The Exception

Living in a small southern Ohio town called Chesapeake my entire life, I’m not your typical Hip Hop artist. Both my parents worked at local hospitals therefore money was never really as big a problem for us as it might have been for some people. I grew up loving music, not just hip hop, but every kind of music. I found inspiration and passion in music. My first love though was basketball; I played basketball my entire life until deciding not to play at the college level. I actually got my name “The Exception” from one of my black all-star teammates in sixth grade who said “white boys can’t jump, but you’re the exception.” The name just stuck with me ever since, and when I began music, it was a perfect description of my style and image. I was never really looked at as an ordinary suburban white kid due to infatuation with Hip Hop music. But my roots are strong and I’ll never forget the people from home, the supporters and the doubters, no matter where I go. I began creating music in 8th grade, when I saw a circle of people around two guys outside the school. I went over to see what was going on, and heard them freestyle battling each other. Someone shouted “Hey, I bet Tyler would be good at this!” and sure enough, I battled and won. From then on it was like a disease growing inside me, I couldn’t put the pen down. Sitting in class doing nothing but thinking of what I was going to write next. I wrote several freestyle-type lyrics before eventually getting the idea my sophomore year to make a mixtape. I had a cheap computer microphone and a notebook full of raw, simplistic songs. I made a couple small mixtapes, each one better than the previous. I eventually researched enough to get a start on my own studio. I worked diligently trying to improve my music in every aspect. My junior year (2006), I collaborated with a good friend Marc “Flick” Carter to create our own mixtape “Industrial Revolution”, which sold several copies locally and began to draw interest from the locals with the single “Lemme Get Dat”, which is still one of my most popular songs. From there I still was unsatisfied with where I was, and was dying to get to another level. My senior year (2007), I released my solo debut album “The Real Hip Hop”, which was by far the best and highest-selling piece I had released to date. Featuring the hit single “Crazy” featuring Gyfted, which is now on the “Pump It Up NX” arcade video game, that album put me on the map reaching to a nationally growing fan base. Now, at 19, a sophomore at Marshall University, I am taking my music to a whole other level with my latest album, “There’s Only One.” Older, wiser, and more determined than ever, I’m doing things I never thought would be possible. My single “In The O” received commercial radio play, I continue to get reports of my songs being played at parties, and fan mail from a nation-wide fan base is a dream come true. I work as hard as possible to further separate myself from a Hip Hop industry that’s even worse off than our economy. Everyone and their brother can rap, but to be an artist is a concept that people aren’t grasping right now. I am a completely independent artist; I write, record, mix, and master every song personally, with no help from “professionals.” I believe that music should be true to the fans, I write every song as if my life depended on it. I want to be that artist that kids and parents can both listen to in the car without worrying about hearing excessive cursing, drugs, and violence. In an industry where those things are prevalent, and tolerable, well-thought-out music is hard to come by, I am The Exception.