When Outasight’s tracks burst out of the speakers, what emerges is the sheer musicality of what he’s doing – a combination of catchy hooks, masterful flow, intelligent lyrics and irresistible beats. The New York based rapper has lived a life completely immersed in music of all kinds, and it shows in the range and quality of his records. His upcoming album, From Here To Eternity, will be forcing Hip-Hop tastemakers to continue to take notice of this supremely talented rapper and singer, and is sure to expand upon his growing fan base.
Born and raised in Yonkers, NY, Outasight grew up in a house filled with music. “My mom worked at a record store and collected music – she had thousands of records,” he remembers. “My first CD’s were De La Soul’s 3 Feet High and Rising and Tribe Called Quest.” But he also fell in love with the classics – Stevie Wonder, the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix. “I’ve always loved how they were both artistically viable and totally accessible,” he says.
His father handed him a guitar at twelve, and by thirteen, Outasight’s path was set: “I knew by then that music was all I wanted to do. I started singing and writing songs of all kinds,” he recalls. But soon, his musical focus was going one way. “When I was sixteen, I just started leaning one way,” he recollects. “Jay-Z, Nas, Mos Def, Talib Kweli…there were all these great records. Hip-Hop just got in my heart, and I never looked back.”
But typical of the music lover he is, while focusing on Hip-Hop primarily, Outasight also branched out into drum and bass and started going to raves. (“Drum and bass is the Hip-Hop of the Electronic world,” he says.) “I was a real chameleon,” he recalls. “While I was sharpening my battle ax as an MC, getting into all the Rawkus stuff, I would front rock bands, sing for a soul band…just absorb everything I possibly could.”
But it all led back to Hip-Hop, and in 2007, he released his first collection of tracks, Employee Of The Year, and in September 2008, he released his second promo EP, “Radio New York”, which featured “Good Evening,” earning Outasight his first real buzz, as the track was featured in Giant Magazine. URB Magazine put him in the Next 1000 pick in “Fame and Fortune” and he was XXL Magazine’s Soundcheck choice in May, 2008. Mtvu premiered the video on the Freshman where it came in number 1.“I was kind of surprised when ‘Good Evening’ blew up the way it did,” he says. “But I’ll take it!” Other outlets were also overflowing in their praise of Outasight. Hip-Hop site Okayplayer gave the album 88 out of 100 and wrote, “Radio New York is a barrage of harmonic hip hop and catchy hooks, infused with springtime to make a dope album.” Giant Magazine’s website stated, “If you love soulful, old school hip hop influenced music, Outasight can definitely make you fall once more for your long lost love.”
It isn’t only press that has begun to take notice. Outasight’s tracks have been featured on MTV’s show, Power Girls, and he’s been hailed as the Best Urban Alternative Artist by New York’s, 90.3, City College radio. MySpace has featured him on their front page, and he has now established himself in the New York scene, with shows at the Knitting Factory, SOB’s, and other major venues. And on iTunes, “Good Evening” has received an astounding average customer rating of 5 out of 5 stars!
Currently, Outasight is working on his new album, From Here to Eternity, set to drop in the spring of 2009 and planning on ways to bombard the mainstream. “I want to make timeless music in the same realm as the Beatles or Stevie Wonder,” he declares. But I live Hip-Hop and it will always be my main inspiration in how I make my approach.” And it’s precisely the full range of Outasight’s love and inspiration in various kinds of music that is establishing him as an artist with his own thing to say, and his own flow. In 2009, you can bet that this is a rapper who will be expanding both as an important new artist and as a popular force to be reckoned with.
