Suga City

The Present:

Wednesday, September 9, 2009: Based in Dallas for the past two years, Arkansas Bo, one half of the Suga City duo, came home from a long and tiring day. After numerous phone calls and a few interviews throughout town, Bo could chalk this day up as another fruitless attempt at locking down a job. On this particular day, the frustration was compounded by the eviction notice on his door. Now, not only did Bo find himself out of work, he also found himself in a desperate search for a place to rest his head that night.

Just over 300 miles north of Dallas, in the small city of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, Goines, the other half of Suga City, had just clocked in for his shift at the local Super Wal-Mart. Goines is sweating in the summertime humidity, gathering the scattered shopping carts throughout the parking lot.

Right now, the Suga City show that brought a packed house to one of Little Rock’s most popular clubs is a distant memory. The front page article proclaiming Suga City as one of Arkansas’ top talents in the state’s most widely distributed newspaper is filed in the memory banks somewhere behind Goines need to pay this months rent and Bo’s need to find a place to live. This is the life. Not too much bottle poppin and Crystale…oops we mean Ace of Spades…sippin over here.

In the midst of recording their debut project, “The Best…Right Now”, Suga City finds themselves in a race against real life problems trying to force the duo into early retirement. With two daughters to look after, Bo has responsibilities that rap is currently not taking care of. Goines doesn’t have any kids, but he does have 10 years invested in this career and a fulltime job that limits his ability to hit the studio or the road for shows. Nevertheless, the duo is focused on finishing their album and getting it out to the masses. Suga City’s goal is not a simple one. According to Goines, Suga City is “here to revolutionize the whole game.”

The Past:

Originally from the small Arkansas town of Stuttgart, A.R.K.A.N.S.A.S (A Real Kool Ass Nigga Scratchin’ And Survivin’) Bo was attracted by the street life and started bangin’ at age 14. Bo was always creative and had a penchant for drawing and rapping. When he turned 24 and had his first child, he started taking rap more serious. Asked what influences his music, Bo responds, “I just talk about hard times…Stuttgart is prejudiced as a mutha fucka…that’s what influenced my music…the condition that black folks go through….I don’t want to glorify no street shit cuz I’m a daddy…I don’t want have to pop a nigga for comin at me cuz I'm glorifyin bangin and he wanna try and test me…”

Goines is originally from Los Angeles, CA. After his mother suffered from a stroke when he was 10, Goines and the family made the move to Pine Bluff. Dealing another blow to the family, Goines’ father left soon after the move. Always the quiet and reflective one, Goines stuck to himself throughout his younger years. At age 17, after seeing two MCs battle at school, Goines thought it was something he could do and began going home writing rhymes. Soon after, rap became a way for Goines to vent the frustrations he was living through. “Once you get to know me you will learn that I can tell you more in a song than in a conversation…in a song you can just pinpoint what I’m feeling or saying…”

After going through different periods of time as solo artists and working within different groups, Bo and Goines finally connected. Feeling they were the two nicest MCs in the small but growing Arkansas Hip Hop scene, the two decided to link up.

The Future:

Hand selected by Conduit Entertainment’s President and Co-Founder, Chane Morrow, Suga City quickly impressed the label’s CEO Brian Rikuda (winner of BET’s Ultimate Hustler). They earned a spot on the labels highly anticipated compilation album, Big Bizness Vol. 1, which featured Juvenile, Bun B, Devin the Dude, David Banner, Bonecrusher, and Rockwilder’s production. They also have been on countless Conduit and non-Conduit produced mix-tapes (estimating around 25,000 in independent sales), performed in multiple shows around the country, have had substantial publicity (including the Source’s March 2005 “Off the Radar”), and are on the cusp of the digital marketing revolution to insure that they the Next-Up rap duo to push the bar of commercial yet innovative and grass-roots rap even further.

“You can be sitting in your house but we take you to another level through the music…Through the music you can see what we are saying….Suga City is about what you want to be… This that place where you can be anything you want to be…Its all about upliftment.”