Al Gator

23 year-old Georgia native, Alden “Al Gator” Portress grew up in the streets of College Park where he started working in music production. Shortly, thereafter, Gator formed a rap group, with the hip hop artists now known as Ludacris and DTP, called “Playaz Circle”. This enabled him to sharpen his writing skills as well as his lyrical prowess. It wasn’t until the year 2002, when Al Gator discovered that he had what it took to grab a crowd’s attention through his own lyrical capabilities. In less than two years of writing and battling, Gator has received a tremendous amount of critical acclaim being compared to rap elites such as Nas and Jay-Z in their earlier years. He was also the Source Magazine’s unsigned talent to watch in 2005. Gator’s charismatic flow has gotten the attention of heavy hitting hip-hop producers such as The Alchemist, Midi Mafia, Mr. DJ from Organized Noise, Rick Rock, and Focus… formerly of Aftermath Entertainment. Aside from working with some of the best producers in the game, Gator has created a great buzz in Atlanta’s underground hip-hop scene by, of course, releasing great mixtapes. By releasing these mixtapes, various DJ’s started using his songs for their mixtapes (i.e.: DJ Folk [Grand Hustle DJ], DJ Shakim [Superfriends/ Heavy Hitters] DJ Drama [Gangsta Grillz, Aphillaites], DJ Burn 1, DJ 007, DJ Dow Jones [Cali Untouchables], DJ Smallz, DJ VLAD, DJ Sense [Aphilliates], DJ Mars [Superfriends], DJ Woogie [Shadyville], various Legion of Doom DJ’s, etc.). After receiving positive feedback from his material, Gator has been approached by A&R executives from Island / Def Jam, Star Trak Ent., So so Def Recordings, TVT Records, Blackbaby Ent. and Roc-A-Fella Records. The late Shakir “Shake” Stewart also expressed deep interest in Gator and loved the combination of his lyrical skill and Focus…’ tracks. Shake said to Gator, “You don’t sound like a southern rapper. I don’t know how you aren’t signed yet… This is crazy!” Since the passing of Shakir, Gator has kept those words in the forefront of his mind while creating his new music and making his moves toward his future career. Listening to music now and seeing it’s direction, Gator knew exactly what he had to do. Pairing back up with producer, Focus…, they formulated a sound for Gator’s movement. The team has created what they feel to be a hip-hop masterpiece entitled “Chronicles of the Underboss”. He has also signed with producer, Focus…’ company, a.Fam Ent. The stage is set! Atlanta has unmistakably made its mark in the rap game with hip-hop stars such as Outkast, Ludacris, Lil Jon and the Eastside Boys, and T.I. Now the time has come for the birth of a new hip-hop star… “Al Gator”. He is focused and extremely determined to take the rap game by storm. Gator explains that his ultimate goal is “to be mentioned as one of the top 5 Greatest MCs of all time”. For those who may have doubts, just check out the music and Al Gator is sure to turn you into a believer…