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WILLY NORTHPOLE'S MYSPACE PAGE
OGPR is happy to annouce the recent inclusion of DTP/Def Jam artist and Phoenix native, Willy Northpole to our artist roster. Willy's debut album, Tha Connect, drops nationwide on June 2nd and his current single, Hood Dreamer, has a radio impact date of March 23rd.
Born William Adams, Willy Northpole's first obstacle was overcome on February 22, 1980, in Phoenix, Arizona the day he was born. A flood that day forced him to be born in a helicopter, which also gave him his first nickname; helicopter baby.
Music has always been a part of Willy Northpole's life. Growing up a Michael Jackson fan, he was influenced early on by rap pioneers such as Kool Moe D and Too Short. These early influences inspired Willy to develop his talents as a performer. Once his mother noticed her son's abilities as a performer, she began entering him in talent shows on Phoenix's south side.
Enter Willy's next obstacle: While he was entering talent shows, his father was on the streets; addicted to crack. During this time it was not unusual for Willy to see drug dealers in and around looking for his father. In search of a male role model, Willy began following his cousin Walter "Salt" Morison who was a known member of Broadway Gangsta's. On August 23, 1992 Willy's life was turned upside down when his role model was shot 21 times. After his cousin and role model's brutal murder, Willy's own life began to take a downward spiral when he became a member of Broadway Gangsta's himself and began selling drugs to any and everyone; with his own father as one of his top clients.
Not long after, Willy experienced his next obstacle when he was kicked out of South Mountain High School, arrested for armed robbery, and sentenced to almost 3 years in a youth detention facility/jail. From his cell, Willy would experience the highly publicized East/West Coast beef which only fueled his desire to add his substantial skills to the rap game.
Upon his release at the age of 18, Willy Northpole set out with a firm focus to make a name for himself in the rap game. Splitting his time between working and the recording studio, Willy began writing rhymes about his experiences and the world around him.
After recording what became a classic local anthem titled Garbage Disposal, Willy Northpole hooked up with a rival local emcee named Hot Rod. At the time, Hot Rod was being pursued by G-Unit and asked Willy to come along as his right hand man. Willy's talents were quickly recognized by everyone who crossed paths with him. It was about this time that Willy reconnected with his child hood friend Tiffany J.; a one time Power 92.3 on-air personality, now turned producer & artist manager under Blue Williams at Family Tree Entertainment. With such a rich history together, that began at the age of 8yrs old, it only made sense for these two to team up & hit the industry with marketing they have never seen before. Oddly enough most of this was done by tackling MySpace.
Willy has been blessed by the opportunity to record with industry heavy hitters the likes of Ez Elpee, Bangladesh, Trak Starz, Heatmakerz, Reefa, and Nitti to name a few. With his first record deal just inked with Disturbing Tha Peace / Def Jam...Willy is the only rap artist to be signed to DTP representing the West and the ONLY artist signed with major distribution out of Phoenix, Arizona that is born & raised in this city.
For Willy Northpole, obstacles are a part of life, and with this new experience he knows more are to come. But his life so far has taught him that when an obstacle is placed in his way he can rise above it like a Phoenix from the ashes. If he achieves his goal of putting Arizona on his back and on the hip hop map, Willy Northpole will surely be ..Raising Arizona...
With lofty ambitions like these and his painful past to motivate him, Willy Northpole can only be destined for success.
Here is a link to listen to Willy's contribution to DJBooth.net's new Exclusive Freestyle Series -
URL - http://www.djbooth.net/index/freestyles/review/willy-northpole-the-coldest/
"The 13th entry in our exclusive freestyle series comes to us courtesy of Willy Northpole, the Disturbing Tha Peace emcee who readers may remember from Drive By Music and B.o.B collabo Hood Dreamer, as well as his guest appearance on Luda‘s Call Up the Homies. The Phoenix native, who spits over an industry instrumental by Swizz Beatz on his previously-unreleased The Coldest freestyle, is currently busy preparing for the June 2nd release of his debut LP, Tha Connect."
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