User:Vicgold5150/sandbox

Brainwash was born Kevin Hansford in Virginia in 1977, eventually settling in Stockton, California in 1988, then known as "Kevin The Kid", then later "Da Kid". A year later he would form the rap group Stockton 187 with some friends from school and together they recorded their debut underground tape, "Stockton's Most Wanted" - dubbing copies of it for friends and passing them out all over town. In 1990, he went solo and recorded/released his debut solo underground tape, "Welcome 2 Stockton" and formed his X-A-Q Shunn Muzick record label. In 1992, his 2nd solo tape was released, "Poltergeist", followed by a release by his group, SMC (which consisted mostly of former Stockton 187 members and a few others), called "Stockton Mafia Click" in 1993 and then his final solo underground tape, "Death Around the Corner" in 1994 - under his new nickname, Brainwash. This was the first time he had worked with well known Bay Area producer/rapper Crazy-8/8-Ball aka The Black Rhino. The following year, Brainwash began recording his debut studio album - the groundbreaking hip hop classic, "Skitsofrenic" - which he released in 1996. Following that albums huge success, Brainwash was contacted by a former writer for SNL & Conan O'Brien, Ronny Wyatt, about using his music in their independent film, "Lost", which would begin filming soon in 1997. Brainwash agreed and showed up to the set to read for a small part before WOWing the filmmakers and crew with his natural acting ability and was cast as the film's lead, a wannabe gangster named Quasi. Also that year, Brainwash released a collection of previously unreleased underground songs from his studio vaults, recorded over the past few years, titled "Razor Blades & Bloody Bathwater". In 1998, still bit by the movie bug, Brainwash wrote/directed/produced an indy film of his own, titled "Smoked Out", which he released on VHS from his newly formed Sykadelik Films label. Also this year, Brainwash would release another collection of previously unreleased underground songs recorded over the prior few years, "Politics" as well as a collection of previously unreleased tracks by his long time friend, collaborator and artist on his label, Koid, on the CD "Left 4 Dead" (Da Undaground Shit). In 1999, Brainwash changed the name of his record company to Sykadelik Muzick and formed the Sykadelik Entertainment label as the umbrella company for his various subsidiary labels. Also that year, Brainwash went on tour with Stockton singer/rapper Mad-Cel - on a series of shows called the "Brain-Cel tour". He also released his 2nd official studio album, "Posthumous" that year as well. Unfortunately, this was the year where Brainwash's drug & alcohol problems began to cause problems in his life - resulting in him getting involved in some criminal activity that would eventually get him arrested and charged with several felonies. While out on bail fighting his case, he continued to spiral out of control and during this time, he recorded a collection of spoken word poetry that he'd release in 2000 called "Cocktail Napkin Poetry", as well as a compilation called "Eclectic Fusion" that year too. In addition, he had another compilation all set-up and ready to go - the shelved "Stockton City Limits" compilation, which didn't get released before Brainwash had to turn himself in to begin serving his sentence after taking a plea bargain deal. While incarcerated, he left his long-time music manager Vic "The Jew" Goldstein in charge of the label and this resulted in the 2001 releases of "Reanimated" (which was a collection of previously unreleased underground songs from the studio vaults that Brainwash absolutely hated) as well as a greatest hits collection called "Hits & Contracts". Brainwash was very unhappy with these projects and has since discontinued sales of them. While incarcerated, Brainwash was unable to write lyrics - his inspiration gone, but he did begin writing a book, which after his release, he would put out on his newly formed Sykadelik Scriptures book publishing company, a fictional novel titled "This Thing of Ours" (very loosely based on some real life characters he had associated with), in 2002. That year, Brainwash's demons also came back to get him again as he fell deep into a meth amphetamine addiction that wound up taking away everything else he hadn't already lost when he went to jail. Brainwash decided to focus on re-editing "Smoked Out" and put it out on DVD as "The Director's Cut" in 2003. The next year, in an attempt to help save him, Koid talked Brainwash into getting back into the studio and in 2004, he recorded/released 3 underground CDs - "Sympathy for the Damned", "Euthanasia" and "Rebel Without a Cause". When 8-Ball got a hold of one of the CDs, he reached out to Brainwash and after finding out how bad he was doing, he convinced Brainwash to relocate to Las Vegas with him to help him get clean and back on his feet. In 2005, Brainwash recorded and released a slew of underground CD's - "Lyrically Speaking", "Leftovers V1", "Quatrains" and "Entropy", as well as his 3rd studio album - "Current Events" (which had moderate success and let people know he was back). In 2006, Brainwash released his 4th studio album and personal favorite, "Amnesia", which really blew up and got Brainwash back on top again. He also put out a few more underground CDs that year too - "Sleeping thru the Mourning" and the debut from his group, Social Insecurity, called "Mood Swings". In 2007, he put out a bunch more underground CD releases - "Birth Control" (Leftovers v2), "Multitrack Minded", an all-instrumental released called "Face the Music" and a 2nd volume of greatest hits called "The Anarchist Cookbook" - before deciding to cash-out while his stock was hot and retire from music. He moved to Arizona, got married and began new adventures out of the entertainment field, opening restaurants and retail stores. In 2011, he released a limited press of "Skitsofrenic" (15 Year Anniversary Edition) CDs - which quickly sold-out - featuring the same tracks, just with slightly modified artwork. After 8-Ball passed away in 2012, Brainwash did record an RIP tribute track with N-Sane of Mental Illness and Big Juice, called "Rest In Paradise" (RIP Rhino) but it was not released. In 2015, he compiled his first 3 solo underground tapes all on 1 CD and pressed up a limited edition quantity of "The Washgate Tapes" - which quickly sold out and became a major collector's item among his fans across the globe. At one point, they were going for $99 each on eBay. In 2016, he released the "Skitsofrenic" (20 Year Anniversary Collector's Edition) which featured the same music as the original + the unreleased "Rest In Paradise" (RIP Rhino) tribute track and new artwork - and the fan response for this release was crazy. It was then that Brainwash decided he needed to return to the music and in 2017, he set-out to begin recording his 5th studio album and 40th overall release, "Amygdala", which is slated for release on April Fools Day, 2018, and features appearances by The Black Rhino, Prodeje of South Central Cartel, Nutt-So of The Outlawz, The Narrator RBX, MC Eiht and Domino, among others. Brainwash has also announced plans to release several more underground CDs soon afterwards.