When people think of a Los Angeles rapper, they expect the typical Dickie’s and Chucks, gang affiliation and aggressive flow. They prepare to suffer through the stereotypical uncreative songs with little emotion or lyrical diversity. But things have changed, there has been a musical revolution on the left coast, pioneered by the teenager known as “Mann”. Welcome to the new generation.
Mann, born as Dijon Shariff Thames-Williams, was born July 17, 1991, during the height of the West Coast Gangster rap era. Raised by a single mother he was a very smart child with tons of personality. “No matter where we were he always stole all the attention” she says. His mom kept him as far away from the LA street scene as she could by nurturing his natural love for the arts. At the age of five Dijon began going out on auditions for television, commercial and film roles. He eventually booked small spots on “Married with Children” and “Ghosts of Mississippi”. He then joined the acting institute Amazing Grace Conservatory (AGC) where he led multiple theater performances. Being creative and staying out of trouble was not always easy growing up in LA. During his middle school years, he was the victim of ridicule because he wasn’t perceived as the toughest kid. He was short in stature, sported long braids and never had an altercation in his life. He was considered a punk “Yeah man, I got called a bunch of different names because I wasn’t a fighter, I was a lover”. Mann laughs as he recalls, “I was a woman’s mann, I ain’t kick it with the dudes, all I wanted to do was be around girls. But the names start getting to me, so I had to prove myself”.
Now this is the part of Mann’s life where the stereotypical Los Angeles narative comes in to play and he started fighting with kids at his school. He was defending his reputation when he got the nickname “Mighty Mouse” because he was fighting the toughest people and was actually beating them up. This attracted the wrong crowd and he began hanging out with kids that were being associated as Crips but Mann was never “put on”. “I knew my boundaries” says Mann “I knew how far I could let myself go. I ran the streets here and there, I fought with people, but I was NOT going to be in a gang, they was the homies though.”
While Mann was still involved with the street life, he realized that it wasn’t the life for him “My homie tried to get me to carry a gun and I knew I had to change my environment”. Mann then enrolled in Hamilton High School and started making friends with musical and creative aspirations. “I knew once I started making friends who loved to make music and making music myself that being in the streets ain’t the right way to handle your business”. He quickly drifted away from the streets and began to go hard with his music. Mann began to really take it serious and he formed a group by the name of La Boyz with his friends from AGC, Duck and Chettah. Duck quit, leaving it to be Dueces Wild with Mann and Chettah. At the end of 2006, when Mann was only 14, they both became solo artists on the newly formed “Official Ent.” Label created by Mann and his friends Hopp and E.Swagg. “Official Ent” is still together and consists of Mann, The Fly Guys, Chettah, Elan Isaiah, K.W.E.S.T.
Making songs primarily with their in house producers “Lambert” he and Official Ent. produced 3 mixtapes in 2007 titled “We Freakin Tyte Vol. 1”, “Official In The House Vol. 1” and “Official In The House Vol. 2”. With the buzz built from these mixtapes Mann was able to pursue his true passion, performing. He landed opening spots for notable west coast artists J. Rock, Pharoah Monch, Glasses Malone, DJ Quick and The Game. Even with these performances it was hard to get a big enough buzz for a label to come and find him, which he thought would take years, but he was wrong.
One night, while being a featured artist at a Fly Guy Show, he was approached by talent agent Jamie Adler “I was at this show when this kid comes out looking cooler than everyone and the girls went crazy, I thought I have to meet him”. Jamie told Mann to go home and write a hit and that he would take care of the rest. Mann went home and recorded three songs, the one he loved the most was named “Jerkin”. Jerkin is an LA movement, phrase and dance. The term “Jerkin” means “crackin” or “fun”.
“Jerkin” came out great but JR had another song that he had made with Sean Kingston called “Ghetto Girl” and he asked Mann to take the track. “I didn’t know what was going on” says Mann “all I knew was that these men got my music and were making moves, so I said im’ma just roll with it”. With the song done Beluga Heights presented Mann to Epic and he was signed within 2 months to a singles deal. They released “Ghetto Girl” but due to radio politics and a lack of support from the label the song didn’t receive the success it deserved. “They released my song and “There’s Nothing” by Sean at the same time and it didn’t work out, but there is no love lost, things happen for a reason” says Mann. Eventually Mann left epic but continued working hard and making music. Then, in August of 2008, Mann met with David Massey president of the newly re-formed legendary Jazz label Mercury Records now a part of Island Def Jam Music Group. Mann recalls “I met Dave in his hotel and the cd player barely worked but I performed my songs anyway and he was blown away”. A few weeks later Mann, along w/ his Hype Man Mojo and DJ Cassanova, flew to New York and performed for David and the Def Jam staff. After that performance David knew he was on to something and asked Mann to stay over the weekend and perform one more time for Island Def Jam CEO L.A. Reid. On Monday, August 25th, Mann performed for L.A. Reid and that night was offered an album deal with Mercury/ Island Def Jam. He is the first rapper signed to Mercury Records since Kurtis Blow. Mann is now working on his debut album “Mann’s World” which is set to drop early 2009. Of the album Mann states “this album is going to be a mixture between Chronic 2001 and Graduation, I want nothing less than perfection”.
When people think of a Los Angeles rapper, they expect the typical Dickie’s and Chucks, gang affiliation and aggressive flow. They prepare to suffer through the stereotypical uncreative songs with little emotion or lyrical diversity. But things have changed, there has been a musical revolution on the left coast, pioneered by the teenager known as “Mann”. Welcome to the new generation.
Mann, born as Dijon Shariff Thames-Williams, was born July 17, 1991, during the height of the West Coast Gangster rap era. Raised by a single mother he was a very smart child with tons of personality. “No matter where we were he always stole all the attention” she says. His mom kept him as far away from the LA street scene as she could by nurturing his natural love for the arts. At the age of five Dijon began going out on auditions for television, commercial and film roles. He eventually booked small spots on “Married with Children” and “Ghosts of Mississippi”. He then joined the acting institute Amazing Grace Conservatory (AGC) where he led multiple theater performances. Being creative and staying out of trouble was not always easy growing up in LA. During his middle school years, he was the victim of ridicule because he wasn’t perceived as the toughest kid. He was short in stature, sported long braids and never had an altercation in his life. He was considered a punk “Yeah man, I got called a bunch of different names because I wasn’t a fighter, I was a lover”. Mann laughs as he recalls, “I was a woman’s mann, I ain’t kick it with the dudes, all I wanted to do was be around girls. But the names start getting to me, so I had to prove myself”.
Now this is the part of Mann’s life where the stereotypical Los Angeles narative comes in to play and he started fighting with kids at his school. He was defending his reputation when he got the nickname “Mighty Mouse” because he was fighting the toughest people and was actually beating them up. This attracted the wrong crowd and he began hanging out with kids that were being associated as Crips but Mann was never “put on”. “I knew my boundaries” says Mann “I knew how far I could let myself go. I ran the streets here and there, I fought with people, but I was NOT going to be in a gang, they was the homies though.”
While Mann was still involved with the street life, he realized that it wasn’t the life for him “My homie tried to get me to carry a gun and I knew I had to change my environment”. Mann then enrolled in Hamilton High School and started making friends with musical and creative aspirations. “I knew once I started making friends who loved to make music and making music myself that being in the streets ain’t the right way to handle your business”. He quickly drifted away from the streets and began to go hard with his music. Mann began to really take it serious and he formed a group by the name of La Boyz with his friends from AGC, Duck and Chettah. Duck quit, leaving it to be Dueces Wild with Mann and Chettah. At the end of 2006, when Mann was only 14, they both became solo artists on the newly formed “Official Ent.” Label created by Mann and his friends Hopp and E.Swagg. “Official Ent” is still together and consists of Mann, The Fly Guys, Chettah, Elan Isaiah, K.W.E.S.T.
Making songs primarily with their in house producers “Lambert” he and Official Ent. produced 3 mixtapes in 2007 titled “We Freakin Tyte Vol. 1”, “Official In The House Vol. 1” and “Official In The House Vol. 2”. With the buzz built from these mixtapes Mann was able to pursue his true passion, performing. He landed opening spots for notable west coast artists J. Rock, Pharoah Monch, Glasses Malone, DJ Quick and The Game. Even with these performances it was hard to get a big enough buzz for a label to come and find him, which he thought would take years, but he was wrong.
One night, while being a featured artist at a Fly Guy Show, he was approached by talent agent Jamie Adler “I was at this show when this kid comes out looking cooler than everyone and the girls went crazy, I thought I have to meet him”. Jamie told Mann to go home and write a hit and that he would take care of the rest. Mann went home and recorded three songs, the one he loved the most was named “Jerkin”. Jerkin is an LA movement, phrase and dance. The term “Jerkin” means “crackin” or “fun”.
“Jerkin” came out great but JR had another song that he had made with Sean Kingston called “Ghetto Girl” and he asked Mann to take the track. “I didn’t know what was going on” says Mann “all I knew was that these men got my music and were making moves, so I said im’ma just roll with it”. With the song done Beluga Heights presented Mann to Epic and he was signed within 2 months to a singles deal. They released “Ghetto Girl” but due to radio politics and a lack of support from the label the song didn’t receive the success it deserved. “They released my song and “There’s Nothing” by Sean at the same time and it didn’t work out, but there is no love lost, things happen for a reason” says Mann. Eventually Mann left epic but continued working hard and making music. Then, in August of 2008, Mann met with David Massey president of the newly re-formed legendary Jazz label Mercury Records now a part of Island Def Jam Music Group. Mann recalls “I met Dave in his hotel and the cd player barely worked but I performed my songs anyway and he was blown away”. A few weeks later Mann, along w/ his Hype Man Mojo and DJ Cassanova, flew to New York and performed for David and the Def Jam staff. After that performance David knew he was on to something and asked Mann to stay over the weekend and perform one more time for Island Def Jam CEO L.A. Reid. On Monday, August 25th, Mann performed for L.A. Reid and that night was offered an album deal with Mercury/ Island Def Jam. He is the first rapper signed to Mercury Records since Kurtis Blow. Mann is now working on his debut album “Mann’s World” which is set to drop early 2009. Of the album Mann states “this album is going to be a mixture between Chronic 2001 and Graduation, I want nothing less than perfection”.
