Wes Fif
Orlando has yet to break into the beast known in hip-hop as the south. Wes Fif is destined to change that. Arguably, he is Orlando’s most talented artist and depending on whom you ask, is one of Florida’s top unsigned talents.
Emerging from the Westside of Orlando’s, Ivey Lane section, Wes saw the customary street hardships: drugs, poverty, robbery, and murder. “I seen the regular type of shit you see coming up in the hood,” comments Wes. “Them crooked ass crackas, niggas selling, jugs running up and down the street, niggas getting they head caved in or blown off one.” Six feet under was not a trail that a young Wes Fif sought to follow, so he decided to obtain his own path towards making it out of the deadly cycle that many young men whom do not get to grow and see life outside of Ivey Lane get stuck in.
Wes Fif was born into hip-hop after writing a track to the instrumental for Da Brat’s “Funkdafied” at the age of 11. His unique stage name originates from Orlando’s State Road 50 (Colonial Drive), which runs East-West throughout the entire city. The road is divided into two sections: East 50 on the Eastside and West 50 on the Westside. “I’m from the Westside, so I took West Fifty and shortened it to Wes Fif, since I feel like I’m a representation of the whole Westside,” Wes states with pride. Hip-hop is where his heart and mind lays and he sees no other career choice. “I love every aspect of it, from the lyrical aspect, to the beats with that quake; down to the way, it moves people” says Wes Fif on why he decided to start rapping.
Networking is a key element to being a success in music and Wes took the business side of hip-hop into his hands. In his short career, without the help of management Wes’ networking proved to be triumphant, as he has opened up shows for headliners such as Young Jeezy, Yung Joc, Gucci Mane, Plies, Lil Boosie, and Three 6 Mafia. Early 2006 he released a “Heavy In the Streets” special edition mixtape with DJ Scream entitled “Crown Me” and later in the year he released the “Direct Connect” mixtape and a few months later went on to re-release it, but with a Real Nigga Radio twist to it. Florida’s Street A&R Billy “Bigga” Rankin lends a helping hand to the mixtape “Direct Connect” set his position in the streets as “The King of the O” and Florida's #1 draft pick.
With small success always comes a letdown. The track “Haterz Everywhere” that he created and featured Atlantic Records recording artist B.O.B ended up being sold to B.O.B instead. He also consistently deals with A&R’s giving him the “yeah but…” comments during conversations. In the summer of 2007, Wes Fif teamed up with the record label that produced Trick Daddy, Rick Ross, and Trina, Slip-N-Slide Records. Wes Fif whom is already signed to the independent label Clientell Music Group (CMG) entered the joint venture with Slip-N-Slide to continue the labels trend of blowing up sizzling Florida talent. However, less than six full months of being with the Miami based record label Slip-N-Slide Records, Wes Fif has ended his relationship with the label citing creative differences as the reasoning for the departure. He looked to be the next star to rise from the camp when he released his official single “Wastin’ Your Time” featuring Eliseo (Treal) January. “To me, and to many other people, DJs included, top DJs at that; I had a hit record on deck, more than one actually. It just didn’t translate into spins, and in my opinion, the record(s) weren’t given the proper time to grow. In some cases, it may take a record 5-6 months to grow, in others it may seem overnight. In those instances when its overnight though, there is a certain amount of ‘muscle’ as they say put behind it, that my records were never given. The only project that he released while with Slip-N-Slide records was “The Streets Chose Me” mixtape with DJ Smallz.”
Since becoming a free agent, Wes Fif has really been in small talks with a couple of labels, but nothing is set in stone as of yet. Currently working on a project entitled “Flight Risk” which will be a digital album released through Word of South Entertainment/Urban Music Alliance, Wes promises to give his fans what they have been patiently waiting for, a quality street music. "I'm just strapped in and ready to go brah, locked and loaded. My immediate team that has been by my side all along is ready, just gone get in this lab cook up some fire. Get this single out and work the streets, be as visible as possible. Ain’t nothing changed, just the machine is stronger. When I say I want to put the “O” on the map, I mean ALL THE WAY.” Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
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