Drew was one of many founding members of the Midwest underground hip hop group The Old Skool Pound. In 2010, Drew decided to go solo with a new album that he will release in late 2011 named Dream Big, Live Bigger.
The Early Years
"Growing up in central Minnesota can be a challenge mentally. Coming from a small town, safe, quiet, no worries Not true. The shit I've seen and been through in the smallest form of 'small town living' only made me realize the vast extension of .. More >>life itself. In other words, my hometown is like 13,000 dumb fucks, and people I've known since childhood I've watched go to prison, get addicted to meth or heroin, overdose, and die from driving drunk, drugs, and even murder 13,000 fucking people and this shit happens just as much, and then the snow flies, and everyone hides inside, in front of the t.v. and ROTS.
I refuse this demise, and know many who do as well, and we set out to change...ourselves, the people around us and eventually the world. I'm the biggest dreamer I know, and I feel compelled to make them reality, yet to arrive at the pinnacle alone would be sad, therefore I dream for many."
The Old Skool Pound was formed in 1999 by Drew Ness, Ms. Lakesha, Tate Dawg, Nuke Inc. and others. Growing up on Digital Underground, George Clinton, Slick Rick and many old school underground artists, OSP emulated the light hearted fun styles while pressing serious undertones.
I've learned to be myself, true to myself. That's all anyone wants and really expects from you right away. That's as gangster as you can get. I come from the street, we all do or we wouldn't be this talented. We've slept there many times, cold, wet, hungry. Seen horror but we're still alive, and we owe it to ourselves and those incapable to utilize our talents and succeed. That's street, that's hip hop, nothing else matters, and I can go anywhere I want with this knowledge and obtain and project this respect, and all I find is love. That's what we project, cause that's what we've learned, and in the end, that's all that matters."
THE OLD SKOOL POUND
"Those are my homies, we seen everything together. None of us would be where we are now if it wasn't for everything we put in for each other. Everything happens for a reason, we just get to choose what that reason is."
After ten years and five albums, Drew left OSP to pursue a solo career. In 2010, he started work on his debut album Dream Big, Live Bigger in Minneapolis, MN. Staying true to the underground and his roots, Drew remains independent and will use OSP's record label Rootone Records to release his album.
"I left to progress, in every aspect of life. We must embrace change. Being independent and underground, you can't have expectations, only goals and aspirations. The purpose of all this is to create. So when I want to do my stuff, I need to embody the purpose and do it solo. Of course one can never truly do it alone, nor should one want to. I have tons of help. And who wants to rap in front of an Ipod I got a band that kicks ass and I've known them my whole life too, we all come from the same place, we've all left, and now we're back y'know. Everything I do must be purpose driven, even logistically."
Dream Big, Live Bigger
"Just what it says. I don't even wanna fuckin sleep, cause the dreams right in front of me are just waiting for us. Always dream, aspire, plan to be bigger than life, fact is you already are. We tend to forget how special we are, people are just as good at oppressing others as they are embracing them. That's what I'm putting in to my next couple albums, everything I've learned, loved and lost. And this shit is epic I'll be touring more, writing more, and hookin up with the most famous people I've ever known, like Ms. Lakesha, that girl owns it. You'll see, catch one of our shows, listen to our tunes, we're keepin it way real."
Bella Ruse
Bella Ruse's combination of airy folk and crunchy pop transforms rooms into secret gardens and paints pictures of invading bombardiers, salty sea love, and super glued hearts. Surrounded by a laboratory of instruments - typewriter, suitcase organ, glockenspiel, and kazoos - singer Kay Gillette's antique voice and Joseph Barker's mournful guitar twist and twirl and dip and dive and carry you deep down the rabbit-hole into their magical musical world.
They've been traveling the country for two years, opening for Sarah Mclachlan, Heart, and Hey Marseilles along the way. Their songs have been u..
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