Favorite Person..... well for today

Born in the city of León, Guanajuato on May 19, 1982, Ricardo Mireles......
Well just Wikipedia the rest. Cuz I didn't know that mofo back then.

But...

In 2004, while on the way to see the release of Napoleon Dynamite at the Irvine Spectrum, my boy P-Mac received a phone call from a former Univision recording artist, asking us to come to their studio in Chino, Ca. While I was super amped (not really) to see Napoleon Dynamite, we cancelled our plans to go to La Movida Records instead (mainly because P was promised that this could lead to him being featured on a major release).

And then...

When there, I heard countless times "Pro, you gotta meet my boy Ricardo. He has mad flow" (and apparently he was meeting us there). Being the cocky MC that I am, I was like "bring this chump cuz ain't nobody could rap like me." I think I probably said that verbatim.

And then...

The bastardo showed up. The homies introduced us and asked him to freestyle. I always hated when people asked me to rap on the spot as if I were some pull-my-string rapping puppet, but he did anyway. And dude was pretty fresh. I didn't know what the *beep* he was saying because it was all in Spanish, but I knew by his flow and confidence that he could rap.

And then...

We lost contact for a lil while but reconnected in 2005 and finished his first mixtape L.A. Redencion Vol. 1. Shortly thereafter we completed his first full release, Antidepresivo. With that we did some pretty serious touring (well for an underground act). I am so thankful that he allowed me to go and be his hypeman. IN SPANISH!

I'm super grateful for this. Not only did I learn a lot about performing vicariously though him, I learned a new language and was introduced to a new culture.

And then...

Well we've been family ever since. Family picnics. Holiday dinners. Shopping sprees at Amoeba. I get the honor of hanging out with his wife Yesly and playing Ninja Turtle and Cars with his son Yohsel Elijah.

And if you didn't know...

Ricardo Mireles aka Redencion (Redemption) is also the designer of all of our crew's (the Urban Poets Crew) merchandise. Dude is pretty fresh and very selfless. After a long day of work for a prestigious design firm in Pasadena, he still makes time for us. Designing our flyers, album covers, webpages, banners etc. into the wee hours of the night. All this for a thank you.

So...

I thank him. For all of his contributions to our careers in music, but most importantly for being my brotha.

Peep his music here www.myspace.com/redencion

Love and Respect,
Proto

PS. Don't battle this man if he has one sip of an alcoholic beverage. Trust me it won't be a good look. My boy gets too personal. You might get a "You're a baby MC. I feel bad when I beat ya. I remember in '06 when your chick got gonhorria." Not a true story by the way... but you get the point. If it were true. He'd say it.

Love you bro.