In the small town of Athens, AL, there’s a new breed of rappers growing amongst struggle to come up in a town with such little opportunity. When Fly Boy, Ellion, Slugga, Reece, and Get Em Los first started rapping together, they never imagined the incredible rap group that would form from five young men growing up in Athens, AL. All the members of the Da Block began rapping at around ten years old in middle school and knew it was a passion each one of them wanted to pursue. Although not everyone in Da Block grew up in poverty and hard times, it was difficult to ignore it and its surrounding issues such as crime and drugs when growing up in such a small town. As the years passed, Ellion,Slugga and Reece decided to seriously put a group together in high school. Fly Boy a member of the group formed with Ellion called G-Side Yungn'z later joined, but because the group lived in the four corners neighborhood of the block the group finally decided to call themselves “ Da Blockâ€. Each member went through their own struggles of try to grow as a lyricist and having Coach Clova as a mentor to the group definitely helped the group to expand their potential as artists. They are influenced by various mainstream rappers such as 2 Pac, Lil Wayne, Biggie Smalls, Jay-Z, 50 Cent , Hot Boyz , and TI to name a few. However, G-Side, the rap duo based out of Huntsville , AL has been the strongest influence and motivation to Da Block’s evolution as a rap group.
Under the watchful eye of Coach Clova (know in mainstream rap as Yung Clova), Da Block had someone to guide them and help them grow and become a stronger rap group. He challenged the young men to be stronger in their lyrics and production and also to maintain a positive image in their community. Each member of Da Block has their own lyrical sound and style, not to be mistaken with any other member of the group; and with production skills of Reece, each release from start to finish for Da Block in created “in house†so to speak. As a group Da Block hopes to become the greatest rap group in the music industry, next to G-Side (their mentors) of course. Each member has goals and aspirations of entrepreneurship, financial success, and giving back to their communities and families; it is the strongest driving force for the group to succeed in such a difficult industry. And despite the many trials and tribulations the group has endured over the years from growing up oppressed in a small town in Alabama, they have stayed strong and have never given up on making all of their dreams for their careers and their lives a reality.
On January 5th, 2008, Da Block released their latest mixtape entitled “Welcome to Da Block†which has been their greatest release to date. The group anticipated a modest mixtape release and where overwhelmed with the many fan requests to purchase copies of the mixtape. Presently, the group is preparing for their upcoming album release entitled “ Struggle, Hustle, Come Up†scheduled for release in March of 2008. This group promises to leave a strong impression in the hip hop industry with their strong lyrics and delivery styles that are truly original. Da Block will give music fans something they can’t get enough of, good Hip Hop .
