EXPOSED w/ NeXplicableP: Amiyj, Lava & the state of the music industry

There’s a saying in the basketball world: You can’t teach height. In the stratosphere of entertainment, it’s star power that relegates education obsolete. It’s also what makes tomorrow such an inviting host for Massachusetts’ first hip-hop star, Amiyj (pronounced Ah-meej). With a fashion model look, consuming charisma, a flammable independent single (“Take A Picture”) and personal story worthy of cinematic attention, Amiyj is you and your significant other’s favorite new MC. Born in Worcester, Massachusetts to a Ghanaian father and Trinidadian mother who weren’t able to financially raise their son, young Amiyj was shipped to his grandparent’s home in Trinidad. With a minister for a grandfather and a Soca band leader for an uncle, Amiyj discovered an appreciation for words and music early on. This appreciation would mature into a passion once the destined MC returned to the U.S. as a preteen and found what would remain his biggest love (until the birth of his daughter): hip-hop. “Yes my extremely diverse background immediately separates me from other rap artists,” says the 28-year-old. “But there’s so much more to my story that I have no choice but to stand apart from the pack.”

ALSO...Is it profitable to get into the music industry? What challenges are there for indie artists? Is there such a thing as real hip hop, or is it all the same? To contact Amiyj: on FaceBook Amiyj, on Twitter Amiyj, on MySpace Amiyj...Get the picture? ;o)