NEW YORK (www.catactionmuzik.net) - 'The First St. Louis rapper to break nationally' – The Source Magazine:
Sylk Smoov first emerged on the music scene in the early 90s. In an era when West Coast Gangster Rap and East Coast Hip-Hop ruled the airwaves, Sylk opened the door and helped pave the way for many St. Louis rappers of today.
Sylk was born and raised on the north side of St. Louis, MO. A place notorious for producing some of St. Louis' worst criminals, Sylk was determined to avoid the violence that the inner city streets delivered. In the early 80s, Sylk was inspired to start writing his own rhymes after hearing Sugar Hill Gang's "
Rappers Delight" and listening to the late DJ JockenStein's Roll Call radio show on the local WESL AM station, which at the time was the only station playing hip hop in St. Louis. Focusing on his music, Smoov managed to save up enough money to record a demo. He sent out over 100 tapes to every Record Label, Production and Management company across the U.S.
Little did he know his plan had worked. On January 1, 1991, five minutes passed the New Year, he received a call from
Total Track Productions, known for producing DJ Quik, AMG, The Boss and Hi-C. They were so impressed with Sylk that an offer was made that same night. Soon enough he was signed to PWL/Mercury Records releasing his first self-entitled album, Sylk Smoov. The album featured the 1st single "Klientele" and included the club favorite "Trick Wit A Good Rap" featuring AMG receiving national attention and peaked at number 4 on Billboard Magazine's Hot Rap Singles Chart in 1992. The Source Magazine gave "Sylk Smoov" three and a half MIC's. In 1994 Sylk signed with Select Records and was featured on the House Party 3 Motion Picture
Soundtrack with song and video 'Drop Down'. Eventually the production company made some bad business decisions. Because of this, Sylk parted ways with
Total Track by waiting out his contract and moved on.
'Sylk Smoov came up in a different time and he was the man. Sylk did real good.'
-
Nelly (Murderdog Magazine interview)
Since then the climate has changed. More St. Louis rappers are breaking into the mainstream. They are getting signed to Major Labels and going multi-platinum. There currently are more media outlets than ever before. In 1997 Sylk started CatAction Muzik producing tracks for local up and coming rappers. During this time an unfortunate turn of events occurred. A faulty space heater in his studio caused a fire that burned and destroyed all of his equipment. Shortly after that in the year 2000 another tragic event happened, his cousin Ray 'Lethal' Lathon life ended due to a fatal gunshot wound to the head. Lathon was a professional Light
Heavy Weight Boxer and Evander Holyfield's sparring partner. These traumatic events didn't stop Sylk from achieving his goals and moving forward with his career.
That same year he went back into the studio and made the single 'Mob Wit Me', putting himself back out there with his first release on his own newly formed independent CatAction Muzik. The song did well locally in St. Louis getting heavy Commercial radio mix show spins. This caught the attention of Red Line
Music Distribution who currently is distributing his 2004 'CatAction 25-8' album to the masses. On this new album he has enlisted his first producer, Hype Dawg - The Beat Creature, who has worked with Luke Records, Mad Flava (Priority), JCD and The Dawg Pound (Profile) and many more. With this original team back together, nothing will stop the Cat Action! The '25-8' in the title means an hour and a day ahead of yourself, something Sylk takes to heart and displays it relentlessly on this album.
From the infectious first single 'Poke It Out' b/w 'Like It Hurt' to the subtle lyrical manipulation delivered in 'Twisted' as well as the thought provoking 'Catch A Vision' and Ladies favorite 'Good Rap'. Backed up with superior trunk rattling booty shaking beats provided by the ear candy specialist The Beat Creature, 'CatAction 25-8' pushes the boundaries of Hip Hop putting Sylk Smoov back into the spotlight.
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