Mysonne

A notable alum of the New York mixtape circuit in the late '90s, Mysonne E. Linen was born and bred in one of hip-hop's hotbeds, the Bronx. Trying to escape the ills that arise with black inner-city life, he became a very skilled basketball player during high school and then briefly attended college in criminal justice; but his ardent passion for hip-hop lured him away from those two paths. Using his first name as his stage moniker, he met up with representatives from Wanna Blow Entertainment and joined their crew in 1997. After gracing many mixtapes with his lethal flow and entering several MC battles in the N.Y. scene, he signed to two important brands in the hip-hop industry: the Violator Management company and Def Jam Records. Gearing up for his Def Jam debut in 1999, he appeared on several projects, including the chart-topping albums Ryde or Die, Vol. 1 by the Ruff Ryders and Double Up by Mase. However, that same year he was convicted on two counts of armed robbery and handed a seven-to-14-year sentence, though he still has maintained his innocence. During that period, a member of his Wanna Blow crew, Jae Millz, remained vigilant in building the brand name and eventually wound up on Universal by the time Mysonne was released from prison in July 2006. The large amount of support he received from fans after his seven-year bid made him all the more eager to get back in the studio. ~ Cyril Cordor, Rovi