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Random, aka Leo Sanchez, Jr.
HOMETOWN: San Fernando,CA
ROLE IN DIRTY HUSTLE: I'm one of the co-founders. I helped put us all together. Getting eight guys to stay on one track is a task in itself.
ALSO PLAYS: I make beats by ear on a Roland Fantom-X6 and Fantom-G6 keyboard.
EARLY MUSIC: I grew up on old school R&B, and as I got a little older, I started listening to rap, but Pops always bumped old school baby-making music.
FIRST CONCERT: Naughty By Nature and I still got the tickets.
FIRST ALBUM: It was actually a video. It was the Michael Jackson “Thriller” video, and I watched it over and over.
BIGGEST INFLUENCES: I'd have to say my homeboys because they always push me to be better. Really, anyone who spits about real life, of course Tupac and Biggie, but I also listen to Game and Common.
CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: Still bump the oldies baby! I also listen to a rapper out of San Diego named Lil Rob, I like his stilo.
WHAT’S IMPORTANT: Making a better life for my family and the people around me. I know our music can do that for us, so in a way I guess there's nothing more important than my music.
WHAT DIRTY HUSTLE IS ALL ABOUT: A few homeboys from the same hood getting together and making music about our lives.
“I grew up with my dad all my life and I can always remember him bumping old school R&B, soul music. I'd have to say that's where I get my style and flavor from. Music always intrigued me - it would trip me out how someone could write and sing a song, and the moment I heard it actually thought they were talking to me.
To me music is an escape: When you hear a certain song, it takes you away to certain moments in your life. I feel my generation doesn't make music like that. We don't make music that would stand the test of time. That's where I'm coming from with my music. I want people to listen and hear what I gotta say, to know that we share common needs and struggles.” |
Fase Paccino, aka Samuel V. Faitala
HOMETOWN: American Samoa
ROLE IN DIRTY HUSTLE: Programmer, producer, part owner of label
ALSO PLAYS: Drums, keyboard
EARLY MUSIC: Marvin Gaye, Bob Marley, gospel and other church songs
FIRST CONCERT: Destiny's Child in Anchorage, 2001
FIRST ALBUM: Boyz II Men, “Cooleyhighharmony”
BIGGEST INFLUENCES: The biggest influences on my musical life is mostly my life-changing experiences.
CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: Contemporary to rock, oldies...mainly hip-hop and R&B
WHAT’S IMPORTANT: My family and close relatives, my two-year-old son Isaac and making a good future for him. And last but not least my Dirty Hustle family!!!!
WHAT DIRTY HUSTLE IS ALL ABOUT: Making good music that everyone can listen to and actually enjoy!!
“Being a pastor’s son, music has always been a big part of my life - from church songs to church skits, name it, I've done it all. When I was finally tall enough to reach the drum pedals, it was at that point in my life where making music became a big hobby of mine. Over the next few years of my childhood life I began to love and started to understand how much music affected people...After graduating from high school I had been making beats on a cheap Casio keyboard and realized that I could go somewhere with the skills that I have acquired over the years. While being employed at a local KMart, I had a supervisor named Ronald Osborne, aka Skrill, who also had been making beats on the same keyboard as me at the time. We clicked up real quick and been making music ever since.” |
Cigarillo Skrillo, aka Ronald H. Osborne
HOMETOWN: Layton, UT
ROLE IN DIRTY HUSTLE: Owner/Artist/Producer/Beatflipa
ALSO PLAYS: Keyboard (all by ear)
EARLY MUSIC: My Popz always played rock like AC/DC, the Scorpions, Fleetwood Mac, Foreigner. Also Tupac, Biggie, NWA, Brotha Lynch Hung, the Dayton Family, Three 6 Mafia, R. Kelly, Silk, SWV, Bell Biv DeVoe.
FIRST CONCERT: Never been
FIRST ALBUM: MC Hammer, “Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em”
BIGGEST INFLUENCES: Life!!!
CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: Three 6 Mafia, Dayton Family, TI, Game, Eminem, Twista, UGK, Ludacris, Brotha Lynch Hung, Dirty Hustle
WHAT’S IMPORTANT: My beautiful daughter!!!
WHAT DIRTY HUSTLE IS ALL ABOUT: We about makin good muzik from tha heart, we've all walked different pathz , now we on tha same...
“I moved to Alaska when I was 20, got a job at KMart and started meeting my own peoples. My homeboy Tommy G introduced me to Random. We clicked off the bat!!! I started working days and that's when I met Fase Paccino and Dp. Started working nights again and met J. Dubnski, who introduced me to Yung Papa and Klockwork. One night me, Klockwork, J. Dubnski, and Lil Nate Nizzel was illin at Jaycee Stylez house (where I was staying at the time), in the little studio he had there. We was fucking around smoking and drinking and shit (three packs of blunts and four fifths of Henny!!!). Me and Lil Nate started doing a skit - we was like, “Get down on the ground, this is Dirty Hustle!” I was man I like that, that shit’s tight!!! And that's how the name came, so Dirty Hustle we was!!! Me, J-Dub, Yung Papa, and the fam got a spot off N. Flower in Mt. View. Klockwork came over with the Triton and we just started making beats - that's how ThaBeatflipaz came around...we just started flipping our own beats!!! Then I met back up with Random, did a couple tracks, and realized he had the same love and passion for music as I did! Later we met up with Black, Benzo, and Mo' Bounce, created our Dirty Hustle family, and began our legacy that will make its mark in music history!!! And U can quote me on that!!! DHP 4 Life...” |
Black, aka Earnest L. Jackson, Jr.
HOMETOWN: Newark, NJ
ROLE IN DIRTY HUSTLE: Artist, front man, whatever you wanna call it
EARLY MUSIC: Marvin Gaye, Ray Charles, etc.; Tupac, Biggie, etc.
FIRST CONCERT: Daytona Beach, FL...Spring Break ‘03
FIRST ALBUM: Mystikal, “Minds of Mystical”
BIGGEST INFLUENCES: Lil Wayne, TI, Plies, and my Dirty Hustle fam
CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: Lil Wayne, Drake, Plies
WHAT’S IMPORTANT: My family, cuz in da end dats all I got ta fall back on.
WHAT DIRTY HUSTLE IS ALL ABOUT: We making a statement...we so diverse. You know, one big family.
“Music, it became a big part of my life after my mom and pops split. I had a lot of mixed feelings...I didn't know how to cope with it all, so I started writing! It didn't matter what it was, it just made me feel better about the situation. A lot of issues I kept bottled up, my music helped me bring out. It gave me courage to go through situations with my head up because I knew I'd have a story to tell later.” |
Benzo, aka Alexander Benjamin Sega
HOMETOWN: Oceanside, CA
ROLE IN DIRTY HUSTLE: Brother, friend, uncle, R&B singer
ALSO PLAYS: Saxophone, piano, guitar
EARLY MUSIC: My parents pastored a church when I was young so I listened to my fair share of Samoan church music. Through my older siblings though I grew up on everything from the Chi-Lites, Earth, Wind & Fire, The Sugarhill Gang, Eagles, Elvis Presley, Anita Baker, Luther Vandross, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Prince, Sade, Ice Cube, Snoop and Dre, NWA, Outkast, Lauryn Hill, The Katinas, Jaime Foxx, Usher, Tupac, and Biggie.
FIRST CONCERT: Ready For The World and The Jets both in the same day at Disneyland, 7th grade
FIRST ALBUM, GIFT: The soundtrack to BLUE HAWAII when I was five – I knew every word!
FIRST ALBUM, BOUGHT: Either the Beastie Boys “Licensed To Ill” or Anita Baker “Rapture,” can’t remember.
BIGGEST INFLUENCES: My father - he spent $800.00 on a musical instrument for me in 1986 while trying to raise seven kids. I am grateful and humbled - thank you Dad. All of my brothers and sisters, [who] played instruments and sang. My sister Nai taught me harmony and melody at a young age and always took me to her choir concerts...big impact. Daryl Te'i, the greatest tenor alive, I won't forget you. Mrs. Halseth, my elementary music teacher - thank you.
CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus. I have a four-year-old daughter who loves to sing. When I'm alone in the ride, Badd Blood, Mitchy Slick, Jay-Z’s “Blueprint 3,” Kanye, and of course Tha Preview [of Dirty Hustle’s upcoming release].
WHAT’S IMPORTANT: That my wife and children are safe and protected. That my mom is happy and well taken care of. That someone will find a cure for diabetes. That we stop sending troops overseas - we are losing too many good Americans. That one day I can just give back to the people who influenced my life positively. Thank you.
WHAT DIRTY HUSTLE IS ALL ABOUT: Making a way to provide for our families, making music, and living out our dreams!
“I barely finished high school and as a graduation gift my older brother got me a plane ticket to visit Anchorage, AK. My visit turned into a six-month stay. It was during this six months I had my first experience singing with a live band - it was a good experience but there wasn't a big demand for Polynesian style bands, so that didn't last long. I believe that I never reached my full potential in high school and always looked back on that negatively, but with the things happening now I feel like maybe this is more the right time - maybe now God thinks I can handle it. Who knows...we will soon see.” |
Dp, aka David Pulu
HOMETOWN: American Samoa
ROLE IN DIRTY HUSTLE: Singer...hook killer!
EARLY MUSIC: Oldies. My parents played the O’Jays.
FIRST CONCERT: High school choir
FIRST ALBUM: Earth, Wind & Fire
BIGGEST INFLUENCES: My mother
CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: Country
WHAT’S IMPORTANT: My family!!!
WHAT DIRTY HUSTLE IS ALL ABOUT: Music!!!
“I was brought up in a church, so music was always around me. We moved around a lot so I never really had friends, just family. As I got older, I found myself into trouble and failing jr. high school. So my family moved to Anchorage, AK to escape the inevitable. When we moved in 1999, shit got just got worse - dropped out of school in 2001 and found myself in and out of prison. Finally I met up with Skrill, who introduced me to Dirty Hustle Produktionz. Been with them ever since and watched DHP grow into what it is now and always be: FAMILY!!!” |
Mo' Bounce, aka Norman Kaikai'ina Fagafaga
HOMETOWN: San Jose, CA
ROLE IN DIRTY HUSTLE: Rapper. If we were a football team, I'd be the running back. When it’s fourth and inches and the coach wants a first down, give me the ball and watch what I do with it.
ALSO PLAYS: The only instrument I can play is the microphone, if it's even considered an instrument. But I play a little bit of the piano. I'm not no Mozart but I can jam a little bit. Tell Alicia Keys holla at me, we can do a duet.
EARLY MUSIC: Samoan music, reggae, island music, gospel, soul, R&B and especially rap and hip-hop.
FIRST CONCERT: Christline - gospel from Seattle. They were really good.
FIRST ALBUM: A Bay Area rap group called Eyes On The Prize. They were Samoan as well.
BIGGEST INFLUENCES: Tupac and Biggie were one of them - of course everyone says that too. But my biggest influence in music, the reason I started rapping and writing, came from my cousin Sharky. He was the one that first got me rapping. Since then I never stopped.
CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: I listen to anyone that moves me. Whatever is slapping. Right now, I'm listening to some Bay Area rappers named Berner, Young Doe, Bueno, and a lot of underground hip-hop.
WHAT’S IMPORTANT: My wife and son, my family. Ain’t nothing more important than that. That’s the reason why I do this.
WHAT DIRTY HUSTLE IS ALL ABOUT: We are more than a label, and we are more than a family. Dirty Hustle is a statement, a way of life. We take our experiences and tell it to the world. Whether good or bad, there’s always an underlying story behind our songs.
“I was a writer before I started rapping. I wrote poetry and thoughts growing up, and during sixth grade, my cousin Sharky introduced me to freestyle rap. I always loved music - I grew up to it. My mother wrote and choreographed songs for our youth church, and my father was a bass player in our church band in San Jose.
Around 2006, I caught a big case - I was arrested and charged with attempted murder and numerous assaults. It was behind bars where I perfected my talent as an MC, an artist, as well as a writer. Two-and-a-half years later, I beat all charges...not guilty. Through my cousin, I reunited with Fa$e Paccino, who at this time had started Dirty Hustle. I met other members of the label, some new, some I already knew. I realized how real these guys are and how hungry they are, and it influenced me to get down with them. So here I am!!” |
Yung Papa, aka Andres Holmen Cleveland, Jr.
HOMETOWN: Fairbanks, AK
ROLE IN DIRTY HUSTLE: Artist, songwriter and apprentice
ALSO PLAYS: Trumpet; learning keyboard and saxophone
EARLY MUSIC: Hip-hop, rap, R&B, reggae, blues, rock ‘n roll, and my mama’s sweet soft voice
FIRST CONCERT: Luniz
FIRST ALBUM: Nate Dogg, “G-Funk Classics”
BIGGEST INFLUENCES: My Dirty Hustle fam
CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: T-Bone, Twista, Tupac, Biggie, Al Green, Teddy Pendergrass, Plies, Lyfe Jennings, Nate Dogg, Aerosmith, Guns N’ Roses, and the radio
WHAT’S IMPORTANT: Family, career, money, and comedy. I want to say thanks to everybody who believes in me, as I believe in you. Let’s make MAGIC...or better yet, let’s make MUSIC.
WHAT DIRTY HUSTLE IS ALL ABOUT: Music, unity, and entertainment!
“Music is one of the great things I have found in life that is 100% evidence that you are alive.
I’m the type of guy who speaks from the heart
I've been about music from the very start
Music is that voice that comforts me in the dark
Music is my friend when times get hard
Music is my element, I’m here to make my mark
Music can do for you what it has done for me so far
Just remember to be yourself, and don’t worry if you don’t know who that is...just look in the mirror and that answer will become clearer.” |
Leah Abikzer, V.P. of Operations, Dirty Hustle
Specializing in the Entertainment Industry since 1985; Leah is a seasoned sales, marketing and public relations professional. Leah’s experience managing investments of high profile individuals testifies to the amount of trust people place in her decisions. With over 20 years in the entertainment business, Leah’s networking abilities are extensive. Managing a staffing company for over 10 years lends to her expertise in dealing with people at every level. Leah brings it all to the table as V.P. of Operations for Dirty Hustle.
About music Leah says, “Music has always been a passion.” The saying ‘music is the window to the soul’ has always rang true. Her most recent experience had her working primarily with major motion picture and television studios. Now working with Dirty Hustle, she has come full circle from her early career when passion for music led her to Russia. It was there that Leah was a key member in the production of White Nights, a 7 day music festival featuring major recording artists. Back in the music scene as the V.P. of Operations for Dirty Hustle, Leah is approaching this as she has every other endeavor, with her whole heart and soul.
Why was Leah drawn to Dirty Hustle? “I love Dirty Hustle not only because of their talent but their strong desire for personal expression and their ability to put it all out there.”
Follow Leah on LINKEDIN: http://www.linkedin.com/in/leah7
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