Artist description Pres release -Hip Hop Artist The Prophet Releases Debut Album: Block Venom San Francisco, California - Nucuma Records artist The Prophet has recently released his debut solo album, Block Venom. The album is produced by DJ Ci Cutz, who has opened up for hip hop legends like KRSONE and Big Daddy Kane. Block Venom records The Prophet’s growth from a beat-boxing graffiti artist to an established emcee. With tracks like “Sacrifice” about growing up poverty-stricken and “Witches Brew,” a throwback to old-school emcee-battles, to “Where Y’all At,” a club-friendly party mix, The Prophet challenges mainstream West Coast gangsta rap with aggressive and poetic battle lyrics. "I want people to see you really can go from nothing—- from the concrete streets, piss-smelling alleys, being homeless and getting the shit kicked out of you on the bus at 3 a.m.—-to being a disciplined artist," he said. The Prophet is a local hip hop emcee on the rise. He has opened up for artists like Juvenile, Too Short, E-40, Nelly, St. Lunatics, Dru Down and Yuk Mouth and has rocked shows at venues like Warner's Theater in Fresno and the Cow Palace in San Francisco. "In a time where people are more concerned about the size of their rims than their musical skills, I'm taking it back to where hip hop was when I was growing up," he said. "My album is pure verbal, vernacular wordplay."

Music Style Street Hop

Musical Influences Rakim, Run DMC

Similar Artists Nas, Jay-Z

Artist History Bio-The Prophet grew up listening to rock n’ roll. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and The Grateful Dead were some of the San Francisco native’s favorites and he and his father—-who ran the Avalon Ballroom and smuggled artifacts and cocaine on the side—-lived with David Crosby for a year in 1982. When his father was jailed in 1984, The Prophet moved in with his grandmother and began hanging out with local graffiti artists. At age 13, he fell deep into late-night hip hop culture, riding the bus with friends to Hunter's Point to write graffiti. He listened to Rakim and Grandmaster Flash and began breakdancing and freestyling in high school. The Prophet's father was let out of jail in 1985 and they moved to Lakeview. After they were robbed at gunpoint by their landlord, he moved to Santa Rosa while The Prophet remained in San Francisco. He lived on a friend's boat in the Marina for a year and began to write rhymes. In 1994, The Prophet moved to Santa Rosa and met local hip hop crew Prodejay. Godfather Entertainment signed The Prophet to a small record deal and he was featured on a compilation called "A Long Time Coming" with Prodejay. "I was raised more as a battle emcee so my lyrics stem from the competition poetry slam-style of striving to be the best," he said. "I wrote songs to defend myself, to get people to listen and to slam my competitors." In 2000, The Prophet opened up for Juvenile, Yuk Mouth and Dru Down at Warner's Theater. In 2001, he opened up for Juvenile, E-40, JT Money and Too Short at the Cow Palace, for over 3,500 people and also opened up for Nelly and St. Lunatics in Medford, Oregon for about 3,000 people. In 2001, The Prophet also began working on his recently released debut solo album, Block Venom, which chronicles "everything from my crazy womanizing days to being pawned off from family member to family member,” he said. “Anybody who has had a less than a perfect childhood will relate to my album.”

Location Santa Rosa, CA - USA

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