Balance

It is perhaps apropos that an emcee by the name of Balance is leading the battle to restore order to a Hip-Hop scene once bristling with creativity, and is now over-saturated in mediocrity and monotony. After witnessing the West Coast rap elite fade into obscurity for the last six years, Balance is upping the ante of skill and hit making in the Bay Area.  “I came up during a period where you couldn’t say you rhymed unless you earned your stripes battling” says Balance. “Too Short, Spice 1, Hieroglyphics, Mystik Journeyman….all those who paid dues to earn their spot nationally had to earn it locally. That is how I came into it.”

Prior to recording his debut album, The Day Kali Died, several veteran artists have taken umbrage with Balance, and the members of a new artist collective known as “The New Bay” for their brash, yet truthful admonishing of their peers. “Everybody wants to pretend that things are fine and ignore the fact that the West Coast isn’t really popping like we used to,” he explains.  “It’s no secret that the Bay Area is losing on a national level,” states the Oakland native. “As emcees, producers and recording artists we need to elevate our game in order to make our scene popping again. We’re in a depression era, and I know because I am a fan. I find myself buying fewer albums by West Coast artists each year. Artists from other cities are making more interesting music right now.”

Balance gives credit to Oakland legend Too Short for inspiring him to enter the rap game, however the young emcee got his start battling.  His mix of metaphors and clever word play laced with West Coast subject matter was his claim to fame. Throw in his Libra astrological sign and thus Balance was born. As battling helped him gain notoriety, he knew he had to break himself into the Bay Area’s independent hip-hop scene. His first opportunity was with Sacramento rap legend Brotha Lynch Hung’s compilation First Degree the D.E.(1999) on the track “I Told The Nigga.”  Other compilations in the Sacramento area soon followed with Msane (1999) and Leaving The Life (2000).  In 2001, Balance formed a short-lived duo, Tango & Kash, recording several songs for an EP, but only saw the release of the 12” sinlge “Gold Diggers” b/w “I’m So High.” Down but not out, he explains “I was creating a name for myself, but my homies really weren’t feeling the music, so I had to figure out what was next. And, that was a solo career and tackling the mixtapes and mix-CDs.”

A huge fan of the New York mixtape scene, Balance found someone in the Bay Area looking to break new talent, DJ T-ski.  His reputation as a sick freestyle artists allowed him to work with DJ’s in other regions via like veterans Dj Vlad, DJ Clinton Sparks, DJ Absolut, DJ Kool Kid, Dj Warrior.  The intense buzz on the street soon took to the airwaves with Balance providing drops for Bay Area radio station 106.1 KMEL’s on-air personalities/DJs Chuy Gomez, Mind Motion, Sana G, Rolo and Rick Lee. His exposure would reach a national level with his contribution to the World Famous Wake Up Show intro song.  The show hosted by MTV’s Sway, King Tech and DJ Revolution has long been recognized for revolutionizing hip-hop radio and for breaking new artists. On one particular guest appearance Balance along with members of Frontline were featured for an entire show and ripped the performance causing Sway to comment, “These cats don’t sound like regular Bay Area dudes.” And Balance replied, “It’s a New Bay.” Two million listeners nationwide heard the birth of the Bay Area’s new dawning.

With his mixtape appearances and radio drops Balance finally felt it was time to begin his solo album. Needing focus, it was actually a meeting with DJ Quik that gave him just the direction he needed. “Quik told me that he liked rhymes, but my beats needed to be better. So from that day on I went a mission to find producers with hot music.”  His search led to him to find a slew of up-and-coming producers in the Bay Area most notably legendary producer E-A-Ski (Ice Cube, Master P, and E-40).  Together the two have recorded a handful of songs including Bay Area anthem “New Bay” featuring Frontline.  “KMEL’s DJ Mind Motion introduced me to Ski and we just started vibin’ on music for a couple weeks…then he put me to the test on a new drop for KMEL and we’ve been working together since.” According to E-A-Ski, “Balance is definitely stepping the game up,” he says. “What I like about him is that he is eager to learn and develop his abilities to make hit records. I’ve watched him grow from a freestyle cat to working hard to craft an album.”   And now, with his highly anticipated release of The Day Kali Died Balance is ready to answer his critics.  With his OMEN produced leak single,  “H-U-S-T-L-E-R,” already on the streets making noise he is ready to explain to the public exactly what his music is all about. 

Like a fine sculptor, Balance has chiseled and polished himself in the underground for six years to get to the point of recording The Day Kali Died. Taking his cue from the album title, Balance and his New Bay comrades are the start of a renaissance in Bay Area Hip-Hop and music as a whole.  From a diverse music scene that has spawned the likes of Sly & The Family Stone, Con-Funk-Shun, Metallica, Green Day, Too Short, E-40, Toni Tone Tony, Hieroglyphics, Digital Underground and many more, Balance is here to…. well, balance the scales and revive the pulse of the West Coast and lead the exodus from the old into the new.

The Bay Area Mixtape King:
WE are bringin' this West Coast hip hop shit to the nation...nah, f#ck that nation shit...we bringin it to the WORLD. I can't say much about myself, I am from Oakland, California. I'll just let the music speak for itself....

Named:
- XXL Magazine top 5 MC's to blow in 2005
- The Source Magazine "Unsigned Hype"

http://www.balanceskillz.com/