"Simply put, Bau Down's album BELIEVE is incredible." -The Beat Magazine (December 2006)
BELIEVE, the sophmore album by Bau Down, is a unique collection of hip-hop music that ranges from club songs such as "Dosey Doe", “Wile Out” & "It's On Tonight", to songs about Christ, such as "Souldier (Part I)", dealing with the death of his twin brother on "March 6th, 1983", and other meaningful songs about life with tracks like "Never Know".
Kevan Bauman AKA Bau Down has established a name for himself over the last 6 years as one of the most dynamic rappers, producers and songwriters in Chicago. His new album, BELIEVE, has been selected by the Independant Music World Series as 1 of 25 Best New Albums of 2006, has had airplay on Sirius Satelitte Radio Shade 45, XM Radio Channel 67, Chicago's B96.3 and Indiana's The Source 95.1. Several songs were also considered by EA Sports to be featured in the 2007-2008 Video Game Lineup.
“The name BELIEVE came about mainly because it was a transition time from my first album when I really needed to prove to myself that recording/producing was what I really wanted to do. Over time...everything got real tough, and was mentally and physically draining to do this music thing, and do it well. The title brought all aspects of my life together and lead me to make hip-hop music for all the right reasons.”
About two years in the making, the album had enough tracks to be released in Spring of 2005. But, being a real perfectionist, he wasn't satisfied and removed more than half the original songs in order to make room for new ones. "I had to much going on, and was growing too fast musically to put out the album last year" he said, "I would keep finishing great new records, and they kept making the previous records sound stupid. It was getting to the point in the fall of 2005, where the album was almost completely overhauled, and that wasn't what I wanted. I felt I was at a place in December 2005, where I could put it out, and it had the exact sound and energy I wanted to represent myself and this album with. I wanted to make a CD that was so good, no one could skip a track. Not many people can do that, and I did.” The remaining songs that did not make the cut he said, went to mixtape collections, and a few moved to the future release of his third album in the works, “Thy Will Be Done”, which is scheduled to be released in August 2007.
Bau Down has faced his share of adversity as alot of musicians do coming up. His family and very close long time friends turning on him because of the musical path he had chosen, made it real hard to carry on. He says, "Music just all the sudden took control of my life...I was spending more time doing that than anything else, and it made many of even my closest friends turn on me...going through that made me a stronger individual." It was not until he developed into a great producer and songwriter that everyone came to his support. Yet, to this day he maintains a positive attitude towards the future, what he has accomplished, and all he looks to accomplish. “I have come a long way myself from the person I started out as in this music industry. But most importantly, I would love to see my music embraced today by people who appreciate good hip-hop from someone that is real, and not someone pretending to be what they think people want them to be. Also, by people who listen to a variety of music. I listen to all types of music regularly, from the great 2Pac and my boy Eminem, to Dave Matthews Band, Techno, Boyz II Men and The Mamas & The Papas. You can't limit yourself because that limits your creativity, and it is important to have the ability not to. It gives me a different side to show in production, and in songwriting, that these other rappers who only listen to rap just don't have.“
He also has a very strong opinion about most musicians and the condition of the modern music industry, saying “The majority of musicians today, especially in the hip-hop music scene are sellout fakes, because they think that will get them rich and famous. That is all they care about, getting rich. They think rap is the easy way out in life...and believe me, they have no idea how wrong they are. Matter of fact, they picked the hard way out in life 'cause everyone is trying to be a rapper nowadays." He continues,"It's funny to me that with all the musicians out there, very few of them make music for the right reasons. On the other hand, the few who are real and do it for the right reasons do nothing out of the ordinary. The music they make conforms to what they think people want to hear, which is fine. Conformity is easy...it’s the easy way out. I couldn't sit here and tell you how many times people told me I needed to go the route that people like Eminem went to blow up big, being controversial and everything. The only thing I have learned to say back to the stupid people that think that way, is that success is in the eye of the beholder. I am and will be successful no matter how many fans I have, records I sell, or awards I win...because I'm doing this the way it should be done. If other musicians don’t have enough confidence to be themselves and stand out, and do something different, they are wasting their time. I know who I am, and what I have to offer listeners…if they can relate to me showing who I really am, sing along with my music and take something from it - then my music is a success.”
**There is an old saying, "either jump on board or get out of the way", and at this point in Bau Down's career you have a choice. You can jump on board and start listening to Bau Down before you hear him all over the radio, in cd players, and on television. Or, get out of the way while everyone else in the world jumps on board and starts listening and supporting him. We suggest you hop on board.** -MP3.com
"Thanks for taking the time to find out about me. God bless ya'll. It's Bau!"
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View the full Bau Down Biography HERE:
http://www.baudown.com/biography.html
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