SOLANO 2005

SOLANO

Born in Dominican Republic on May 22, 1980, Jorge Solano Lopez AKA “Solano” emigrated to the island of Saint Martin when he was seven years of age. Eight years later, he fell in love with the hip hop culture, like the majority of young people growing up on the island.

He soon began to take action by writing lyrics over famous rap stars instrumentals ( Jay-Z, OutKast, Nas...). This quickly allowed him to develop a style of his own which focused on three key points:

- An innovative way of writing

- A smooth, calm and clear voice

- A distinct rapid fired flow

A few years later, in 1997, he formed a group with some friends and released two independent projects in 1998 and 2000. He was soon noticed by the Caribbean Hip Hop community which saw his potential as a heavyweight of the rap game, a diamond in the ruff. His charisma and addictive personality convinced two advertising producers to offer him a deal with several commercials including Coca Cola and Fubu. It allowed him to open shows for several artists such as LIL BOW WOW, DMX, and JERMAINE DUPRI. His increasing fame gave his group the opportunity to receive much deserved air-play and heavy rotation in nightclubs. This experience helped him to create his own musical environment which is a mixture of party songs and street anthems.

The tremendous skills of "Solano" or "Master of the Golden MIC", have given him the respect of all Caribbean rappers. Solano masters the art of freestyling whether in the studio or on stage. He is more than your typical egocentric master of ceremonies. His deep personality makes him a special and interesting person to know. Thus, he is able to switch from a hardcore track to a love song without losing any credibility. Nevertheless, don't be mistaken by his candidness because "still water can reveal itself deep and glacial". In his songs, Solano has a calm and collected personality but depending on the events, it can turn sulfuric as he tackles various subjects. He is inspired by society, its realities, both pains and joys. He has this quality that great authors have which consists of observing, transcribing and relating the social environment to each song.

"I don't pretend I'm here to change rap. Hip Hop is like a big house continuously being built. My only wish is to contribute to this building up and it's going to take a lot of hard work. You can accomplish anything through hard work."

Solano is known to have worked with various producers on an international level including: Ezi Cut a Danish producer who worked with 2pac, Kurupt and Outlandish; Wayne Beckford an English producer whose credits include Fabolous, Willy Denzey and China; and Ren Hook, a French producer who worked with Won-G and Dray (Das Efx).

Being very ambitious, he says that he would love to explore other music styles of popular music close to the islands to make his repertoire bigger. Only time will tell. Nevertheless, Solano has enough potential to accomplish such a thing. As a matter of fact, his ethnicity also gives him a big advantage over the usual rappers. He is fluent in three different languages: English, Spanish. Multiculturalism under one nation: Hip Hop.

That’s the state of mind in which he wrote his first demo album, “Risin’ Sun”, produced by SME Ltd in order to touch the whole world.

Solano, the heavyweight rapper of the Caribbean Hip Hop Community, has just finished four months of recording in studios around Europe.

On July 12, the EP “Risin’ Sun” is exclusively released on the internet. The street album will be released in stores internationally in October.

The characteristics of the album is Solano’s innovative way of writing, his smooth and clear voice and the rapid fired flow. Solano switches from hardcore tracks to love songs without loosing credibility. He has a great flow in both English, and Spanish.

Starting out at the age of 15, Solano is now 24 and a master of of free styling both in the studio and on stage. His carisma made commercials such as Coca Cola and Fubu offer him deals long before developing his international career.

The independent label SME Ltd has produced Solano's first album in Paris, Copenhagen, London, St. Martin and Stockholm.

In Copenhagen Solano worked with the Danish producer Ezi Cut who also has worked with 2pac, Kurupt and Outlandish. Recordings were also made with English Wayne Beckford known from cooperation with Fabolous and with French Ren Hook, whose credits include The Game, Rhoff and Dray (Das EFX).

Slum Village, DMX and Jemaine Dupri are some if the artists that Solano has opened up for. In July, Solano is one of the main acts at the Summer Festival in St. Martin in together with artists like Fat Joe and Fabulous.

May 12 First single How u like me now is available exclusively on-line at OD2, MSN, MTV, Wanadoo, Virgin Downloads etc.

June 9 Recording of the video Rap Life and concert at Berns, Stockholm, Sweden.

June 28 Rap Life starts to play on the radio

July 30 Summer festival at St. Martin together with Fat Joe, Fabulous

August 17 The video Rap Life is played internationally in 90 countries

November The album street available in stores internationally

i playlive in Europe (Paris,stockholm, Rotterdam) St Marteen. I open shows for several artists such as LIL BOW WOW, DMX, and JERMAINE DUPRI, SLUM VILLAGE. I play live this summer in St martin at Summer Festival 2005 with Fabulous and Fat Joe. I like all the moment

Jay Z, Nas, Steve Wonder, Bob Marley, Marvin Gay, John Benson. Isaac Hayes, Miles Davis...

thank you soundclick for what you do for the new artists