When Hip Hop heads talk about the new sound of Hip Hop, Chicago and Kanye West are inevitably mentioned. Soon, those same heads will mention Chicago's latest product, Nat-ur-al a.k.a. That Boy. With an almost natural ear and talent for understanding music, this 24 year old Mozart of Hip Hop brings a new sound, style, and swagger to the game. As one of the latest additions to the Conduit Entertainment family, Nat-ur-al has been in the lab, producing some of the latest classics for Conduit artists Epiphany and Suga City.
The youngest of two, Nat-ur-al, was born and raised in the south suburbs of Chicago in Harvey, IL. Though his parents divorced when he was 4, Nat-ur-al grew up surrounded by family. The diverse musical tastes of his father, stepfather grandfather and mother gave Nat-ur-al a unique appreciation and ear for music. "I came up listening to Freddie Jackson, Luther Vandross, a lot of Motown stuff, the Temptations, Gospel... a lot of jazz because my step father is a jazz fiend." Nat-ur-al credits this early influence as a reason for his unique ability to both create completely new and original tracks as well as sample, bringing a new feel to old classics.
In high school while working part time as a grocery clerk, Nat-ur-al hooked up with Eddy-D, a local rapper who at the time was trying to find somewhere to record. "He came over to the crib and I started looping the end of popular songs on the computer and he would record over the beats with this mic we had... around 2001 I started making my own beats." Building a local following, Nat-ur-al stayed in the studio making hot tracks for various local rappers. Only one question remained, when is this kid gonna go national?
"I got that eye of the tiger... I don't have any worries about blowing up, I just know eventually its gonna happen." Nat-ur-al took one step closer to making that vision a reality when he signed to Conduit Entertainment in 2003. In a chance meeting, his father met one of Conduit's promotional reps at a Chicago barbershop. His father put the two in contact and Nat-ur-al ended up sending some of his tracks to the label heads. Immediately impressed by Nat-ur-al's unique sound, he was flown out to Arkansas to record some tracks. Nat-ur-al's signature style coupled with the lyrical precision of Epiphany and Suga City resulted in instant classics. It was only a matter of time before label founders, Brian Rikuda and Chane Morrow offered That Boy a deal.
You can hear Nat-ur-al's production on Conduit's upcoming release Big Bizness Vol. 1 featuring Juvenile, Devin the Dude, and JT the Bigga Figga. Currently, Nat-ur-al is hard at work on Suga City's upcoming album and his own mixtape, "That Mixtape." Always hustling, Nat-ur-al also has his own label, Thatboy Productions. Ask him about 'Thatboy' and Nat-ur-al vows to stay rooted in family, promising to bring 'Thatboy' with him wherever he goes.DK and Bo ripping "Calm Down"
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