Biography

Manny Black - Supa.Space Brotha.

A revolutionary producer, emcee, DJ, and poet, Manny Black has constructed a career of going against the grain and created a sense stylishness unlike any other musician in the Bay Area. Manny's diverse musical background and multiple sonic interests are the foundation from which all his life experience is translated. Originally from Seattle, Manny played trombone in various school bands were he traveled throughout the Northwest and Canada. After spending two summers in Fairbanks, Alaska, playing football and scratching up old records in his Grandad's big back "bedroom-room", Manny began DJing house parties and school assemblies, often times with a turntable, a mixer and a tape deck! The cultural influence of Hendrix, KRS-ONE and Public Enemy, the smoothness of Kane and Kwame, combined with the rhythalism of DJ Quik and Prince, helped him develop his lyrical skills on the microphone, hence his unforgettable and differential rap cadence. The style began to blossom and he was "in the mix" both on the turntables and on the lyrical plane.

After numerous visits to East Oakland in the early 1990's, MB decided to attend college in the Bay Area in 1995. The experiences and happenings in the Bay led to the vision of the Freshlove All-Stars: an artist collaborative focused on freedom, love, and peace in our atmosphere. In 1997, he collaborated with four musicians and formed a live hip-hop band known as Beats Per Minute (BPM) playing venues such as The Great American Music Hall as well as then lesser known hip-hop spots like The Last Day Saloon for two years.

As a DJ, Manny Black brings his eclectic mix of old and new hip hop, soul, and R&B and sprinkles the Bay Area club, bar, house party, and open mic scene with GAME. His first mix CD, "DJ Manny Black Presents: The Product" receives nothing but love and can be heard in folks car stereos, Discmans and boomboxes around the United States, South Africa, and abroad.

As an educator, Manny has worked with San Francisco youth for the past 8 years. Organizations such as Upward Bound, Boys and Girls Clubs of San Francisco and Mission Accomplish have utilized Manny's program development and management skills to help reach seemingly at-risk youth.

Manny Black continues to produce fantastic, revolutionary hip-hop that reaches an even more multiracial, multicultural audience by continuous collaboration with deep cats. Written Souls, a project featuring the sonic stylings of Krownprence the Iceflame, Angelo Shadik the Shadow Master and Manny Black the SpaceBrotha, has enjoyed underground success and diffusion by flipping out parties, open mics and poetry slams in San Francisco, Oakland, Santa Cruz, Seattle, Guam and Portland. MB takes pride in strengthening his alliance with humanity and continues to collaborate with ground-breaking artist whose creatively and soul force shatters the music industry's standards of artistry and innovation.