Mars Black
Photo Credit: Paul Kulik
It's been a hot minute since you've heard from Mars Black, and it isn't because he put down the ink pen, the composition notepad and stepped away from the mic. It's the exact opposite of that.
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Mars is an Omaha, Nebraska based artist who, with his DJ E.Babbs, has made an album that both taps into the traditions of hip hop and at the same time ads something new; call it Midwest flavor, or as Mars says, “We come from Nebraska, all we got is beef.”
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Biography
It's been a hot minute since you've heard from Mars Black, and it isn't because he put down the ink pen, the composition notepad and stepped away from the mic. It's the exact opposite of that. Like the "b" side of his new single (Hot Chick) boldly states, "I'm back / just to kick in the door / like we did before!" He's back alright, with a brand new full length titled "Stay Black" The much anticipated follow up to the 2005 "Folks Music".
"When I say Black, 99% of the time, I'm referring to myself" Mars explains, "Stay Black is stay you, be yourself, I can't be anyone but me. Folks Music to me was a lot of random thoughts and instances that were compiled over a few years. Stay Black is me every song, and I brought my ADF cru along for people to hear the voices that I listen to, Jamazz, B.E.T.A.,Sir Skrap, and Surreal The M.C., my peoples!"
"E.Babbs and I actually rented an apartment in February of 2006 and built a small production studio in it to work on the album. We felt we needed to step up this album, so E decided to call (longtime friend) Kevan Griffen to see if we could polish it up at Integrated Studios NYC (where Kevan is the Chief Technician). That's where we met Carlos "C-12" Bess. He really blessed me on this project. The first single off the album is "Hot Chick" which is a club banger, (a strip club banger) but it's still grimy like I am. My man Kevan hooked up the Hot Chick remix which is mad ill. The whole point is to take this to the next level, so this time out, we shot a video that we are very proud of."
"The album is what it says, its Black stayin Black, from start to finish. 15 tracks, no skits, just me talkin about how shit is and how i wish shit was. I laugh, I cry ,I struggle and I overcome, friends, family, business, love and life, what more is there?"
Mars is so much more than a man on the mic. He was born in Brooklyn, NY, and upon his arrival back to The Big Apple, he established friendships with many from the Bed-Sty area. He has been living and working in Brooklyn for the last year. You can catch him on north 4th and Bedford in Williamsburg tattooing your girlfriend (Asylum Studios) or at the local watering whole workin' on sketches and tippin' back agave nectar. He's also in the process of launching his own custom clothing line.
Mars is still screamin' Mid City Vet (Omaha Nebraska) as he also took time out of his everyday hustle and bustle to go back to Omaha to shoot his new video for the single "Hot Chick". He linked back up with E. Babbs and the whole ADF cru. This was no throw together shoot. Mars brought a whole crew of professionals with him from NY to get the job done, consisting of Shiloh Crawford III (Trigger Happy Productions), Michael Hull (5th Column Films) and cinematographer Clayton Haskell (Haskell Films). The shoot took place at The Goofy Foot Lodge and to say the least, these Nebraskan roughnecks didn't hold back their identity.
