Prof (rapper)

Not to be confused with Proof (rapper).
Prof

Prof in concert at the Soundset Music Festival in Shakopee, Minnesota, in 2010
Background information
Birth name Jacob Anderson
Born April 29, 1984[1][2]
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Genres Rap
Years active 2000-present
Labels Stophouse Music Group, Rhymesayers Entertainment
Associated acts Rahzwell, St. Paul Slim

Jacob "Jake" Anderson (born April 29, 1984), better known by his stage name Prof, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He released his first full-length album, Project Gampo, in 2007 and has since released two additional albums and three EPs. In 2012, City Pages named Prof on their list of Minnesota's 20 best rappers.[3] However, his music has also been described as "rap at its worst".[4] A co-owner of Stophouse Music Group, Prof signed to Rhymesayers Entertainment in late 2013.

Early life

Jacob "Jake" Anderson[3] was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and grew up in the city's Powderhorn neighborhood.[5] His mother, Colleen, had a rocky relationship with his father (who suffered from bipolar disorder and was physically abusive) whom she would later divorce and move away from, taking Anderson's three older sisters with her.[5][6][7] In his teenage years, he developed a "comedic, dirty-mouthed rap persona" he named Gampo after a childhood friend.[5] Anderson graduated from South High School in 2002.[5]

Music career

In 2000, Prof was part of Rhymesayers' Welcome to Minnesota tour.[8] During the mid-2000s, Prof regularly performed at the Dinkytowner bar, giving "drunk show[s]" with partner and hype man Rahzwell - which meant beginning their set only after Rahzwell had vomited from every shot and beer that the duo received from the members of the audience. It was at one such show that Prof would meet his manager, Mike Campbell. Prof and Campbell later became co-owners, along with Dillon Parker, of the Stophouse Music Group, a record label that owns and manages their eponymous Stophouse Studios in northeast Minneapolis.[5]

Prof has been noted as one of the few Minneapolis rap acts (in addition to Doomtree and several Rhymesayers artists) who are capable of selling out the city's famed First Avenue Mainroom,[5] and the only to do so in recent years without the backing of Minnesota Public Radio station 89.3 The Current.[9]

In May 2013, when Busta Rhymes failed to show up at the Soundset Music Festival in Shakopee, Minnesota, Prof substituted for him with but an hour's notice.[8]

On December 3, 2013, Prof signed to Rhymesayers Entertainment.[10] The announcement video featured the label's co-founder, Slug, and coincided with the release of a single called "The Reply". The Star Tribune reported on the occasion that Prof would release another album in 2014.[8]

The staff of City Pages named Prof as Minnesota's 19th-best rapper in 2012, citing his musical dexterity, "his impressive singing voice", and his ability to engage and make audiences laugh.[3] Conversely, musician and critic Dwight Hobbes of the Twin Cities Daily Planet asserted that Prof's 2011 album, King Gampo, was "asinine, narcissistic self-indulgence run completely riot, without a shred of redeeming artistry" and "rap at its worst".[4]

Discography

All albums have been released by Stophouse Music Group.[11][12]

Albums

EPs

References

  1. ↑ Prof's 27th Birthday and More! (Short). Minneapolis: Stophouse Music Group. May 4, 2011. Retrieved August 31, 2014 – via YouTube.
  2. ↑ Prof (April 29, 2013). "Happy birthday to the most injured man in rap, PROF!". Facebook. Prof. Retrieved August 31, 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 City Pages staff (May 25, 2012). "Top 20 best Minnesota rappers: The complete list". City Pages. Retrieved August 5, 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Hobbes, Dwight (September 5, 2011). "Prof's "King Gampo" is rap at its worst". Twin Cities Daily Planet. Retrieved August 5, 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Fischer, Reed (April 9, 2013). "Off the deep end with Prof". City Pages. Retrieved August 5, 2014.
  6. ↑ Riemenschneider, Chris (April 11, 2013). "3 serious sides to Prof". Star Tribune. Retrieved August 31, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Prof". Stophouse. Stophouse Music Group. Retrieved August 31, 2014.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Riemenschneider, Chris (December 3, 2013). "Prof joins Rhymesayers as only Prof can do". Star Tribune. Retrieved August 5, 2014.
  9. ↑ Riemenschneider, Chris (April 12, 2013). "Getting naked with Minneapolis trash-rap king Prof". Star Tribune. Retrieved August 5, 2014.
  10. ↑ Diep, Eric (December 3, 2013). "Prof Signs To Rhymesayers Entertainment". XXL. Retrieved August 5, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Prof (5)". Discogs. Zink Media, Inc. Retrieved August 5, 2014.
  12. ↑ Fischer, Reed (September 26, 2012). "Prof drops Kaiser Von Powderhorn 3 mixtape (Download)". City Pages. Retrieved August 5, 2014.

External links