2010 Bay Area Freshmen 10 Recap: Nio Tha Gift - the latest Bay Area rap and hip-hop music

Friday, April 8, 2011

7:40AM

« 2010 Bay Area Freshmen 10 Recap: Nio Tha Gift »

With nominations for the 2011 Bay Area Freshman 10 coming to a close today, we 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 9 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.

Nio Tha Gift:

Every hip-hop fan has had an artist that they just can’t believe the rest world isn’t paying attention to. If you’re a fan of Bay Area music, chances are there have been a grip of MC’s that you’ve felt that way about. Of the Bay Area Freshmen, there’s a handful for whom those sentiments apply, but the one that really stands out is Nio Tha Gift. In an emerging era in which artists like J Cole, Kendrick Lamar, and Big K.R.I.T. are quickly rising to stardom through their insightful and honest depictions of their personal lives and struggles, it seems Nio would fit right in. His lyrics are genuine, thoughtful, uplifting, and street all at the same time. Add some serious lyricism to boot, in addition to production from some of Bay’s most talented beat smiths including Bedrock, Traxamillion and Young L and it leaves one wondering what more could be asked for?

For all y’all who slept, this is your chance to catch up, and for those of you who are fans and have been paying attention, 2010 was a great year. After 2009’s H.I.P.H.O.P. (Here I Present a Hero Of Poverty), which in my opinion is one of the best albums from top to bottom to drop out of the Bay in a minute, Nio kept the momentum rolling and released 3 projects last year. It started with the free Hero Mixtape, which featured a combination of old tracks from H.I.P.H.O.P and new songs specifically for the mixtape, and from his upcoming album. Next came the full length Super Hero album, which emphasized the more street side of Nio’s personality. Yet if that wasn’t enough, about half way through 2010 it was announced that Nio along with Erk Tha Jerk, Willie Joe, and Traxamillion would be forming a group called The FNM. They too dropped a free mixtape entitled The Flytape. Add features with XXL Freshman Fashawn, The Freshmen, and a gang of tracks with fellow Bay Area rappers, in addition to opening up for Rick Ross at NBA Allstar Weekend, and performing at this year’s SXSW, and clearly Nio got busy in 2010.

After being a part of four projects in 2 years, it would be understandable to take a break. Yet it looks like 2011 is going to be another year full of material from Tha Gift. The Rebel With A Cause mixtape is coming soon, and based on the title track which dropped not too long ago it should be ill. Additionally according to an interview he did with Ozone Magazine back in October, fans should also be expecting The Messanger mixtape and a conceptual album entitled The Rifle and The Bible. Let’s hope the momentum keeps rolling and the rest of the country starts to wake up.