Bona Phide

Bona Phide is a veteran in the Minneapolis hip hop scene. He spent many years as a solo act, before forming Black Belt Jonezin. BBJ was an 8-9 piece band anchored by Peter Day on drums, Mitch Quist on guitar, Dan Ristrom/ Johnny the Hat on bass, Father Time on keys, Aaron Winner on trumpet, Dj X Caliber/ Dj Green, Idara and Bona Phide on vocals. They played with a diverse mix of local and national talented artists. From Root City Band, the new Congress, to RA The rugged Man, and Slug of Atmosphere. They enjoyed a lot of local success, but were ultimately unable to translate their live success to the studio.
All that changed when Bona Phide teamed up with long time friend, and fellow bmxer EMS. They took their bmx family, and formed Slow Spokes comprised of Dj Green, Idara, EMS, Shorty Emcee, and Bona Phide. EMS, and Shorty are second to none when it comes to production, engineering, and emceeing, which allowed Slow spokes to Excel at conveying their live energy to the studio. Table Syrup studios has been an amazing place for any artist to accomplish their desired production, and is especially evident on Slow Spokes self titled debut releasing 12/10.
You may have seen him perform at clubs such as the Quest, The Fine Line Music Cafe, Triple Rock, Foundation, Daddy Rocks, the Annex, Club Tabu, Five Corners Saloon, the Cabooze, Whiskey Junction, Ogara's and many more. His deep voice stands out among MC's, and is sure to grab your attention.
Bona Phide got his first breaks competing in battles over on the East Side of St. Paul. At little bars like Schweit'z Saloon they'd rent a room, throw parties with Dj Fu Man Chu runnin the wheels and Mazta I hostin, and nice lil battle for the showcase of the night. Through those parties Bona Phide started to connect n build with producers such as Flynch n Lazerbeak. Soon he was following his true passion, which was to write n create an album. Since those days he has moved away from battling and into performing his work. You can usually catch him a couple times a month doing shows in the Twin Cities.
Bona Phide has worked n performed with many artists from all levels of talent. Legends like the Truth(made up of members of the Time, Prince, Mint Condition, and the legendary Combo. The New Congress. Leroy Smokes. Inebriation. Slug. I Self Devine. Moochy C. 2 Live Crew. The Kamillion. GOB. Musab. Unknown Prophets. Prof N Rahzwell. Outside. Grimy n Camino. Golden. SP Styles. Dapo. RDM. Tango Town Ent. DJ Green + EMS. Truth Maze. Root City Band. Capaciti. Carnage. Desdamona. Concentrate. Mo Rocco. T La Shawn. Tony Bonez n Big Wiz. Rek the Heavyweight. Set the Smith. And many many more.