AJAX & The Midwest Connoisseurs

GOBand: AJAX
Date:
June-2006
Source: http://bands.GOandDOmichigan.com/band.asp?ID=164

The members: Aaron Joseph Carr, otherwise known as AJAX, has been a Michigan native for all of his 20-year life. The artist was originally from Northville, but is now a Livonia resident.

The history: Creating music since the tender age of 13, AJAX released his first EP Enemy of Society in 2001. This led to formation of the Purple Hash Productions crew, which helped launch the debut Mainstream Pollution in July 2005. Now ready to take his craft to a new level, AJAX and Co. are preparing for the drop of his mix tape Strictly for the Underground, set for a June 27 release.

What's up with the name: AJAX quickly corrects anyone who thinks he took his moniker from the cleaning product, instead saying that Ajax was a great warrior in Greek mythology that fought hard and built a legacy at being the best at what he did.

According to Carr, AJAX the artist and Ajax the warrior share that common thread — the strength and dedication to become the best they can be.

The style: While AJAX is certainly a hip-hop artist, he claims to have a style unique to anyone else’s. With an open musical mind, he loves pushing boundaries to create a sound that’s as real as possible, utilizing anything from a rock beat to a jazz beat. This, combined with an aggressive lyrical tone, helps AJAX achieve his goal of no limitations.

Artistically, his inspirations include Bizzy Bone, Tach N9ne, Kottonmouth Kings, Insane Clown Posse and AC/DC.

Got anything recorded? AJAX debut album Mainstream Pollution is available at many record stores throughout metro Detroit, and also at the Purple Hash official Web site found at www.purplehash.com. His newest work, Strictly for the Underground, will be available this week, and song clips can be heard at www.myspace.com/Ajax.

Tell us your future? According to AJAX, big things are coming, and himself and Purple Hash Productions are going to keep promoting, throwing shows and stay focused on making the best music they possibly can.

Website: www.myspace.com/Ajax or www.purplehash.com
- Go & Do Michigan

dope
by Tom Matich
Date: June 13, 2007
Source: http://www.realdetroitweekly.com/article_2810.shtml

When I saw AJAX perform at the Bull Frog recently, his show left a lasting impression on me.

One reason being, the man drinks a lot of water on stage. When you bring the type of unchained emotion and energy this guy does, it’s easy to get dehydrated. Also, sometime around the half way point of his set, some dude in his Purple Hash Productions clique got on stage and started smoking from a hookah and offering the crowd to take hits. With many of his lyrics about the ganja and his album artwork for his E.P. Out of Body/Out Of Mind looking like an ad from High Times Magazine, the bong makes sense.

“First off, I smoke many different types of weed,” AJAX says. “Like I state in my song ‘Puff Puff Pass,’ ‘Always keep a couple different strains in the stash.’ But as far as methods of smoking go, I smoke joints, blunts, dry pipes, water bongs, bubblers, vaporizers. But I rip bongs and bubblers mostly and smoke blunts.”

More info: myspace.com/ajax. | RDW - Real Detroit Weekly

Spitting since age 14, he goes by Ajax
By Pete Zeigler
Date: April- 2007
Source: http://funcoast.com/results/12670

Michigan rapper Ajax

Most 20-year-olds can't say they've dedicated the last seven years to the pursuit of their art -- or any pursuit, for that matter.

Michigan rapper Ajax can say it.

On April 20, he'll be at The Underground in Sandusky to show off the product of his labor.

Since first learning to "spit" at age 14, Ajax has dedicated himself to learning both the artistic and business sides of the hip hop world and appears ready to take the next step up in popularity and success.

He comes out of the greater Detroit area -- a hotbed of music in general and hip hop in particular. But he is quick to note that he's not a product of the Detroit scene in the usual sense.

"I grew up in the suburbs, and I'm different from the 'scene,'" he said.

He says the sheer volume of emcees in Detroit led him to try to find his own sound so that he would stand out. His unique sound and rhyme style, building off varied influences such as Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Insane Clown Posse and Eminem, helped him to build a fan base in Michigan and beyond.

Ajax tries to avoid many of the clichés sometimes found in hip hop music.

"I represent free thinking," he said.

He does not portray a character in his lyrics, preferring to draw from him own experience.

He's has been very busy adding to those experiences. In addition to a series of shows throughout Michigan -- including a number in support of Afroman -- he has been
finishing up work on a new EP, "Out of Body/Out of Mind," which will be released in June.

In the works is a summer tour of the Midwest and East Coast, including stops in Columbus, New York, and Allentown (where he shares the bill with EgoTrip: The White Rapper Show contestant G-Child).

Like many successful hip hop artists, Ajax takes pride in learning the business side of the industry.

"Great music means nothing if you can't promote it right," he said.

Ajax has used the Internet, including his label's Web site
(www.purplehash.com) and his myspace page (myspace.com/ajax) to build a fan base.

He looks forward to the upcoming show in Sandusky.

"I've heard it's a great venue, and I'm excited to play there and build up my fan base outside of Michigan," he said.

As for what to expect from an Ajax show, he says, "I'm high energy, I have fun. I'm a one-man show, and I leave nothing in the tank." - Funcoast- Sandusky, Ohio

Title: Caught Up In The D
Segment: Best of the Rest
Issue: Volume 14. NO 4.
Written by: David Friedman
Page: 23

AJAX has released his "Out of Body/Out of Mind" EP, featuring recent tour mate ABK on the song "By Any Means." The album, out on Purple Hash Productions, has production by Fritz The Cat and is the fourth release by AJAX, who grew up outside of Northville, Mich. AJAX recently was featured on ABK's Tour of Life and has recorded songs with both ABK and Strict outside of his new EP. To keep up with AJAX visit www.PurpleHash.com or www.myspace.com/ajax.

- Murder Dog Magazine

Buddha Bands: AJAX, Phunk Junkeez, Kottonmouth Kings, and the guy from Motley Crue.
By: Mary Ought Six
Issue: February 2008
Page: 28
Source: http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a246/php420/ajax_hightimes07.jpg

When music and marijuana are mentioned as one, my chin starts its heavily herb-inspired bob thinking of trippy jam sessions by the Grateful Dead or the deep funky reggae tunes of Bob Marley-or any of the musical Marley family, for that matter.

But there is another kind of "kind" band that thrives in our times: the type that devotes itself so wholly to Mary Jane, without whose sweet influence and inspiration there would be no band at all.

One such marijuana maestro, AJAX- named for the Greek warrior, not the cleaning product- broadcasts his devotion first thing, the cover shot showcasing big, trim green buds as this backdrop for the aptly chosen title "Out of Body/Out of Mind" (Purple Hash Productions). Don't expect mellowed-out tunes, though. AJAX is high energy, a fast-rapping emcee from Michigan with a fun, local feel. Psst: There's a bonus track.
- High Times Magazine

The Zone
by Origix
November 19, 2008

Ajax, a Purple Hash Productions artist, has been building a fan base far beyond Detroit’s underground. From Albuquerque to Connecticut, he's been touring and gaining the respect of fans across the USA. “If I had to label my style, it would be alternative hip-hop. I make real music about my lifestyle, the lifestyles around me and my ideas about life,” Ajax explains. Ajax stays on the road and in the studio promoting the message of freedom and unity by way of his positive rhyme scheme.

At 22-years-old (recording since age 14), Ajax has gained a lot of experience and wisdom. “I feel like I improve greatly on every album, skill-wise," says the rapper, "and [I improve] all the little things that are going to make me as great as I can be.”

Ajax is shooting for a summer release date for his new album, Mainstream Pollution-Chapter 2. Until then, don’t miss his live show where he and the Purple Hash Crew smoke hookahs and throw out free rolling papers! Visit purplehash.com and myspace.com/ajax. | RDW

The Zone Radio with Origix & DC airs Saturdays 8 p.m.-12 a.m. on 89.3 fm; streaming live on whfr.fm. Visit myspace.com/thezoneradio & 2Raw4fm.com for more info. - Real Detroit Weekly