Mhax Montes

Mr. Montes, started his career in music as an adolescent during Hip-Hops golden years of 1987’, 88’ and 89’ and during this time, he like most of the nation was introduced to a new form of music called Rap and the tools that powered it. One tool that stood out the most was the E-Mu Systems SP-12 drum machine which he purchased and learned to use with no guides, manuals or even word of wisdom yet his proficiency with the drum machine grew and so did his love for music. Rap music also re-introduced Montes to the Soul, R&B and Jazz music genres as he tirelessly searched through his mothers 45's for loops and sounds to feed his creative hunger. As he grew physically so did his reputation, as he developed his production style in the footsteps of progressive groups like, A Tribe Called Quest, Pete Rock and De La Soul. With a contrast of obscure samples, heavy drum programs and bass-lines, Montes laid the foundation of his life dream. In 1991 Montes joined with 2 of his friends to form a rap trio called Thurd Khind. The name came from their space age lyrical content and beats, which were powered by Mr. Montes, underground producer Masaki Berhinger and Gordon Jones (who produced for Bobby Brown). After a few years of making demos and performing, the trio spent what seemed like a day on the Scotti Brothers label and subsequently disbanded to pursue other creative endeavors. Several years later, Mr. Montes emerged under a new moniker, “The Arsonist,” along with 2 long time friends. During this time he worked mostly as an in-house engineer for but still, he longed to explore his own potential as a Hip-Hop producer and an artist. Being from the West Coast, his lyrics were now more autobiographical and explicit than most artist doing his style of Rap, which walked in accordance with his lifestyle, but his understanding of the Hip-Hop culture allowed him to remain lyrical yet loyal to his own truths as an MC. This combination of beats and rhymes developed into a sound that was more like his fingerprint as opposed to the monotony of other funk/synth sounds of the late 80’s and 90’s that accompanied most of the rap from Southern California. With very few West Coast record labels opening the door for artists other than Gangsta Rappers, Montes decided to perpetuate to his own roots. He knew he would have to do this independently, so he decided to showcase his own talents which would segue into an independent imprint called, Private Stock Entertainment Group. Mr. Montes immediately went back to his rap roots with the help of former Thurd Khind member Josh Theory and they released an independent EP in late 2002 called “Bounce Back” which landed an insturmental called "Fresca" on Concrete Grooves', Impressions on Concrete in 2003. That placement evolved into many more collaborations with Presto and Concrete Grooves and would eventually lead to Presto and Mr. Montes officially collaborating under the name, Genre Jazz in 2006. Although his tools have changed from SP-12 to MPC, with songs like, "Karma" and "Searching," (featuring Thurd Khind), Mr. Montes feels like he's not just bringing back the "Old School Hip-Hop," but he's bringing something new sonically and progressive to Rap and R&B as a producer, MC and engineer. -Private Stock Entertainment Group, 2006.