Menes

"If you've heard then you know what I'm about. Check out the samples. take a journey with me through my mind's view of the times."

...

He goes by the MENES, pronounced "Meanz" "MRK82" or "82" but most hip hop heads know him as the new age emcee whose breaking ground with new Hip Hop sounds. His listeners travel with him on a journey that takes many different directions. If you're not following carefully, you'll miss his conscious messages put to creative beats and end up lost in the mind of MRK82. "I'm like an amorphoous gas that molds into many forms but maintains the basic principle of constant refinement."

The Many Forms of MRK82 -

Menes Rebazzar Kedar was born on the island of St. Thomas and raised in St. Croix where his first memory of music comes from, The Wailers. In 1989 Hurricane Hugo flooded his family's house took the back roof off and left the island ravaged. Many families were forced to move to the mainland. 82's family landed in Fayetteville, NC - it was thi smove that set 82 on his voyage into the vast and turbulent ocean of Hip Hop.

Still young and impressionable, 82 was introduced to rap after his father brought home NWA's Straight Outta Compton album. 82 remembers, "Hip Hop was my first true love." Other artists would soon influence him too - The Last Poets, Public Enemy, KRS, Wu Tang, Bone, Outkast, Ghetto Boys, PRT, Nas, Biggie, Jay, Pac, Naughty, to name a few. 82 remembers doing his first recording at age 10 with friends at northgate mall. At 14, while standing outside a radio station 82 got into an 8 man cipher with Killa Army where they'd all spit for over an hour. by 15 he was emceeing side by side with other well known emcees at local events. 82 went on to attend Hillside High School in durham, NC where he studied computer Science, Network Engineering and Graphic Arts. He continued emceeing and performing through high school, appearing in many local talent shows where he would hit the crowd with his rhymes with a tri-lingual tongue that spits in English, Spanish and Patois.

A naturally talented visual artist, 82 went on to attend North Carolina State University's College of Design. There, he was exposed to many forms of design, including drawing, painting, photography, art history, fibers, design fundamentals, exhibit design, and more. Still, 82 continued to mold himself as an emcee by connecting with like-minded artists at North Carolina Central University's radio station, WNCU 90.7FM. WNCU is known for nurturing and producing talented DJs and emcees. Through the Duel of the Iron Mics, 82 was introduced to Ninth Wonder of the Justus League, The Butta Team, as well as other producers like Zap, Nitro, and Chi. 82 recorded his first single for 9th's Dream Merchant LP entitled "Vista Mas Alta". The single inspired 82 to do his first album based on the concept.