Livin' In Tha' Jungle ft. 2mental by Block Scholars

About the artist

Block Scholars is the indie hip hop musical collaboration between NOBULL (Bennett Baskerville) and Slimdog (David Bell Jr.), with the pair rapping their way through some of the freshest hip hop beats in America. Originally a three-piece featuring 2mental (Nathan Andreas), the group first met each other through Myspace and mutual friends in 2005. Based in Colorado, USA, the rap act is heavily influenced by an eclectic mix of music ranging from Biggie Smalls, 2Pac, Madlib, Dr. Dre, Pharrell and Prince to even jazz, opera, rock and classical music. Their fans also call them a “triple threat” because collectively the gang can write sharp lyrics, produce and perform their own music.

Block Scholars have ranked on independent music site charts such as IACmusic.com, Soundclick.com, Audiostreet.net, Garageband.com (Song of the Day), mp3unsigned.com and ArtistLaunch.com over the past two years. They have also been featured on the Weather The Storm Compilation Album, and also received the “Collective Works Honour” from SongOfTheYear.com for multiple works. The pair were also nominated for Best Hip Hop Artist/Song from Hollywood Music In Media for July 2010, selected as one of the “Next 1000” artists to watch for in 2009 by URB Magazine, and were name the Kiac Open Songs Competition Winner 2009 Hip Hop for their track Livin’ In Tha’ Jungle ft. 2mental.

Besides shows around their home base of Colorado, Block Scholars have also performed at festivals such as The Denver Post’s Underground Music Showcase, Gorilla Productions’ Hip Hop Takeover and the Neon Reverb Festival in Las Vegas. In 2010, Block Scholars have released the Weather The Storm album featuring 2mental, You Can’t Fight Us ft. 20/20 on the Coast2Coast mix tape The Showcase Vol. 52 hosted by DJ Stupac and on the UGH mix tape Undergrond Hustlas Vol. XX hosted by Ron Jeremy. Collaborating with Derelict, NOBULL has also worked on their track Heart ft. NOBULL of Block Scholars on another Coast2Coast mix tape.

The US group’s next album From Zero to Hero will be released in 2011. They are gaining more fans and recognition in the industry, and hope to reach and teach with good storytelling and music – two things that are sorely missed in today’s mainstream hip hop.

- Bio written by: Paige X. Cho - Admin. & Promotions Mgr. Valleyarm Digital Music Distribution


You can also hear more of Block Scholars music along with works with 2mental on, "Slimdog's Slimdizzle Fo' Shizzle Show" podcast at: www.slimdog.podomatic.com with currently over 5700 feeds a month.

- February 13, 2010: Block Scholars: Weather The Storm Compilation Album, Featuring 2mental & Block Scholars goes on sale at Magnatune.com
Block Scholars will be only the second Hip Hop group to sell their works on Magnatune.

- April 2010: Block Scholars receive December 2009 "Collective Works" Honors from "Song Of The Year.com" for high scores on multiple works.

- Aug.14, 2010: Block Scholars receive Best Hip Hop Artist nomination from Hollywood Music In Media for July 2010. HMMA was created to provide a comprehensive awards experience within a high value networking enviroment for all musicians

We like to thank all the listeners and publications who have taken the time to listen, comment & review our music. Here are some:



"Whoa... nice opening. Powerful. I like this.
This is good. Nice arrangement. Nice. The groove is great. I'm missing a hook though. I'd like to be into this more than for the groove. I'd love for there to be a solid hook. Even so, I could see myself coming back to this track more than once...We don't even make the offer to artists who don't meet the caliber we can hear in your music. We'd say this music is perfectly capable of competing in the current market..."
- PRE SCREENING TEAM AT CWE MEDIA, NYC. On Block Scholars song, "By Any Means ft. 20/20". Charlie Walk is the former President of Epic Records and now is the founder of Charlie Walk Entertainment. In his three years at its helm, Walk transformed Epic from a traditional record label to a progressive, multi-faceted entertainment company with a fearless approach to innovation. During his tenure, Walk maintained Epic as a creative haven for superstars such as Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Ozzy Osbourne, Duran Duran, Tori Amos, Good Charlotte and George Michael, while also pioneering pop culture trends and cultivating edgy new sounds with the signing of artists like The Fray, Natasha Bedingfield, Sean Kingston and Sara Bareilles. 11/1/10 -

"Our second hip hop artist on Magnatune, but the first in quite a few years. The Block Scholars impressed me with the quality of musicianship, production and lyrical content..."
- FROM JOHN BUCKMAN, CEO and founder of Magnatune.com 2/12/10 -


"Dear David,

Thanks for submitting the material for the evaluation.

WOW - great job David! These songs are as strong as anything on the radio in the rap genre.

All of the bases are covered - music, lyrics, rapping, beats, etc... I am very impressed.

The lyric "loose lips sink ships" ("Livin' In Tha' Jungle ft. 2mental") made me smile, as that's a common expression for one of my favorite Uncles. It made me think of him. So that was cool. :-)

I only have good things to say about your music. You are doing a great job and if you keep working hard to get it out there from Colorado to the world, the sky is the limit..."
- FROM EUGENE FOLEY of Foley Entertainment Inc., consultant/advisor to over 40 Gold/Platinum Record & 3 Grammy winning artists/producers. One of the most respected consultants/authors in the music industry, evaluating Block Scholars songs; "Livin' In Tha' Jungle ft. 2mental", "Never Repented ft. NOBULL/Knife Star/Vagabond" & "Lyrical Extermination". www.FoleyEntertainment.com 10/13/09 -


"There’s some knowledge you can’t get in school, it comes from experience. Block Scholars use lessons learned from their personal trials and tribulations to teach the masses through their music. Having blessed the raw funky production of Slimdog on previous collabs, MCs NOBULL and 2mental officially united with the producer in 2008. The result is a group that hopes to use their allegorical street tales as an instrument of change. The head-nodding beats are a nice bonus..."
- BLOCK SCHOLARS, "LIVIN IN THA' JUNGLE" Reviewed by Dan Vidal URB.COM 3/10/09 -

"The Block Scholars are a hardcore Rap outfit hailing from Colorado Springs. For us, they really came out of left field, and we were pleasantly surprised when their music ended up in our in box last week.

So far what we have heard is a wide array of various songs, in various styles, all put together extremely properly.

There is a lot you need to know about these hustle hard motherf***ers (including a dope Podcast they do), So we will be unveiling it over the course of this month, in fragments.

But for now..."
- THE COLORADO RAP REPORT 3/16/09 -

"Music Comments: David Bell, Jr. bangs out high tech and an instrumental foundation on his large cd. It's about the rough and tumble hustle of the street, full of harsh thoughts and conscious hip hop chops. The ep has deep and timely lyrics about keeping it real. The highlights on these tracks occurs when he gets into the musical quality of the melodies, with techno backbeats and deep vocals to back his message...We look forward to receiving more tunes where this came from!"
- A&R SELECT HOLLYWOOD 3/26/09 -


Block Scholars LP & "From Zero To Hero" coming in 2011...


Instrumentation
Slimdog: Producer
NOBULL: Lyricist/Producer

Discography
Discography:

2011: Block Scholars

- "Lyrical Extermination" by Block Scholars from their upcoming album, "From Zero To Hero", is on Australia based Valleyarm Digital Music Distribution's, "Absolute Hip Hop" Compilation CD featuring the best Hip Hop from all over the world. Coming soon in 2011, the cd will be for sale on iTunes worldwide.

- "This Is For My People (The Rhythm Of A Scholar)", from the upcoming Block Scholars album "From Zero To Hero", is on Valleyarm Digital Music Distribution MIDEM 2011 Complilation CD to be distributed to top industry "movers and shakers" at the 2011 MIDEM Conference in Cannes, France and is on iTunes for sale worldwide.

2010: Block Scholars:

- "Weather The Storm" on sale at Magnatune.com & Uplaya Records in Spring 2010.

2009: Slimdog Productions

- "Crunk It Up Man!!!"(2004) in NBC/Universal Sports Television Library

2007: Def Jam's DJ DMA & Shadyville DJs
DJ DOMINATION present: Coast 2
Coast: Instrumentals Vol 1.
-MOS Definitely (2006)

2007: Sprite's: "NBA Freeflow on B.E.T." 2/13/07
-2 to da 3 (2007)

2006: Slimdog has 5 songs in the score of documentary film , "Mixtape Inc., The Movie" by Cando
Entertainment and Pixel Propaganda:
-Hateradez Beat (2004)
-Bubba's Beat (2005)
-The Westside Rattle(2005)
-Tripped Hopped (2006)
-Xtra Tight (2006)

The Unknownn: The Unknownn by Darkstone Ltd. (UK)
-The Unknownn's "Raw" Slimdog Remix ft. 2mental of The M7
Movement (2006)
-The Unknownn's "Raw" Remix (2006)
-The Unknownn's "Duplicituous Too" Slimdog Remix (2006)