User:7684records/Shane Hunter

Shane Hunter is an American indie rapper and musician from Los Angeles county, California. He began MCing at an early age (6th grade) and had such an instant and strong ability that he was soon performing in front of entire schools in talent shows and rallys. His first professionally-released songs were the two tracks "Scale 69" and "{Mitre} Box Kit" from the 12" vinyl compilation Mo' Budded Phat Joints (Rotation Music, 1996). The song "Box Kit" was also featured on the Return of the Ancient One cassette compilation, also on Rotation Music, in 2000. Although the songs gained considerable attention on college radio at the time of their release, Hunter had relocated to Arizona and was completely oblivious to his having become a professional musician with the compilations' release and subsequent airplay. Several DJs, most notably DJ Spiderman from San Jose's KSJC, led fruitless attempts to find Hunter to get him to perform. Hunter returned to Los Angeles in 2001 and quite literally bumped into the songs' producer, DJ Ro, at a record store on Melrose Avenue. He informed Hunter of his appearances on the record and cassette, much to SH's astonished delight. In 2003, he began recording with producer Luke Cage in a very informal recording pattern (one song every 3-4 months or so), quietly building up material for a debut album. In 2006,Hunter submitted the new material to Rotation Music (who had by now become members of the Universal Music Group). Rotation liked what they heard, and Hunter was signed to the label in late 2006. A debut album was slated for release, entitled Conditions and Shifts. Originally, the album was to contain 10 songs, which was all the material Hunter had recorded; but Rotation Music president Allan Gomez finally insisted the record contain 12 songs. In October 2006, Hunter entered Black Diamond Studios in San Dimas, California, to record the track that would become the album's centerpiece, "Stack of Bibles". S.H. then commissioned his good friend Wann "the 6th Man" Sklobi to produce an instrumental piece that Hunter intended to use an the album's instrumental intro; the resulting track "Dust" is a mini-masterpiece in its own right. The album was released on March 13, 2007 to critical acclaim. As he was then a brand-new father, Hunter refused to tour in support of the album, but did manage a few shows in Los Angeles and Riverside, California. Also around this time, he began to gain an admittedly deserved reputation as being unreliable as far as live performances go; he accepted bookings, then no-showed for, high-profile shows by the likes of The Voodoo Glow Skulls, 2Mex and Awol One, and Suburban Noize acts the Dirtball and Big B. Already known for long stretches of time off, Hunter stayed true to form with a solid three year vacation, returning in early 2010 with brand-new, six-song E.P. Something in Los Angeles is Always Burning. This new record is being released by Hunter's own boutique indie label 7-6-8-4, which he co-founded with friend and DJ Ole' Scratch. The EP is being released worldwide thru all major digital retailers, and a limited-edition pressing of CDs is planned, for sale at live shows only. Although no official announcement has been made, SH revealed in a blog posting in february 2010 that he has formed a collaborative side-project group called Two States, along with eSolo of indie hip hop group Meanest Man Contest. He has also made it clear that he will soon begin accepting bookings for solo shows in support of the new EP, but no dates have been announced yet.