Album Notes

Even in her first years of life growing up in New York, Chocolate Thai had a special knack for performing. A true connoisseur of the arts, Thai danced, sang, and wrote poetry with a passion that later led her into writing complete songs. Her uncle, who was a deejay and emcee, introduced her to Hip Hop. While watching him practice, Thai picked upon the styles and energy of groups that ranged from Run DMC to Public Enemy. When she got an earful of MCLyte and Salt N Pepa, Thai knew that she wanted to make rhyming a permanent part of her life.

Thai was known as Freestyle in the corner ciphers. She began developing her craft by writing and performing; opening shows for many legendary groups including Brand Nubian and Das EFX before graduating High School. She won an emcee contest at Club Facade in upstate New York, and continued on her path by performing at various clubs in the Northeast area.

Winning over audiences with her confident freestyle abilities, she developed a loyal following while living in Atlanta, adding to her already growing fan base in the New York scene.

In 2002, Thai returned to New York to pursue her dream of finding a record label to work with. For a full year, she attended the popular End Of The Weak (E.O.W.) open mic night at Club Pyramid every Sunday in Manhattan. Thai was the first female to win the End of the Weak MC Challenge, a competition that tests skills on five levels: written songs, lyrical content, freestyle abilities, accappella, and flowing over various speeds of songs played by the deejay, also known in the contest as ‘beat juggling’.

After capturing the E.O.W. title, Thai received the phone call that would change her life. Interscope Records was doing a real life version of the movie 8 Mile in the form of a reality series on the Showtime Network. The show was called Interscope Presents: The Next Episode, and they wanted her to participate. Ten of the nation’s best emcees were selected in a cross-country talent search to compete for the title of “The Next”, and Thai was the only female. She ultimately made it to the final round in Los Angeles. Only a week after the Showtime battle, Thai defended her E.O.W. MC Challenge title against former winners in the Battle of Champions, coming away with the Grand Prize.