THE FAMILY - La Familia Entertainment

Beating ear drums with his "true-to-the-art" style, DJ Mr. President proves he's a force to be reckoned with.

In the words of Rakim, "I was a fiend, before I became a teen", growing up in the birthplace of Hip Hop, The (Boogie Down) Bronx, DJ Mr. President was known throughout the city as "MC Baby Fresh", one third of the locally known rap group "Full Strength Force". Before he was a teenager, he was sharpening his skills as an MC/Artist performing at house parties within the city during the early 80s. F.S.F.'s DJ at the time was local DJ, "DJ Fresh". But soon had the pleasure of having Mixmaster Supreme (internationally known for his travels with The Magnificant Force and music producer of pioneering greats like Kurtis Blow) join the group. During many practice sessions, Supreme inspired MC Baby Fresh, teaching him technic and letting him "get on" the turntables.

In 1987, the group teamed up with Lightning Rod Management. Led by Rico Rodriguez and his partner Nacimiento, the group moved on to perform at numerous tri-state area venues such as Savoy Manor, La Mirage, Lamour East, Passions, and Club Magique; just to name a few.

DJ Mr. President had the pleasure of performing and sharing stages with a multitude of artists from various genres, including Nayobe, Monet, Lisa Lisa, T La Rock, Fascination, Spinderella, DJ Kid Capri, Trilogy, Judy Torres, The Village People, and more. He also had the honor of interacting with video show legends Carlos De Jesus (WKTU DJ & Host of ABC's "New York Hot Tracks") and VJ "Uncle" Ralph McDaniels ("Video Music Box") and radio legend Kool DJ Red Alert.

In 1988, DJ Mr. President was instrumental in the Commonwealth Of Puerto Rico's New York offices, led by Betty Arce and Lightning Rod Management's inception of "Atrevete En El '88". This was a citywide voter registration drive encouraging hispanics ages 18-21 to register to vote.

Joining the United States Marine Corp did not sway him from continuing his musical ambitions. While stationed with Headquarters Squadron Marine Corp Air Station in Iwakuni Japan, he made his way onto the local club-scene, and soon enough, DJing on a regular basis at several off-base popular spots.

Returning to the U.S., DJ Mr. President again found his way into the nightlife and on the payroll of Club Rumors and Club 108 in the NC area. At this time, his mixtapes would also be hitting the streets.

DJ Mr. President's first taste of Club Promoting was co-founding "Jam Til Dawn Productions" in Jacksonville, NC being on the artist bill and marketing weekly events. It was during the late 90s when Prez purchased DJ equipment and spent many hours a day in solitude defining his art of turntablism for future endeavors.

Early in 2000, his old MC partner and brother "Manny D, Da Nemesis" had a vision of launching a diversified entertainment company that provided everything from club promotions, music production, mixtape CD production, graphic & web design, to online radio. After putting a plan together, "La Familia Entertainment" was born; and DJ Mr. President was again hitting the clubs in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, North Carolina and the tri-state area, promoting AND DJing.

During this time, he worked and networked with artists and industry types such as Jim Jones, DJ Prostyle (BET), Famlay (Pharrell's Startrak Camp and Va native), Boriqua Jimmy, Too Tight Productions/Street Ratt Promotions, DJ Kings: DJ Mad, DJ Escobar, and Alex Sensation. DJ Richie from The Commissioners, SED Models, Homeboy Sandman, recording artist Cee-Rock The Fury, the legendary Dana Dane, The WonderTwinz (official tour DJs of Naughty By Nature), DJ 2Smooth, DJ Kast One of The Heavy Hitters, Clear Channel's 103JAMZ: DJ Fontz, DJ Jack Of Spade, Jock Chris Caliente, DJ Rick Geez, and Jock EJ Greig. Elephant Man, Consequence (featured on Tribe Called Quest's 1996 album "Beats, Rhymes and Life" and current affiliation with Kanye West's G.O.O.D Music Imprint), and Craig G (from The Juice Crew) to name a few.

His experience being invaluable, in 2007, Prez and Capone (CNN), were on a list of industry folks who did on-camera interviews for "Necessities To A Successful Record", a how-to marketing & promotions DVD, filmed by Too Tight Productions.

In 2009 and 2010, to help break the Guiness Book World Record for the longest running MC cipher, Prez was one of the DJs on the turntables who kept the instrumentals and breakbeats going for a rhyme sessions that lasted 26 & 27 hours respectively.

Currently the Co-Owner and Operator for True Fire Radio, he stays working on production projects and promotions efforts. DJ Mr. President presently has his "Presidential Status" Radio Show running on several stations, here and abroad.

He continues to explore the art of DJing, working the clubs, performing with different rap acts, and bringing music to the masses.

As DJ Mr. President always says,

"YOU IN GOOD HANDZ BABY"!

Growing up in The Bronx during the late 70s / early 80s gave me the great privilege of witnessing the birth of Hip-Hop. Living every aspect of this culture (from DJing, MCing, B-Boying, Graffiti, Slang, to Fashion) before there were any rap records, rap videos, or rap radio. When mixtapes were actually tapes. Listening to groups like The Cold Crush Brothers and The Force MCs.

My other musical influences were:
- Growing up in urban communities at a time when Disco, R&b, Funk, and old Soul were prevalent. Where you would jump to the music of James Brown, Sly & The Family Stone, Parliament, and that old Motown sound.
- Being of Puerto Rican descent, I couldn't help but have those latin rhythms in my blood. Being raised in a home where there was always partying and music blaring; and having a father who was a professional musician (a percussionist in a salsa-band) insured him and his friends playing live instruments over Papi's loud stereo on most nights. At a time when Tito Puente was a god!
- During my teenage years, I had the fortunate pleasure of being close-knit to a wise man whose forte was the smooth sounding music of Jazz. Hence, my introduction to the world of Nancy Wilson, Miles Davis, and all the Greats.

This eclectic mixture of impressions is probably what lead to me having a great ear for music. After all, one of the great things about Hip Hop music is it's versatility, and ability to be mixed and produced with all other genres. Which, in fact, is how Hip Hop music was created. Just ask founding fathers DJ Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaataa, whose massive record collections included vinyl of all genres, in search of the perfect drum breaks. Consequently, the birth of the breakbeat.

So as Hip Hop began to evolve, from the schoolyard to the world-stage, so did my involvement. From neighborhood MC (doing shows at popular clubs in NY & NJ) to local party promoter (house parties or renting halls) to Hip Hop producer (running my in-home recording studio); I lived and breathed the music and the culture. But consequently, that was only the beginning!

Before I was a teenager, I was sharpening my skills as an MC, performing at house, block, schoolyard, and park parties within the city during the early 80s. Being one-third of the locally-known rap group "Full Strength Force". F.S.F.'s DJ at the time was local DJ, "DJ Fresh". But soon, we had the pleasure of having Mixmaster Supreme (internationally known for his travels with The Magnificant Force and music producer of pioneering greats like Kurtis Blow) join the group.

In 1987, the group teamed up with Lightning Rod Management. Led by Rico Rodriguez and his partner Nacimiento, we moved on to perform at numerous tri-state area venues, such as Savoy Manor, La Mirage, Lamour East, Club Magique, and Passions just to name a few. We had the pleasure of performing and sharing stages with a multitude of artists from various genres such as Nayobe, Monet, Lisa Lisa, T La Rock, Fascination, Spinderella, DJ Kid Capri, Trilogy, Judy Torres, The Village People and more. We also had the pleasure of interacting with video show legends Carlos De Jesus (WKTU DJ & host of ABC's "New York Hot Tracks") and VJ "Uncle" Ralph McDaniels ("Video Music Box") and radio legend Kool DJ Red Alert.

In 1988, we were were instrumental in launching "Atrevete En El '88". Along with the New York City office's of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, led by Betty Arce and Lightning Rod Management, we were involved in the inception of a city-wide voter registration drive geared toward encouraging hispanics, ages 18 to 21, to register to vote.

At this point, with the influence of Mixmaster Supreme, I caught the music production bug. Starting with Roland's TR-909, piece by piece, I began to purchase my own recording equipment. And throughout the 90's, with Supreme by my side, we began to make beats for many up & coming Hip Hop artists.

In the early 2000's, I began to visualize a versatile entertainment company, that would produce & manage a mixtape catalog, do event & club promotions, delve into internet radio, music production, web & graphic designs, and internet marketing. So in 2004, along with DJ Mr. President, DJ Tech, and DJ Vic, we formed "La Familia Entertainment". During this time, we would enjoy working and networking with artists and industry types, including the likes of Jim Jones, DJ Prostyles (BET), Famlay (Pharrell's Startrak artist), Boriqua Jimmy, Too Tight Productions/StreetRatt Promotions, DJ Mad (DJ Kings), DJ Escobar (DJ Kings), Alex Sensation (La Mega & DJ Kings), DJ Richie (The Commissioners), SED Models, Cee-Rock the Fury (artist), The legendary Dana Dane, The WondertTwinz (official tour DJs of Naughty By Nature), DJ 2Smooth (official tour DJ of Toby Love), DJ Kast One (Hot97 & The Heavy Hitters), Clear Channel's 103JAMZ, DJ Fontz (103Jamz), DJ Jack Of Spades (103Jamz), Chris Caliente (radio personality, 103Jamz), DJ Rick Geez (103Jamz), EJ Greig (radio personality, 103Jamz), Elephant Man, Consequence (Tribe Called Quest & Kanye's G.O.O.D. Music Imprint), Criag G (from Marley Marl's Juice Crew), just to name a few.

I am currently hosting a show on True Fire Radio (the official internet radio station of La Lamilia Entertainment; TrueFireRadio.net). I am responsible for most of the graphic & web designs for La Familia Entertainment. I help to produce, manage, and promote our extensive mixtape catalog. I am involved in all our internet guerrilla marketing. And I am also the mastermind (lol, nice word) behind all projects that come out of JAM3 Productions (the music production division of La Familia Entertainment).

So now, I find myself right smack in the middle of La Familia Entertainment. Where we have united our resumes and expertise to crank it up a notch; and take it to the next level. We have our hands in a little bit of everything. From Radio to Club Promotions; from Internet Marketing to Mixtapes..

..AND WE'LL BEE ALL OVER THIS BEATMAKING THING!!