Absent (11)

Absent was born a Gemini on May 26th in the land of 10,000 lakes. His love for hip hop began at an early age. By high school, he was freestyling over the instrumentals of his favorite classics. By college, he was frequenting ciphers, rocking house parties and getting his first taste of the battle scene. However, after dropping out of college his music was put on the back burner. Like most people, Absent has suffered losses and overcome many obstacles throughout his lifetime. In July of 2005 he entered a rehabilitation program for drug and alcohol abuse. Shortly after getting his first glimpse of sobriety, he made a decision to pursue his dream of being a successful hip hop artist. In the fall of 2006, Absent began work on his first project. The 8 song EP entitled “The Birth of a Legend”, quickly created a buzz throughout the Twin Cities and surrounding suburbs. Absent’s momentum barreled all the way through 2008 with the release of a mixtape entitled “Urban Adventure Vol 1″ which featured him on every song. January of 2008, Absent received an award for being the “Twin Cities Best White Rapper” at the 2nd annual TC Hip Hop Awards. By the end of the year, he had joined forces with a prominent Minnesota indie label called SP Style and continued work on his 1st full length solo album. In the Spring of 2008 Absent was a featured SP Style Spring Break artist and performed live shows in sunny Mazatlan, Mexico. May of 2009 welcomed the release of Absent’s freshman album, ”Love 2 Hate Me” which kicked off with a sold out release party at the legendary First Avenue 7th st Entry in downtown Minneapolis. The album was executive produced by DJ D.Mil and featured national recording artists Royce Da 5’9” (Shady Records), Lil Flip (Clover G Records), and the SP Style All-Stars. From June of 2010 all the way through June of 2011, Absent was featured on several regional tours with the likes of platinum selling artist Lil Flip, and independent powerhouses Stevie Stone (Strange Music), Hopsin (Ruthless Records), Skatterman (formerly of Strange Music), and more. On November 29, 2011 Absent released and showcased his 2nd full length LP entitled “Amber Alert” to a packed house at the legendary Fine Line Music Cafe in Minneapolis. This project would catapult him to the forefront of the regions hip hop scene. The album features national vocal support from Royce Da 5’9’’, Glasses Malone, Slaine, Stevie Stone, Skatterman, Phil the Agony, Mr. Gene Poole, and the Sp Style All-Stars. With production from DJ D.Mil, J.Cardim, and more. Upon its release, the “Amber Alert” album was nominated for “Album of the Year” at the MN Urban Music Awards and the lead video for the single “Money Can’t Buy Time” won the award for “TC Best Hip Hop Video”. Following the albums release, Absent toured throughout the midwest with the likes of Juvenile, Bone Thugs N Harmony, Lil Wyte and more. February of 2013 opened with another sold out release party at the legendary 1st Ave & 7th st entry in Minneapolis for the self titled offering by the SP Style producer/rapper duo DJ D.Mil N Absent aka #DNA. The album features the legendary Greg Nice, AG of D.I.T.C and Minneapolis indie phenom PROF. The project quickly gained momentum with the singles/videos for “Turn it Out” and “Hashtag Flow”. Both DJ D.MIl N Absent have been unavoidable ever since, opening concerts for several national acts in MN this year and continuing to tour regionally. In August of 2013 Absent signed to the multi-platinum, legendary Houston, TX rapper Lil Flip’s “Clover G Records” label. He is currently writing/recording for his first “Clover G” release due early 2014 and continues to work beside his SP Style All-Stars family. This fall, Absent will embark on a national tour with the likes of Lil Flip, Warren G and more. This talented, humble artist writes all of his own lyrics and is known by his peers to be an extremely driven, motivated and ambitious emcee. In just a short period of time, Absent has overcome adversity and established himself as one of the Midwest regions elite emcees. *Over the course of his ongoing career, Absent has performed live with the likes of Ice-T, Royce Da 5’9’’, Bone Thugs N Harmony, Talib Kweli, Obie Trice, D12, Too $hort, Twista, Tech N9ne, Do or Die, Yukmouth, Luniz, Chamillionaire, Joell Ortiz, Crooked I, Saigon, Lil Flip, Immortal Technique, Haystack, Stevie Stone, Skatterman, Snug Brim, Eydea and Abilities, Rehab, Lil Eazy-E, Bonecrusher, Lil Scrappy, Mims, The Game, Glasses Malone, Wu Tang Clan, Lil Wyte, Kutt Calhoun, Hopsin, Big Boi (OutKast), Redman, Pusha T, Fabolous, Machine Gun Kelly (MGK), Naughty by Nature, R.A. The Rugged Man, PotLuck and more. *Easy to find on the web: Twitter @absentraps, Facebook/absentraps, absentraps.com, spstyle.com and make sure to check out the “absentraps” channel on Youtube