~ RICH PAGE ~

BIOGRAPHY...

Born Richard Pennycooke in Westmoreland, Jamaica in 1981, Mr. Rich always had a talent for music. Growing up with strong influences in the Dancehall industry, at an early age he began to learn and adapt to the ever changing vibe of Dancehall. He grew up in Hertford, Westmoreland, better known as the home of "The Mighty Turbo Phonic" who was once the #1 sound in Jamaica. Being the younger cousin of the Turbo Phonic family, he always listened and learned from his older cousins; Fat Kat, Bronco Billy, Freddy Gorgon, Wynter Fresh, Ray Menton (Venom), Arrif Cooper (Fame FM) to name a few.

"I've been surrounded by Dancehall all my life, it's almost like I was born for it." At first Mr. Rich took a liking towards being a DJ. Watching Turbo Phonic rise to the top from nothing was the greatest inspiration for him, and when the sound fell, instead of letting it deter him it actually gave him a stronger drive to do his best in the Dancehall scene.

After moving to Canada at an early age, Mr. Rich quickly began to develop his personal style of DJing, and soon became a well know for his remarkable Mix CDs in the Sweet Seduction Volumes. His talent behind a mixing board is what led him to realize he could produce songs just as good as or better than most songs he heard. "People use to always tell me I was the greatest mixer they ever heard… I always used to laugh and tell them 'nah,' some one has to be better than me."

Mr. Rich always knew he could write songs, and would write some every so often, but never really took it as a carrier. He performed at various talent shows, clubs, and stage shows, but it wasn't until he met up with his old high school friends that he decided he get back into the writing game by writing and producing for TN1 Universal. Now that he was taking it more serious than ever, he realized that he had a real talent for writing songs, but still never actually recorded a song. In Oct 2003, after noticing that members of TN1 were prioritizing other things over music, Mr. Rich finally decided to take his chances recording a song. The first two songs he recorded were dismal, as he had not yet found his actual 'studio' voice. But on his third attempt, his first 'radio ready' song was completed "Hot Like Fyah".

It wasn't long after that Mr. Rich realized he had a real talent for producing his own songs. After experimenting with various styles of writing and singing, he thought it best to have no 'set style' of writing or singing, but rather be as versatile as possible. He began to produce his first Album under the TN1 Universal Label called "The Entrance". The album included instant hits such as "One Night Stand", "Frodo", "Safer Sex" and "Wuk Out Di Gal". The Entrance received such great response that Mr. Rich immediately began laying out the frame work for his preceding album "Bringing It Back To Basics" - to be released summer 2004.

After recording more hit tracks such as "Gonna Get War", "Dis Dick Right Here", "Work Di Gal Dem", "You Wanna Be" and "I Push You Push", to name a few, Mr. Rich found a new love for the microphone and developed his own personal style - 'Universal versatility', as he calls it. "I'm not trying to be like every other Artist out there, I'm striving to be everything they are not, but have the potential to be. A lot of them don't realize their own personal potential." Realizing he has grown as much as he could with TN1, Mr. Rich as now decide to pursue his own carrier in music as a solo artist, and hopes to take Dancehall to a different level. "I have some things planned for Dancehall, big things!"

Living in Canada for most of his life has allowed Mr. Rich to truly sing about the North-American life, with a Yard style. "I'm not mixing Hip-Hop with Dancehall or even trying to. I'm keeping it dancehall, but singing about North-American topics." He uses an example from his song "Gonna Get War", "In the second verse, when I'm talking about experience with Police and Feds and disappearing when I hear sirens, that's not a Jamaican lifestyle, it's North-American. Unfortunately a lot of cities are so prone with violence that as a young black male you have to have a sixth sense for 'Police presence', and know situations or instances that Police will try to incriminate you into - i.e. time to disappear.

"I have major things planned for 2005 - some serious ish." And with those words only time will tell what in industry has in store for Mr. Rich, and what he has in store for the industry.

For info or for dubplates from Mr. Rich, you can contact info@mrrich.net or u can call 1-289-314.3636.

Also, check out www.mrrich.net!

AUDIO SAMPLES

Here are some of Mr. Rich's samples available for download:

• MR. RICH ~ 9 MM (Embassy Xxxxclusive)
• MR. RICH ~ DEM A FIGHT WE HARD

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