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MR. HOLLOWAY
“90008 BLOCK”
CRENSHAW BLVD.
Mr. Holloway is a Los Angeles based entertainer, businessman, and visionary. He was born in Hollywood hospital, and raised in the 90008 zip code of the Crenshaw district. Los Angeles is truly his home.
Mr. Holloway grew up on 99th and Hoover in South Central LA. He was sent there at an early age to live with his grandparents when things got tough at home for his mother. Holloway has 5 brothers and 1 sister.
His father was a gangsta. “I was around during the transformation of The Black Panthers to Street Politicians” is how his father explains the time. Doing what gangstas do, pops had women in every hood. This led to Mr. Holloway’s brothers being from different hoods, 2 Bloods, 2 Crips. This also meant Mr. Holloway was close but distant with his brothers.
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Growing up, Mr. Holloway was considered the youngest of the brothers because the true youngest was away from the family. Being 5 years younger gave him room to observe gang life through his brothers. His oldest brother has been shot 7 times. He has a brother that went to jail for murder at the age of 16. He’s 37 now. His two other brothers have been in and out of jail their entire lives. Even having witnessed these things, Mr. Holloway was unable to escape the grasp of street life. He started off tagging (writing on walls), but when he got to high school things got serious.
In Los Angeles, all of the high schools have different crews. The crews are basically mini-gangs that do the same type of things the neighborhood crews do. Seeing how active these kids were, the O.G.s started putting them on their gangs. If you refused you had beef. His father saw Mr. Holloway taking the wrong route and tried to steer his son onto the right path. Mr. Holloway’s family moved to a new neighborhood, but every hood has gangs. Mr. Holloway was put on the neighborhood gang in his new hood and started building his reputation in the streets.
During this time his father started working for N5, a major promoter in Los Angeles. One of his brothers was doing street teamwork for Ice-T. Mr. Holloway began looking for his way into the music scene and found it through a karaoke machine and some instrumentals. One of his homeboys who could flow started teaching a young Holloway to rap. The duo started a group and started making tapes for the hood. As things were looking good, another opportunity came and put the rap game on hold. He was asked to join Thug Life on the road and do promotions. He couldn’t say no.
When he returned from the road trip, Mr. Holloway set up shop. He was hustling out of a local barbershop on Crenshaw. He developed his style and began selling CD’s in the neighborhood. The Crenshaw area was the perfect location for Mr. Holloway to start his career. The area is neutral for the most part, meaning Crips and Bloods hang there in peace. It’s also the place where everybody comes to be seen and show what they got. The low-riders ride while the gangstas, hustlers, and pimps hang out. It can be dangerous, but it’s fun.
It’s crazy in the hood but it’s the only life we know. If you’re not rapping or balling you’re banging or hustling. Mr. Holloway has seen over 20 family members and friends die or go to jail. Instead of following the homies, Mr. Holloway decided to rep his entire area. That means he represents all hoods, Bloods and Crips, in the Crenshaw District 90008.
Mr. Holloway first got into the music business professionally at the age of 18. He recorded music with the homies and the hood, for the homies in the hood. Making a lot out of a little, Mr. Holloway was able to parlay connections to Ice-T into time at the best studios. He was also able to stay active in the music business by doing promotions and street teamwork for Thug Life (Tupac’s group). Never limiting himself enabled Mr. Holloway to expand into the fields of acting and modeling. He has appeared in a commercial for Subaru, the movie Baby Boy, the television show CSI: Miami, and countless music videos. He has modeled in the Magic Johnson Fashion show, and appeared in print ads in XXL, Japan Lowrider Magazine, and Honey. He also works for artist such as Xzibit (Pimp My Ride) and Kurupt (Tha Dogg Pound) as a personal barber.
Mr. Holloway has also worked with Ice Cube, Mack 10, WC, Kurupt, Roscoe, Jellyroll, Sir Jinx, Terrace Martin, Jake and the Phat Man and many more underground West Coast artists. He has been featured on the Westside Connection album (Title) and Cali Untouchables mixtape. Having seen potential deals with Avator Records, Ruthless Records, and Xzibit fail to materialize; Mr. Holloway’s passion for delivering his music to the world has grown stronger.
After changing groups several times, and working with some of the biggest names in the West Coast rap game, Mr. Holloway was able to formulate his plan of change within West Coast music. A stay in the hospital is credited with helping the plan come together.
Mr. Holloway was rushed to the emergency room after a show with Xzibit. They left The House of Blues but Mr. Holloway was driving in his own car, following the rest of the group. He began to feel sick, and pulled off of the freeway to rest. He began to drive again, making it to the after party spot, but started to vomit blood. He lost so much blood that he was too weak to drive. A friend helped drive him home although Mr. Holloway doesn’t remember. He had blacked out from losing blood. He was taken to the emergency room and found out that besides losing blood, his blood pressure was below 40. A lot of questions were asked by the doctors forcing Mr. Holloway to admit to an Ecstasy addiction and a drinking problem. His diet was also an issue, and it was also determined that he had suffered from insomnia since childhood. After signing a consent form to be put to sleep, there was a 70/30 chance of him waking up; cameras were used to locate the blood clot in Mr. Holloway’s stomach. Blood had to be drained from his stomach but overall the procedure was a success.
Mr. Holloway has lived a very fast paced life. Parties, Parties, Parties. He was caught up in the Hollywood nightlife scene. As a result, he almost died. This has changed his life. Mr. Holloway is trying to do good with his talent for his family and himself.
Mr. Holloway’s plan is to unify his district and others through rap music. Working as a solo artist now, Mr. Holloway’s hustle and business sense gives him an edge in Hip Hop music. Representing the Crenshaw District and the West Coast, Mr. Holloway is someone to look out for in 2008.
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