune. 
  I have never seen a greater monster or miracle in the world than myself.  
  The dupe of friendship, and the fool of love; have I not reason to hate and to despise myself? Indeed I do; and chiefly for not having hated and despised the world enough.  
  I never could have done what I have done without the habits of punctuality, order, and diligence, without the determination to concentrate myself on one subject at a time.  
  Where ever I am I always find myself looking out the window wishing I was somewhere else.  
  I felt ashamed for what I had done. I don’t have any excuses. I did what I did. I take full responsibility for myself and my actions. I wouldn’t pawn this off on anybody. I’m sorry it happened. And I hurt people. 
  I’m not going to limit myself just because people won’t accept the fact that I can do something else. 
  If I wasn’t Bob Dylan, I’d probably think that Bob Dylan has a lot of answers myself.  
  Madame Bovary is myself.  
  In the middle of the journey of our life I came to myself within a dark wood where the straight way was lost. 
  When I record somebody else’s song, I have to make it my own or it doesn’t feel right. I’ll say to myself, I wrote this and he doesn’t know it! 
  What you are, you are by accident of birth; what I am, I am by myself. There are and will be a thousand princes; there is only one Beethoven. 
  I could see myself in a relationship with a girl; Olivia Wilde is so sexy she makes me want to strangle a mountain ox with my bare hands. She’s mesmerizing.
  I do myself a greater injury in lying than I do him of whom I tell a lie. 
  Every night on the court I give my all, and if I’m not giving 100 percent, I criticize myself. 
  God has entrusted me with myself. 
  The No. 1 issue in the Hispanic American community is ‘How do I leave my children better off than myself? 
  I pinch myself because of the understanding that I’ve been blessed with a real rare opportunity that few Americans ever get – to serve their government and their people at this level. 
  Earth teach me to forget myself as melted snow forgets its life. Earth teach me resignation as the leaves which die in the fall. Earth teach me courage as the tree which stands all alone. Earth teach me regeneration as the seed which rises in the spring.  
  If all of us acted in unison as I act individually there would be no wars and no poverty. I have made myself personally responsible for the fate of every human being who has come my way.
  Picasso once remarked I do not care who it is that has or does influence me as long as it is not myself. 
  To withdraw myself from myself has ever been my sole, my entire, my sincere motive in scribbling at all.  
  To be intimate with a married man, when my own father cheated on my mother, is not something I could forgive. I could not look at myself in the morning if I did that. I wouldn’t be attracted to a man who would cheat on his wife. 
  ‘Worry’ is a word that I don’t allow myself to use. 
  I don’t follow other players or the tournaments they play. I have my own schedule and do my own thing. I never really think, ‘Oh, I want to be or play like so-and-so.’ I just like being myself.  
  If I take death into my life, acknowledge it, and face it squarely, I will free myself from the anxiety of death and the pettiness of life – and only then will I be free to become myself. 
  I am mindful not only of preserving executive powers for myself, but for predecessors as well.  
  I don’t look to a man to get pride in myself. It’s not about having a black president, it’s about having a good president, and I think that’s the most important thing.  
  I have had more trouble with myself than with any other man.  
  Shall I not have intelligence with the earth? Am I not partly leaves and vegetable mould myself. 
  I have to live for others and not for myself: that’s middle-class morality.  
  I do not concern myself with gods and spirits either good or evil nor do I serve any.  
  I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation.  
  I think it’s important to take a break, you know, from the public eye for a while, and give people a chance to miss you. I want longevity. I don’t want to get out there and run myself ragged and spread myself thin.  
  Mickey Mouse popped out of my mind onto a drawing pad 20 years ago on a train ride from Manhattan to Hollywood at a time when business fortunes of my brother Roy and myself were at lowest ebb and disaster seemed right around the corner.  
  If I seem to boast more than is becoming, my excuse is that I brag for humanity rather than for myself.
  I think of myself as an intelligent, sensitive human being with the soul of a clown which always forces me to blow it at the most important moments. 
  When the burdens of the presidency seem unusually heavy, I always remind myself it could be worse. I could be a mayor.  
  There is a lot of pressure put on me, but I don’t put a lot of pressure on myself. I feel if I play my game, it will take care of itself.  
  I’m happy being myself, which I’ve never been before. I always hid in other people, or tried to find myself through the characters, or live out their lives, but I didn’t have those things in mine. 
  I’m undaunted in my quest to amuse myself by constantly changing my hair.  
  I have learned to keep to myself how exceptional I am.  
  I was like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.  

hunting is my main game...! i love to play sports for example basketball volleyball softball i also do field and track. i cheer for fun when i was 6-11 i was on a first place cheer team for warren warriors then i moved and focused on sports hunting and school. i also love to gut fish frogs and love to skin deer. i enjoy killing animals, but mostly rabbits cuz they r a challenge. i shoot my first doe when i was 5 and my first buck which not to brag it was a 11 pointer when i was 8. then that started my buck game. when i am 16 for my birthday i hope to own a hunting camp. which will help me with hunting and teaching others the correct positions to hold a gun to show them the backwoods life. i love to mud swim and run. i love to horse back ride and try to do kool tricks while they r running but mostly just being me even if others r watching me......

The Mother Fucking Scum Himself!

The musician best known as "Zachkary" is a handful when it comes to him expanding his fan base as a household musician while allowing his creativity to flourish beyond belief. Within' a year he's gained fans in multiple states not only as his own solo act but also as the creator of The Scumbag Boyz, he's somehow found a way to not only make himself the center of attention but he's maneuvered into the right position to make his boys (scumbag boyz) the center of attention as well.

What's The Backstory of Zachkary?

Zachkary, is from a city named "Bowie" which is located in the state of Maryland. The man behind "Mosh pit Music" however has always had this strange lust for art, however he grew up to eventually drift away from the visual arts to find himself more infatuated by the lifestyle of rockers & other types of musicians such as Sex Pistols, Jimmy Hendrix, Nirvana, Dipset, Digital Underground, The Beatles, Nas, The Wu Tang Clan, Asher Roth, DMX and many others.

His infatuation with music ended up taking his main focus off of playing football & going to school, which he already had multiple scholarship offers to go out and make happen but he ended up placing his main focus more-so on chasing his aspirations and true goals in life. One of his main goals is to become a household name inside of the music industry while also helping create pathways for his younger family members. Another one of his main goals is to go out and create charities for people with Schizophrenia & other disabilities. His older brother Robert was hit by a car when he was 8 years old which resulted in him becoming Schizophrenic. However, that's one of a thousand reasons to why music is Zachk's only way to make something out of himself in life.

Zachkary's childhood wasn't the average "suburban kid" past, but that's for him to eventually speak about and not for you to read on a website. By him being family oriented it wasn't hard for him to form "The Scumbag Boyz" and eventually incorporate his brothers into the mix as well. Loyalty is what The Scums were built around as they always grew up with this very "Mafia-like" mentality. Staying within' his mob, Zachkary canceled his original group where he was rapping as "Izzy Vegetable$" who created a group named "The Izzy's"! However, due to the fact that he felt he like he was hanging around too many fuck boys that didn't have his best interest at heart he ended up ending the group as a whole.

Loyalty wasn't instilled into The Izzy's the way it's instilled into The Scums!

So, early 2014, Zachk ended up creating another group named "The Scumbag Boyz" which consists of: Zachkary, Pootie, Purpp, Big Dawg, Dope, Indy, Yenn, Kelz, Nerv, Chow And Marc Bravo, after he created this he hit the studio almost daily from March to July which led to him Dropping his freshman tape on July 18th, 2014. His freshman tape alone brought him the attention that he expected to take 1 year to achieve tops, once The Supreme Tape dropped Zachkary had already came back from his quest to find himself. As the true him came to life, flourishing in it's own way the more he began to take on this rocker, Gothic, Trap-like persona which is honestly him in all aspects overall.
His talents aren't hard to notice for as this 20 year old is extremely lyrical, his lyrical capability is sometimes scary as you will hear him stack his words in odd ways while telling stories out of his own sometimes fictional, sometimes non-fictional world.

The Scumbag Boyz roster:
Zachkary
Purpp
Pootie
Big Dawg
Marc Bravo
Kelz
Nerv
Dope
Yenn
Chow
Indy

#TSB
#scumforever
#scumshit
#thescumbagboyz

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Incentive travel has been a highly profitable reward method in the current decade. Favored by numerous corporations, IRF's 2017 research study forecasted that nearly 40 percent of United States services are preferring incentive traveling as a non-cash benefit. Traveling allows your staff members to experience something distinct as well as out of the ordinary. According to IRF 2017 price quotes, motivation packages enhance performance by as much as 44%. You can make a company contract with travel firms which will certainly even more lower your prices.

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Birth name Terrance Wayne Anthony

Born June 8, 1978 
 
Berkeley, California, U.S.

Listed height 6 ft. 1 in  

Listed weight 245 lbs.

Also known as Trip Da Ruler & J.Tripper

Origin Oakland, California, U.S.

Occupation: Rapper, Beat Maker, Writer, CEO, Manager & Promotor

Instruments Drum Machine, MIDI Boards, Fruity Loops & Reasons 

Genres Gangsta rap, West Coast hip hop, Mobb music, Hyphy, Hustla Rap, Underground Rap & Mainstream Ratchett 

Years active 2007 - Present

Labels 
Flood the Block Records - CEO & Founder
Rap Bay/ Urban Life Distribution
101 Distribution
Street Alliance Empire
Thizz Latin/ Black N Brown Entertainment

Associated acts The Puppet Master Djs, Shill Macc, Tito B, K-Loc, AP9, Lee Majors, Bobby Drakenit, Roddy Bo

Terrance Wayne Anthony (born June 8, 1978) better know by his stage name J. Tripper, is an African American and Native American rap artist from Oakland, California.

Early Life

 Terrance was born in Berkeley, California, and later moved with his single mother to North Oakland, California.

Attending Golden Gate Elementary School.
He enjoyed drawing and sports as a child, and began rapping at age 12 over old 33 & 45 records.
  
Mostly slowed down instruments of old school funk classics. Chiefly inspired by funk and soul artist. Such as James Brown, Curtis Mayfield, George Clinton & Rick James

Seeing rap artist Big Daddy Kane aka Antonio Hardy on Hip hop shows such as Yo! MTV Raps created a monster.
  
Heavily influenced by Oakland's own Too Short aka Todd Shaw and a young rapper named Ice Cube aka O'shea Jackson from South Central, Los Angeles, California and Scarface aka Brad Jordan of the Houston, Texas super group The Geto Boys in the early 80's and 90's aka the golden age of Gangsta Rap.

From a lack of guidance in Wayne's life he began hanging with the wrong crowd and started to deal drugs, vandalize and steal in West Oakland, California.
  
At the age of 18 he began making songs with a group called T.o.p aka Tru Oakland Playaz in the late 90's.

After countless home studios and garage studio recording session, nothing was ever released. The members all went there separate ways. Wayne started to into more trouble with the law because of his I don't give a fuck attitude and lack of respect for others. After being incarcerated several times, he knew his life had to change.

Meanwhile with only $200 Wayne moved to Jacksonville, Florida and started working in the day and robbing at night. He began to put money into small studio equipment such as drum machines and four track recorders from local pawn shops.

Music career

He debuted in 2007 with a self-released compilation untitled Stars, Stripes, Eagles and Bars and followed with street albums such as Stars, Stripes, Eagles and Bars (The Album) in 2010, Supreme Hustle in 2011, his highly anticipated debut studio The Colossus of Clout in 2011 - 2013 

Discography

Studio albums

2015 No Fear In My Body 6-9-2015
2020 re-released 


Street albums

2010 Stars, Stripes, Eagles and Bars (The Album) - Urban Life Distribution

2011 Supreme Hustle - Urban Life Distribution
 
2010 - 2014 Trap Certified Locally Approved 
 
2011 - 2013 The Colossus of Clout - Cd Baby - I Tunes

2007 - 2014 Five Hours Early Ten Minutes Late (The Best of J.Tripper) - Cd Baby

2020 - Cakeaholics (The Bakery) with Bobby Drakenit- FTB

2021 - What's Understood Ain't Gotta Be Explained - FTB

2021 - Mad Niggerish - FTB

Official Mix tapes

2009 Cakeaholics (Addicted to Money) With Bobby Drake - Cd Baby

 2012 The Hustle Emporium - Rap Bay/Urban Life Distribution
 
2013 The People's Choice

2013 The Hustle Emporium II

2014 Hercules - EP

Singles

Fresh (Produced By Rx)

Handsome (Prod. By Trackmonsta)

Thirsty (Prod. By Thraxx) Remix

Break Dance (Prod. By Jay P Bangz)

Murdah For Mulah (Produced By Jay P Bangz) ft. K.A.P 

Habit (Produced By Kalidoc Sanchez)

Like She Know (Produced By AKamoshun Track)

In 2003 when Omega Redd introduced Kwin MD to Sal Graci and Va'Les the S.O.A.z movement had been started. "Self Owned Artists" or S.O.A.z for short was thought up by Va'Les. On night, after moving units on the Streets and freestyling they were in the Basement (Va'Les, Omega Redd, and Kwin MD) when they thought of some new concepts. One thing these 3 realized was that, even though they had many other artiists involved with the S.O.A.z movement, they where the main 3 on most of the songs on each CD...

They were the founding members of the S.O.A.z and they decided that they needed a name for their "3 headed monster" when the 3 of them did a song. The first song they did was in September of 2003. The week that Tampa Bay beat the Eagles in the first game of their new stadium Omega Redd, Va'Les & Kwin were supposed to go to Jacksonville, Florida to see Champain (who just got out of jail and had been in there for almost 2 years) to record with him and enjoy Florida. Redd and Kwin were on their way to G-Town to pick up Va'Les and Kwin's car broke down in South Philly. One week later, they recorded a song based on this called "Still Laughin"....This was the first time that these 3 MCs where on a song together (with out another rapper). They did songs like the "Rose Bush" when other MCs where also on the song, or they would do a song with Va'Les and Kwin, Omega Redd and Va'Les were partners before they met Kwin, or Omega Redd and Kwin...."Still Laughin" was the first Common Ground song.

In the Basement at Kwin's cribback in 2003 they decided to call themselves "Common Ground" when teamed up as 3 on a song. They had thought up some concepts, "Virtual" was one of the first song concepts for the Common Ground album they planned on making. Each MC would do a verse on their perspective and outlook on life. They continued on marking the S.O.A.z and really didn't go "all in" for Common Ground. When they were the most involved in the music thing together, Common Ground was always an afterthought. They were setting it up for something they would go "all in" on later on maybe down the road....

Omega Redd has always been in the Chester, Pa area. Va'Les lived in Germantown from 2003 to 2005. Va'Les and his family moved to South West Philly in 2005. Kwin MD lived in Glenolden, Pa (which is in between S.W.P. and Chester) West Philly (2004) then moved to Clifton Heights, Pa (near Glenolden), then moved to Yeadon Boro (which is in between Upper Darby and Darby but on the border of West Philly and S.W.P.)....Why is this Geography part of the Common Ground BIO? It's Ironic. When Va'Les stayed in G-Town from 2003-05 he lived the farthest away from Chester, yet all 3 would meet up in G-Town most of the time. They had more meetings about the music in G-Town than anywhere else. In 2005 when Va'Les lived closer to REDD and Kwin, they met up less. Redd went out to California for a while in 2005 and Kwin had gotten married in 11-05....But again, Ironically, when Va'Les lived closer to these 2, they all met up less. G-Town was a good 45 minute ride from Chester, and a good 30 to 35 minute ride from Glenolden. West Philly (where Kwin lived in 2004) was about 20 minutes (or less) from G-Town. S.W.P. was only a 10 minute ride from Clifton Heights, and about a 20 minute ride from Chester. So in 2005, Va'Les lived significantly closer to these 2. They would all meet up at Va'Les crib, mainly because he was usually home.

These 3 brought an Organ up 3 flights of steps when Va'Les lived on Walnut Lane in G-Town. One of Kwin's neghbors donated this organ to the S.O.A.z movement. The biggest significance in this story is it was snowing real bad that day, and they took this organ across town in the snow up 3 flights of stair. The "S.O.A.z Flavor of the Month" song "Cut Throat Players" was done by Va'Les playing that same organ on it. He used it on a few other songs too. How many unsigned, underground rappers got an Organ (not a Synthesized fake Organ) a real Organ player on there song?

They weren't having many meetings about music after 2005. Most of the time, you would see 2 together, but never 3. Many times Kwin and Va'Les would chill, but music wasn't the main thing they talked about. Redd and Va'Les would chill, drink some beers, play video games, or do whatever but music was not the reason for hanging out. Redd and Kwin would go hang out some where but they didn't talk too much about music since 2005. The whole thing changed when Kwin sold his Roland 880 EX in 2004. They still would every so often go to M.A.U. Studios in West Philly and record. Va'Les went there solo often, some times Redd would go there solo, some times them 2 would go there and record together.

In 2006 Va'Les and Kwin would meet about 2 or 3 times a month. Kwin used Va'Les as an advisor to help decide what songs would be Flavor of the Month. Va'Les and Kwin worked together a lot in 2004 selling the CDs on the Street. They also worked together making productions calling themselves B.I.P. or Black Irish Productions when they would make a track together.

Since 2003, these 3 would take many road trips together to Virginia. That same car that broke down on the way to Va'Les crib to go to Florida, used to be the car they'ld head to Virginia in to hang out, have a good time, and Sell CDs down there...They used to make the money for travel expenses off CD Sales while in Virginia. They used to Party Down there. Since 2003, the Common Ground 3 went down to Virninia many times. May 5th (Cinco De Mayo) was the last time that these 3 wet to VA together. It may be the last trip to Virginia Kwin and Redd ever would take with Va'Les (more on that when the Va'Les story/BIO comes out next week)...

Some time after that Cinco de Mayo trip (in July) The Common Ground 3 went down to M.A.U. studios to record some music. It was July of 2007, they recorded the song that will be "Jan. 2008 S.O.A.z Flavor of the Month" and it is called "S.O.A.z Reign Supreme" by Common Ground beat made by GNP from Northern Ireland. That might be the last song that Kwin MD and Omega Redd ever record with Va'Les (more on the reason why next week).... Since then, Omega Redd and Kwin met up once time in October of 2007 and one time in September 2007. They were just hanging out and chillin mostly, the music thing didn't really get brought up too much, they are both hoping Va'Les and his family will be okay. Next week we will give more details about this, it's tough to post blogs about, because the trueth is still unknown....

The Common Ground Era may be over, but not so fast. We are not able to tell what Va'Les status is currently.


Born Anthony Michael Marsh in San Diego, California on October 18th, 1984. Ampsterdam was born into what he would later refer to as an instant dance with the devil. His father left his mother before he was born and Amp was forced to learn the ways of manhood from his two older half brothers, who were both very young members at the time of the infamous California originated street gang "The Crips". Rewinding back to his earlier childhood. Ampsterdam experience molestation at the hands of a family memeber followed by a brush with death at the age of 4, when he fell from a high rise apartment window and had to be airlifted to a local children's hospital. After regaining his consciousness hours later, Amp walked away with only a few bruises and minor lacerations. The fall should have been fatal. This is the first testament to his belief that a higher power is protecting him so he can fulfill a divine purpose of healing this world with his voice, But he wouldn't  understand how to help change the world, unless he endured the pain of the world. This meant that he would be raised by a neglectful parent. He would be bullied by people of every color for being mixed. His own family would despise his type of creation. He would be hated for his multicultural background, and envied for his ability to relate and empathize with the struggles of other cultures. From the beginning of life he would face discrimination and hatred for thing's he was unable to help. Amp was born, an ultimate victim of hate crimes, but this would mold him into the loving, persevering, and talented artist he would become. In 1994 after one of Ampsterdam's brothers was arrested in connection with a vandalism ring going around San Diego; the state of California gave his mother the option of moving the troubled child out of the state, or letting the state hold him in juvenile detention until the age of 18. Amp's mother chose to send his brother to Columbia, South Carolina to live with his grandparents. Amp's mom would later move them to South Carolina to live as well. Moving To the east coast was no better for Amp's family. It would only compound the already existing problems in there life with more malicious dilemma's. His brothers would both resume gang banging on there newly found gang curious turf. They would also continue having run ins with law enforcement. His mother would remain neglectful to them for sake of her own pleasures and pursuits. His father was still missing. As Amp grew up dealing with the culture shock and having to adjust to the racially tense southern stigma he was living under; he began to struggle with school as well. Amp began skipping school, because of constant bullying by his classmates. Being that he was from a lower class family; he didn't have the nice clothes, shoes, and other accessories that seemed to be so important to this Southern culture he was experiencing.   Ampsterdam began smoking in middle school and later doing drugs in highschool. From there his downward spiral would begin to gain speed. He found solace in hanging out and excessively smoking weed with his older neighborhood peers in the notorious Columbia, South Carolina's Route 48 neighborhood. During this time he also found another comfort to ease the pain of a life unraveled. When his middle to oldest brother Jermaine came home from prison and heard him singing an Usher song called "my way" alone in his bedroom, he offered to let Amp sing the chorus on a song he had written called "Hard Times". From there, 14 year old Amp went into a professional studio for the first time to record his brothers lyrics. The song was good! It gained him instant notoriety in his neighborhood. The little fame he experienced gave him a high greater than any drug he had ever taken. He was hooked. Music was now his love. From that day forward, music became his darling. Although, Even with his new found happiness in the wings; Amp never escaped the pressures of a neglectfully negative childhood. After meeting a new man, falling in love and giving birth to twin girls, Amp's mom  devoted her life to her new family like she never had to he and his brothers. Feeling like a man who was never a boy, Amp began to fight constant battles with his mother who was oblivious to his childhood struggles, which were now reflecting in his teenage years. By 15, Ampsterdam was kicked out of his mother and step fathers house to go live with his brother Jermaine and a cosine in an environment counter productive to a teenagers needs. Surrounded by heavy weed smoke, exotic dancers, sex, drugs, and alcohol; Amp was in a rebel teens heaven. As the years past, Ampsterdam repeated the 9th grade 3 times and by 17 decided to give up on school altogether. He dropped out of high school in 2002 in order to make more money to support himself in the street life he was thrust into. At the age of 20 Amp's then girlfriend gave birth to his son Cameron Anthony Marsh. Two years after they had his daughter Carmen Nicole. His kids instantly became his inspiration to fulfill his destiny to be one of the greatest recording artists in history. With his son and daughter here, he now had more reason to strive for greatness. His newest goal became giving them the life that he was never afforded. But, overtime Amp continued to struggle with life in general. He couldn't hold down a job, because his mind was always on music. No other line of work in the world, regardless of the pay off, could keep him from chasing his dreams to be star. Eventually he took his music on the road, going all over the country from Los Angles, Hollywood, and New York; to Las Vegas where he lived for a year, after separating from the mother of his two kids. After several years of coasting through cities and continuous denial by major record labels, Amp was now like his father. He was a rolling stone. He would go months upon months without seeing or speaking to his kids. He was becoming a horrible father just like his very own. Baring this title has been the hardest thing for him to take, but he knows if he is going to gain the world for his children, there must be great sacrifice. As a fan of the late Bruce Lee, Ampsterdam incorporated Lee's martial arts principle of never limiting yourself to one style into his music. Amp began to blend Hip Hop, R&B, Pop, Funk, Rock, and Mosh, creating a supreme style of music he calls "Super Music". After a face to face meeting with the Vice President of A&R at Def Jam Recordings Lenny "Lenny S" Santiago, Amp walked away with the praise that his music was extraordinary, but needed branding. He would have to get his fan base up and grow a bigger following. Today he is working harder than he ever to gain that following and to prove to the world that he is here to set his carbon footprint in platinum and enter the annuls of history as one of the greatest artist to ever impact the world in a positive way with his music. He is a member and founder of The White Flag Army, which is a peaceful movement of all walks of life that adorn the white flag of peace on their person in public to show that war is not necessary in the struggle for peace. Peace now and peace always! Join The revolution!!! Team Ampsterdam!!

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