« 2010 Bay Area Freshmen 10 Recap: P Child »

With the ANNOUNCEMENT for the 2011 Bay Area Freshman 10 coming soon, I thought now would be an appropriate time to look back at our 2010 Freshman and acknowledge the grind that they put in since being included in the inaugural list. So for the next few days we’ll look at one MC at a time and highlight their careers up to this point, as well as what they have done since becoming a Bay Area Freshman. Every artist’s career plan and philosophy is unique, but no matter who you are, taking advantage of legitimate buzz can never be wrong. Because in this fickle, over saturated world that we like to call hip-hop, the second you stop releasing content and doing shows, unfortunately seems to be the second many forget that you ever existed. So let’s see how the first Freshman class performed since they were named some of The Bay’s top prospects.

P Child:

I can't lie, when last year's Bay Area Freshmen were announced there was a handful of artists that I had never heard of. Yet that's the beauty of the list: it's not just a way to give an added boost to those who are already on, but it's also a way to introduce hip-hop fans to artists that they probably haven't heard much from. Personally, as a fan of music, it was fun this past year coming to Thizzler and seeing the Freshman 10 drop new projects and get the chance to learn more about who they are. Yet if any of the artists remain a mystery to me, it'd have to be P. Child.

 

From what music the Problem Child has dropped, fans can start to get an idea of his style. His content basically centers around the classic tales of being a hustler and a mack, but I would say his word play is a couple steps ahead of your average rapper. That combined with the great confidence that he has on the mic, makes it sounds like he's already spent years in the booth. Finally, his beat selection over the past year has without question been on point. 

Yet the problem with P Child is that while on the one hand, the music he has put out has shown a lot of promise, he hasn't dropped enough content to fully be able to assess him as an MC. He has yet to release a solo mixtape/album/ep which is obviously the best way to get to know an artist, and he hasn't been in a video either, which is another great way to get more of an idea of who it is you are listening to. With that being said, it's important to note that he DID release high quality music this year, and he has started to get the ball moving on building his name. Prior to being included in The Freshman 10, the only music I can find from him is a solid group mixtape with J-Fela that was also hosted by The Jacka, entitled Money Ball (Fashionably Late). Since the release of that, it seems that P Child has focused more on well timed single releases, and stacking some paper by doing a gang of features around the Bay. All in all I would say that there about 15-20 mp3's that he dropped over the past 12 months which are solid indicators of his skill. They also show that he has a very strong ability to network and do music with other artists in the Bay. He landed a feature on Big Rich's Built To Last,  a song on Erk Tha Jerk's Nerd's Eye View which was also included on DJ Nino's Bay Area Bangers mixtape, and a track with Armani Depaul and Mike Dash-E on Dash-E's Clap City 2: Clap or Die mixtape. In addition to tracks with Messy Marv, The Jacka, Moe Green, Nio Tha Gift, Cousin Fik, Traxamillion, Netta Brielle, and Show Banga.  

On his Reverb Nation page, P Child says that he's currently working on an album that will appeal to both the commercial fan base, as well as those looking for strong lyrical content. I'm looking forward to his debut solo outing, and hopefully it will be one of many instances in 2011 that fans learn more about who the Problem Child is, and what they can expect him to bring to the game. 

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Free Projects: 

Moneyball (Fashionably Late) w/ J-Fela (2009)