Who am I? I am Mista Ecks, an upstart producer but most importantly a supporter of Detroit hip hop, and have been since 1989. Just like any other hip hop head born in the 70s, I grew up on the Rakims, the LL Cool J’s, the Dr. Dre’s, etc. but it was artists like Detroit’s Most Wanted, Esham, Kaos and Mystro, AWOL, Doc Chill, B Def and Smiley that made an impact on me, musically speaking. In the 90's I watched cats like Slum Village, Eminem and the late Proof make a name for themselves and become icons at the hip hop shop before the record deals, movies and car commercials and was a fan of the late J Dilla way before it was cool to be AFTER he died. I copped every DJ Assault, Drunken Master and DJ Butter mixtape waayyyy before mixtapes were the “in” thing. I faithfully listened to Billy T and B Love on WGPR and the late Phil Blak on WHPR spin the latest Detroit hip hop joints that other stations in Detroit wouldn’t touch. I still peruse the internet to find the latest joints from up and coming Detroit artists such as Bareda, One Be Lo. I’ve even had the honor to meet artists like P Gruv (from Da Inna C), and Miz Korona...the latter I’ve had the pleasure of working with on 2 different occasions. You may ask why? Well...first of all there’s the obvious: they piss out more talent than some of these mainstream cats will ever dream of having. But they also come off as down to earth instead of the unwarranted arrogance and braggadocio and as a consumer that means a lot. So for all of you Detroit hip hop fans, artists and supporters, this is for you.
