The Midwest Sound From the Mitten

18 MP3 Songs
HIP HOP/RAP: Rap, URBAN/R&B: R&B Rap mix



Details:
Footy G, hails from the prominent city of Chicago, Illinois. Like the Sears Tower, Footy was blessed with just as much strength and grace. He would need a fair amount of both to get through what lay ahead. He would always be partnered with music and the tenacity of the mean streets of inner-city life.

Coming from a musical family, it was only a matter of time that Footy would follow in the footsteps of his talented relatives. At the age of fifteen, he moved to Saginaw, Michigan where new surroundings and opportunities would mark the beginning of his grind to succeed in the music industry. Music became the hunger that would persist like a "rebel without a cause" in the pit of Footy's stomach. Slowly but surely, he began to eliminate the negativity in his life that brought about trouble and discouragement. He discovered ways to learn and excel while persistently pursuing his dreams.

At the age of nineteen, as a part of the rap-quartet N.O.T.P., he was signed to his first major record deal with Waldoxy/Malaco records in 1994. Although not typically a label known for rappers on it's roster, Waldoxy/Malaco was a springboard for exposure to the business but was a marriage doomed to fail. Soon after that he joined the group ILLSTREET, formed by two of his cousins from Chicago. As a member of ILLSTREET, Footy received one of the biggest breaks of his young career when world renowned video jockey Fab Five Freddy and his partner Roy Cormier, responsible for signing such artist as Chicago natives Crucial Conflict, took notice to the group. Due to industry politics, this too turned out to be a disappointment. With a chip on their shoulders and something to prove, ILLSTREET independently released the CD "Coming Thru" in 1999. The street credibility of "Coming Thru" earned them the 96th spot on Billboard's Top 100 in November 1999.

Footy became confident that he could take the industry by storm as a solo artist. He was due to release his solo debut in 2001 but due to the rigors of a tough and ever changing industry, the project was pushed back indefinitely. Footy still knew his time would come. One thing he could not have known was that he was about to be tested at the highest magnitude. When his brother, James Cecil Pearson (Peanut), was violently murdered in 2004, Footy decided that family was number one and put his dream on the back-burner to be the man that life had demanded. Although the sudden loss of his brother slowed his progress, it did not deter him from his goal of releasing a solo project.

Relying on his hard earned knowledge gained from prior mistakes and years of experience, he's back with a new sound and attitude. His dominating hooks have earned him the name "Hook Master", while he deceptively retains your attention with his entrancing laid back delivery. No matter the song, you will find yourself bobbing your head and rhythmically tapping your feet to greatness.