Menez

MenezOne finds his lyrical origins in Los Angeles' underground hiphop scene, in the mid to late 90’s. During this time, he was a mainstay on the freestyle circuit, forging his talent in the heat of local battles. As his lyrical sensibilities developed, Menez began to focus on honing his songwriting skills. Through collaborations with his cousins Law and Cut Throat, as well as his stepbrother Rif Raf, he eventually formed the HAVENOTS crew in conjunction with Sick Man Stan, Lou Green, Sad Cat, and Mr Nobody. As he crafted his aesthetic sensibilities, MenezOne found his lyrical agenda leaning towards the political, street-wise, self aware type of music that had so inspired him in his early days, and afforded him the perspective to communicate life lessons from a ghetto perspective. After the release of the Havenots debut EP "No Attachments" in the late 90s, MenezOne began to work on his solo album "Landmarks". The first single off the album, The Prize, is a serious look at the good and evil aspects of the music business, specifically how the industry dangles the carrot of luxuriant rewards while admonishing artists to "keep it real". While developing his own works, Menez has also had guest spots on other artists' projects, most notably Quango Music Group's bitter:sweet's "The Remix Game". MenezOne continues to work closely with producer and long time collaborator Drift The Dean, of Gem Collekshuns, to release an ongoing series of singles and EPs, including Story of Great Music in 1998 and 2010's My Declaration.