i am a master of ceremonies and my middle name's ken

been playing locally and elsewhere in the uk for a good few years, there is no substitute for the immediate feed back and the buzz of playing live, I LOVE IT. supported blak twang at the university b-boy champs this year under the "patta merchants" name (me & image)along with the undesirables, venue was packed, crowd was hype, we raised the roof. also been in many enjoyable cyphers and for it's own reasons the open mic remains to provide a buzz similar to nowt else.

it makes music more accessible and pisses off old rock dudes and the plastic POPulation.in my opinion people can have as much of my sh*** in file form as their hd can hold, vinyl is still the only format of any worth.

hell yeah, under my terms.

been heavily involved in all aspects of the hip-hop culture in and around newcastle for about ten years. my first crew went by the name "sinista youth", on some kevin the teenager rebellion type eesh. we then transmogrified that into "the sinista hoodlumz" (at this point i have to say peace to poser and syanide, the 2 co-founders of the hoodz)after a few years of complying to the authorities stereotype of delinquency with tongues in cheek we wised up a bit and changed direction slightly. one new member joined (Originearl aka E-Quip), 2 left and the name was changed to "North Starz" (circa 1997).from here the ball relly started rolling as we worked with other local emcees, deejays and producers.E-Quip's brainchild, "Rapawe" was born out of neccessity, with local talent overflowing with artists such as; "Untamed", "NEI", "Just Us" and a load of other dope emcees appearing from the woodwork.
I currently am busy working on 2 fronts, firstly North Starz with E-quip and also Patta Merchants with my man image (from untamed).

my main influences are the people who have been my journey companions throughout, like Poser, who influenced me to use my local accent with pride rather than tone it down to a none-descript "english" one. And Earl, who has taught me to always test myself by pushing myself further, and always kept me on my toes; the bloke's a genius.
but i suppose you want names that you can recognize, in which case i would have to say:
Rakim, KRSONE, James Brown, Fatherhood, Ennio Morricone, Chuck D, Kool Herc, Kool Kieth, Bob James, every day shit, Bob Monkhouse, Common, TCQ, Spike Milligan, Lalo Schifrin,Primo, Big Daddy Kane, EPMD, Pete Rock, James Last, Brian Cant, Bob Marley and me mam.

in the stands of St. James' park, Newcastle.

whatever it takes.

hallow 2: Giovanna, Leon, Propstar, Image, E-quip, D-Rock, Phigarate, Big Knee, Klayur, Zeezee, Raler, Alter-native, Keeyoo, Sonny, Shay, G-A-V, Kev T, Smee, Rob, NCK, Matt Price, Sammee Dee, Stigasaurus, Tsunami, Stevie B, mam n dad, Nicola, Emma, Aaron, Phileaous, Curious n carmella, Ash, Bill (where ever you are), Just Us/Scruffs, Text Offenders, Boogie B, Fits, Kat, Jess, Vicky, Saer, Hines, Elephiron, Warped Ethics, Cecil, 3rd Team Kings, Tim, Krazi Ace, J Rockwell, Dj Maestro, Bero, Raj Pannu, Ferank, Schmoove, Wayne C, Pete, Jason, Janine, Bella, Pablo Gore, Stu, Ben, Mabbs, Wally, John, Bryn, every one in my neck of the woods puttin their sh*** out and staying true to their roots. P.S...... f*** FREDDIE SHEPARD, THERE'S ONLY ONE BOBBY ROBSON.