Baby Bash, MC Magic

Smooth rapper Baby Bash can't recall where he got the "Bash" moniker but his alternate name, Baby Beesh, comes from the fact he used to drive around in a Mitsubishi. Born in the Vallejo, CA, area in 1975 to a Latin mother and an Anglo father who both eventually became addicted to heroin, Baby Bash had some uncles who exposed him to all sorts of music and a grandmother who took over raising him. Part of the area's underground Latin rap scene, Baby Bash joined groups like Potna Deuce and Latino Velvet with fellow Latino rappers Kid Frost and Jay Tee. A trip to Houston, TX, to do a guest spot with the South Park Mexican crew was an eye-opener. Bash was impressed with Texas' support of local artists and even more impressed that he could sell his house in California and buy two in Texas. Meeting and eventually working with Frankie J. and the Kumbia Kings was a big moment for the rapper, but he was still eyeing basketball as a possible career and selling speed. He was too short for basketball, but things started to blow up on the music side when he hooked up with producer Happy Perez. He dropped his hopes of shooting hoops, quit dealing with drugs (minus his beloved weed), and released Savage Dreams under the Baby Beesh name on the Dope House label in 2001. Listening to everything from E-40 to Tom Petty to Steel Pulse, Baby Bash expanded his sound and released the funky smooth single "Suga Suga." It was huge in Texas, and Universal rushed to sign the artist. The hard work and diverse influences all came together on his major-label debut, Tha Smokin' Nephew, released in 2003. Two years later he returned with Super Saucy. In 2007 his polished album Cyclone hit the shelves.


Rapping and singing, both in English and Spanish, Phoenix-based artist MC Magic has made a name for himself in the American Southwest with his slick and smooth hip-hop productions, sometimes referred to as "Latino hip-hop ballads." His R&B-flavored rap often features the vocoder talk box, which he actually obtained from the family of one of his idols, Roger Troutman.

MC Magic was born Marcus Cardenas in Nogales, Mexico, but was raised in Phoenix, AZ. In 1990, he established Nastyboy Records to showcase his productions and talent. He released his first full-length album, Don't Worry, in 1995, which enabled him to recruit other artists to form the Nastyboy Klick. With MC Magic's production touch, the Nastyboy Klick spawned a number of regional hits, particularly "Down for Yours" featuring Roger Troutman, which peaked at number ten for Top Rap singles in the country. After appearing on the front page of Phoenix newspaper The Arizona Republic in 1997, MC Magic started to receive calls to tour nationally, placing him far ahead of many other Phoenix-based artists in terms of popularity. By the beginning of the new millennium, his group had been trimmed down to just three members and renamed themselves the NB Ridaz. Having been the motor behind Nastyboy's undertakings, MC Magic was primed to release his second solo album in 2006. The May release, Magic City, peaked at number one on Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart and at number 60 for top R&B/Hip-Hop albums.