In a time of political turmoil, urban drug wars and over-commercialized entertainment, 3 young men have embarked on a winding journey to take hip-hop back to where it started, by bringing it to their home. North Carolina has birthed 2 and raised all 3 of the most unique artists to ever converge on one mission -- ladies and gentlemen, N.O.R.T.H. Coalition (Brimstone/5950). James “Leggs” Leggett, Joe “Blazer” Jones and Ron “Styles” Walker each call one of I-85’s illustrious cities their home. Born on October 26th, 1983 in Bronx, NY, Leggs is a High Point, NC representative with the lyrical dexterity and ingenious wordplay to match. January 4th, 1984 gave way to Styles, a Charlotte native dual-armed as a clever wordsmith and N.O.R.T.H.’s premier producer. The energy packed, emotion felt flow is that of the third element, the Elder Statesman of the Coalition, Joe Blazer entered the world on March 21st, 1978 in Greensboro, NC. Through all of the rigors of being a North Carolina adolescent, the turn of the millennium would somehow bring these three MC’s to the centermost region of North Carolina, the Triangle. Some call it fate, others call it chance, but to N.O.R.T.H. everything happens for a reason. In, 2001 Leggs enrolled at North Carolina Central University, in Durham, NC, which is also the year he and Blazer first met. Enter 2002 and Styles begins his matriculation at the University also, where he first met Blazer as both were members of the Sound Machine Marching Band. After almost an entire year of school and living down the hall from one another, Leggs (then doing music for a budding label that later crashed and burned) caught word of “some dude that make beats down the hall,” and took it upon himself to break bread with Ron. One late night, about 10 tracks and twenty 16’s each back and forth, Styles and Leggs knew they were on the same level. About one month later, Leggs and Blazer would meet again only to find out that Joe had already been putting in a lot of work with another young producer, the G.O.A.T. (Crunchtyme/5950). With James putting in the legwork, Blazer, Leggs, Styles and the G.O.A.T. got together in the spring of 2003 for an impromptu vibe session. Little did they know that this convening of artists would eventually give them the key to starting a new era of music. Just like anybody else’s life, N.O.R.T.H. has experienced up’s and down’s collectively and individually. From promises flying out the window, to deaths of close ones, legal battles, overcoming personal critical injury, homelessness from simply winning some and losing some; N.O.R.T.H. captures 360 degrees of human struggle because it is the life they live everyday. N.O.R.T.H. stands to stimulate the masses by going against the grain and forging their own path in the wilderness of the real world. That’s the real reason why No Others Respect True Hip-hop.