Twisted Black 'Street Fame' album

There’s plenty of rappers who have entered the music business with legal problems looming over their heads. One example of this is Snoop Dogg, who faced a murder case just after signing with Death Row in the early 1990’s. We all know what happened to Snoop; as soon as he stepped away from the street life, he became one of the biggest names in hip hop ever.

Today another lyricist is facing a similar fate. Twisted Black, born Tommy Burns in Detroit, Michigan, but raised for the bulk of his formative years in Fort Worth, Texas, recently signed a deal with TVT Records. The independent powerhouse recognized his heartfelt lyrics and uncanny ability to relay a story to the point that it practically jumps to life from your speakers and snatched up the man who many believe could be the next Snoop. Unfortunately, just days after inking the deal, Twisted Black was arrested in his home on a conspiracy to distribute cocaine charge without a search warrant.

“They came to my house and arrested me in front of my wife and my kids.” Black explains behind bars in Odessa, Texas where he is awaiting his sentence, “Turned my whole life upside down based upon what somebody else had already said. They didn’t catch me with anything.”

Twisted Black has released the bulk of his material to date on his own Scarred for Life Records. Known throughout the rap world as an underground legend on the musical level of Scarface or Jay Z, Black has released some of the most heartfelt, descriptive songs of street life ever recorded. An unknown associate pegged Black as a cocaine supplier and it’s been all downhill from there.

“It was actually a female who got busted with the drugs and brought my name out and said I was the supplier.” He explains, “Actually what happened was, there’s a crooked cop named Mitch Russell who pursued me and sparked a frame up which I am caught up in and losing my life behind. They never found me with drugs, they didn’t have a free person to even say that they purchased drugs from me. They had all inmates coming in testifying that they had bought drugs from me. There were no police reports or anything of the sort. . .”

So as a result of an informant, one of rap’s brightest future stars is now sitting behind bars facing a sentence of ten years to life.

This isn’t the first problem Twisted Black has had with the law, or the streets. He’s been shot in the face and lost half of his jaw in what he says was a calculated hit on his life. He’s been in and out of the system since he was 13-years-old for everything from changing the VIN numbers on stolen cars to assaulting a police officer.

Listen to either the two discs with his original group One Gud Cide or his solo records, and his forthcoming effort on TVT – Street Fame – and you’ll hear all about it.

Twisted Black is not one to mince words. He’s the kind of MC who opens himself all the way up and lets you peek inside his life. In his songs you’ll hear the typical crime rhymes told with deft precision and lyrical dexterity, but you’ll also hear from a man who’s pain inside exceeds that of just about any other artist you could name. From being molested by his father as a child, to his father subsequent death, and career in the streets, Black covers things that the average rapper would never touch upon. His stories teach serious lessons.

“I make no excuse for getting in trouble because you have to realize your mistakes.” He continues, “And I made a bunch of mistakes coming up, but I’m in prison right now for something that I am totally innocent of. You don’t have to get out there and do it to rhyme about it. And for people listening to my music, I suggest not to.”

Twisted Black’s career is not all about crime. Over the years he’s kept his name hot in the streets of Texas and beyond by releasing his own music and working it from state to state on his own. His first release, with his former group One Gud Cide, came in 1995. That disc sparked the ear of Suave House CEO Tony Draper who quickly signed the group. Just before that album was to be released, Black was incarcerated on two different counts of assaulting a police officer. He spent 32 months in prison for that, but once he was released he hit the ground running and released his two classic solo discs.

Late Bloomer was released in 2003 and it reintroduced Twisted Black as a solo artist. He followed that up in 2005 with The Life of Tommy Burns, an album that placed Black alongside other Texan rap heavyweights such as Scarface and Bun B.

While Twisted Black might be new to some, in the South he’s regarded as a classic lyricist who never got a fair shake. One listen to his forthcoming disc, Street Fame, and you’ll feel the same.

From his upbeat, DJ Toomp produced single “I’m a Fool With It,” to the dark, cautionary tale that is “Walk a Mile in My Shoes,” Street Fame delivers the street life raw and uncut, from the good to the bad. “’Walk a Mile in My Shoes’ is me kind of venting a little bit.” He explains, “People want to say they know me, but they don’t know what I’ve been through.”

The fiery opener “Throw it Up” is an anthemic introduction to an album full of tales that take you through the life of a troubled hustler.

On “The Block,” Black talks about the pros and cons of his upbringing in the streets. For one, he may not have ever been shot if he were never on the block, but what kind of a man would he be? It’s these kind of questions that separate Twisted Black from other MC’s who tell tales of the street life.

“Coldest Summer” is a classic gangsta story tale. In the tradition of Kool G. Rap, Ice Cube and other lyricists who came before him, Twisted Black tells an intense first person account of a drug deal gone bad. It’s like a film noir version of cocaine rap. “Hustler’s Prayer” starts as a song to give hope to those who might follow his same path, but listen closely and you just might find a method to Black’s madness. “You listen to that one there,” he continues, “You’ll get a real insight into what might drive a man to the street life.”

Street Fame is not your typical rap album. Twisted Black has been bringing genuine reality raps to his underground fan base for over ten years, now he’s poised to take it to the world, even from behind bars.

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Tracklisting

Twisted Black - Street Fame