DIVINE - Divine represents and hails from Brooklyn, New York City and Fort Greene, Brooklyn by way of Rhode Island (coincidentally, Fort Greene is named after American Revolutionary War General Nathanael Greene of Rhode Island). He was born and raised in Newport, Rhode Island (renowned as the "Mecca of the Jazz [music] world") for most of his early life and teenage years (which explains his strong affinity to Jazz music, although he didn't actually grow up on it - he credits the music of all the Jazz greats that played the Newport Jazz Festivals while he was still in his mother's womb and a small child, knowing now that those sound vibrations still reached his ears and sank into his sub-conscious), and he also lived in Rhode Island's capital city Providence (which literally means "Divine Guidance") as a young kid. Always highly intelligent and mature for his age, Divine began traveling regularly outside of Rhode Island in his early teens to New York City, and Philadelphia, observing and absorbing the different styles and distinct cultures of these two cities. Highly spiritual and charasmatic, Divine grew up listening mostly to East coast (New York) Hip-Hop from the "Golden Era" (1986-1989), this, and his spiritual ideology/theology (he's a so-called "Five Percenter") is the influential foundation of his musical/lyrical style and content, as well as his strong personal connection/relation to and affinity for New York City, particularly the borough of Brooklyn ("Medina"). - *[Divine received "knowledge of self" in 1992 while incarcerated on charges he would eventually be sentenced and serve seven years for in Federal prison, this is where and when he took on the full righteous attribute of Divine "Lord Magnetic" Allah, after being introduced to and absorbed in the teachings of the Nation Of Gods & Earths (formerly the "Five Percent Nation Of Islam"). Divine's "Enlightener" ("knowledge") Understanding ("U-Mag"), hails from out of Ft. Greene, Brooklyn (known as "the head of Medina"), and this is from where Divine's particular "tribe" manifests, though they now reside throughout NYC and beyond. Amongst the Gods ("Five Percenters") Newport is known as "Now Power", and Rhode Island is known as "Rule Eye"] - Divine is heavily embedded in Hip-Hop music and has been writing, recording, and performing since the age of ten. His musical style and sound is reminiscent of the "Golden Era" (1986-1989) in Hip-Hop when the likes of Eric B. & Rakim, KRS-One, Slick Rick, and EPMD, etc. reigned. Divine captures and epitomizes the modernization and personification of the sound and vibe from that era in his entire persona, presence, lyrical and musical style, sound, and vibe; and brings back the originality, diversity, and lyrical complexity, which was once the cornerstone of Rap music. He counts Rakim, Kool G Rap, and KRS-One as some of his greatest influences, as well as a few other past and present artists. His poetics and style is most similar to and inspired by the legendary Rakim, with slight elements reminiscent of Nas, and the sound of his voice ranging between these two great artists; yet he still maintains his own originality and uniqueness. Nevertheless, this has brought him strong comparisons to both of these artists, and there is no doubt he will continue to be compared to them - especially and particularly Rakim, as Nas was. However, emphatically put, Divine is the only similarity between Rakim and Nas...(Divine just recently released his college radio promo single, "King Of New York", from his forthcoming album, "The Legacy Lives" [due this Fall], and peaked on the national college radio chart's "Top 30" at number 2 on both RapAttackLives.com and RapNetwork.com. You can check out more about Divine here at MySpaceMusic at, MySpace.com/DivineAllah, MySpace.com/DivineAllahExtra, and MySpace.com/DivineAllahThe LegacyLives; also view Divine's EPK [Electronic Press Kit] and find out more about Divine at Sonicbids.com/DivineAllah [see link below]. Also check out Broadjam.com/Divine and the official Divine website at WWW.DIVINEALLAH.COM) Click on the above pic of Divine & Rakim, and the below pic of Divine to link to other Divine sites.
