LONDON, UK (Top40 Charts/ Sticky Toffee PR) Striving to make it in Hip-Hop, where the competition is thick and the grind is endless, up and coming artist Special has constructed his own lane with the success of reaching 1 million hits on YouTube with his social media influenced song T-Shirt Time.
His obsession with Hip-Hop began as a child in Ottawa, Canada while listening to LL Cool J's Mama Said Knock You Out and dealing with the hardships of not having a father present, "Hip hop was literally my father figure growing up." Built with the talent of writing, it was already in the cards for Special to become potent with the pen. The creative drive in Special brought him to Toronto where he put his love for the culture into his own craft."I'm a dreamer…I never had that thing that says you can't do this…" - Special
The many influences of PMD of EPMD, LL Cool J, Smooth B of Nice-N-Smooth, Q-Tip from ATCQ, Akinyele, the illusive MF Doom,
Craig G among others inspired Special, "I'm a very competitive type person, and I have a hard time watching someone do something that I KNOW I can do without trying my hand at it." Hard work paid off with 6 years in the game. In 2011, Special was featured in the Wall-Street Journal after making considerable noise with "
Get Ready" - an anthem for the IBEW Verizon Strike. Special, along with Jersey Sound Lab's Internal Quest, both had the opportunity to perform "
Get Ready" in front of 16,000+ people downtown NYC.
The thriving success of this old school lyricist has garnered critical acclaim across the globe with releasing commercial projects in Germany and Italy. Special always approaches his verses; his presence and being in the lab with a hip hop mentality, and a sense of integrity. Whether knocking out songs within minutes or meditating on beats for a project, Special is determined to make it a classic. The E-Team release of T-Shirt Time came off the height of Jersey Shore's Pauly D's fun phrase "It's Teee-Shirt Time" while getting ready for the club with his roommates. The EMI
Music release sparked social media insanity and became a highlight in Special's career when it topped charts as a featured song on Ultimate Hitz compilation in Canada.
"…Hip Hop is my life, and I will do it till the day I die." - Special
Honing his skills among the Hip-Hop elite and newcomers has given Special the confidence to create a diverse body of work thus far. Along the road Special has worked with Canada's own Oriana and Truezt,
Craig G (Juice Crew), El Da Sensei (The Artifacts), Sadat X (Brand Nubian) and his Jersey Sound Lab counterparts Internal Quest, Broadway Blake, DJ Hush, to say the least.
Acquiring star quality, Special embarks on his venture called Minds Eye - an 11-track album released independently with features from Dannie Swift, Internal Quest, Oriana, Saint Kris, DJ Szudi and Asian DMC Champ DJ Ko Flo. The lead single "Friends With Benefits" featuring Burgaboy is a conceptual blend of "commercial 'mainstream' feel and classic hip hop roots". Special's latest project, Mind's Eye, goes back to the essence of why Special entered Hip-Hop as an artist. "It's [meant] to let people know that they can still back my commercial and genre crossover projects, and I still do fully support and represent the culture that I came up in."
As Special continues to down his own lane, as he plans his first official tour in 2014. The burgeoning musical appeal of Special can identify with any audience and will lead him to greatness, and solidifies the progression of Hip-Hop."Everybody Wanna Be A Star." Special picked an assortment of producers for Mind's Eye - Sultan Mir (Florida), Loop Holes (Netherlands), marshtini (Netherlands), Elements (Denmark) and ELATION (Germany).
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