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Victory 3:37 ░░ 02. Nowhere To Go (Feat. Thee Tom Hardy) 3:50 ░░ 03. The Stars (Feat. Carlitta Durand) 3:34 ░░ 04. Move (Feat. Troy) 3:32 ░░ 05. Remember 3:31 ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ╔═══════════════╗ ░░ ║ N O T E S ║░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░ ╚═══════════════╝▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ░░ ░░ Great read... ░░ ░░ At the front of a packed crowd inside Five Star, an Asian restaurant in ░░ Raleigh by evening and a longtime haven for DJs and rappers by late ░░ night, a young woman consoles an older woman who's standing near the ░░ speakers, crying. The elder is Roberta Ricks, the mother of Morris Wayne ░░ Ricks II, who's bounding around the stage, rapping. The oldest of her two ░░ boys, he records as King Mez, and right now he's roaring through "The ░░ Light," an eyewitness account of the domestic violence he encountered as ░░ a kid. ░░ ░░ Mez details the time he found his mother's torn-out hair on the kitchen ░░ floor. He nearly picked up a gun and took matters into his own hands: "I ░░ was feeling like a conquistador/ because that Glock 9, homie, I was ready ░░ to explore." ░░ ░░ "It was hurting me," Mez had said several hours earlier, sitting calmly ░░ in a Mediterranean restaurant across from N.C. State University. ░░ "Sometimes it feels funny listeningùlike you're made of glass and people ░░ are looking at you and they can see everything inside you. But it was ░░ necessary." ░░ ░░ The day before, the Washington Wizards nabbed Raleigh native John Wall ░░ with the NBA draft's No. 1 pick. Mez and Wall grew up near one another in ░░ separate Southeast Raleigh neighborhoodsùsort of the ground zero of Mez's ░░ raps, though he hasn't lived there since he was 13ùand played frequent ░░ pick-up basketball games together. For Mez, Wall is something of a ░░ lodestar, a talented kid who succeeded from the same streets. Mez wants ░░ next. ░░ ░░ "I feel like a king. I'm still underground and trying to make my way out, ░░ but I have the potential to be one of them," said Mez with a cool that ░░ borders on stoic. "I feel like I will be one of the elite around here, ░░ but at the same time I like to undermine myself. Humility reigns ░░ supreme." ░░ ░░ Or rapping does, and, as that goes, Mez seems nearly ready for the crown. ░░ With a patient, deep delivery, he's not an emcee obsessed with chucking ░░ out a superfluous amount of cheesy punch lines and hyperbolic ░░ self-decrees. Instead, he's a young, humble orator who has already ░░ figured out how to use the tricks of the rhyme trade as clutch-time ░░ rhetorical tools. He has self-control that seems to hinge on both ░░ self-confidence and self-respect. ░░ ░░ "He can rap better than I can. I don't say that about people," says ░░ Durham emcee Thee Tom Hardy, who adds a guest verse on King Mez's ░░ "Nowhere to Go," a chronicle of aimless driving excursions around the ░░ Triangle. "He's got a gift at rhyming and at performing where you listen ░░ and know he's got a big future." ░░ ░░ Mez is a different kind of North Carolina emcee. If you've heard many of ░░ the state's resident rappers, you've likely noticed the standard culture ░░ of violence endemic to a lot of lowbrow hip-hop. "North Cock-It-Back," ░░ after all, is a native rap motto. Mez, only 20, seems to have already ░░ lived long enough to know better. ░░ ░░ "If you have a voice, you have a responsibility," he said. "I hate it ░░ when rappers make people feel alienated. I make music to make listeners ░░ feel big." ░░ ░░ The Paraplegics, Mez's stunning second mixtape and his first with ░░ Asheville native and upcoming Raleigh producer Commissioner Gordon, is a ░░ work of uplifting commentary about people's dependence on objects and ░░ affectations to make them look and feel better. That reliance creates ░░ paralysis, insists Mez. It might seem heavy for a 20-year-old emcee ░░ trying to make entertaining music, but he attributes a lot of this ░░ no-nonsense mentality to being raised around what he calls a "spectrum of ░░ people" in the Raleigh neighborhood Chastain. ░░ ░░ "I really loved Chastain. That's where I learned that I was different. ░░ That's where my conscious kicked in," he says rather boastfully, as if ░░ quantum leaping to the instant where he felt that gust of enlightenment. ░░ "There were friends selling drugs and people that came through shooting a ░░ couple of times. Some of that stuff I was just not going to deal with. ░░ It's not me." ░░ ░░ Mez was born in Fort Campbell, a military base along the Tennesse and ░░ Kentucky state line. He says his parents, both soldiers in the U.S. Army, ░░ equipped him with discipline and tradition, butùrappers themselvesùthey ░░ didn't limit his interest in hip-hop. These days, only his mother wants ░░ anything to do with Mez's musical growth. "My dad doesn't really listen ░░ to my music or like talking about it," he says. But Mez recalls happier ░░ days at cookouts, when his father introduced him to outspoken hip-hop. It ░░ quickly became part of his lifestyle. ░░ ░░ "I remember my first day on the way to elementary school, listening to ░░ [The Notorious B.I.G.'s] 'Ten Crack Commandments.' My dad didn't really ░░ mind that we listened to crazy lyrics," he says. "That's one of my most ░░ vivid memories. I had on the Barney book bag and a Fila sweatsuit, ░░ walking into class singing that song." ░░ ░░ The Paraplegics is Mez's most unapologetically personal work to date. His ░░ first mixtape, last year's LLTK (Long Live the King), was about proving ░░ his microphone skills to battle rap-hungry anticipators. ░░ ░░ "I just wanted to prove to people that I was good at rapping. I just ░░ recorded over some industry beats," he said. "I didn't know anything ░░ about blogs, Internet buzz. Luckily some of those songs were featured on ░░ some real big websites." ░░ ░░ That mixtape laid important groundwork for the more discerning and ░░ intimate Paraplegics. Thanks to a random MySpace friendship, Mez first ░░ collaborated with 24-year-old producer Commissioner Gordon, or Sam ░░ Pilard. Having just returned to North Carolina from music engineering ░░ school in Seattle, Pilard was in the early stages of a project with ░░ hip-hop legend Big Daddy Kane when Mez came home to Raleigh after ░░ finishing his sophomore year at N.C. A&T in Greensboro. The two began ░░ work on The Paraplegics, even using a rejected Big Daddy Kane beatùthe ░░ flute-laced backbone to the war-ready manifesto "Move"ùfor the album. ░░ ░░ The result's chief strength, then, is the exciting birth of two hip-hop ░░ rookies into a scene struggling to find a new identity that's neither ░░ anchored to 9th Wonder's boom-bap nor the state's Bible Belt bounce. ░░ Rather, it's an attempt to meld insightful lyricism with orchestral, ░░ asphalt funk, independent of everything in its vicinity. Maybe this ░░ collaboration proves to be a one-off, but it feels a lot like a starting ░░ point. ░░ ░░ "One of the most important things about rapping is the sound of the ░░ emcee's voice," Pilard says about Mez's scratchy, bass-filled ░░ enunciation. "You have to have a warm sound. Rap comes pretty natural ░░ with Mez. He has a certain easeùvery advanced and mature." ░░ ░░ Before he releases his debut solo album, Mez will finish two more ░░ collaborative projectsùfirst with Kooley High producer Sinopsis and then ░░ with DJ Prince. "I don't really want to release my first official album ░░ and have it be overlooked. That would really hurt my feelings," says Mez, ░░ chuckling slightly as if to suggest he's exaggerating or joking. But it's ░░ apparent that he's serious about avoiding publicity and performance ░░ pitfalls. ░░ ░░ Onstage at Five Star, Mez mixes the veteran work ethic of an old soul ░░ with youthful enthusiasm. He bounces around as if permanently affixed to ░░ a pogo stick, cheering on Commissioner Gordon as he works in some of his ░░ new beats from his drum machine. ░░ ░░ Afterward, Mez stands outside on the sidewalk, sporting a bright new pair ░░ of Ken Griffey Jr. sneakers, thanking everyone for coming to the show. ░░ ░░ "I got an encore ready, if they start yelling for one," he'd said at ░░ dinner. "I got some songs in the cut. If y'all want more, I got you." ░░ ░░ All tracks produced by Commissioner Gordon. ░░ ░░ Free on the web. 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