Meet E. Grizzly

E. Grizzly began song writing when he was 14, but his music career didn't get started until 2002 when he was signed at a young age to an indie label in Philly called A-Type Tactiks. Grizzly released an EP with A Type Tactiks in 2003 called 'Anti-Matter' which was more of a down tempo, grime hip hop and he began doing shows in Philly for a few months after the release. E. Grizzly eventually felt like he needed a new start so at the end of 2003 he moved to Miami where he began working with a label called Puerto Roc Records. They were working on a new EP which was presented to Sony Europe at the end of 2004. Sony Europe offered to sign E. Grizzly to a lucrative contract but the contract said he will have no control over his music. E turned the deal down with Sony and went with a contract with the independent label Puerto Roc Records so he can have control over his music. E. Grizzly released his 2nd EP 'Hip hop is dead!' in 2006. He later got involved with a trademark infringement case with Nas and Def Jam Records because Nas used the same name and art for his 2007 Release 'Hip hop is dead' and Puerto Roc Records trademarked the name and art. That case is still pending to this day.
E. Grizzly won the 2006 Independent Rap Artist of the Year at the 16th annual L.A. Music Awards for his EP Hip hop is dead. His EP was also nominated for Best Breakthrough Album of the year for an independent artist at the L.A. Music Awards. After the EP was released E. Grizzly was hand picked by MTV2 to write a song about Martin Luther King Jr for a special MLK tribute in January, 2007. He was invited to MTV2 studios, recorded his verse about MLK and MTV liked it so much they aired his MLK tribute through January and all through Febuary for Black History Month. In the spring of 2007 E. Grizzly began going to many open mics in Miami including The Cornerstone where the band The Cornerstoners was founded in the summer of 2007 by E. Grizzly, Michelangelo, and Lydian of NIAYH. Since The Cornerstoners needed shows E. Grizzly, Michelangelo, Lydian, and Level of Alukard founded A-Ha! Events in 2007 which is a non-profit organization to promote independent artists in South Florida. Every showcase put together by A-HA! is promoted by the artists and all profits go to the bands who perform instead of outside promoters and booking agents. The first show A-Ha! Events put together was called 'Indie Unplugged Miami' which was a live recorded show that was made into an album. E. Grizzly was the executive producer of the album, did all of the art, help mix all the music, got investors to pitch in money for the CD, did all the arangements, and helped put the whole show together.
E. Grizzly began working with the band Alukard in 2008 and they were the first indie band to perform at Mansion which is one of the most popular clubs in Miami. E went on a few tours with Alukard and eventually joined the band due to differences with his old band The Cornerstoners. E has done a few things since then including helping to start a local hip hop show on 89.1, as well as putting together over 100 shows all through out South Florida with his promo company A-Ha! Events. E. Grizzly is currently in the studio working on his third release called 'The Revolution will be Televised' which will be released by Puerto Roc Records in 2009 and is curently performing and recording with the band Alukard who recently became a nationally sponsored band by Jagermeister. Their first studio album is scheduled to be released in 2009.
You can get more info on E. Grizzly at e-grizzly.com <http://e-grizzly.com> and you can get more info on the band Alukard at myspace.com/305rock <http://myspace.com/305rock> .
When did you fall in love with music? It was back in 2003 when I did my first show in Philly. I've done open mics here and there but never had a show where I was the headliner and I was completely surprised when a bunch of people came out. I then started doing my trademark "getting all crazy" performance which I never did before, heard everybody cheering me on, and when I was done I thought I was going to pass out and die from exhaustion. The whole near death experience made me get all lovey dovey with music.
If you could work with anyone, who would it be? There's a bunch but the first person I can think of Curtis Mayfield. He's real gangster with his soul music and it would blend real nice with hip hop or even rock today. I would probably bug out the most if I worked with him. I mean come on it's Superfly.
What was your most accomplished moment and shining glory? There was 3 moments where I felt equally the same. in 06 when I won that award at the LA Music Awards, that one time in 07 when I was on MTV2, and just last month when I was on the Jagermeister Tour. Never had so many people cheer for us. It was very surreal.
Please give your advice to someone who wants to pursue your career? You got a long hard road ahead of you. The first thing you have to figure out is if your good. Don't listen to your friends or family just do a show. It's real simple; if they cheer for you and come up to you and say your awesome then your good. If they don't do anything then your just mediocre. Don't pursue anything that your mediocre in. But complete strangers are the people you should listen to because they don't care about making you feel good or not. They will just tell you if they liked your performance. Once you realize your good and people like you then you have to work. Every day out of the week. 365 days a year. No breaks. If you love what your doing then it's not work. If you start to get tired of it then it's work and you shouldn't be pursuing it. Also read about your profession. Really understand how your business works. You can be doing a bunch of work and you would later realize that you could have been spending your time on something more beneficial.