Block Scholars is the indie Hip Hop musical collaboration between NOBULL (Bennett Baskerville; Bronx, NY) and Slimdog of Slimdog Productions (David Bell Jr.; Akron, OH), with the pair rapping their way through some of the freshest Hip Hop beats around. Originally a three-piece featuring 2mental (Nathan Andreas; Philadelphia, PA), the group first met each other through Myspace and mutual friends in 2005. Home now in Colorado Springs, CO, 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. They are also considered a “triple threat” because collectively they can write high quality lyrics, produce and perform their own music.
Block Scholars received the 2011 "Excellence In Songwriting" Award from The 18th Annual Billboard/Starmaker 360 Worldwide Songwriting Contest for placing in 3rd out of 1000s of entries in the Rap/Hip Hop genre, plus being finalists for (R&B/Hip Hop) and semi-finalists (Unsigned Only) categories in the 2010 International Songwriting Competition for the song "Time Machine", both of these contests known for being the two of the best songwriting competitions in the world, were one of three 2011 grand prize winners of Patron XO Cafe's Music Project, with the winners getting sponsorship prizes from Patron XO Cafe with judges from SPIN Magazine & RCRD LBL; a free mp3 music download blogsite featuring emerging artists. Block Scholars were nominated for Best Hip Hop Artist/Song from Hollywood Music In Media in July 2010 & January 2011 for the songs, "Flossin'" & "This Is For My People (The Rhythm Of A Scholar)" respectively, selected as one of the “Next 1000” artists to watch for in 2009 by URB Magazine, and were named the 2009 KIAC Open Songs Competition Winner in Hip Hop for their track, "Livin’ In Tha’ Jungle ft. 2mental". They also have received the “Collective Works Honor” from SongOfTheYear.com in 2009 for high scores on multiple works in that contest.
"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 through Music Xray submission 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 -
