SHOW STOPPER In a climate of entertainment where sub-par performances were praised, true art got lost in the shuffle. Hype overrode substance and the message got blurred with every look. As a new scene arose from the underground, the originators got overshadowed by the mass influx of followers. The new show was the talk of the town, the audience sat in awe as actors recited lines from their scripts. Performances were just that- a performance. Lights came on, crowd got up, Curtains came down, show was over.
Hailing from Brooklyn, New York, Curtains is not your typical "rapper". As he tells it "I don't fit the typical rapper mode, I defy that whole stereotype. My style, my mind, my message, my music, I sit on a cloud only few can vision. I was never part of the in crowd, I made my own scene- the crowd wanted to be part of me. I am a walking enigma, I speak in colors and my music is the paint that I splash on the world. I will leave my mark".
An innovator and never one to follow the pack, Curtains began his quest for stardom by bypassing the machine known as the industry and taking it straight to the people. "Even though I had a record deal, I never followed typical industry protocol. Before the internet rapper boom, I used the 'net and the power of forums to get my music out. I embraced file sharing, I leaked my records, I built my website and frequented the message boards and chat rooms, dealing directly with the people. This strategy backfired on me because of its rebelliousness. The record company never understood the following, radio spins never reflected the buzz. They didn't get my mode, therefore I got stuck in a situation preventing me from progressing with my music".
After 4 critically acclaimed mixtapes, ("Young Brooklyn vol. 2" making its way to MTV's infamous mixtape mondays), a healthy buzz on the internet, a string of touring ( Curtains was personally requested to be the opening act for 50 Cent and the G-Unit on the Funkmaster Flex Car Show Tour), and many rumors of ghostwriting for some of Hip-Hop's heavyweights (though he refuses to confirm or deny), Curtains could still not convince the label that his album was worthy of a release.
Looking for a change, Curtains moved out of New York and relocate to Los Angeles. After a brief unsuccessful stint on actor/singer/mogul Tyrese Gibson's Headquarter Ent., Curtains decided to quit making music. "I had to stop, I was driving myself crazy. No one understood my motives. I felt alone in a battle against the world. I got tired of people telling me what I needed to be, what I needed to look like, what I needed to sound like, where I need to be going. I was gonna go insane trying to convince a record company that I actually knew what I was talking about". Making ends meet by getting 2 9-5 jobs, one as a salesman at a retail store, and the other as marketing director at an independent label. "I started to see all my hard work pay off in other peoples favor. I would see artists I schooled on the way up, successfully taking my guidance and making it work for them. I saw people take my whole style and run with it. It was bitter sweet. Sweet in the sense that I was now able to show people that I knew all along what I've been ranting and raving about for years, bitter in the fact that it wasn't me out there shining off of my blood, sweat and tears".
It would be the success of two former acquaintances that would give Curtains the spark to reclaim his love for music. "One day Lupe Fiasco walks into my store to shop and looks at me hella strange, almost shocked to see me in there working. We've been friends since I was in high school. We both respected each others creativity and diversity. We would talk about the future and changing the game, and here he was, grammy nominated, living his dream". Listening to "The Cool" got me back in love with doing music, and just reconnecting with him was enough push to pursue it one more time. The other inspiration came in the form of Kanye West. "I used to work at Roc-A-Fella Records back when I was in high school, I remember dude first getting signed, he rapped real good, make incredible music and he dressed incredibly well- almost too good for a rapper. I admired him from afar and followed his career. Somewhere along the line, he was multi-platinum and I was on the come up, we connected with a mutual respect for each others style (Kanye going as far as calling Curtains a "Fashion Genius" in the May 2007 issue of Complex Magazine). He was another customer at the store i worked and he gave me tickets to the Glow in The Dark concert. That show changed my life. I was fully ready to come back and reclaim my spot in the game".
Armed with a new outlook, new inspiration and a new hunger, Curtains is on his way to show the world the superstar he's always been. Signed to his own company High Society Life Co. Curtains took the game in his own hands and flipped the script on the industry. "Sales are down because everything sucks. People aint making incredible shit anymore, I see more followers than leaders, more conformists than creators, the art of the superstar is gone, the fly shit has become a fad, somebody now has got to make a statement".
His debut album "A Beautiful Mind" is ready to be unleashed, but first he will give the world his audio mini-series "The Great Adventures of Dope Boy C". "I'm a modern day Keith Haring. I took what they didn't want us to have and I brought it to the people, I rebelled and I gave em the light. I am my art, the picture's been painted, pop art in the flesh. I am a modern masterpiece. I want to share with you my beautiful mind".
Brooklyn Artist Curtains with his newest video "Letter To The People" Check it out
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