Maitreya. A Hip Hop dream comes true.
Maitreya aka Jamie Greenslade is one of those rappers who seem like they've been around for ever. He has a success story that most MC's only dream about.
Maitreya burst on the scene in the summer of 1999-2000 with the singles "Baggy Trousers" and "The New Outlook" ft. Dave Dobbyn as part of Christchurch crew Dark Tower. In 2001 he began recording under the guidance of DLT who then gave him the moniker Maitreya meaning a 'Future Teacher'. 2001-2003 were spent working at Auckland radio station Mai FM and recording his demo "Comin 2 Amerika" in anticipation of an August 2003 move to New York City.
For the next two years Maitreya immersed himself in New York's Open Mic scene and in 2005 he released and sold over 500 copies of 'ILLEGAL ALIEN', a mixtape style album hosted by The Game's DJ, Kris-Stylez. He also secured an internship at Roc-a-Fella Records (Jay-Z) as a member of the 'Street Team' and in 2006 began his own live show, 'ILLEGAL', which he continues to perform in and around the Lower East Side and Brooklyn,
In November of 2006 Maitreya signed up to the online music site SellaBand.com and became an immediate sensation. The challenge was to raise $50,000 from fans on the site to be used to record an album with top of the line producers and production facilities. Maitreya became the first Hip Hop artist ever to raise the 50K on June 2nd 2007 and began recording his debut solo album "Close To Home" in New York and London with The Silence (UK).
Maitreya really comes into his own in his single Waitaha, where he combined the power of Maori vocals with Hip Hop. Waitaha was nominated at the 2008 Silver Scrolls for the APRA Maioha Award for Contemporary Maori Song Writing.
Check out Waitaha.
Maitreya has just released his second single Lotaluv accompanied by a video shot in Mon Kok, Hong Kong… the most densely populated square mile in the world!
Check out lotaluv.
And if you feel so inclined go to the lotaluv website..
James Castady-Kristament is in the Alternative Rap group JCK. Check out their music videos below.
