Germoney

"Whats the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning? I think thats the question you need to answer yourself when your trying to find out what you should do with your life," says Germoney, who was born and raised in the country side of Bavaria, a state in the south of Germany. "To me thats an easy question to answer: Music - Hip Hop! Thats what I think about all day, every day. When I go to bed at night, I recapture the accomplishments of the day and go through the plans and goals for the next day. When I wake up in the morning I don't stay in bed for long, the drive is just too strong. I wanna go out there and live my dream!"

And today Germoney is doing just that. "A tall, skinny white guy from Germany is not quite the typical profile for a rapper, but I have the passion and work ethic to overcome the odds and thats why I qualify anyway," Germoney laughs. His star is rising and many consider him to be the heart of the up-and-coming underground Hip Hop conglomerate Pangea Music. But to get to where he is today he had to undergo a journey that is unparalleled in the world of rappers. He went way out of his comfort zone and stuck his neck out, coming all the way to a different continent to pursue his dreams.

Born into a hippie family with a drummer dad, Germoney had been around the music scene from the beginning. Hanging out in recording studios or staying up late with mom and dad at a concert were normal parts of his life growing up. Somehow that must have shaped him early on, because he never lost his interest and connection to the world of writing, recording and performing music. When he discovered his love for Hip Hop at age 14 it didn't take long until he started writing his own lyrics. At school events he would perform songs of his favorite rappers in front of crowds of up to 400 people.

"My step dad kicked me and my younger brother out when I was 18 and had just dropped out of school, but failed to get a job. I was out on my own without a degree or a real idea of what it takes to succeed at life," Germoney reveals about his rocky start into adulthood. "I ended up getting many jobs, but never holding any of them for more than a few months at a time. I started smoking mad amounts of weed and cared only about playing basketball with my homies and blazing up." It was during that time that G$ moved to Freiburg, a bigger city with a university and he got in contact with other youngsters who also had interest in making Hip Hop music. He found his way into producing beats by looking over the shoulder of his friend MC Flare who was using Qubase and an Akai MPC 2000. "Instead of using my talent to create music I spent way too much time smoking and partying with my peeps," admits Germoney looking back. "Many nights I sat down with the intention of writing a song but felt uninspired and talked myself into smoking weed to get inspiration. But then I would get so high I couldn't even think of anything to write and just postponed it to another day!"

Eventually Germoney entered what he considers one of his most important phases in life. "As human beings we all depend on making experiences that really shape who we are, who we become," he explains. "Crisis really is nothing but opportunity and once you make that realization, hurdles just turn into stepping stones. You go through hardships and it all just ends up making you stronger and more focused." Germoney had been doing the in and out of new jobs for years now and he couldn't get his feet on the ground, so he finally took to selling huge amounts of marijuana. Eventually he got busted and convicted for selling 20 pounds of weed and thats when he had one of his luckiest moments ever. "I had spent 5 months in jail waiting for my trial, because they thought the chance of me fleeing was too big to give me a chance for bail. This was the turning point in my life, because during those 5 months I was forced to truly face myself and I realized that I was wasting my life living the way I was. I knew I had to make serious changes. I had a deep longing to live my dream and use my talents, so I decided to pursue a serious music career. I didn't wanna continue to waste my days away smoking weed and playing basketball with no goals in life." When it was time to face the judge and the jury, they apparently were able to see the change in maturity and mindset in Germoney, and, instead of following the prosecutions demand to sentence him to 3.5 years in prison and $5,000 in fines, they sentenced him to 3 years on probation.

When Germoney got out of jail he quickly formed the idea of taking a huge risk and moving to the United States to find his very own version of the American Dream. Ready to begin a new life, he got his affairs in order and finally made the leap across the Atlantic Ocean with nothing but two suitcases of clothes and only $200 in his pockets. "It was one of the most exciting moments of my life," recalls G$. "I had this feeling of life it