Vocab Slick’s roots in Hip-Hop stem from his teenage years spent rhyming in the northern Bay
Area of California. Like so many, he fell into a life of drugs, hustling and eventually doing stints
in jail.
He is also no stranger to tragedy and misfortune.
The young rapper, then known as Vocabulary Slick, turned things around, cleaned himself up
and transferred that energy into his music. Using that energy, in 2003, he not only released his
solo debut, Lyrically Conscious, but also formed the group Distant Relatives with his childhood
friend, Emotionall. Shortly thereafter, they were joined by rapper Maynee, and released their first
full-length album, For The Passion, in 2006.
The group was struck by misfortune not long after their debut dropped, when Emotionall was
detained and shockingly deported to Mexico. In the summer of 2013,his mother passed away and his daughter was born. Then in January of 2014, the unthinkable happened: his longtime friend and Distant Relatives partner, Maynee, died suddenly. Facing tragedy and pain, Vocab did the only thing he could do: he took that heartbreak and emotion,
and put it all into his art.
As the man said himself: “I took that pain and poured it into my music.”
He is using that pain and has been on a streak ever since.
In 2015, Vocab Slick co-founded the Slap Frost Tour alongside DJ True Justice and Z-Man.
The tour, recently wrapping up its 8th run, proved to be an immense success. It has grown into an annual tradition, each year adding bigger lineups and extending dates with performances from underground heavyweights Locksmith, Paris, Planet Asia and Chino XL.
Vocab’s hard work and grind is never ceasing, recently gracing the stage at The West Coast
Function Festival in April. Fresh off of the Slap Frost Tour, Vocab will be sliding into another festival performance, opening up for Mostafa on his NVMND Tour. You can count on Vocab Slick with his DJ True Justice spitting lyrics, tearing up stages, pleasing crowds and making promoters happy.
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