Shawn Kent Joins Producers Corner 11/17

Born Duchant Johnson in East Orange, New Jersey, Hip Hop artist Shawn Kent always had dreams of reaching stardom and escaping a neighborhood draped in Hood Politics. From East Orange to Irvington, in search of peace of mind, growing up proved to be more than just a “coming of age”. It was a right of passage for the strongest to find ways to succeed and survive. Shawn found his salvation, at first, in basketball. Violence and crime is what surrounded Shawn Kent’s daily life of basketball and making it to the National Basketball Association, NBA. Shawn’s talent for basketball kept him from joining local neighborhood gangs. Although focused on school and sports Shawn was brutally attacked by neighborhood gang members for reasons unknown. Contemplating retaliation by joining a gang himself, a close friend convinced him of greater things in life he would accomplish and talked him out of it. While focused on the NBA, a rapper by the name of Jorge “Jorb” Baerga was establishing a name for himself on New Jersey’s rap scene. Jorb worked closely with local artists The Outsidaz who began working with soon to be Hip Hop legend Eminem. It would be chance fate with the brother of a friend that would spark his curiosity for the art of freestyling, back in 2002. It was not until 2009 that Shawn began to record on a regular basis working with local disc jockey DJ Youngface who featured Shawn on a couple mixtapes. Never losing a battle by perfecting the art of rap, Shawn traveled with friends cruising for parties to challenge any MC willing to battle rap for fun. Shawn’s style of lyricism can be attributed to the likes of Fabolous and Joe Budden whose styles consist of punchlines and witty metaphors. Shawn believes the true ability to rap relies on word play and lyrics, when words are not just words but meanings, attributing to his flawless track sheet in battling. In 2010, Shawn put out his debut mixtape The Great Depression hosted by DJ Lazy K. As much love Shawn has for music, he never saw a future in being a fulltime rapper, dipping and dabbling in music while away at Seton Hall University. After graduation Shawn found it impossible to break into the workforce even with a degree. Being strapped financially and having to move back in with his mom brought about another strategy in this survivalist’s story. It was in 2012 when events unfolded that paved way for the artist seen today. Growing up in Irvington not only disciplined Shawn in perfecting basketball and rapping but boxing as well. During his late teens Shawn won multiple amateur boxing titles. Boxing became his main focus for finances and he still managed to generate a buzz on the rap scene. Life began looking promising until a life threatening experience caused Shawn to quit music in exchange for his life. Shawn began focusing on his boxing career but was still financially unstable and living at home with his longtime girlfriend. Believing he had hit his bottom, there was nowhere else to go but up from there and in late 2012 Shawn was accepted to and began attending the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. With his girlfriend he moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After meeting some rappers in Pittsburgh, Shawn decided to start rapping again. It was there Shawn became Shawn Kent. In Jersey he was always known as Shawn on the boxing scene due to announcers mispronouncing Duchant. He added Kent for emphasis of his lyrical style much like his favorite superhero character. It is of another world compared to the rest. Much like riding a bike, rapping and school comes natural to this talented man. Meeting fellow up and coming artists around time through party hopping, he soon befriended his future business partner Zane Lebowitz. Shawn began to seriously grind on the Pittsburgh rap scene and released his mixtape Boy Meets World Vol. 1: The Great Depression in 2013. His first video “Good Lord” off their mixtape received 33,000 views on YouTube by the time producer Apollo Brown had it removed for copyright infringement. However, with the support of a global crew with a movement expanding across and throughout America, Japan, and Germany it is only a matter of time before the world knows who Shawn Kent is. “I just want to be the best, my whole life I’ve been average or overlooked. For me it’s not about money, its just about leaving my mark as an artist. 10-20 years from now I want people to still listen to my songs.” Join us Monday at 7:00pm central on www.icebreakerradio.com Follow on twitter @Icebreakerradio @DeeDot81 @SupaMario_Jcs @KnuanceWorldLLC @Kool_Nerd