Born and raised in Seattle, Washington, D.Black’s musical roots are deep, with his mother and father both involved in pioneering hip-hop groups in the Seattle music scene. In 2006, D.Black released his debut album, The Cause & Effect, a huge regional success, allowing the emcee to share the stage with Nas, Freeway, Bun B, Clipse, Paul Wall, The Boot Camp Click, and more. After being mentored by Vitamin D, a staple and veteran of the Seattle hip-hop scene, D.Black began making a name for himself by working on projects with producer Jake One. One such collaboration resulted in D.Black being featured on Jake One’s White Van Music, on the track “God Like,” helping to cement the Seattle emcee as a household name beyond the Pacific Northwest. Jake One and Vitamin D were also both instrumental in helping D.Black create his new album, offering guidance and production on the record. D.Black’s new album, Ali’Yah, is now available everywhere via Sportn’ Life Records/MYX Music Label.
“Like any artist with a passion, Black embraces that passion and puts it on full display. For that reason alone, this record is worth hearing at least once. What will bring you back for more listens, though, will be the beats, which are worth drooling over.” – PopMatters.com
“Whether it be the strength in his vocals itself or the power behind the metaphorically constructed lyrics, D. Black harmonizes with the beat, rather than against it bringing his vivacity full-circle.” – KevinNottingham.com
“Where other rappers have attempted and failed with these types of records, D.Black succeeds because of his sincere delivery.” – HipHopDX.com
Ali’Yah featured as one of Amazon’s Outstanding 2009 Albums You Might Have Missed.
Seattle emcee D.Black has been nominated in this week’s contest for MTV’u’s The Freshman 5 for his first video “Yesterday” off his sophomore album Ali’Yah. Every week, five new and upcoming artists are presented an opportunity to gain regular rotation on the MTVu channel, which is exclusively broadcasted to college campuses and gives artists an excellent shot at obtaining exposure.
Set underneath a freeway overpass (perhaps the road that separates heaven and hell?), the video depicts an epic chess game for D.Black’s soul. Light and dark versions of the emcee face off against each other, with supporters shrouding and encouraging each player. The video’s lesson is to allow yourself to leave things, especially negative things, in your past. He combines this message with smooth, flowing rhymes and a classic soul feel, set over warm production by B. Brown and D. Black himself.
Fans are encouraged to vote as many times as they like starting at 11am until the cutoff – 2pm EST on Friday. Music fans can vote for D.Black on the MTVu website here: http://www.mtvu.com/category/music/the-freshmen
Also, D.Black gives his two cents on the ever-growing Seattle hip-hop scene, and how working with Vitamin D was the most rewarding and eye opening experience of his musical journey thus far in a new viral video.
“Yesterday” Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvvX_ruZjT4
D.Black on the Seattle hip-hop scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82x8iPqXrEY
Categories: Music News, Uncategorized
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