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Les Prolemz The stage name, Les Prolemz, came to me one day when I was in my apartment in Norfolk, Virginia. Prior to using the name Les Prolemz, I was Cap-Cidi (Cap- City); a name I used since the age of seven I chose to switch the name because, as a person and artist, I was maturing. I was hurting. I had lost my job, my girlfriend, dropped out of college, was arrested, and was about to lose my apartment. I was broken mentally. I prayed more every night. In time I healed and became Les Prolemz. I have always been a problem child, in a way, and my situation made me bitter but hungry for success. I became a problem to the world, and the goal is to harness those memories to create less problems in my life by doing better. I took the “b” out of problems and added a “z” at the end to force people to say it painfully. And, of course, Les is my first name. I started in the rap industry at the age of seven. My father use to help DJ with the Funk Brothers back when he was about my age. Growing up, living with my father, I listened to the best music at a young age. I didn’t realize how much that music meant to me until later, but I just had an ear for it. My dad was always blasting music throughout the house every Saturday morning when he woke up, cooking and cleaning around the house, and in the car on rides to school. I use to write raps and run to my dad to show him. Getting older going through high school and two years of college, I didn’t have the time to do all that I wanted with the music. When I came home from college I had all the time to actually record the songs that I had written. The quality was horrible, but it was mine. I had about 150 songs written. When my uncle, on my mother’s side came to visit, he saw and actually listened to all the material I had. He believed in my music just as much as I did. We came to the conclusion that the world needed to hear my story. My sound is different. My sound is a reflection of my life and feelings on a day to day basis. My gift to the world is the difference in my sound. I feel that rap, as a sound can get repetitive. A lot of artists tend to create music that sounds like the trending sound, at the time. I reach for different sounds within my voice, my instrumentals, and overall quality. How the world takes my sound will be criticized because, at times, it will be different. However, change can be genius. My sound forces listeners to feel some type of way about me and my life, as well as them and their lives. I closely relate my music to my environment, my life situations as well as the situations of others around me. I’m a product of my environment. I firmly believe in being completely honest in my songs. When I write music I’m usually in my feelings; whether it’s happy, sad, mad, lonely or loved. Therefore, when I’m writing my music, I can create a sound that sounds acceptable to the world but is truthful. The world can relate to truth. I only feel comfortable being honest. When my music relates to me and everything I know it’s at its best. If I had to define my music I would say it’s refreshing. My music is a message to the world. Music is how I actually cope with life, so it has no choice but to be filled with life. My music is creative, artistic, very technical, and well planned from the heart. Lyrically, my talents are wide-ranged. I have no one style of rapping. I can rap fast, slow, and choppy, with punchlines and realism. By this, I mean I say exactly what I want however I want to say it. A lot of artists have problems putting down their thoughts exactly how it sounds in their head and I don’t have that problem. Lyrically, I’m very precise. A line might sound as if it’s not supposed to be in a certain spot or format but it is purposely put there. I can harmonize on certain songs and my singing gets better the more I do it, which in most cases isn’t planned. It comes to me and I always run with the feeling. I’m just blessed to be talented enough to do that. With everything falling into place, my lyrical talents will stand out from others. To date, I haven’t worked with any artists that are already in the industry. I am the CEO of Close Encounters Entertainment. I have another artist by the name of Zone that I work with the best. His creativeness and lyrical format is just as good as any in the game. His music is definitely mainstream ready and at a level where I feel comfortable working with him, just as I would be with any mainstream rapper in the game right now. I collaborate with other artists that I am close with as well. I would love to work with artists that are already in the industry, and am looking forward to that day. The projects that have impacted my career the most, thus far, are “Ion Claim” and “Lets Chill”. Ion Claim is a song that goes against the grain of the music that is being played in hip hop and rap at this time. It has a current day sound with an almost futuristic concept. It’s gritty and very straight forward. The song is about how artists get on songs and claim the skies. Whether that’s cars, girls, money, being the biggest drug dealer, having the fliest clothes or being the realist person under the stars. Society has made false tales acceptable. My message in the song is that I don’t claim these material and fantasy objects but I can still make a song that the world likes. “Lets Chill”, on the other hand, is a softer song. It’s very realistic and harmonizing. It’s one of my best works after “Ion Claim”. It symbolizes a chill relationship between woman and man, in which you don’t have to be technically dating to chill, cuddle, have sex, and cook for one another and things of that nature. It’s one of my more beautiful pieces of art. My future plans are changing every day. Every day I want to do more and more in the world of music. I plan to keep growing, as an artist and as a person. I would like to release mixtapes and albums that can be counted as some of the best in the industry; not just in my city. I plan to continue to build Les Prolemz - the brand, as well as Close Encounters Entertainment - the brand. When it comes to thinking of new ways to make situations easier and more efficient I’m into trying new things. So, I plan on investing in different things. Music has been my life for a long time. I plan to let the time that I went unrecognized, musically and as an artist, be felt by the moves I make musically and as an artist in the future. I'm inspired by a lot of different people for a lot of different reasons. When it comes to rap one of my inspirations is Jay-Z. I think it’s amazing how he has been able to produce music at an extremely high level for such a long period of time. I feel as if he is recognized by the rap community for it. However, I feel that you have to consider the other artists, during his career, that were rapping from the 90s until now. You see then see that his music was some of the greatest then. With the sound and momentum change in rap, he’s not only been able to keep his sound relevant but is still true to himself. Jay-Z is a huge inspiration. Believe it or not, 50 Cent is, as well, a huge inspiration to me. I can remember when I first heard “Get Rich or Die Trying” I was amazed by his sound. He started one of the biggest movements, if not the biggest movement, of my generation. G-Unit was the new gangsters of rap and was taking over, being led by him. Over time, his music has changed tremendously. As a businessman, he is still one of the best rap has. He’s an investor and a very smart man. If at the time of me hearing his first album someone would have told me that the biggest gangster rapper in the industry at the time would turn into one of raps biggest overall entrepreneurs, I probably wouldn’t have believed it. To do what he did takes a lot of growth, and that also amazes me. As an artist I have been compared to so many people that it’s starting to get funny. I have been compared to J. Cole to Meek Mills to Drake all the way to Andre 300 and Kendrick Lamar. I don’t see me being close to any of those guys. I have tremendous respect for all of them, but I would like to think I’m the first Les Prolemz. I would, with no doubt, work with any of those guys. Musically and life wise, I come from a different place than a lot of artists I get compared to. All in all I'm just very eager to create a name for myself. My ultimate goal, in the music business, is to be in the same discussion as some of the best to ever live. I’m very competitive and still growing. Therefore, I give myself no sky; meaning the sky is not the limit for me. I have no limit. The only thing that can stop me from being the greatest me is me. My favorite quote is actually a basketball quote, but can easily be put forth in rap and just life in general. It’s usually used when a shooter isn’t making shots. My high school basketball coach, Frank Short, used it all the time. “If you’re missing, you keep shooting until you make it. Then when you make it, you shoot until you miss it.” I’m not exactly sure if he made that up (lol), or if it was said before him but it’s a deep quote. In life, things are often going to go different than what you want. It’s going to seem as if all the shots and chances you’re taking are missing, but eventually things will go right. You will make shots, and when that happens you continue until it goes the other way. It’s a good motto to live by.