Chad Mohammed known as Kaleber, is the last of the golden era emcee's. Raised in Wyandanch Long Island New York , he represents a lost tradition of lyricism that has been discontinued by artistic corporate compromise aka ‘dumbn’d down’ lyrics. Kaleber's provocative rhymes which he delivers with an effortless, versatile, conversational flow along with a humorous sarcastic perpective, is what makes him reminiscent of the golden era when expression of what inspires an emcee's wordplay was more important then the superficial over exaggerated life of crime raps, that saturate the airwaves today.
Growing up in the 80's as the youngest of four siblings and the youngest on his block, Kaleber grew up around a multitude of personalities. First there were his parents, his father a jazz organist who never broke into the business was a hard working man, his mother a retired history teacher who was recruited for some skits on Kaleber’s up incoming album and his grandmother a retired nurse who passed away in 2001, laid moral, work ethic and spiritual foundation which gave Kaleber stability as a kid. But far from a church boy, Kaleber's childhood friends were Notorious neighborhood drug dealers who were anywhere from 5 to 12 years older then him. But because of Kaleber's age, ironically, they acted as guardians and never involved him in their activities.
His older brothers were rappers with a bit of local fame rapping alongside neighborhood friends including who many consider the greatest emcee of all times Rakim, rapper/actor Darryl "chilli" Mitchell of 80's rap group Groove B Chill, and Poetic of the Wu-Tang’s subgroup The Gravediggers. It was that exposure to rap music that overpowered any negative influences that the hood is known for having on impressionable young black males. At age 12, KALEBER cut his first demo and at age 17 he was running with Flava Unit. There, he was managed by Aaron Seawood who was Shakeim Compare's assistant at the time and recorded songs with Funk Master flex, Jack Knight, Onyx, producers K-def and DJ Mark Ronson. Kaleber landed a feature in the 1999 Source Magazine's "Unsigned Hype" column to rave reviews, but with record labels wanting more simpler rhyme styles and less lyrical prowess, Kaleber went independent with his then partner/producer Den-One and release his first indie LP "Redemption".
Finally gaining momentum and a broader awareness for his music, Kaleber created a recording studio with Den-One. But Kaleber's excitement would be short lived. In the middle of working on what was suppose to be a follow up to "Redemption", Kaleber drives to his partner's house only to find it vacant. With the disappearance of his partner and record labels still wanting malnourished subject matter, Kaleber called it quits. “I was devastated fam”, say's Kaleber. “That s--- Hurt, I didn't know what to do after that, but the love that I got from followers of my early projects wouldn’t let me quit”.
With a new energy and his swagger intact to go along with new producers like Nicolay of Little Brother and The Foreign Exchange fame and Yumika 'P.Riot' Parsley just to name a few, Kaleber is looking to take back what he lost and rebuild what he's gained with his instant classic up incoming LP “The Anomaly” due out this November 5th and with a cry throughout the land for a return of real hip hop , Kaleber will be first in line to collect his respect that is long overdue.
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