UNDERBOSS aka Whitefolk hails from the Southside…Houston, TX.  Although Houston is where he was born, he spent much of his early life living with his father in Northern CA.  When Boss was still young his mother was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia which made for a confused and angry child and led to many mental scares to endure.   Her condition became more and more severe eventually leading to her disappearance three years ago.  Fortunately for all of us surviving and overcoming is what made the Underboss into the powerful presence he is today.  As a child Boss did a lot of traveling up and down the west coast going to sprint boat races with his father which he describes as the best years of his life.  But, besides school, all of his impressionable years were spent around adults which left him with an advanced vocabulary, not always good, that aided him in writing songs at an early age.  At the age of eight he started playing the guitar which is also when he started writing.  “I was listening to groups like Metallica, Ratt, and Ozzy…which was the kind of songs I was tying to write back then.”  By the time high school came, Boss’s attention on music was distracted by his love for Basketball.   He stopped playing the guitar and all of his spare time went to playing ball. 

Just before Boss’s first year of high school his father moved him back to TX.  His father and soon to be step mom bought a house in a suburb of Houston, which at that time was full of racial tension.  “I was so naïve, I thought racism was something that happen a long time ago in Alabama, but the way my father raised me I wasn’t with that at all so I didn’t have many friends except my boy Zane” (his graphics designer and Metal artist).  Boss had already started veering away from Metal and getting more and more interested in rap.  “I heard a lot of the rappers talking about the bullshit they saw and went through and so I started to vent that way also…but I would only write them, never rap them.”  Boss credits rappers like D.O.C., Scarface, and especially MJG for influencing him to rap and his style.

Boss transferred from the high school he went to and went to a private school in Houston on scholarship to play basketball, “that was the move that got me to playing ball in college.”  He was awarded a full basketball scholarship to Wiley College where he played for two years.  “I went to college to play ball and learned how to hustle and move on the streets instead.”  Wiley was a black college in a small east TX town called Marshall.  He and the coach did not see eye to eye on many things so Boss lost interest in basketball and turned to the streets for fun. 

One day, while at Wiley, a friend of his and rapper himself found one of his raps that he had written and convinced him to start trying to say them.  At first Boss admits he did not sound very good.  “They would say what I wrote was hard but I sounded too much like a white boy and needed to loosen up, so I worked at it and it wasn’t to long before I found some flavor.”  He wrote about the experiences he had been going through which was primarily sex, violence, and drugs.  After being questioned for the distribution of narcotics by the college and countless attacks by the town people of his own race, verbal and physical, he decided to move back to Houston.  “Everyone at the college showed me a ton of love…especially the ladies, but the white people in town weren’t’ to happy about a white guy going to Wiley.”

At this point in his career Boss sees himself as a versatile artist because of his many different life experiences.  He has seen and lived in many different cities.  He has been around many cultures.  “Really I just listen to the beat and go where it takes me as far as the mood is concerned…then I write the hook, verses and 99% of the time, at least since I got with G 13, it’s pure fire.”  Although he does have a southern style you won’t hear him talking about grillz, rims, or too much jewelry, “I lay as low as possible to survive; I don’t need anymore trouble than I already got and walking around with 50,000 to 100,000 dollars in jewelry is trouble.”  He likes to stick to reality; likes and dislikes, things that he supports or is against, and what he has seen, felt or been through.  Like any man he loves women and sex so that gets discussed often also.  Boss’s goals are simple; he wants to be known as one of the best which in his opinion means he needs to become an international icon.  He wants music to be a career of many albums and performances in many countries.   “I’ve got something for everyone in every mood and I want as many people as possible to hear and know it.” When asked how long he plans to be in the game he replied, “as long as possible…there is nothing better than being able to create music for a living.”

The bond that made all of this possible is the one shared by Boss and his producer G-13 aka Jheryl Lockhart.  Jheryl is an R&B singer and music producer.  He has worked with many big acts including Luther, Tina Marie, and most recently with Dr. Dre at Aftermath.  They first met in November of 2002, “all it took was four bars and I knew I had to relocate my life to Houston to do Underboss’s album.”  Jheryl moved to Houston in February of 2003 and hasn’t looked back.  “I couldn’t believe I found someone with his talent and marketability along with a work ethic like I haven’t seen before in a rapper.”  When asked about why they have been so successful and received so much interest and attention Jheryl comments, “we have our own sound and it’s all done by two people, that would be appealing to any label…great music, great lyrics, and all we have to pay is two people!”  The sound they started creating in February of 2003 has evolved into something even Boss and Jheryl admit they did not expect.    

Boss has come a long way.   The only way he could get anyone to listen was for him to go to open mic nights around Houston and perform.  Boss placed in every one of the open mic nights he participated in except one.  From that point he tried to create an opportunity to open up for somebody and start doing more than just one song at a time.  This proved to be a difficult task.  He was often turned away because of his unique sound and other times his color came into play.  “One president of a local independent label told me straight up that I was one of the coldest he had heard but if he was going to put money behind someone it would be a brother.”  All that meant to Boss was work harder and keep knocking on doors.  Then in 2003 he got an opportunity to perform at the Black Roots Entertainment convention in Los Angeles.  After putting on powerful performance and shocking everyone with what they had seen he, along with his entourage, was invited upstairs to perform for a panel of A & R’s.  When he entered the room they told him they were only allowing the acts to perform one verse and one hook and not much more seemingly curious about what this 6’3” angry looking white boy was going to do.  By the end of the performance he had completed the entire song and they were all on their feet applauding and asking how long he was going to be in town.  “I had put a lot of pressure on myself to give a good performance, so when it was all over and everyone reacted the way they did I knew I could make some money at this.”  Boss looks forward to taking his unique sound to bigger and more extravagant stages such as arenas and stadiums.  Until then he keeps looking for opportunities to showcase his talents. 

Boss believes he has been blessed with the gift of insight which leads to the vivid pictures he paints in his music.  He has also worked long and hard on making the melodies of his rhymes as creative and memorable as possible. Boss vows he will not give up until he gets his chance to be heard and lives by his own quote, “there is nothing on this planet breathing that will stand in your way except you.”

When will he arrive?