CA$INO The G

What do you get when you combine the lights, glitz and glamour of the Las Vegas strip with the hustle, determination and perseverance to get money??? The answer is simple…CASINO! Casino, born Roman Ruiz II, is the next movement to take over the streets of Los Angeles and the nation with his innovative sound that he has branded as Smooth/Hard Born and raised in the tough streets of Norwalk, CA, but having lived throughout the barrios of South Los Angeles throughout his childhood, Casino soaked up the game and hustle of the LA streets at an early age. Influenced and inspired by the immense popularity and sound of Eazy-E and N.W.A., Casino gravitated toward West Coast rap at an early age.



By the age of 12, he was freestylin’ on playgrounds and the streets and impressed the older cats that embraced him with his lyrical prowess and clever style. Throughout high school, Casino was one of two lone Mexican rapper who entered freestyle ciphers of African-American rappers, and could not only hold his own, but often destroyed his competition. In addition to his lyrical talent, Casino began to build a reputation as a street hustler. As a result, he started to work his way into various studio sessions because he had what most rappers desired. Casino continued to develop his craft as a MC. In 2001, Casino’s hustle took him to the streets of Atlanta, where the rap game in the ATL was transitioning from mere local notoriety to national prominence. Once again, Casino’s hustle landed him in the studio with rappers like the Youngbloodz, Goodie Mob, T.I., the Outlawz, and producers like Jazze Pha, Mark Twain, and Anthony Dent (one of Bad Boy’s production team the Hitmen).



Occasionally getting an opportunity to freestyle, Casino continued to impress both artists and producers with his crafty delivery and wordplay. This landed him a spot on the “Emergency Room”, a radio show on Atlanta’s 1079, where Casino was the first Mexican rapper to ever perform live on the air in Atlanta. His popularity resulted in listeners calling the station and demanding that Casino return to the station to freestyle on air. Casino’s growing reputation in the A landed him spots to open shows for Khujo of the Goodie Mob, and even record songs with the popular Atlanta rapper and perform with him as his hype man. Casino credits the A for providing him a refreshing “swagga” upon his return to the West Coast. In 2002, Casino returned to LA determined to invest his hustle money into a studio to begin recording and producing his own music. As Casino was executing the plan he had set forth, he mad a major run in with the law in 2004, which forced him to refocus and reprioritize his goals of becoming a rapper, to not let his musical talent go to waste. Fortunately, avoided jail and began to grind like never before. Since this time Casino has recorded and produced hundred of songs and has worked with many prominent West Coast producers and artists.



He has recorded songs produced by Co-T, producer of Angie Stone’s R & B smash hit “Baby”, and TRT, procuder of Xzibit and Cypress Hill. Recently, Casino can be found performing weekly with popular Pomona rapper Suga Free, and is featured on Suga Free’s latest album Smell My Finger, on the song “Maybe 4 You But Not $ Me” In addition, Casino engineered over half the album. He is also working on a joint project with the legendary Mexican rapper Frost, formerly known as Kid Frost and is featured on Long Beach rapper’s Bad Azz’s new album. In addition, Casino recently recorded “Fight Night”, a song that Golden Boy Promotions fighter and NWBO Bantamweight champion of the world, Abner Mares, enters the ring with for every fight. When asked about his musical goals, Casino states, “I hope to bridge the gap between Latino and African-American rappers. I don’t fit only into the Latin rap genre and never have.



My music will create unity between Black and Brown people in LA and beyond…Smooth/Hard!” It is clear that Casino has created quite a buzz for himself in both LA and the ATL, which his backed by his impressive resume. He is a walking classic album waiting to erupt onto the national scene. It is rare that you find a talented lyricist who also has the ability to produce and record his own tracks, and engineer his own sound. However, Casino has all these talents wrapped in one package. So when the bright lights are flashing, when the chips are stacking and the hustle is in the air…you know Casino is near!