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One Mic Studios started as a dream, as does many things in this world. The
dream is approximately eleven years old, and it has not always been hip hop
centered. One Mic's first recording could probably be labeled the worst song
ever recorded, but that's where all good things begin. If the song had to be
put under a label, then that label would be punk. Funny thing is, we were
never interested in doing punk music. The song stemmed from a website that
had been created and maintained by the One Mic crew. This website still
exists today, and it's name...NGFL. The one place for all nice guys who finish last.
This mysterious song was titled "Girls Suck" and it only exists
today as an mp3 on a few computers. This was the official beginning of One
Mic Studios.
Although "Girls Suck" is technically the first song recorded
at One Mic, the first serious recording was a cover of Neil Young's "Cortez
the Killer". It was recorded by that oh so dynamic duo of Smo and
Gro. The track was instrumental and lasted for over nine minutes. It was two
acoustic guitars, one room, one mic, one box fan, and one computer. Gro
played rhythm and Smo played lead.
Throughout the years, many different things would take place with One Mic.
The first major thing was when One Mic moved from a small farming town known
as Hillsboro, Tennessee and relocated to the larger city of Murfreesboro.
This marked the beginning of some beautiful things for the history of One
Mic.
After getting everything to Murfreesboro and continuing the educational
process, the first big project for One Mic Studios was about to go down. A
full length album/soundtrack for the NGFL website. The plans for this album included many
songs covering all genres of music (blues, country, rock, metal, r&b,
funk, hip hop, etc). Unfortunately the project was stalled and never
completed. The master recordings for about 10 tracks still exist in the One
Mic archives. Will they ever be resurrected?
Now it's time for a quick trip back to the childhood of Smo. Smo's father
used to travel around the hotel circuits playing bass in a rock band. He also
plays guitar and piano. Smo also had a great-aunt who played and taught piano
and had an immense amount of talent on the instrument. With that said, the
only point to this part of the history lesson is that music runs in Smo's
blood.
Part two of this history trip begins when Smo bought his first tape and found
his first love in music. Hip hop...or dance hop as it might be coined now. MC
Hammer, flashy suits, octagon glasses, and flawless dance routines. This was
when Smo discovered the world of hip hop and fell in love. The only
"problem" with that is...Smo's a white boy and he's lived in
rural/farming areas all his life. Not quite the ideal spot for a hip hop head
to arise, but that never phased him (Smo never says never. There are no
rules, and the sky is the limit). Throughout the years he tried listening to
other types of music, whether it was to just fit in with his peers or just to
try something new, but he always came back to hip hop. It never failed. The
only other music loves Smo possesses are metal (e.g. Mudvayne, Pantera,
Slipknot, Hatebreed) and classic rock (e.g. Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin,
Beatles). Also throw in some blues and R&B.
That's the end of our trip down memory lane. Now it's time to return to the
NGFL Soundtrack project. After recording several songs that covered other genres,
it came time for Smo and Gro to face Smo's first and true love...hip hop. Now
Smo had been trying to rhyme for years with his own lyrics, but it never
seemed to work and the lack of encouragement and the lack of a hip hop scene
around him, Smo just decided to stick to playing guitar and rock/metal bands.
Now that didn't mean Smo stopped rhyming. All his life he would take his
favorite songs and memorize the lyrics just so he would have some cool things
to kick around and flow with. That part came just fine to him, it was putting
his own ideas to a beat that didn't come as easy.
Since the NGFL project was all fun and no seriousness, the atmosphere was
laid back because no one cared. This whole album was something for people to
laugh at so it didn't matter if the songs really sucked. With Fruity Loops
and some samples by his side, Smo managed to create a beat to use for the
NGFL hip hop song. He wrote down some lyrics and was ready to step in the
booth after many many falied attempts at sounding good with flow and rhymes,
but this one time something clicked. At the end of the day, Smo had ripped
one of his own beats and it sounded nice. To him it was the best thing he'd
ever done, but in reality it needed a lot of work. It didn't matter though,
this was the beginning a beautiful thing. The original version of the "The
Nice Guy Rap" consisted of Smo only. No hook, just Smo flowing
throughout the entire track about NGFL and all the people involved with the
website. He was so proud, he began sending it to everyone that was affiliated
with the site. When his partner Gro heard the song, Gro wanted to be on the
track. Smo knew Gro was deep into hip hop music, but he wasn't sure if Gro
could keep up. The end product was a solid song by the dynamic duo who called
themselves...The Nice Guys.
After that, every song Smo and Gro started throwing down was a hip hop
track featuring their rhymes and Smo's beats. To Gro this was still the fun
ride known as NGFL. To Smo, this was the beginning of a lifelong dream.
After the NGFL project failed to be completed and released, Smo went back to
the lab to make his involvement in hip hop real. The last thing on his mind
was being an emcee, but he just knew he could be a producer. Not only was he
studying and researching on his own, he was in college working on his
Bachelor's degree in Recording Industry. The very thing that would only help
take his dreams to the next level.
Smo began reading everything he could on beat making. Tutorials, articles,
interviews, if it had anything to do with the process of sampling, looping,
and creating a beat, Smo was there absorbing it all. Every night he would sit
down to try and create something that everyone would love, but things never
work out like you expect. The beat making thing never blew up like he wanted,
and he couldn't afford any of the nice equipment that allowed him more hands
on control so he set that aside and began focusing on rhymes and flow.
*Skip ahead a year and a half or more...
To bring this all to the present day, Smo Logic
and Gromatic
have their own solo ventures as well as the the B.U.N.K.S.
(which is their crew including Emcee Deko). They are working with Emcee Deko, Reality
Entertainment, and Smo is the co-owner of Flowdoctors
Entertainment. Smo also helps his business partner (Goon), run the Flowdoctors
website/message board, and fully supports Urban420 Radio which is the Flowdoctors net-radio
station.
What does the future hold? Only time will tell. Smo still has three semesters
of college left, and he's just riding in the breeze while trying to support
himself and his fam. Keep checking the news for updates as history continues
writing itself.
Although Smo's personal music endeavors are hip hop centered, he still
produces whatever you throw at him. Last December he hooked up with Jake
Brown to record an acoustic album for Jake to pass around to his family and
friends. Smo has also recorded and produced Pawn, a hardcore band found in
Murfreesboro. You can contact Smo by clicking
here.
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