This piece was featured in b's "10 People to Watch Under 30" weekend edition. Check out the rest of the class of 2011 here.
"Don't care about your top five/Either you like my songs or don't, for real," Greenspan raps on his aptly titled track "Cold." The Baltimore-born rapper, born Brian Dawkins, stays in his own lane. While other rappers put their hopes on mixtape remixes of already popular songs, Greenspan -- who cites AZ's Doe or Die as the album that made him want to rap -- prefers doing shows with a live band.
"The whole point is to give the people a show," he said. "It's great when they're familiar with your records but when there's a band, the possibilities are endless." Besides bringing his energetic show to SXSW this month, the up-and-coming MC is dropping a new mixtape, Dope Melodies and Heavy Bass, later this month and prepping an album, Stairway to Heaven, with beats by locals LiveBeats and "Cold" producers MizFitz Soundz.
If a rap career doesn't pan out, Greenspan's art-first drive will keep his options open. He's writing and directing two films -- a documentary on Baltimore's Left Bank Jazz Society and "Feed," a look at hotels and restaurants wasting food. He acts, too -- Greenspan may be familiar if you're an avid "Wire" fan (he bought condoms and blunts from Bubbles in Season 4). And he has a major hand in Station North's arts celebration, Check the Ingredients, on Saturday behind Load of Fun.
"I just have a passion to create," he said. Really? We couldn't tell.
"The whole point is to give the people a show," he said. "It's great when they're familiar with your records but when there's a band, the possibilities are endless." Besides bringing his energetic show to SXSW this month, the up-and-coming MC is dropping a new mixtape, Dope Melodies and Heavy Bass, later this month and prepping an album, Stairway to Heaven, with beats by locals LiveBeats and "Cold" producers MizFitz Soundz.
If a rap career doesn't pan out, Greenspan's art-first drive will keep his options open. He's writing and directing two films -- a documentary on Baltimore's Left Bank Jazz Society and "Feed," a look at hotels and restaurants wasting food. He acts, too -- Greenspan may be familiar if you're an avid "Wire" fan (he bought condoms and blunts from Bubbles in Season 4). And he has a major hand in Station North's arts celebration, Check the Ingredients, on Saturday behind Load of Fun.
"I just have a passion to create," he said. Really? We couldn't tell.