User:DariusADD/sandbox

Darius James Copeland Reid (born September 8, 2003) known professionally as Tenzin is a Jamaican-Canadian, rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer and director and is the co-founder and de facto leader of Trap collective The League. Tenzin released his debut mixtape, Mandeville, in 2021, and received attention from a number of major music publications for his futuristic production. He coined the term "Progressive Trap"— a style characterized by high energy percussion, unconventional synthesizers, and heavy sub-bass in contrast to 808's.

Early life
Darius James Copeland Reid was born September 8, 2003 in Ottawa, Canada. His father Carlton Scott Reid was a manager at the local Home Depot, while his mother Debbie Anne Reid (née Burns) was a personal trainer. His paternal grandparents immigrated from Mandeville, Jamaica to Montreal in 1972. He was exceptionally close with them growing up, and was raised heavily on reggae, most notably Bob Marley. His father introduced him to gangsta rap at a very young age, while his mother would play him dancehall and R&B. The first song he ever heard was In Da Club by 50 Cent. He lived in the Ottawa suburb of Kanata with his parents and younger sister. He attended nearby All Saints High School with rappers AmirXo, Yungcudii and MYCHEEKSARERED, who he would go on to collaborate with later in his career. While living in Ottawa, he heavily sold marijuana as well as bootlegged designer clothing while attending Algonquin College for a police foundations course as well as a music related credit which he used to attend Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, his current place of residence.

2019-2020: Career Beginnings
Tenzin recorded his first song in a low-budget home studio with fellow League member and close friend, PHOENIXXX. It was a demo version of his debut single, "Bubba OG". He struggled for the better part of a year to develop his own unique sound, finding the typical Trap sound to be monotonous, mainly the lack of lyrical importance as well as the increasingly formulaic production. Tenzin was initially reluctant to use vocal effects such as auto-tune and was unconfident in the sound of his raw vocals, usually pitching them down. Due to his lack of vocal ability, Tenzin did not sing in his music until he began vocal training in early 2021.

Tenzin began developing his debut mixtape Mandeville in 2019, but was uncertain of his concept until he experienced a major manic episode in November of 2020, which resulted in an "ego death" and excessive drug use. He then vowed to dedicate his life to his music career, and began recording songs almost daily at his home studio with PHOENIXXX and fellow rapper/producers Ciarlo and RG43.

2021: Mandeville
In January 2021, Tenzin released his debut single "Bubba OG," a collaboration with PHOENIXXX. He heavily promoted the song on social media in the weeks afterward, while hinting at the release of a another track should "Bubba OG" perform well enough. After months of teasing the release of his second single, a music video for the track "Demons" was posted to Tenzin's YouTube channel at midnight on XXXXX XX, with the date "XX.XX.2021," as well as what would become the cover art for his debut project. His debut mixtape, Mandeville, was released on XXXXX XX, 2021, drawing attention to Tenzin for his very distinct style. He would go on to collaborate with RG43 on his debut album Longway, as well as with PHOENIXXX and Ciarlo on the track "Hollow Tips."

Controversy
In May 2023 following a heated exchange on Twitter, Reid brutally assaulted fellow rapper Lil Mosey at South By Southwest before The League's scheduled set. He ordered the music off and stood at the end of the stage holding Mosey's chain in the air and threw it into the crowd saying "I'm done with all this fake gangster shit." A few days after the initial incident, Mosey released a diss track aimed at Reid, with Reid delivering a response diss track within an hour. "I really don't know what this guy's after at this point, I stained him on the track and I stained him at his show." Reid was ordered to pay Mosey's label, Interscope Records, over $50,000 for the cost of the chain, which was later found to be for sale on eBay for over $400,000.

Artistry
In an interview with Complex, Tenzin stated that Working On Dying, Jaden Smith and Kanye West most influenced his production style, while $uicideBoy$, Three 6 Mafia and G Herbo influenced his rap style. In contrast to contemporary trap music, Tenzin prefers lyricism to melody in his music. “I make my beats good as fuck so that they do their job, they’re the star not me. I'm not the best rapper and that ain't no secret.” He credits Lil Uzi Vert's Eternal Atake, and Jaden Smith's Erys with forming his signature sound.

Drug use
During his teen years, Reid heavily struggled with substance abuse issues. He claimed that during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, he was not sober for more than a day at any point. He frequently used psychedelics to cope with his bipolar disorder. In a 2022 interview with Complex, he went into great detail about his addiction to vyvanse, stating “I used that shit for everything. Whether it was for school work, or if I wanted to cook up some beats or something, it didn’t matter. That shit had me fucked up. A nigga stopped eating completely, I lost over 50 pounds."

Mandeville
Mandeville is the debut mixtape by Jamaican-Canadian rapper Tenzin. It was released independently on September 8, 2021 by Tenzin's group The League under their label imprint TL Entertainment. It was executively produced by Tenzin under his production alias Columbia, with additional production from fellow League member Ciarlo.

The project was proceeded by two singles: "Bubba OG" and "Demons". The promotional track "Parasite" became the third single on the mixtape's release date, accompanied by an official song visualizer. The project features a group appearance by The League, and solo appearances by Ciarlo, PHOENIXXX, and RG43.

Tenzin penned the mixtape in the aftermath of a major psychotic breakdown he experienced in late 2020. He chose a purposefully raw vocal delivery with very few effects and more emphasis on flow and cadence rather than melody, which was in direct contrast to the popular trap sound at the time. Mandeville prominently features lyrical themes of betrayal and distrust, as well as drug use, gang activity, inner turmoil and mental illness.

Background
Tenzin originally began working on Mandeville in 2019, but trashed the entire project due to it's lack of a cohesive sound. After releasing singles periodically on SoundCloud in 2020, Tenzin made a series of cryptic Instagram posts hinting towards the release of his debut project. On XX XXXXX, the music video for the song “Demons” was posted to YouTube at midnight, with the mixtape’s release date shown at the end. Mandeville was released on 8 September along with an official visualizer for the track "Parasite."

Composition
With production inspired by Jaden Smith and Lil Uzi Vert, Tenzin refers to the style of Mandeville as "Progressive Trap." The project has been described as having an "extraterrestrial" aesthetic. It features alien-like synthesizers as well as many futuristic effects, the majority of which are sound loops from the production software GarageBand.

Critical reception
Mandeville received widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 89, based on eight reviews. It was widely praised by reviewers for Tenzin’s progressive, forward thinking production.

Commercial Performance
Mandeville debuted at number 10 on the U.S Billboard 200, selling 30,000 album-equivalent units but shot up to number 5 in its second week, eventually peaking at number 3.

The League
The League is a Canadian Trap collective from Ottawa, Ontario. Formed in late 2020, The League is a self described "Trap Band" as each producer in the group specializes in one aspect of their instrumentation. Members consist of rapper/producers Tenzin and Ciarlo, rappers PHOENIXXX, RG43 and Chopka, and producers SANE and Perk.

Founding
The League was formed in Ottawa in 2021, with Tenzin being the sole member. The League was originally a loose concept which he became determined to execute after his debut mixtape Mandeville was met with considerable success in the local Hip-Hop scene. Tenzin pitched the idea to frequent collaborators Ciarlo and PHOENIXXX and they immediately joined the project. He soon recruited his cousin Leonardo Velazquez, who chose the stage name Chopka. After the release of fellow Ottawa rapper RG43's debut album Longway, Ciarlo offered him a place in the group, which he accepted. Perk, a former high school classmate of Tenzin and Ciarlo, as well as SANE, another local producer, were soon added to the group, completing the roster.

Musical style
The League's sound and aesthetic are based heavily in "Progressive Trap," a term coined by leader and primary creative director Tenzin, a style which he debuted on his mixtape Mandeville. Progressive Trap has a singular sonic signature, with a preference towards minor keys and high tempos. With an easily identifiable sound, the subgenre is characterized by the use of a custom drum kit, designed by Tenzin himself, as well as droning sub-bass or sliding 808's, which are meant to mimic the bass grooves utilized in rock music. It features psychedelic and suspenseful synthesizers with a futuristic tinge, as well as the frequent use of alien-like sound effects, creating seamless transitions between songs. The group is unique in that each member of the production crew specializes in one or two aspects of instrumentation, which led The League to dub themselves "The First Trap Band."

Current members

 * Tenzin – vocals, synthesizers, guitar, creative direction (2021-Present)
 * Ciarlo – vocals, sub-bass, 808's, mixing, mastering (2021-Present)
 * PHOENIXXX – vocals (2021-Present)
 * RG43 – vocals (2021-Present)
 * Chopka - vocals (2021-Present)
 * SANE – drums, 808's, mixing (2021-Present)
 * Perk – drums, piano, mixing (2021-Present)