What do you get when you cross Slaughterhouse, G Unit and Wu Tang clan? A whole lot of attitude and a whole lot of dope rhymes. Newcomers to the game but making some serious strides in a short period of time, Ivy league Alumni took the NYC ‘Get Your Buzz Up’ industry experience by storm in Dec 2011 and won first place in front of a full crowd and industry panel. Rockwilder, Grammy winning, Mega Platinum Producer for Jay-Z, 50 Cent & more, scored them all 10′s. Poised with an upcoming 5 Song EP and winning a trip to Miami to perform along with an array of exposure driven opportunities, you will be hearing more from Ivy League Alumni in months to come.

Ivy League Alumni, how are things fam? you have been busy as of late, what are you currently working on?

Everything’s good bro. Yeah we’ve been really busy lately, thank God. After winning the iStandard showcase the work for us has been piling up. We’ve been doing a lot of interviews & we’ve been recording for our EP that’s coming out soon, we also have photoshoots to get done & internet outlets we have to capitalize on so yeah we have a lot of things on our plate.

On the come up who influenced you musically?

We have a bunch of different artists that influence us musically. If we had to narrow it down to like 5 we’d say Outkast, Michael, Jimmy Hendrix, Slaughterhouse & Run DMC. Not only were they innovators creatively, a lot of them also show us how to make the group dynamic work. For us that’s invaluable.

When did you know that being an emcee is what you wanted to do?

We’ve always known. I think all of us have been doing this rap thing for as long as we can remember but us coming coming together to make music collectively is what really pushed us to do this thing for real. We finally had a product that was good & different from anything else out so we figure this is our time to do it.

Describe your sound?

Entertaining. That’s what it comes down to. When you listen to our music the one thing you can bank on is the fact that you’re gonna be entertained. We’re a 3 man group of very diffent & unique rappers so every song we record is gonna have a variety of content like you’ve never heard. We’re not big on comparisons because we do feel as if there hasn’t been a group like us out yet but for the sake of argument think Slaughterhouse meets Outkast with some Run DMC cool & a little bit of that G-Unit NY attitude.

What’s your creative approach like when getting ready to work on a new project?

Its hard to pin point a specific approach in the way we create music. Its mostly just vibe to be honest. The 3 of us sit together to pick out beats & come up with concepts. Its really a group effort all around. We’re all versatile artists and can really get on anything thrown our way. Our main thing is how can we be different? How can we continue to entertain? Questions like those are very important to our creative process.

Congrats on winning ‘Get Your Buzz Up’ talk about that experience as a whole and how that is helping your career and exposure level?

Thanks bro. The experience was incredible. We performed against a lot of great talent & the fact that we came out a winner is definitely by the grace of God. We were known locally on Long Island but after working with iStandard our exposure level just jumped. They are opening doors that we’ve been trying to get open ourselves for a long time so we want to thank them for that. Now that the opportunity is here it’s up to us to make the best of it..

Is there any specific artists or producers you would like to collab with in the future?

Yeah definitely. We’d like to work with artists like Kesha & B.O.B., Kanye, Bruno, Joe Budden, Ryan Leslie, Keri Hilson, Rihanna, Drake, Chris Brown, the list can go on forever. We just want to make good music & if you can make good music with us then let’s get up. Speaking of Good Music, Kanye what’s good? Whoa dere.

What next on the agenda?

Miami here we come! Right now we’re just recording for our EP & doing all of this promo stuff & then getting ready to go out to Miami & tear the stage down at the next iStandard show. We’re gonna be out there so keep an eye out for the League.

Where can we find you online?

You can find us on facebook, twitter, myspace, reverb nation & youtube. All at /theleague_music

Any last shouts or plugs?

Yes. Shout out to J Hatch, the man responsible for our work load for the next few weeks. Shout out to our producer K Quick, that man is a genius. Shout out to all of our fans and supporters, without you guys we’re nothing & we want to continue to make good music for you. & Shout out to the League! Its a movement man you guys need to come join us. We appreciate our team & all that they do for us.

TMZ reports that they spoke with police officers who discovered Cornelius’ body at 4 a.m. PST (or 7 a.m. EST) and he had a self-inclicted gun-shot wound to the head. The site also reports that he had been sufferring from significant health issues, including a stroke and a condition that required brain surgery.

We’ll update this post with more information if and when it becomes available.

Reprinted from Prefix Magazine

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http://hoodgrownonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/02-Yesterday-new-version.mp3

01. BEENIE MAN – ME GOT DA KEY
02. CRIS CAB, MAVADO & WYCLEF – RIHANNA’S GUN
03. VYBZ KARTEL – LICKY
04. ELEPHANT MAN – GAL SETTINGS
05. BEENIE MAN – GIRLS
06. BOUNTY KILLER – THINE WILL BE DONE
07. VYBZ KARTEL – ME A PREE
08. JUNIOR REID – LIE DEM A TELL
09. ELEPHANT MAN – SHOW THEM HOW FI DANCE
10. WAYNE MARSHALL & BOUNTY KILLER – BE ON THE ALERT
11. MAVADO FT. CHI CHING CHING – SETTLE DOWN PT.2
12. AIDONA – ANYWEH AT ALL
13. POPCAAN – NUH SELL OUT
14. KHAGO – HAT HEAD
15. TEFLON – NAH TEK NUH TALK
16. T’NEZ – YARDIE
17. TWIN OF TWIN – LUCKY BOY ( MATTERHORN DISS )
18. I-OCYANE & CHAIN DIZZY – TIL KINGDOM COME
19. POPCAAN – SO BAD (REMIX)
20. CHRIS MARTIN – LINK PON YUH FREN

LISTEN/DOWNLOAD

What’s up Khleo, for those new to the name let everyone know who you are and what you do.

Whats up, Im Khleo. The dude you might have seen on your TV, the movie screen, or on stage performing. Living Slick.

You started out as a child actor in blockbuster movies like ‘Holes’, ‘Walking Tall’ and ‘Hurricane Season’, what did you learn from these experiences and how do you feel it helps you as an artist?

Practice makes perfect in both. Just how you work on becoming a better writer, and a better lyricist, and a better artist, you work on your lines for a scene over & over again until you feel its at its best.

Why the transition from actor to artist? What are new challenges?

Its not really a transition for me. Ive been doing music since even before I did Holes. I also wrote the theme song for the movie. So I burst on to the scene actually doing both.

You have been on a few major tours early in your career, how were those experiences and what do you feel the crowd should take away from your performances?

Being on the Scream Tour & the Up Close & Personal tour were amazing learning experiences. I bring nothing but energy to the stage. I want the crowd to look up there and really be rocking with me as im rocking with them. If I can get the crowed to participate, im doing it just as i planned.

You are somewhat of an online phenomenon , your social media #’s are through the roof, #teamkhleo is hard at work, why do you think people want to know more about you and your movement?

I believe people relate to me & my movement because its just whats been missing. Ive created such a strong following because I relate to my fans. Ive released songs that most of my fans have either gone through or look at them as advice. I continue to interact with my fans on twitter non-stop every day. They get to watch my recording process in the studio via Ustream. They see all of me, and appreciate the realness.

Lets talk about ‘Slick Livin’, how has the response been since released, and what can the listeners expect to experience?

The response has been incredible. Ive had people hit me up and ask me why did you give away that for free ?. It was a free album & a gift for my fans who had been waiting on another full project from me. The listeners can expect to hear the Khleo they love just better. Im getting better and perfecting every little thing.

The ‘Slick’ video is dope, over 45k hits I see, whats the concept of the song and what did you set out to do visually to add to the records impact?

Thank you, I appreciate that. The concept was to show me in a day in the life. Slick Living in LA. All the hot spots of getting fresh, beautiful girl just showing how I do things.

You have your own clothing line FRK apparel, describe the line and how it represents you as an individual.

FRK which actually stands for FREAK is about bringing that new look to the people who’ve been waiting for something different. FRK is me. I am a freak. In every sense of the word.

You also have recently been endorsed by Beats by Dre Headphones & Adidas, why are brands starting to flock to you in efforts to associate your name with theirs?

I believe its because they see that the fan base is growing and has been for some time. They see that ive secured something that most artist are still trying to build. Im blessed for that.

Whats next for Khleo?

Break down the walls to let the people know that ive been doing this. I got a team who believes in me 100 percent and we are gonna continue to work hard and make 2012 belong to #TeamKhleo.

Where can we find you online?

Twitter.com/Khleo_T
Facebook.com/KhleoThomas
Youtube.com/Khleology
KhleoThomas.com

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