METAFORE by Dirty Angel

YOUNG & HUNGRY: KEEP AN EYE ON METAFORE

By Khalid J. Strickland a.k.a. Dirty Angel

A promising first round draft pick.

     Hip-hop’s youth movement continues its momentum with Metafore, a 17-year old rap phenom from Monticello, New York.  Despite his age, Metafore is an old soul, listing Slick Rick, Rakim and Jay-Z as his earliest musical influences.  On October 25th, 2006, the young rhyme slinger opened for Method Man and KRS-One at Revolution Concert Hall in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  Good company indeed.
     “Wow.  That was an experience,” recalls Metafore during an after-school interview with Insomniac, exuding genuine enthusiasm.  “I got to meet KRS-One.  That’s something I’ll never forget.”
     Metafore’s first mixtape, “Heir To The Throne”, is hosted by DJ Envy of NYC’s #1 radio station, Hot-97.  Like back-to-back shots of hot Hennessey, “Heir To The Throne” has created a heavy buzz throughout the streets of The Rotten Apple, featuring guest appearances from the almighty Jadakiss, Motown R&B singer Yummy Bingham and Brooklyn rapper Joell Ortiz (from Kool G. Rap’s song “It’s Nothing” on “The Giancana Story” LP).  As the mixtape marinates amongst the listening public, Metafore is hard at work on his yet-to-be-titled debut album, which features the production talents of The Alchemist, Heatmakers, No ID and Knobody.  Metafore’s first single, the Charles Roane-produced “Nah Mean”, currently rules the Music Choice airwaves with an iron fist, and is being steadily downloaded on Rhapsody and Napster.  Metafore promises a well-balanced album, with songs catering to the streets, to the women and to the clubs.  With his management team, Luckybug Entertainment, providing guidance, Metafore is writing the opening chapters of what he hopes will be a storied career.
    On the sick-as-a-dog joint “Higher Than A Mountain”, Metafore sprays opposing emcees with a clip full of hot bars: “I’m a f*****g heathen, demon when it comes to eatin’ / beatin’ when it comes to freakin’, leave a n***a not breathin’ / people need to stop the sleepin’, even on the block when creepin’ / told these n****s I’m a beast an’ how could n****s not believe it? / Meta’s Baretta vendetta, bullets will rip through your sweater, hittin’ your leather and tear the paint off your jetta / I’m better than these so-called competitors / and I’m ready for the world, is you ready, my n***a? Gimme the word / Absurd, that’s how I’m spittin’, you n****s spittin’ your writtens / and you claimin’ it’s a free style… Okay, bleed, pal.”

     “I started off like every regular rapper, basically.  I know everybody tells the same story,” explains the laid-back Metafore of his journey into the rap game.  “I got in trouble when I was a little bit younger… about twelve.  My pops (said) I need to devote my time to something else, and rap was always there.  I’d listen to a song on the radio like, ‘Damn, I could do that way better than he did it now.  That s**t is wack, I can do it better than that’.  So I started writing a little bit of stuff.  I moved to Florida with my moms and what not, linked up with some people… got into a little home studio and started recording a demo.  I got to the point where I’m at now because my mom’s co-worker, who went to school for business management, heard my demo and she liked it.  It got to the point where she started a management company, Luckybug Entertainment, and I was the first artist.”
     Although he’s a young gun in the business, Metafore doesn’t subscribe to the theory that rappers over thirty years old should retire, a disposition harbored by many unseasoned emcees as of late. 
     “Nah, I feel if you’re still doing it and you’re doing it right, then keep on doing it,” Metafore says.  “I ain’t got no problem with dudes that’s over thirty still doing it.  But if you know that you’re f*****g up, you shouldn’t keep doing what you’re doing.  Like if you stumbling now, you ain’t flowing like you was when you was in your prime… quit.”

For more information on Metafore, visit www.myspace.com/teammetafore and www.teammetafore.com.

For more stories & work by Khalid J. Strickland a.k.a. Dirty Angel visit www.myspace.com/blackpacino and www.supremearsenal.com.