Searching BandCamp, we came across this Portland, Oregon native known as Manny Monday. A 24-year-old revisionist who has been hiding on the Morehouse College campus in Atlanta for the past few years.
Being the product of a southern California drug-ridden neighborhood, and having grown up surrounded by poverty, gangs, and drugs, propelled him to write about his life.
As a kid, Manny was very much into art, often drawing and sketching. Music was a constant in his life, thanks to his mother’s taste in old-school Motown that often was followed by west coast gangster rap. From Marvin Gaye, BB King, Aretha Franklin, The Temptations to Tupac, & Bone Thugs N’ Harmony, the music varied, but was always blaring in the house.
By middle school, Manny had discovered his ability to rhyme. Once he was introduced to and inspired by Jay-Z’s Black Album, he began to write more consistently. Manny became known by his peers as the kid who was always in rap battles. He built up a reputation by going undefeated for an entire school year.
While in Atlanta, Manny met other young, talented artists and musicians, but with school being his main focus, he struggled to put out a full-length project. He continued to actively write and appeared on other artists’ mixtapes, some back home in Portland, and some in Atlanta. Manny also participated in talent shows, open mics, and other musical events on and around campus.
The mild-mannered MC is often asked where the name Manny Monday originated from, to that he replies, “I want to talk to the working-class people. Since I’m in the process of trying to find a job, and I’ve also worked a 9-5 before, I know how it feels to wake up that Monday morning after the short ass weekend. You just wish you could get that extra hour of sleep, but you gotta go to work and grind it out. Mondays are the hardest days to conquer, but after Monday, the rest of the week goes by smoothly. That’s just my thought process behind the name.”
Recently Manny has returned to Portland and has fully committed himself to making music, and gaining knowledge of the music business. His debut EP titled “Workaholix,” will be dropping in spring of 2014. The project will include production from Stewart Villain, B-Knock and others, as well as features from his fellow members of the SOAR LOSERS collective: Myke Bogan, Tre Redeau, and Stewart Villain.
CHECK OUT HIS NEW MIXTAPE BELOW!
