Memphis Bleek's Future's Not Bleak

Memphis Bleek is the New York-based rapper affiliated with Jay-Z and the Roc-A-Fella Records label. He is considerd a long-time lieutenant with the label, with as many as four labels under his belt and one coming on the way. But Memphis Bleek hasn't always had it so easy.

He had problems, for instance, with his brother not being well when he was recording his third Memphis Bleek album, called "MADE." But he has always been able to return to the motivations that have gotten him this far. Listen to Memphis Bleek tell it, and he'll explain how he always brings himself back to his neighborhood and growing up, and the hunger that he had back then recording mix tapes with his friends and dreaming about being a big star.

It's with this motivation that Memphis Bleek has been cooking up his latest record, called "The Process." This Memphis Bleek record is due out in 2008, and with it, the rapper has declared his wish to create a "classic" hip hop record, in other words one that rap fans will point back to in 20 years and say that started it all and influenced all of us. We will have to wait and see if Memphis Bleek is able to do this or not.

A Start With Roc-A-Fella

But before we get into the future and all that could be, we do need to look at Memphis Bleek's accomplishments in the past. After all, the Memphis Bleek album "The Process" will be his fifth, which is in itself a big accomplishment for any hip hop artist to release that many records off a major label.

The first Memphis Bleek record was "The Coming of Age" from 1999. He followed that up with the 2000 Memphis Bleek record called "The Understanding." Then there was the 2003 record called "MADE." Didn't we already talk about that one?

We did. You are actually reading this article-good work. We talked about before how Memphis Bleek was a little distracted when he made "MADE" because of personal difficulties at the time, such as the poor health of his brother.

More Than Just a Number

But Memphis Bleek made it his calling to overcome this difficulties and prove he was worth his record contract with Roc-A-Fella. Then came the 2005 Memphis Bleek record called "534," which is named for the building that he grew up in during his childhood in Brooklyn. Deep, right?

Some of the most notable Memphis Bleek songs off the record include "Dear Summer," which includes lyrics from Roc-A-Fella leader and self-described God MC Jay-Z. Other songs include "Like That" and "Hater Free." These were sure to join the ranks of past Memphis Bleek hits like "Is That Your Chick?" and "Round Here."

Stay tuned to see if this next album can match the Memphis Bleek intensity and Swizz Beats of this past record.

From Memphis Bleek to Hip Hop Music