Every now and then, in Hip Hop, you run across a diamond in the ruff. What's even more rare than discovering such an amazing find, is when you unearth an artist that's already polished and poised to take the game on mic first. This week's Limelight Ready Spotlight showcases New York urban griot Priest. Born and raised in Detroit Michigan this solid wordsmith has been honing his skills since the age of 13. This fact is definitely apparent in his music as well. With a uncanny ability to craft a vivid story that tosses you into the scene as if you witnessed it first hand, his socially conscious narratives bring about thoughts of Nas and Buckshot all rolled into a reincarnation of sorts that screams to the inner city to unhand the youth and raise the awareness elders. Growing up in Detroit, Priest witnessed the city deteriorate and upon deciding to move to NY he stated, "It's not that I don't love Detroit, I just love it for what it was, for what it means historically. Detroit got worse and worse, really. It's a empty, hollowed-out version of itself. I was in a position where I couldn't survive or pursue to music, and I had the opportunity so I left." Not too many people these days step out on faith and actively pursue their dreams in a city that's foreign to them, but it seems that Priest is prospering and absorbing all that is NY and applying that directly to his music. His bio on the popular music sharing site, Soundcloud.com, states that he draws a large amount of his inspiration lyrically from Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye, so his ability to incorporate urban commentary and social dialogue doesn't come as much of a surprise. The surprise comes when you witness how he incorporates that content into his music while never taking anything away from the complexity of his spit, which he describes as "multi-layered, multi-rhythmic, multi-syllabic". I would say that this is the perfect description of his work and just enough of an interesting phrase to lure you into checking out his work. Priest is on the come up and has the potential to go far in the game due to the fact that nothing is sacrificed when it comes to his work. I'm looking forward to witnessing his growth and transition and will be proud to say that BILHH was the first site to help push this budding star to the forefront. Check out his work for yourself after the jump, I guarantee you won't be disappointed. Until next week y'all...Jones out!
