Andy Mineo

Andy Mineo

Andy Mineo performing.
Background information
Birth name Andrew Aaron Mineo
Also known as C-Lite
Born (1988-04-17) April 17, 1988
Syracuse, New York
Genres Christian hip hop
Occupation(s) Rapper, singer, producer, music video and TV director
Years active 2001–present
Labels Trace, Marshall Street, Reach
Associated acts 116 Clique, Fat Camp
Website andymineo.com

Andrew Aaron "Andy" Mineo,[1] formerly known as C-Lite, is an American Christian hip hop artist, producer, and TV and music video director from New York City. He is currently signed to Reach Records and, in addition to his solo work, is a member of that label's hip hop collective 116 Clique.

Originally from Syracuse, Mineo worked as a producer in high school at Henninger High School in Upstate New York, and joined the hip-hop group Fat Camp, signed to Syracuse University's Marshall Street Records. After moving to New York City, he realized his weak spiritual condition, re-dedicated his life to Christ and closed down his production studio in order to restart his career. He released his first mixtape Sin is Wack in 2009. After providing hook vocals for the song "Background" by Lecrae from the album Rehab, he collaborated with other rappers. In 2011, he released the single "In My City", featuring Efrain from Doubledge, that also gained him more attention. He appeared on the song "Reverse" by Tedashii from Blacklight. He signed to Reach Records in 2011 and abandoned his stage name "C-Lite" in favor of his legal name. Under this name he released another mixtape, Formerly Known. His full-length studio album, Heroes for Sale, was released on April 16, 2013. On January 28, 2014, he released an EP titled Never Land. His sophomore album, Uncomfortable, was released on September 18, 2015. He released a collaborative mixtape with Wordsplayed entitled "Andy Mineo & Wordsplayed Present Magic & Bird" on August 4, 2017.

His video and television work includes his creation of "Saturday Morning Car-Tunez", a three season web series in which Mineo portrayed himself and remixed classic hip-hop songs, and his co-direction of several of his own music videos. As a producer, his work includes tracks from his self-releases "In My City", Formerly Known, Saturday Morning Car-Tunez, and Heroes for Sale. He also produced the single "Destiny" by Sheena Lee, in which he was a featured performer, and, along with rapper Derek Minor, aided DJ Official in producing "Power Trip" by Lecrae, featuring Andy Mineo, Derek Minor, and Sho Baraka, from the album Gravity. Gravity won the Best Gospel Album category in the 2013 Grammy Awards.

Biography

Early life

Mineo was raised in a single-parent home in Syracuse, New York.[2][3] In the summer before entering the 8th grade, Mineo went to a Christian camp at which his sister worked as a counselor and was exposed to the Gospel and converted.[2][3] However, after his conversion, Mineo went into high school with no Christian support, and he soon drifted away from his faith.[2][3] While in high school, Mineo acquired recording equipment and started selling studio time out of his home.[2] He had formed a friendship with Chris "Oxburg" Leonard, and the pair recorded a song together in 2001.[4]

After graduating from The City College of New York (CCNY),[5] Mineo, along with Leonard, joined a rap group called Fat Camp, which subsequently won a song contest for WJPZ-FM and signed to Syracuse University's Marshall Street Records.[4] The group opened up for major acts such as Jadakiss, The Roots and Common, as well as members of the underground scene, such as Immortal Technique and Dead Prez, when said artists performed at the University.[3] In 2006, the group recorded and released a studio album entitled The Food.[4]

In his freshman year of college, Mineo met the producer Alex Medina and through him discovered the urban evangelism project T.R.U.C.E.[2][3] After hearing the song "Price Tag" by Da' T.R.U.T.H., Mineo decided to close his studio and rededicate his life to Christ.[6] He also left Fat Camp, which promptly dissolved.[4]

Sin is Wack and collaborations (2009-2011)

Following the closure of his studio, Mineo went on tour with T.R.U.C.E. He released his first mixtape, Sin is Wack.[2] Mineo explained in an interview that he came up with the concept of the "Sin is Wack" title through his work with T.R.U.C.E.[6] Following this release, Mineo sang on the Lecrae song "Background" from Rehab in 2010 and "Reverse" from Blacklight by Tedashii in 2011.[2][6] Mineo explained to Rapzilla "Background" was his first attempt at singing, and following the success of that song he received subsequent requests.[6] The Christian Manifesto claimed that Mineo's hook for "Background" made Rehab one of the best Christian albums to date, and stated that Mineo became one of the most sought after artists, particularly for singing hooks.[7] When asked about his recognition as a singer instead of an emcee, Mineo stated that "I enjoy making melodies," and said he wasn't too concerned about rapping when he supplied hooks for songs and was content with the opportunity to serve in any capacity.[6] Mineo contributed to "Put On" from Captured by Flame and "The Reunion Cypha" on Stop the Funeral by The Ambassador.[2][6] He released the single "In My City" in 2011 as part of the God in My City Movement prayer walk that Mineo was involved in. The song was reported by Rapzilla to become an "anthem for a lot of people."[6]

With Reach Records (2011-present)

On July 28, 2011, at Legacy Conference 2011, Reach Records announced that Mineo had signed with the label.[8] Upon signing with the label, Mineo abandoned the stage name C-Lite, stating that he "never really liked the name" and that his signing marked a good time to transition to his legal name.[9] He released his debut mixtape on Reach Records, Formerly Known, on September 29, 2011.

In May 2012, Mineo launched a 4-episode web series entitled Saturday Morning Car-Tunez which featured him remixing classic hip-hop songs.[10] The remixed songs were released as a free download.[11] On July 17, Mineo performed alongside Lecrae at the Apple Store in SoHo, New York to promote Lecrae's 6th studio album, Gravity.[12] In August, Mineo performed in the 2012 God Belongs in My City Concert tour with Anthony Shepherd & The Roar and Sheena Lee.[13] He also headlined the 2012 Kingdom Choice Awards along with Swoope and Bizzle.[14] From the month of October through November, Mineo toured as a member of the 116 Clique on the Unashamed 2012: Come Alive tour.[15] On December 7–8, Mineo was a featured performer at the Kings Dream Conference, a launching of the Kings Dream label by the hip-hop group theBREAX.[16]

On January 8, 2013, Mineo announced the release date for Heroes for Sale, April 16, 2013, and released the cover.[17]

On January 1, 2014, Mineo announced season two of Saturday Morning Car-Tunez, which showed the making of Mineo's EP, Never Land, which he released on January 28, 2014.[18] Never Land includes "You Can't Stop Me", "Never Land" and "Paisano's Wylin'".[18]

On May 19, 2015, he released a single, "Lay Up", featuring New York native Wordsplayed and produced by Alex Medina and Tyshane.[19] In the two weeks before that, he set up a way for fans to text him to receive a private link to the song on SoundCloud.

Andy Mineo revealed the art work for his second full-length album with Reach Records, Uncomfortable, on July 16, 2015. The album was released on September 18, 2015.[20][21]

In 2016, Mineo released a music video for his song "Hear My Heart", which describes his guilt for not learning sign language to communicate with his deaf sister for 25 years. Mineo said he worked for a year to make translate every sound in the song into a three-dimensional experience so that deaf viewers could experience the rhythm of the music.[22]

Personal life

Andy Mineo married Christina Delgado on August 23, 2014, after their engagement that April.[23][24][25] He lives in Washington Heights, and is close friends with his mentors Alex Medina and Rich Perez, who also are frequent artistic collaborators with Mineo.[26] He was a pastor at Christ Crucified Fellowship, of which Perez is head pastor, but with the increasing success of his music career took on the role of deacon instead.[26]

Discography

Production discography

Sin Is Wack - 2009

01. "Night of the Living Dead" (featuring Ravi Zacharias)
02. "New Creation"
06. "Who's Watching?"

Saturday Morning Car-Tunez - 2012

  1. "Hands High" remix of "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See" by Busta Rhymes - (produced by Courtland Urbano)[11][27]
  2. "Shut 'Em Down" (featuring Co Campbell) remix of "Ruff Ryders' Anthem" by DMX - (produced by Alex Medina)[11][28]
  3. "Next Episode" (featuring Sheena Lee) remix of "The Next Episode" by Dr. Dre featuring Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, and Nate Dogg - (produced by James Gabriel)[11][29]
  4. "Benjamins" (featuring Rich Perez & Izz) remix of "It's All About the Benjamins(remix)" by Sean Combs featuring Lil' Kim, The Notorious B.I.G., and The LOX - (produced by Tyshane)[11][30]

Heroes for Sale - 2013

06. "Caught Dreaming" (featuring For King & Country) - with Jeremey S. H. Griffith and J.R. for So Hot Productions[31]
08. "Shallow" (featuring Swoope) - 808 & Elite with additional production by Joseph Prielozny and Andy Mineo[31]
11. "Uno Uno Seis (featuring Lecrae) - Alex Medina with additional production by Andy Mineo[31]
14. "Still Bleeding" (featuring Co Campbell) - With Chris Morgan and additional production by Joseph Prielozny[31]

Lecrae

Gravity - 2012

11. "Power Trip" (featuring PRo, Sho Baraka and Andy Mineo) - (DJ Official with additional production from PRo and Andy Mineo)

Anomaly - 2014

3. "Say I Won't" (featuring Andy Mineo) - (808xElite and Gawvi with post-production by Andy Mineo)

Sheena Lee

Project Destiny - 2012

Tedashii

Below Paradise - 2014

05. Catch Me If You Can (featuring.Andy Mineo

06. "Paradise" (featuring Tauren Wells - With Dre "The Giant" Garcia for Odd Soul Creative

Videography

2010
  • Andy Mineo - "My City" (Co-directed with David Ham)
2011
  • Andy Mineo featuring Sho Baraka - "Fools Gold" (Co-directed with Francis De La Torre)
2013
  • Andy Mineo - "Uno Uno Seis" (Co-directed with The Craig Brothers)
2013
  • Andy Mineo - "AYO!" (Directed & Produced - Squint & ORIGN8 Visuals)

Filmography

Year Title Director Producer Cinematography Actor Role Notes
2012 Saturday Morning Car-Tunez No (Co-directed with Francis De La Torre) No Himself 4-part web series
Welcome to the Family Documentary[33] No Short documentary web film by R.M.G.
2013 Heroes for Sale No Web series
Everything Must Go[34] No Documentary web film
2014 Saturday Morning Car-Tunez: Season 2 No (Co-directed with Francis De La Torre) No (with The Craig Brothers and Mick Hawkins) No 4-part web series
2015 Saturday Morning Car-Tunez: Season 3 No (Co-directed with Francis De La Torre) No (with Francis De La Torre) No 4-part web series
2016 6 Ways Italians are Just Like Latinos No YouTube comedy video

References

  1. ↑ Songwriting credits for "Stop the Traffic"
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Andy Mineo's Biography" (Web). Reach Records Website. Reach Records. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 I Am UNYC (May 2, 2012). "I AM UNYC - Andy Mineo (@iamunyc @AndyMineo @reachrecords @AP_Films)" (Web/Video). I Am UNYC. YouTube.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Bialczak, Mark (November 5, 2007). "Syracuse rapper Oxburg takes his time to get 'Premonition' just right". The Post-Standard. Advance Publications. Retrieved January 12, 2015.
  5. ↑ Hauptman, Amy (June 25, 2012). "Andy Mineo: Minister & Rapper" (Web). Intervarsity Christian Fellowship USA.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Rapzilla (October 5, 2011). "Andy Mineo - Introduction (@andymineo @reachrecords @rapzilla)" (Web/Video). Rapzilla. YouTube. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
  7. ↑ Wildes, Michael (October 12, 2011). "Formerly Known". The Christian Manifesto. Archived from the original (Web) on February 19, 2014. Retrieved December 12, 2012.
  8. ↑ DaSouth.com (July 28, 2011). "Reach Records announces signing of Andy "C-Lite" Mineo at Legacy Conference" (Web). DaSouth. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
  9. ↑ Rapzilla (July 29, 2011). "Andy Mineo fka C-Lite Signs To Reach Records (@andymineo @reachrecords @rapzilla)" (Web). Rapzilla. YouTube. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
  10. ↑ JoshIVM (April 17, 2012). "Andy Mineo To Start Web Series" (Web). Indie Vision Music. Retrieved December 12, 2012.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 "Andy Mineo 'Saturday Morning Car-Tunez'" (Web). Rapzilla. June 28, 2012. Retrieved December 12, 2012.
  12. ↑ Menzie, Nicola (July 18, 2012). "Photos: Lecrae, Andy Mineo Perform Live at the Apple Store in NYC" (Web). The Christian Post. The Christian Post Company. Retrieved December 11, 2012.
  13. ↑ The Bellamy Group (August 11, 2012). "Andy Mineo, Anthony Shepherd & The Roar, and Sheena Lee Headline 'God Belongs in My City' concert Tour August 16–18 in Jacksonville, Miami and Orlando, Florida". BREATHEcast. Archived from the original (Web) on August 14, 2012. Retrieved December 11, 2012.
  14. ↑ DJ Wade-O (August 13, 2012). "Swoope, Andy Mineo & Bizzle Headline 2012 Kingdom Choice Award Nominees" (Web). Wade-O Radio.
  15. ↑ Wolfe, Roman (July 24, 2012). "Lecrae Announces Release Date For "Gravity," Launches 30-City Tour In Support Of Album" (Web). AllHipHop. AHH Holdings. Retrieved December 11, 2012.
  16. ↑ Hrabkovska, Silvia (November 6, 2012). "Kings Dream Entertainment Launches Inaugural 'Kings Dream Conference'" (Web). BREATHEcast. Retrieved December 11, 2012.
  17. ↑ Solis, Steven (January 8, 2013). "Andy Mineo Debut Album 'Heroes For Sale' Announced with Cover & Release Date". Rapzilla. Philip Rood and Chad Horton. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
  18. 1 2 Lassiter, Chris (April 26, 2014). "Andy Mineo Responds To "Never Land" Debuting At #2 On iTunes". HipHop dx. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  19. ↑ Daniels, David (May 19, 2015). "Music: Andy Mineo - Lay Up ft. wordsplayed". Rapzilla. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  20. ↑ Hernandez, Victoria. "Andy Mineo "Uncomfortable" Release Date, Cover Art & Tracklist". Hip Hop DX. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  21. ↑ Sarachik, Justin. "Andy Mineo Announces 'Uncomfortable' Along with Artwork; New Album Set for September Release [VIDEO]". Breathe Cast. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  22. ↑ Andy Mineo Communicates to the Deaf in “Hear My Heart” Video
  23. ↑ "Cristina Delgado & Andrew Mineo's Registry". TheKnot. Retrieved 2015-10-02.
  24. ↑ Law, Jeannie (February 25, 2015). "Newlywed Rapper Andy Mineo Offers Marriage Advice to Single & Married Men Alike [VIDEO]". Breathecast. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  25. ↑ Yap, Timothy (August 26, 2014). "Andy Mineo Married This Past Weekend : News : Hallels". www.hallels.com. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  26. 1 2 Mitchell, Corrie (July 3, 2014). "Andy Mineo Raps About Christ. Just Don’t Call Him a Christian Rapper.". narrative.ly. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  27. ↑ JoshIVM (May 5, 2012). "Andy Mineo Saturday Car-Tunez Episode #1" (Web). Indie Vision Music. Retrieved December 12, 2012.
  28. ↑ JoshIVM (May 12, 2012). "Andy Mineo Saturday Car-Tunez Episode #2" (Web). Indie Vision Music. Retrieved December 12, 2012.
  29. ↑ JoshIVM (May 19, 2012). "Andy Mineo Saturday Car-Tunez Episode #3" (Web). Indie Vision Music. Retrieved December 12, 2012.
  30. ↑ JoshIVM (May 19, 2012). "Andy Mineo Saturday Car-Tunez Episode #4" (Web). Indie Vision Music. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
  31. 1 2 3 4 "Andy Mineo 'Heroes For Sale' Production Credits".
  32. ↑ "Sheena Lee "Destiny" ft. Andy Mineo" (Web). Rapzilla. July 8, 2012. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
  33. ↑ Reflection Music Group (March 21, 2012). "RMG - Welcome to the Family Documentary (@rmgtweets)". YouTube. Retrieved January 13, 2013.
  34. ↑ Reach Records (April 9, 2013). "Andy Mineo - Everything Must Go (@AndyMineo @reachrecords)". YouTube. Retrieved April 9, 2013.
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