SYNOPSIS: Caliph-NOW hails from southern New Jersey, just outside of Philadelphia. He has been a DJ for 12 years, and a producer for 8 years. Caliph owns and operates a small music studio called the One-Eye Socket, and an independent label called One i Di.Vision. Currently there are 4 artists involved with One i Di.Vision; Caliph-Now, Viro the Virus, Slim DSM, and Decypher. After developing his skill on the turntables, Caliph began producing his own music. In 1999, using a Roland 303 and a guitar (played by Josh Collins), Caliph and Josh produced a 6 song instrumental demo simply titled Demo II. This demo attracted an MC named Riddles and another producer named Mike Wilkenson. Wilkenson added an MPC 2000XL and Riddles added rhymes. In 2001, Caliph, Wilkenson, Collins, and Riddles produced a 9 song EP titled "Hobyahs." Although Hobyahs never really broke up, Caliph began making his own beats on an MPC XL, and the other members went their seperate ways. Riddles is currently a trained fighter, winning several competitions. Wilkenson still produces music. Josh Collins is involvoed in several band projects. The "Hobyahs" EP had local success and introduced Caliph to other artists from the Jersey/Philadelphia area. Eventually, Caliph crossed paths with two MC's, Viro the Virus and Slim DSM, in a local Jersey studio operated by the production duo EDK. Viro and Slim had already strongly developed names for themselves within the Tri-State area. Viro had released the album "Future Trama," and Slim DSM had recently released "Stereo Type." Caliph-Now and Viro the Virus started working together in 2002. There was instant artistic chemistry between Caliph and Viro. Within a few months, the duo created 15 songs. In 2003, Caliph and Viro released the 15 song album titled "The Longest EP Ever" under the name ARZ NOVA. The album was only supposed to be a 5 or 6 song EP experiment, which turned into 15 songs, hence the title. The Arz Nova album had incredible success. This album independently sold 1,000 copies, within the city of Philadelphia alone, and created a local buzz attracting a farely large fan base. In 2004, Caliph and Viro teamed up with Slim DSM and another producer named Decypher. The four members released a 20 song album titled "420." On the "420" project, Caliph produced 13 songs, Decypher produced 5, and Off Topic (mastered Arz Nova and 420) produced 1 instrumental. Viro and Slim equally shared the writing and MC duties. The album was a huge success. Within this short period of time Caliph, Viro, and Slim performed at several venues in the Tri-State area with several artists; including, Adam 12, Reef the Lost Cauze, Digs Darklighter, Side Effect, Stress, The Last Emperor, Guru, Scratch (Roots crew), Malik B, Killah Priest, Wize Intelligent (Poor Righteous Teachers), Copywrite, Snowgoons(Germany), Offwyte, Marq Spekt (Broady Champs), P.O.G., Tarp, DJ Cru Cut, DJ Panek, Adlib, Poynt Blanc, IllLit, Phat Nice, Carl Kavorkian, Pumkinhead, EDK, and several others. Along with playing many shows, Caliph, Viro, and Slim have been featured on several local mixtapes and college/pirate radio stations, and on the DVD titled "Unsigned Street Heat Vol. 1." Caliph-Now has also produced songs for Adam 12 (Skeletons), Digs Darklighter (BoomBox Cutter), and Tarp (Tidal Wave). Caliph and Viro released "Viro the Virus presents OutBreak" in 2005. This is a 16 track album written by Viro. Caliph produced 15 songs using an MPC 2000XL, ASR 10, 2 techs, and a Korg Syth. Decypher produced 1 track. The single for 'OutBreak' "Top Dog" has a video and dvd which is available on youtube.com. Viro & Caliph released the album "JERSEY's FINEST" in 2007 The album features production by Caliph-NOW, STRESS, Eyego/Direct, and Decypheralso features Reef the Lost Cauze, Side Effect, Adam 12, and Slim DSM. The highly anticipated new album "The Sharpest Blade" by Viro the Virus has just been released. The record features production by Caliph-NOW, Happ G, STRESS, Eyego/Direct, slim DSM, & Decypher. The album has been referred to as "Jersey's Finest on Steriods." Most definately the best work to date. Look out for performances by Viro & Caliph throughout 2008 and beyondplus later releases from One i Di.Vision. Coming soon. The 420 Mixtape & Caliph-NOW's solo production albumPeace Peace. May the Day Break.
