Half Decent
672 plays
10,778 views
10,778 views
Yo we representing Hellaware "Onlock Entertainment" its your boy Half Decent aka HD aka Romare Bearden!Band/artist history
Born in Greenville Ms. on March 15, 1974 James Grigsby a.k.a. Half Decent moved to a Chicago suburb, at age 5, where he was raised into his late teen years. Influenced by his older cousins who quickly took him under their wing which meant hanging out on street corners into the wee hours of the night. By age 9 he was a look out for older guys in his neighborhood who sold drugs and at 12 he began dealing on his own. Around that same time he began to recognize his love for music. “I always loved music which was mainly due to my up bringing, every weekend my entire family would all get together at my aunts house and they would party till the morning playing everything from Marvin Gaye , Luther Vandross, Earth, Wind and Fire, Patty LaBelle you name it.” But when he heard his first rap song his perception of music would be forever changed. “It was either 84 or 85 when Runs House by Run DMC came across the air waves of WGCI. I remember a feeling coming over me that I had never felt before, I had always loved music but this was different because I felt like I could actually do it and the fact that they were playing on the radio really made me believe I could actually be a star if I wanted.” He went on to write his first rap that night. Although he didn’t write on a daily basis, by 14 he had found his niche and began memorizing his rhymes and going to school reciting them in the school cafeteria in front of his friends. “I use to write a rhyme every night so that when I went to school the next day I’d always have something new plus it always impressed the girls back then to hear us rhyming.” By age 16 Half and a few friends he had rapped with in junior high decided to start a group called the school boys. “We went out and bought these all white cardigans with school boyz on the back and our rap names on the front I went by the name Sir James, looking back I don’t know what I was thinking but it sounded hot at the time lol.” They went on to perform several High School talent shows but it was all fun and games no one took it serious so the group went their separate ways after a few short months. Later that year his mother was offered a job in Philadelphia Pa. that she ended up taking and moving the family to Claymont Delaware. It seemed Half had lost his musical motivation and given up on his dream. “I was basically just trying to adapt to my new surroundings my senior year I didn’t write anything that entire year which was mainly do to the death of one of my closest friends back home who was gunned down in a drive by shooting. That was a rough period for me emotionally.” He dropped out of high school shortly thereafter. In 1994 he met this cat by the name of Jason who would later become one of his closest acquaintances who hung around a lot of aspiring rappers. “He and his younger brother were loving my ole shit
so there it was,my motivation was back and I’ve been writing ever since.” In 2000 Half let a neighbor hear some of his karaoke recordings and the guy was so impressed that he propositioned to start a independent label together. “We started Strugglin Production that year and in 3 months we had a 6 man team.. That’s when I began to understand the business aspect of the music and realized how much more was involved with this besides making the music.” They went on to perform in several Philadelphia talent shows including the PMC (Philadelphia Music Conference) in 2001. In early 2002 Half decided to leave the group and company as a whole because of what he sums up as bad business decisions. He wound up getting involved with a brand new company less than a year later called Onlock Ent.. “It just felt like a family from the start, no one had big heads or swollen egos, yet everybody brought something to the table. I feel like we can go all the way!”Have you performed in front of an audience?I've only performed live once and it was at the Philadelphia Music Conference in 2000 and I definitely am lookin forward to doin it again. It was like the first time u have sex and you didnt really know what you were doing but the next time you tore that thing up so its all a learning experience.
Your musical influences
I listen to music of all genres, I dont get caught up in who hot and whose not. The artist is really irrelevant cause music speaks for itself.Anything else?
Onlock Entertainment compilation LP featuring Half Decent, Mr Perfect, Butter,NRG and Young Cannon is moving units as I type and i'd like to thank all those who support our music and copped the cd and for any one interested in hearing or buying the cd(5 dollar donation) you can visit www.onlockent.comnice sh*** keep it up...check where im from on my sitewhats good this is Dilly from TRP/NME im hittin up all the cats who signed our guestbook to let em kno about my new beat page. check it.. holla back- dill www.NMEwreckidz.comThankz fo yo feed and stay posted for new trackz coming soon!
I'm sidewayz,PEACE............YOU GOT SOME HOTT TRACKS DOGG WORD.. HOLLA AT ME FOR COLLABO.. ONE.. CHECK ME OUT...All comments (67)
672 plays
10,779 views
10,779 views
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jaymes
@halfdecent
Hi, I`m a Rapper & make a mixtape. I like your Style, your Beatz are very TIGHT! Please contact me at (mcadriano@okay.ms) I pay also for Beatz, Peace!