Mars

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Love him or hate him, Mars is indisputably among the most notorious and controversial entertainers of the new century. Celebrated by supporters who dub themselves "Mad Insanes" as a crusader for Horrorcore music, a genre of rap music in its most extreme form who's subjects include but not limited to Murder, Rape, Abortion, Drugs, and Satanisim. Mars is the latest in a long line of Horrorcore artists, rising to the top of the charts on a platform of bloody violent lyrics that earned him the title of "The most controversial artist in America" by MTV after Jeff Weise, a 16 year old obsessed fan took the life of ten people including himself in the nations second biggest school shooting in Red Lake, Minnesota. The media quickly tried to blame the childs actions on Mars' lryics after friends and family members reported Weises' fixation on the artists music, causing a media frenzy that most artists and their public relations agents would cringe at. For Mars it was perfect. "The media can't make me look any more heartless than my lyrics already do", Says the 26 year old rapper.
Needless to say, the controversy helped boost album sales of his latest album "Mars Attacks" at such levels, that distrbutors sold out of units in twelve hours, a week before his release date, on pre-orders alone, much to the chagrin of conservative politicians and concerned parents. Although controversy helped push him into the mass media not many truly know the story behind the man in the mask.
Mars was born Mario Delgado in Antioch, California and raised by his mother until the age of 15, when he left home to excape an abusive step father only to become homeless, having to sell drugs on the rough streets of East Contra Costa County in order to survive. While in a house hold whos monthly income was generated by drug sales, and many times boasts in his lyrics that he first smoked marijuana at the age of three, this nature was nothing new. "I was born in the 80's and looked up to hustlers. I was always taught to keep my mouth shut, never snitch and that there was nothing wrong with selling and smoking weed." says Mars. At At a young age Mars would sit in his room listening to various styles of music that varied from KISS, Metallica, Guns And Roses, to Ganxsta N.I.P., X-Raided, and Brotha Lynch Hung. "They were saying shit that you never would hear in music. Shit most people wouldn't talk about. I was hooked."
In 1998 childhood friend Jason Gamino started recording music as a hobby with the help of his older brother G-Dubb, a local producer. The lyrics were brutal, catchy, and violent. When the young rapper who called himself "J RZ" played his maxi single to Mars entitled "The Arrival", Mars started to work on his writing his own music. Mad Insanity Records was born. Following the lead of J RZ as well as the his taste in music in which he notes as his influences, Mars aimed to disgust and shock all who got their hands on his upcoming release "S.I.D.S." the acronym for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. The release featured many of the newly formed labels roster, but the most notable apperance was Bay Area abductor and murderer Richard Allen Davis, setting the tone for the projects intro. Selling out of basment style copies of the cassette from the trunk of his car. Fans of his music who dub themselves "Mad Insanes", saw the album as an eerie prophecy for the artists own life, and scrambled for copies of the S.I.D.S. album, bidding up to hundreds of dollars for the cassette in Internet auctions.
Mars and J RZ started making headlines, both in the press and the hip-hop scene, for assaulting rapper Eminem on his 1999 tour at The Fillmore in San Francisco. After both artist released their collective single "The Slaughterhouse" they was featured in a Vice Magazine cover story, alongside horrorcore heavyweights Esham, and Brotha Lynch Hung. Mars proudly shined with his outlandish quotes being the bread and butter of the article pictured with a restaint mask over his mouth. "Back then, we were young, and just saying all kinds of shit just to piss people off. We didn't even care. It brought us attention." says Mars which to some is just as bizarre and risky as always.
The press helped gain the attention of Cedric Singleton CEO of the nutorious gangsta rap label Black Market Records who quickly signed Mars where he help create a label under its wing called Rest In Peace Records. Mars quickly learned how to conduct business within the music industry and soon signed Houston horrorcore pioneer Ganxsta N.I.P. who in return added Mars to his group Psych Ward and released his "Return Of The Psychopath" album with the label. Singleton, who was impressed with Mars' work signed Big Lurch another artist from Texas who is accused of tearing open the chest of a 21 year old woman and eating of her lung, brutally killing her her under the influence of PCP making world wide headlines and asked Mars to be the artists project manager for his album "It's All Bad". When Mars wasn't allowed to market the project capitalising off of the artists controversy, he pulled out of the project. At the time, Mars was in talks with former Def Jam artists and horrorcore pioneers The Flatlinerz who with Russell Simmons coined the term "horrorcore", to be added to his Rest In Peace Records roster. After Black Market Records failed to handle the talks in a respectful manner, he demanded his release from both the Black Market Records and Rest In Peace Records contracts and left the company to pursue the success of his own company, Mad Insanity Records.
While building the label Mars started branching out into other areas of the entertainment business. He began working as a freelance photographer and graphic artist for Xplosive Magazine designing layouts for the publication as well as shooting portrits for the cover and feature articles. The photography skills that Mars possesed allowed him to work closely with aspiring models and actresses building their portfolios and booking their talents to clients all over the West Coast including his girlfriend Nikki. While browsing through casting calls for his clients, he landed the lead role for himself in a Starbucks Coffee commercial. The part eventually lead to smaller roles in commercials and independent releases for a unexpected acting career.
He used the resources within' his reach to start up a full scale clothing line for the label as well as outside artists and fan bases in the horrorcore genre that exploded onto the market and at the same time displaying each model to the masses wearing the apparel in Mad Insanity Records advertisments. Mars seen the success of the labels venture as a oppritunity to expand the labels roster. Over the years he watched the career of one of the most dominant artists in the horrorcore genre create a buzz for himself. His name was Q Strange. "At the time Twiztid when was trying to sign Q to their label he had called me to ask me for advice. I always knew Q was going to be huge. When Twiztid went back to Psychopathic Records instead of doing their own thing, I had to fuck with him. He was amazing", says Mars speaking excitedly. After dropping two classic reelases independently, he was signed to a 3 album deal with MIR, creating a team Mad Insanes welcomed in open arms.
To expand his newly formed family, he linked up with San Francisco gangsta rap label Apartment 3 / DNA Entertainment, one of the most respected crews in the Bay Area for outside projects, collaborations and events. Apartment opened up doors for Mars to network with all of the legendary Bay Area producers, artists and pimps that help influence the urban market today. He now considers them family. It was with Apartment 3 that Mars started working with star producers TC, Mr. Laid and Sean T, who helped mold his sound into one more capible of reaching a wider audience. "Apartment 3 introduced me to the world. I've soaked up so much game from mothafuckas, that not just me, but everyone looks up to..." explains Mars.
On the wake of a drive-by shooting that targeted Mars in his home town of Pittsburg, CA and wounded his girlfriend, he realised that time was not always on his side. "I been building my business, my game, and my craft all this time that I never really got a chance to do what I wanted to do from the gate. Make music." Feeling the need to get his emotions off his chest, in just five short days he locked himself in the studio and emerged with a classic. "Mars Attacks". Mars called in a favor, and without hesitation, Ganxsta NIP unleashed a new breed of Horrorcore to the world with a signature intro. To test the fan base he had studied for so long, he set out to release a limited edition EP for the Mad Insanes, who have waited patneintly for his music. In just 12 hours, a week before its release date, accounts completly sold out of units. The next week, copies appeared on online internet auctions for nearly $100 each. It was in those 12 hours that one fan who purchased a CD would change the corse of history. Jeff Wiese, gunman of the Red Lake High School shooting. When friends reported his obsession with Mad Insanity Records and horrorcore music, countless interviews were requested and completed from media outlets such as VH-1, MTV, CBS, and CNN who begged to know the meaning and the reasoning behind Mars' controversial image and lryics. "One morning I woke up to a phone call about an interview from a radio statrion and was already on the air!" Public figures such as Rev. Al Sharpton started speaking out at violence in rap music in news conferences at the time of the tragety.
Reporters and camera crews traveled to Oakland, CA recording studios for exclusive interviews while Mars made his rounds to various publications, when he met two Sacramento DJ's who happend to be fans of horrorcore music and parly responible of the success of the Insane Clown Posse. 102.5 KSFM's Budman & Booger who have the highest ratings in their time slot in Northern California conducted their first live interview in the history of the show with the young rap artist. "Budman & Booger and me clicked right away. They are some of the coolest mothafuckas I have ever met." With 500,000 listeners tuned in, Mars announced the re-release of his Mars Attacks album.
With the amount of publicity surrounding Mars, he quickly established distribution in North America and overseas for the albums release and set off for a promotional tour headlining events and reaching out to fans with in-store autograph signings, steadily building his Mad Insane following and selling units in areas many Bay Area rap artists don't. After becoming a regular on the Budman & Booger show the two DJ's asked Mars to help write for the program. On Halloween, Mars invited legendary artists Brotha Lynch Hung and ADR Lavey to the stations headquarters to discuss the darkest form of rap music to a unknowing crowd. Hororrocore. It would be the night that Mars' latest single "I Can't Hate" debuted to a mainstream audience for rotation on the CBS Radio network and requested more than any other title the following day. "I remember coming up to the station a week or two later for a meeting and the DJ from another time slot told me how many people called into his show to request the single, and I couldn't believe it."
After Budman & Booger witnessed the overwelming responce to "I Can't Hate" they knew another single by the show needed to follow. If Mars could put together an anthem for their hip-hop and R&B format with all of the hottest artists on the West Coast, the results could be huge. "When they said they wanted an anthem, I thought of the last one I could think of that was big." Mars contacted Mike Marshall, the voice behind the most singularly memorable song in the history of Bay Area hip-hop, The Luniz' - "I Got 5 On It". The result, the foundation to what the media is calling the biggest West Coast collaboration in history - "West Coast Pimpin". A longtime friend in the music industry M-Duce (RIP), had been holding into a verse that was recorded for him by the late Vallejo rap artist Mac Dre, and quickly handed the verse to Mars for the chance to be a part of history. "If it wasn't for M-Duce and Mac Dre, none of this would be happening like it is..." Says Mars. After the two key elements were set in place, he started collecting verses from every major city on the West Coast.
Artists include Mike Marshall, Mac Dre, E-40, Keak Da Sneak, Celly Cell, Spice 1, JT Tha Bigga Figga, RBL Posse, Mistah F.A.B, Turf Talk, B-Legit, Dubee aka The Sugawolf Pimp, Yukmouth, Bad Azz, Concious Daughters, San Quinn, Mac Mall, Messy Marv, Brotha Lynch Hung and more. With production by San Diegos hottest beat smith, Hartman of Bat Kave Recordings, the single is destined to be a classic to rap fans everywhere. Mars plans to release "West Coast Pimpin" as a maxi single with a national version for the radio, as well as regional mixes for San Francisco, Vallejo, Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego, and Sacramento to be distributed Nation Wide early 2007. CLICK TO ORDER CLICK TO ORDER CLICK TO ORDER CLICK TO ORDER CLICK TO ORDER CLICK TO ORDER CLICK TO ORDER CLICK TO ORDER CLICK TO ORDER