A.B.

The word ‘home’ can mean many things, it can be a comforting place of solace or a recollection of pain tinged memories; it can form a person, aid their path in life, or deter them from their desired fate. For Austin ‘A.B.’ Brannon the only place he’s ever know is East Oakland, CA and whether the streets he grew up on have abetted or deterred, one thing is resoundingly certain… damn this kid can rap. Some people have a knack; a talent to take words and mold them like a potter forming clay. A.B. found solace from a very young age in picking words and working them over to make them his own. Writing became his ‘thing’, his escape from a reality that sometimes ate him up inside, a reality that dulled emotions which were only able to live their full capacity as an art form. As A.B. continued to put the pen to paper he became more and more recognized for his apt wordplay and began receiving requests. At 13 he focused on finding ways to put music to his words. The final step was actually recording and putting everything down on wax. Ask him his style and he identifies not with another hip hop artist but the world renowned painter, Picasso, “I’m looking at the world in a different way like those paintings, I want people to see what I see through my eyes.” A.B.’s self evolved style of vulnerable bravado paired with a sure-fire silver tongued staccato paints a very clear picture, one that positions this talented artist among the elite best and brightest. His upcoming mixtape series “The Addiction” will be out Summer, 2009. “Every poem, every song is a part of my manifesto, I want the world to vibe with my songs, ‘The Addiction’ is just the beginning, it’s where I get them hooked.” This is one habit that we wont need rehab for.