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It takes a village...this is The Commonwealth.
Born Yohance Serrant, June 17, 1982. Raised in East Oakland, CA by his father, a musician from Trinidad, and mother, a nurse from Richmond, CA.
From day one as an infant, M.E.R.C.U.R.Y.'s father had his hands on the djembe drum, and they both would perform at African cultural shows together. M.E.R.C.U.R.Y.'s house was filled with music, with his father playing sounds from Africa and the Caribbean, his mother playing Soul and Classic Oldies, and his sister playing R&B and Hip Hop.
At age 9, M.E.R.C.U.R.Y's parents divorced, and he and his mother moved to Los Angeles. When he was younger he was home-schooled, which allowed him to skip from 3rd to 5th grade. During 5th grade he was introduced to the sounds of A Tribe Called Quest and Black Sheep, along with the sounds of the West Coast coming out at the time. He began taping music off the radio during every Friday and Saturday night mix show. In Junior High, he played drums in his school's jazz band and became a founding member of his first Hip Hop group in 8th grade.
Around high school he gave himself the name M.E.R.C.U.R.Y, which stands for "Messenger Expressing Rhymes of Consciousness Unto Revolutionary Youth". He likes to be called "Merc" for short.
The Roman god Mercury was his favorite mythological figure because this character served as the messenger between Gods and humans. Merc felt it was the purpose of the poet/musician to be the communicator between the spiritual world and mankind. He's also a Gemini, who's ruling planet is Mercury, and he describes his rap style as being like the liquid-metal by the same name.
By Senior year of high school, at the age of 15, Merc was on stage with his group opening shows for acts such as The Roots, Raekwon, Black Moon, Tha Alkaholiks, Aceyalone, and many others. While in college he made another album with former group members. Even while in graduate school for Urban Planning at UCLA, Merc kept recording and performing. Even when he tried to cut music loose, it kept calling him back.
M.E.R.C.U.R.Y is now on his journey as a solo artist and finished his debut EP "Because I Felt Like It". This is a personal and reflective album dealing with many of the trials Merc has gone through in his life, while also bringing back hardcore lyricism from the early underground Hip Hop scene he was cultured by.
His future releases will draw upon the vast musical background he has dabbled in throughout his life.
M.E.R.C.U.R.Y. has many surprises in store, so stay tuned.
