Lady Merk

Born in the Nice town section of Philadelphia and moved to the Northeast by the age of 13, Merk grew up listening to hip-hop artist like: Jay Z, Outkast, Lil’ Kim, Biggie Smalls, and Lauryn Hill who inspired her to rap. She started out performing at local spots in Philly Such as CHEMISTRY, where she met DJ MIZ (of FRESCO & MIZ). Taking her under his wing MIZ took her to his studio on Ridge Avenue called the HIDE AWAY. Teaching her the intricacies of song writing he put her in the position to be seen and heard. Merk hard work paid off when she was asked to be on the “UNFORTUNATE” remix by RAM SQUAD. She impressed TOMMY HILL and STEPHEN EPSTIEN (EPPY) to the point they signed MERK to a recording contract with BANKROLL ENT. From 1999-2002 MERK was a member of the RICHARD ALLEN MOB better known as RAM SQUAD. While signed MERK was encouraged to speak Russian, she had a close connection with the Ukraine, with that being said, she showed off this skill on the RAM SQUAD documentary called Random Access Money where she performed a verse in Russian. From then on she was known as the Black Russian, and she work this aspect into personality.