"My name," says City Boy, "is self-explanatory". He's not joking - this young Hood Affiliate has lived 21 of his 22 years in Compton, a City he embodies, and that most people would prefer to avoid. Brought up by Nigerian immigrant parents in the hood, City Boy managed to survive the Compton street life that so many of his peers did not.At 13, after fights with his father, City ran away from home, and from then on was living on the streets, in cars, with fellow gangbangers, or wherever he found himself at night. From then on, it was a downhill battle for City. Looking to the streets for a family, City Boy ran with a small set, and was soon watching enemies and friends die on the block on a daily basis. Sensing that her son was in trouble, City's mother tried everything to get him to stop banging; even sending him back to Nigeria for a year during high school, where he was promptly kicked out of two schools and sent back.While most rappers can come up with a long list of famous rappers when asked about their influences, City has a different story than most - when Tupac and Biggie died, the middle-school-aged City Boy was much more focused on gangbanging and staying alive. Instead, City Boy stresses that his real influence is the struggle he has lived, and is still living. It was only after he decided to stop turning his pain and frustration into negative and often self-destructive energy and instead express himself with his art, that City Boy really began to turn his life around and embrace his talent. The pain, the joy, and the everyday struggle of hood life are City Boy's main influences and inspirations, and fuel his gritty, stark rhymes.Thus far, City Boy has already made a name for himself on the streets and worldwide. He has appeared on tracks with Coolwadda of Chico and Coolwadda, and also Aftermath's Stat Quo. Guerilla Black also recognized City's talent early on, providing City with an early taste of the ups and downs of the industry. Showing the street-oriented yet global consciousness of City's style, his post-Hurricane Katrina joint (recorded under his Hood Affiliates alias) was also prominently featured along with Chuck D, Mos Def, and 4-Ize on the Mixtape Show iTunes Podcast's Katrina Edition, propelling his name into the ears of tens of thousands of listeners worldwide via Apple's iTunes music service.Over the past few months, City has been hard at work in the studio banging out several new projects. He is currently working on tracks for the upcoming L.A. Riots mixtape by DJ Nik Bean of Scratch Magazine, alongside Young Hootie, Mitchy Slick, El Dorado Red, and other West Coast heavy-hitters. He'll also be appearing on the upcoming Larceny Presents Mixtape, and his solo Larceny/City Boy mixtape as well. 2006 is going to be a big year for the City...
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