Xposure

Xposure (born Allen Antoine) is an African American rapper from New Iberia, Louisiana. He now resides in Houston where he serves as head of the nationally recognized hip hop faction Tha GMC andNuey Entertainmentan underground hip hop record label which is also home to rising hip hop lyricistLegend'''.

Early life

Xposure was born Allen Antoine in New Iberia, Louisiana. . He spent his adolescence in New Iberia honing his rap skills while balancing academics and athletics at New Iberia Senior High School. Upon his graduation he head down the road to Xavier University of Louisiana a historically African-American (HBCU) Roman Catholic University located in uptown New Orleans, Louisiana.

Early career

During his time at Xavier University Xposure met an array of students from all around the country who also shared his love for wrecking the mic. Amongst those students he hooked up with were rapper/producer L’Daialogue, rapper Sparkk, and rapper [...] Erv (known collectively as Da' Shopwreckahz) amongst others. Xposure then became a regular on the L'Dialogue produced: OvaGround UndaGround series. His appearance on the LP kicked off Xposure recording at a feverish pace appearing on everything from the ABD presents Urban Groovz Compilation to the controversial 504 Takeover (The day hell broke loose) mixtape hosted by southern rap producer O.T. and hip hop power broker Chris Foxx.

Life of Tha South

In 2004 Xposure entered the studio with O.T. the heralded producer and founder of the now defunct Effortless Entertainment imprint. The product of the recording sessions were the tracks that later became Life of Tha South; Xposure's ciritcally acclaimed debut mixtape offering. The mixtape featured the standout tracks "Southwest Louisiana". "Eva Since" and "Best Rapper Alive" featuring fellow young southern rap heavyweight K.Gate$. The success of Life of Tha South generated local and regional press across the south and calls for features and rumors of label talks spread like wildfire.

Tha GMC

After the success of Life of Tha South the partnership of Xposure and producer O.T. blossomed as they prepared for the mixtape opus' follow-up in late 2004. Knowing that with this follow-up project the stakes were getting higher, O.T. enlisted the services of celebrated A&R Chris Foxx to oversee the project. Along with his new A&R and his frequent collaborator's L'Dialogue and [...] Erv the early Life of Tha South 2 sessions seemingly went on for hours and produced material that displayed Xposure's growth as an artist. To keep his edge Foxx brought in lyrical menace Bugsy to collaborate with Tha South. The energy and camaraderie during the sessions led to the idea of a hip hop supergroup featuring the production of O.T., the lyrics of Xposure and Bugsy and the business savvy of Chris Foxx. L'Dialogue, [...] Erv and O.T.'s fellow Baton Rouge native Mr. Jai all joined and Tha GMC was officially established.

While the formation of Tha GMC had success written all over it the diverse collective soon realized that they would endure high publicized turmoil from within. In a publicized story an individual close to Tha GMC and a regular at studio sessions and functions shated their view of the source of early turmoil.

I Am Tha South

After his move west to Houston, Texas Xposure put off the release of Life of Tha South 2 due to conflict with his former collaborator O.T. over previously recorded tracks. With that move Xposure joined the ranks of Kraze Entertainment and began work on I Am Tha South. The timing of the recording process ultimately could not come at a worse time. As Xposure worked on his second official release, Hurricane Katrina; the costliest and the deadliest hurricane in the history of the United States ravaged the city of New Orleans where Xposure called home for nearly five years. His marketing and promotions director J. Harry was in Atlanta, his in house A&R Chris Foxx was in New York and his long time collaborators L'Dialogue and [...] Erv were also absent for the bulk of the recording time as they were in Los Angeles and Saginaw, Michigan respectively. Through it all Xposure formed a bond with engineer/rapper Lil A and rapper KenDro and the finished product though respectable failed to meet the standards set by fans of his debut smash Life of Tha South. The sophomore outing did however produce fan favorite;'s like: "Jazzy Chick" featuring MC Qua, "Down", and "From Tha South" feat. Lil A. Shortly after the release of I Am Tha South shady business dealings and broken agreements led to Xposure and his team applying pressure and his request to be released from Kraze Entertainment was granted.

Life of Tha South 2

In late 2006 a rejuvenated Xposure entered the studio with engineer Lil A and started laying down tracks for what would later become Life of Tha South 2 the long awaited sequel to the 2004 smash and the first solo release of Xposure's since 2005's I am Tha South. The twenty two track release offered fan favorites like: "Holdin it down", "Don't take it personal" and "This Game" featuring L'Dialogue. Rumors of a video circulating for the single "Don't take it personal" have run rampant but have garnered no comment from Xposure's camp. It is also to be noted that Xposure and Lil A have had no contact since the completion of this mixtape, citing creative differences.

Discography

• 2003: Undefined LP
• 2004: Life of Tha South
• 2005: I Am Tha South
• 2006: GMC Presents: Spot Free Pimpin'
• 2007: Life of Tha South 2
• 2007: Tha DarkRoom: Vol. 1

Appearances

• 2002-2004 OvaGround UndaGround Vols. 1 - 4
• 2003 ABD presents Urban Groovz Compilation
• 2004 Worldwide Ovaground/ Undefined II EP
• 2004 The Day Hell Broke Loose! - 504 Takeover
• 2004 Da' Shopwreckahz LP
• 2004 OvaGround UndaGround Vol.5 - The Exit Interview
• 2005 L’Daialogue presents - OvaGround Destiny
• 2005 Chris Foxx presents PowerMove
• 2005 “38127” The Album
• 2005 Chris Foxx presents Position of Power
• 2005 Lil A presents - Exit To Texas (Chopped/Screwed)
• 2006 Lil A presents Welcome To The Mind of Mine
• 2006 Opt “The Hustler” presents – One Nation
• 2007 Chris Foxx presents PowerMove II: THE NEW SEASON
• 2007 Young Fame Ear to the Street Vol. VIII
• 2007 Lil A – H-Town’s Finest
• 2007 KenDro - 250 LBS. of Dro
• 2007 L.P. – The Game’s Callin’ Vol. 2
• 2007 Street Legend – The Weight
• 2007 Chris Foxx presents Chairman of the Board ***

***-as yet unreleased

External links

• Official Xposure "Tha South" website
• Xposure at the The GMC website
• Xposure at Myspace.