Prof is an American rapper and songwriter from Minnesota, USA. Considered one of the top rap artists in the state. The peak of the artist's popularity came in 2007-2010 during his first albums.
Biography of the musician. Early Years
The artist's hometown is Minneapolis. The artist's childhood cannot be called simple. His father suffered from bipolar disorder, because of which there were constant quarrels and conflicts in the family. For the same reason, the rapper's mother divorced his father and moved with the three sisters of Jacob (real name of the musician).
As a teenager, Prof was already a creative person. However, he did not start with music. Jacob came up with (down to the smallest detail) the image of a certain comedic personality, which worked out in the company of his friends. As a result, he managed to create a separate character, in which he reincarnated in order to make others laugh.
The first performances of Prof and a fateful meeting
In the mid-2000s, he became interested in hip-hop. At 20, Jacob was already performing in local bars. Performances could not be called entirely musical. Most often, they were also fictional stand-up numbers (here Jacob already showed his talent received in childhood). Nevertheless, on one of these evenings, the future musician meets Mike Campbell. A little later, this person will become the main manager of the rapper.
After such an acquaintance and long-term cooperation, Jacob and Mike become the managers of Stophouse Music Group, a music label in their home state. The label also owned its own studio, where Prof subsequently recorded most of the material for his releases.
Debut and subsequent work of the artist
"Project Gampo" is the artist's first solo record, which turned out to be almost invisible. However, individual songs from it allowed the musician to get the first fans of his work. The second disc is "Recession Music", recorded in collaboration with St. Paul Slim in 2009 proved to be more successful. The newcomer was able to make himself known to a wide audience and go beyond his native state with his music.
The third album "King Gampo" became a sensation for the rapper. Recorded in a "comic" style (the artist skillfully combined rap with funny, sometimes vulgar stories), the release caused a real stir. Some called the young man a genius - for his voice and ability to make the audience laugh. Others, on the contrary, considered such a style to be bad taste and a mockery of the genre.
One way or another, the artist is quite firmly entrenched in his native state. In 2012, he was named one of the state's top performers. Here it is worth noting that he became almost the only Minnesota rapper whose popularity could go beyond the district. In addition, he was able to win his popularity with little or no support from the local central radio station - which is also a rarity.
In 2013, Minnesota hosted "Soundset" - a music festival with the invitation of stars of the first magnitude. However, an hour before the start it became known that Busta Rhymes would not bring his program to perform. Instead of Basta, Jacob entered the stage and performed a full program. This avoided the dissatisfaction of the fans, as the local listeners knew Prof well and accepted him complacently.
Label changes and hard work of the musician
Despite the fact that the third disc, released on Stophouse Music Group, was more successful than the previous two, Jacob decided to leave his label. He thought about releasing new releases with other companies. The choice fell on Rhymesayers Entertainment. The contract was signed in December 2013.
However, the fourth album was recorded for almost two years and was released only in 2015. The release of "Liability" turned out to be quite successful and even hit the Billboard chart, where it took 141 positions. Despite this, the musician again took a break and for three years did not tell his fans anything about the preparation of new material.
In 2018, the fifth solo disc "Bookie Baby" was released with minimal announcement. The record received mixed reviews from critics and proved to be much less noticeable than the previous two works. However, it was a breath of fresh air for the fans. The musician's popularity did not increase, but he maintained his position as one of the most popular rappers in Minnesota.
Prof has been releasing singles since 2018, and shooting videos for each of the outgoing works. This approach was appreciated by fans, so they willingly bought new items on music platforms. In the same year, he created the soundtrack for the TV series The Rookie. The song "Church" opened the second season of the TV show.
A year later, the artist presented the first single from the upcoming disc "Powderhorn Suites". The record was supposed to be released back in May, but the musician started having problems with the release label. In his opinion, the managers interfered too much into the issues of sound and semantic content of the disc. The result is a refusal to release on Rhymesayers. Jacob returned to his Stophouse Music Group again and released a release in the fall of that year.
It was the right decision - the disc reached position 36 on the Billboard 200. None of the rapper's albums reached such a result. In the winter of 2021, Prof announced on social networks that he was busy recording a new record right now. He promised to release it by the summer.
