CROP SHOP RECORDS presents... by 2ché

, and 2 Live Crew.

He spent the next few years listening to RAP, soaking up everything he heard until finally it was his turn. "I'd listen to a song I liked in my walkman, writing every word down until I had the whole song on paper. After that I'd rap with the artist like it was my song."

"I started freestylin with LUMP, Mike Smiley, when I was in eighth grade. We'd record ourselves on his mom's old cassette player, the kind with the built in mic, with out listening to a beat. Another partner of mine at that time who rapped spit this one line to me that he said was his. I was thinking damn, I ain't got nothin on this dude. I later found out it wasn't even his rhyme, it was 8BALL from 8BALL and MJG.

At first he wrote small 3 or 4 line flows and it was all gangsta rap. "I didn't feel like I had much to talk about, being 14 there was still a lot I had to see before I could really express myself. It was always easier to write about things I never did, probably cause it didn't take much time and thought. I have notebooks filled up with these weak ass rhymes."

The whole "G Thang" didn't last long. "I wasn't comfortable rappin about things I never did, especially when my life was the complete opposite. So I began writing about my real life situations and conflicts. I still felt as though my life couldn't compare to major artists so how could my lyrics? It took me a while to figure out most of em aren't as real as they say they are."

"When I was a sophomore, some friends of my parents let us borrow their karaoke machine. RUSH and I would buy singles with the instrumental tracks and write our own songs. We'd practice a little and then record it on tape. We still plan on recording one of the first songs we wrote using the same exact lyrics."

"My junior year I saved up for a Boss drum machine. I knew I had an ear for good music, so I wanted to try producing our own beats. Not long after, my partner and I went in on a 4-track recorder. That was exactly what we needed to get us going in the right direction. So with a drum machine, a small Casio keyboard, and the 4-track, we began our recording career. Ideas for songs flowed so easily with our own production behind us. It was then I found out how talented my brother was. RUSH would come up with some tight drum patterns and played with a lot better rhythm on the keyboard. His lyrics continued to get better and more mature. Before long we had a couple songs recorded and our friends would all give us props and tell us to keep doing it."

"My senior year my parents saw how dedicated we were and decided to help us invest into some better equipment. We knew that upgrading our studio was a necessity if we wanted to compete with the rest and continue to grow musically. It was then we decided to buy a digital 8-track, cd burner, an 88 key synthesizer, and studio monitors. Of course we had to pay them back, and have, but everything was now starting to fall into place. We had $4,000 worth of new equipment and just started our independent record label, CROP SHOP RECORDS. It was great! Being able to work in the studio and record anytime we wanted with better sounds and quality. It was a task though learning how to run all this equipment, but it didn't bother me. I just read the manuals over and over, and spent many hours trying to remember how to do what I just did."

So for the next year I worked at a country club to pay off the equipment and somehow found time to record our debut album, 2CHE ( TWO'SHA ). It was real hard though. I had to give up a lot of free time and kickin it with my friends, but most of them understood. I found something I loved doing and I was gonna put everything I had into making this cd and getting it out there."

RUSH, Luke Shumard, was born March 14, 1983 in Wichita, Kansas. He first started writing raps in the eighth grade. "I saw PRE and his friends doing it, but at that time it was still a hobby. We continued making songs together working up from a karaoke machine, to the 4-track, and then to the digital recorder."

"I love to write. It brings out so much emotion, and then hearing it all on cd is even better. Just knowing that's my voice and my words flowing in sequence over a tight beat is the best. I also love producing music. There are just so many sounds you can use to make any kind of music. It's all about getting your hands on the right equipment. I plan on pursuing this as a career because I enjoy what I'm doing and I'm very confident about it."

PLANS-

-Remain independent musically

-Stamp our name and style on the face of RAP

-Make big time moves over SHUSHINE BEATZ

-Do it for the love of music

-Keep rappin, Keep stackin

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