Post by nehketah on Aug 31, 2005 6:51:51 GMT -5
Jason Phillps aka Jada Kiss or Mr. Raspy grew up in Yonkers, New York. Growing up as an only child Jason discribes himself as being a good kid from a solid family structure. A surprising start for an industry flooded with broken hom, battle scarred kids who have to overcome poverty, drugs, and violence just to survive. Rhyming since 8 or 9 years old, he staarted out freestyling and snapping on kids in the neighborhood. Early influences for Jada included artists such as Run DMC, The Fat Boys, Grand Puba, and later Kool G Rap, Nas, Jay-Z, and the Notorious B.I.G. When asked about the direction of Hip-Hop Jada was philosophical about it. "The face of Hip-hop changes like every 2 months, cuz the game is up for grabs right now" It wasn't lost on him that with the current care takers of the Hip-hop, The Dirty South has a heavy grip. "The Dirty is 90/10, 90 percent beat 10 percent lyrics, and up top we're used to rhyming to break beats or DJ cuts so more importance is given to lyrical content. More importantly today in Hip-Hop you gotta have a good story. Something that will lend credibility to the image you or the label is trying to sell. I been in the game when it was Pac, B.I.G, Nas, and Hova and I still maintained."