About Me
It's been quite the adventure channeling his way through the sacred portals of hip hop, but Joseph Ritrievi, aka Pluto, has been carving a spiritual niche in the culture's threads since he was a child. Growing up in Central Pennsylvania's relatively unknown Etters, Pluto began his rhythmic journey as a child of the 80s, influenced by his step-father's classic rock collection and inheriting his first set of turntables at the age of 9. By the age of 10, Pluto was accused of starting a third grade cult for causing students to believe in the power of their minds, and became a published writer. These were merely signs of things to yet pass for the aspiring writer and free thinker.Pluto first stepped into the hip hop realm at the age of 11 under the moniker, Jazz. Influenced by the hip hop's golden era boom-bap and producers such as Pete Rock and Dj Premier, he began writing cohesive songs and conducted independent studies of the culture for special interest school projects. While attending Villanova University near Philadelphia, Pluto began recording his psychedelic rhymes with the intentions to get the "robots" to open their minds and revolutionize their pre-programmed states of consciousness. Pluto then traveled home and linked with fellow Central PA artist, Seis Fifth, to record a project entitled "We Hungry, We Eat" in 2006; his aspirations to become more focused as a writer grew immensely. The rest, as they say, is history.Since 2006, Pluto has built his name up while smashing through stages everywhere from the popular Crocodile Rock Café in Allentown, PA to all the major venues in Harrisburg and surrounding areas. Not limited to just being exquisite with the quill, Pluto has been producing hip hop tracks for artists all over Pennsylvania including his partner in rhyme, P Cristo, who fulfills the other half of the versatile crew known as The Avengers. Armed with a crate full of symphonic samples and extreme musical intelligence, Pluto will be releasing his first commercially available project in the form of "Initiation," slated to drop in the early fall of 2008. Pluto's sharp tongue and unmatched wisdom on record recently gained the attention of Indie imprint, STLP (Harrisburg, PA). Along with Artists Over Industry, El*A*Kwents, and Apollo's Sun, Pluto has joined the label with the intentions to dissipate the garbage that has infiltrated a once adored culture, and lend his unique style of musical talents to inspire locked minds to break free from the chains of society's maniacal ways.
