Konsept The Genius

Konsept The Genius, a Guyanese-American underground rapper, was born July 21st, 1989 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Early Life Konsept The Genius lived in Cincinnati until he was 9 years of age. It was at that time that Konsept and his mother decided to move to Maryland due to his parents' divorce. Konsept first lived in Langley Park, Maryland for his elementary and part of his middle school life. During the second part of his time in middle school, Konsept's mother remarried and they moved from Langley Park to Hanover, a city just outside of Baltimore. Konsept lived in Hanover for a majority of his life. Early Career Konsept first started rapping back in 2005 under the name Terror. He was still in high school at this time. Using the name Terror, he released several mixtapes: "T'z Mixtape Vol. 1"-released 2005 "T'z Mixtape Vol. 2"-released 2006 "Terror's S.P.I.T."-released 2007 The Birth of Konsept The emergence of Konsept was officially marked by the release of his 2009 mixtape "Way Too Outlandish." This mixtape contained songs by Terror as well as Konsept, to show the transition he went through in his life and in his music those past few years. Straight Up Tribal During his time as Terror, Konsept did several collaborations with the drum circle group Straight Up Tribal. The two crossed paths on the college campus of the University of Maryland Baltimore County. The group usually played outside every Friday at 12:00 noon. Konsept was walking by one day when he heard the drum circle playing music and decided to join in. Both sounds meshed perfectly. From that point on Konsept would be with them every Friday playing music. Eventually Straight Up Tribal became more than just a local campus group. They have since expanded to larger venues around the Baltimore area. Konsept still collaborates with Straight Up Tribal from time to time, but they both are so busy making music and doing shows. The influence they had on one another can be heard in their music today. VC7 Konsept was also part of the funk rock reggae band Vending C7, or VC7 for short. The band had been playing together for years already and were searching for a new sound to add to the mix. A mutual friend of Konsept's and VC7's brought Konsept to one of VC7's practices to listen to them play. The friend mentioned to the band that Konsept was a rapper, and the band was curious. Konsept jammed with VC7 that night for fun. After a few more jam sessions and a show at Ram's Head Live in Baltimore, Konsept was asked to become a permanent member of the band. While Konsept was part of VC7, they had several shows, including a show where they opened up for Slick Rick. The infusion of hip hop into the already "funkifried" sound of the band was truly poetry. After a year and a half of playing together, VC7 decided to call it quits due to creative differences and personal issues. The members of VC7 are still friends with Konsept. No plans have been made to reunite the band. Things Never Said In September of 2013, Konsept contributed music to the motion picture “Things Never Said,” written and directed by Charles Murray (Luke Cage, Roots the Miniseries). The film stars Shanola Hampton (Shameless, You Again), Omari Hardwick (Power, Kick-Ass, The A-Team), and Elimu Nelson (Ex-Best, Gates of Darkness) and was produced by Brian “Skinny B” Lewis (Gang of Roses, They Are Coming: The Prologue). At the 2013 American Black Film Festival, “Things Never Said” took home two awards: one for Best Actor, Shanola Hampton, and another for Best Screenplay. Nerdikon On April 21st 2017, Konsept released his mixtape project “Nerdikon” with the help of a management company called Wealth Nation Entertainment. His project was widely recognized as “a breath of fresh air” by many DJs, producers, and other artists. After this mixtape and a brief tour, Konsept decided to part ways with Wealth Nation. Upcoming Projects Konsept has released 3 singles this year: “Steal Your Soul,” "Gawd," and "The Search," which are available on all major streaming services including Spotify, TIDAL, and Apple Music. He plans on releasing a new single called "It's Alright" at the beginning of the year. You can pre-save "It's Alright" on Spotify and Apple Music.