Taka Black
Cleveland, Ohio, United States | INDIE
Music
Press
Full interview available via Link - UrbanSteez Magazine
Id like to introduce you to upcoming artist from the 'Land (Cleveland of course) Taka Black. This is a must pickup. This tape also includes another Cleveland artist, Z the K. id. - WeStayChill.com
What's on a rapper's mind besides fortune, fame, and balling bitches? Taka Black's seven-track EP never gets around to answering this question, but he puts a hysterical spin on themes we've heard over and over again. Rhyming "constipation," "masturbation," and "lactation" (as he does in "Green Goblin") in a way that makes sense takes some serious creativity, and this guy's flow is as nasty as his lyrics. ... Pure Imagination: The Prelude sounds about like the Next Big Thing. — Phil Barnes - The Cleveland Scene
I'm so happy that I accidentally clicked on this tape. Never heard of this dude until literally ten minutes ago. He's from Cleveland, and he is definitely worth a listen a download and anything else you can do to support him. He's a beast, hopefully he keeps dropping new music so I can post it up on this. - PANDAmonium
Ansel Wright III aka Taka Black combines talent with the perseverance of a hip hop artist, making his way into the bustling industry of music. Combining his unique creativity and his drive for bringing his music into a more professional level, Taka Black brings a unique innovation to Hip Hop.
With 6,000 views and 1000 streams in a week’s time, Taka Black has taken his baby steps into Hip Hop fame with his 6-song demo entitled “Pure Imagination: the Prelude”, Taka Black has shown that he can take music to a serious level and convey that confidence to his listeners.
In fact, Taka Black told Urban Steez that he labeled his style as being a sort of contradiction: aggression in delivery but self-consciousness in the material at hand. His music talks to people of different walks of life because he believes that everyone deserves a chance at life. In combining this style with his music, he has created a character that combines on how one should develop self-esteem with good music. Taka Black takes rap music at a more personal level, relating to people through his music. Through this communication, the music he creates have captivated the crowd.
Right now, Taka Black is working on a mixtape entitled “Pure Imagination: the Mixtape”, a continuation of the demo he released before. He is working on enhancing his music career one step at a time.
Taka Black focuses on the human aspect of music as important in developing one’s character. Through this, Taka Black takes Hip hop in a different direction through this uniqueness. - KingIce.com
It takes boldness to sample a song as square as Foreigner’s “Cold as Ice” on your first mixtape. Granted, Taka Black, born Ansel Wright III, is also taking cues from Rihanna and Adele on his follow up to Pure Imagination: The Prelude, a seven-song set that introduced the world to his music. From the free-and-easy flow of “Best Man” to the electronic club beat of “The Warm-up,” the Cleveland native is sharing his own slice of reality. The name Taka Black comes from a Japanese proverb that he considers a metaphor for “a special child coming from a not so special background.” Wright dealt with challenges growing up, from foster care to getting his clothes from the school lost and found. He addresses these struggles on tracks like “Too Hard,” with rhymes like “You ain’t never met an underdog that’s hotter than me/Couldn’t be close if he was up under my family tree.” It’s not all woe-is-me status, though; one of the better takeaways can be found on “Gimme,” where Wright mocks braggery with lines like "Damn, you da man/How many hoes you got?/Many." Bold, yes. Worthwhile, definitely. - No Mistake in Mixtape
Discography
Pure Imagination: The Prelude (2011)
Pure Imagination: The Mixtape (2012)
Singles:
The Warm-Up (2012)
Photos
Bio
Wright III (Taka Black) was born to Ansel Wright Jr. and Tonya Cheeks on July 9, 1988. Wright was born into a poor family and was raised by his stepmother and father until the age of four when they separated. At that time he began to exhibit an innate talent for music- singing and dancing to young Michael jackson records and routines. At the age of 11 he was sent to live with
a foster parent which moved him to the upper east side, also known as the Glenville area of Cleveland. It was here that he would begin to understand rap culture, street culture, and learn valuable lessons in his life. At 13, Ansel was returned back to his father and by 15 he took to recording screw songs on a vintage Dell computer at a friend's place. He would take these mixes to a local underground rap haven called "Sly Airbrush & Design" where the owner, named Sly, would hear them. Sly was an airbrush artist as well as a stylist to some of urban entertainment's biggest names at the time including Paul Wall, Bone Thugs, Bun B, Jadakiss, and more. Sly referred him to a young man by the name of Colson Baker and the two began recording songs out of Baker's house in the Shaker area of the city.
Soon they began collaborating at the shop where they met each other. It was there that they were given their stage names- Machine Gun Kelly for Baker and Jay Black for Wright. Wright later assumed the role of hypeman for MGK as he had been growing at a steady rate as a musician. MGK was taken under Sly's wing as an artist he would manage, however, Wright was not as he had yet to polish his skills. Wright continued to perform with Baker for a few years, appearing on two tracks of his first mixtape, Stamp of Approval. In 2006 they performed at the first annual Ohio Hip-Hop Awards, then went separate ways in 2008.
Around this time, Wright was attending Cleveland State University and began writing and creating his own style. It wasn't until 2010 he would develop a proper technique and begin to perform under the monicker Jay Black along with his childhood friend Karlzel Hunter (Z The Kid). Later that year they opened for major artist's such as Twista, and soon began to win competitions for their live performances due in part to the high energy of their shows. After one performance at the Ohio Hip Hop Awards, Wright got the opportunity to speak with then Atlantic Records A&R, Amir Windom. Wright asked Windom what he would consider a key component to becoming a successful and signed artist, to which he replied: "We look for an artist who can hold their own with the best. If a consumer has 99 cents to spend on an artist on iTunes, we look for an artist that could contend with big names such as Lil' Wayne and Trey Songs to earn that dollar." After the meeting Wright changed his stage name from Jay Black to Taka Black. Taka was taken from the Japanese proverb, Tobi ga taka wo umu, which translates to "a kite breeding a hawk". The saying metaphorically refers to a special child coming from a not so special background.
In June 2011, Wright released Pure Imagination: The Prelude, a six song demo with one bonus track from Hunter. The demo was released with favorable reviews- gaining 5 stars upon its official release on Datpiff.com and garnering 6,000 views and nearly 1,000 streams in one week. The Cleveland Scene also gave the release a favorable review. In April 2012, Taka released his latest project, Pure Imagination: The Mixtape, to a much greater level of success than his previous endeavor. This project gained 5,000 streams and downloads in its first week through an exclusive release on Datpiff.com. At around this same time, Taka Black upstarted Away-Team Media, a multimedia development company. His team consists of Z the K.i.D, Shanelle Moon, D. Nakaji, and James Brown V.
Black is now touring and currently promoting the project along with his upcoming mixape, TakaNation, set for release in July, 2012
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