Wrekonize
| Wrekonize | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Benjamin Miller |
| Born |
May 5, 1983[1] London, England U.K. |
| Genres | Hip hop |
| Occupations | Rapper, Singer |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Labels | Strange Music |
| Associated acts | Tech N9ne, ¡Mayday! |
Benjamin Miller (born May 5, 1983), better known by his stage name Wrekonize is an American underground rapper and current member of Miami band ¡Mayday!. He is currently signed to Tech N9ne's Strange Music record label.
Early life
Born in London, England, Wrekonize was raised in a cultured household of both British and African descent. His mother was England born and father had emigrated to England from Cape Town, South Africa.[2] Moving to the U.S. in 1988, his parents had formed a local band together. They performed on occasion with emcee Guru for his original Jazzmatazz album.[3] At the age of 11, Wrekonize was introduced to Guru, who helped inspire him to make his own music.[3]
At the age of 13, Wrekonize was part of the popular cult of graffiti. Attempting to imitate the works of Miami graffiti artists Os Gêmeos, he spotted "Wrekonize" in Martha Cooper's[4] Subway Art book. Admiring the graphic he chose to adopt it as his stage name because to him it meant, "observant and always alert to the surrouding and the people in them".[5]
Musical career
Born in 1983 in London, England, Wrekonize moved to Miami, Florida at the age of 5. In 2003 he competed in MTV Battle II: The Takeover in Times Square[6] to beat 10 rappers and won.[3] Promised a contract with Roc-A-Fella Records as a grand prize, reports several month later surfaced that Wrekonize was never offered a contract as the contest initially stipulated.[3] Soon after he was signed to SouthBeat Records[7] and shortly released "The Waiting Room Mixtape" which featured songs with Ras Kass and DJ Spinna.[3] The Waiting Room was planned to be the first mixtape to a three-part series he arranged with to Southbeat Records.[3] With a subsequent fall of the label, the album had minimal release but luckily resurfaced on the underground hip hop database DatPiff as an album of the week.[3] With online success of the first album, he self-produced a second installment called "Elevator Music".[3] It featured the Miami emcee rapping over underground instrumentals with one track produced by Plex Luthor of ¡Mayday! and another produced by DJ Sharpsound.[3] ¡Mayday!,[8] a Miami based hip hop band had also been signed with SouthBeat Records in 2004 and performed with Wrekonize at local clubs and opera houses as well as collaborating on songs with him.[3]
Eventually ¡Mayday! offered Wrekonize a vocal position and membership in the band. In 2010, Wrekonize released "Stuck On An Island" with ¡Mayday! and a solo album called "A Soiree For Skeptics".[3] After ¡Mayday! signed with Strange Music in 2011, Wrekonize came to release the "Take Me To Your Leader" album, the "Thrift Store Halos" EP, and the "Smash & Grab" mix-tape with his band ¡Mayday! in 2012, as well as completing the "Waiting Room" mixtape trilogy with the "Rooftops Mixtape".[3] Wrekonize then went on to release the solo album "The War Within" and ¡Mayday!'s sophomore album "Believers" in 2013.[9] Wrekonize has also produced various freestyles via numerous blogs and web sites.[9]
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B | US Rap | |||||||||||
| A Soiree For Skeptics[10] |
|
— | — | — | |||||||||
| The War Within[11] |
|
88 | 27 | 5 | |||||||||
| "—" denotes a title that did not chart, or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||||||
Collaboration albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B | US Rap | |||||||||||
| Stuck On An Island (with ¡Mayday!) |
|
— | — | — | |||||||||
| Take Me to Your Leader (with ¡Mayday!) |
|
86 | 18 | 15 | |||||||||
| Believers[12] (with ¡Mayday!) |
|
75 | 19 | 11 | |||||||||
| "—" denotes a title that did not chart, or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||||||
Mixtapes
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| The Chaotic Knowledge Sessions |
|
| Atleast It's Better Than Pop Music |
|
| Garage Sale |
|
| Overdue Mixtape |
|
| The Waiting Room |
|
| Elevator Music |
|
| D.W.D (Done Without Dialogue) |
|
| Lords Of The Fly (with ¡Mayday!) |
|
| Smash and Grab (with ¡Mayday!) |
|
| The Rooftops Mixtape |
|
References
- ↑ "Twitter / Wrekonize: My birthday is the 5th but". Twitter.com. Retrieved 2013-06-04.
- ↑ "Wrekonize - A Soiree For Skeptics". 305hiphop.com. Retrieved 2013-06-04.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10 3.11 Artist Biography by David Jeffries. "Wrekonize | Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-01-22.
- ↑ "KodakGirl.com". KodakGirl.com. Retrieved 2013-06-04.
- ↑ "Meddafore: Mr. Let 'em Know: Let 'Em Know: Wrekonize". Meddafore.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2013-06-04.
- ↑ "MTV Onair - Mcbattle - 2003 - Round 2 Finalists". Mtv.com. 2006-03-09. Retrieved 2013-06-04.
- ↑ "RELEASE: Wrekonize (from ¡MAYDAY!) A Soiree For Skeptics - Lil Wayne". Zimbio. 2010-09-03. Retrieved 2013-06-04.
- ↑ "MAYDAY Music, Lyrics, Songs, and Videos". Reverbnation.com. 2013-04-06. Retrieved 2013-06-04.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Smith, Bruce (2013-06-25). "Wrekonize [Mayday] - The War Within | Read Hip Hop Reviews, Rap Reviews & Hip Hop Album Reviews". HipHop DX. Retrieved 2014-01-22.
- ↑ "iTunes - Music - A Soiree For Skeptics by Wrekonize". Itunes.apple.com. 2010-08-30. Retrieved 2013-06-22.
- ↑ "iTunes - Music - The War Within (Deluxe Edition) by Wrekonize". Itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 2013-06-22.
- ↑ "Strange Music, Inc". Blog.strangemusicinc.com. Retrieved 2013-06-22.