Vocab is an Artist, Song Writer, and Co-Owner of The Coast2Coast Mixtape Series and Magazine.

On February 6th, 1983 in Toronto Canada, Sean Harvey (a.k.a. Vocab) was born. Both his mother and father had emigrated separately from Jamaica and were introduced through a mutual friend. Vocabs father (Carl Harvey) was a guitar player for a number of different bands, (among them, Grammy winning Toots and the Maytals). His fathers hectic schedule as a performer conflicted with his mothers idea of stability, both emotionally and financially. The relationship was short lived. After Vocabs first birthday, contact with his father was limited to visitation which dwindled as he got older.

In the absence of his father, the young boy (like so many other kids in his demographic) was forced to look elsewhere for male role models. With his mother constantly working and little or no adult supervision after school, Vo found himself with a lot of time to kill and not much to kill it with. So, he did what most young kids did that were stuck in the big city with nothing to do; he hit the streets. Running with a group of older kids, Sean saw his share of fights, stabbings, and the occasional party getting shot up. He frequently spent time talking to the fathers of his friends who’d already been through the system. With his mothers strict rules, and the advice of the neighborhood OG’s, Sean decided young that he wasnt going to succumb to the same pitfalls it seemed so many of his friends were doomed.

As young as 8, Sean and his older cousin Chris would make mixtapes using three ghetto blasters, one to record, and the other two aimed directly at the speakers of the first. In middle and high school he made mix cds for his friends under the moniker Ridgeways Finest: DJ F**k You. Hip-Hop seemed to be in his blood. Whether making mix”tapes”, or recording songs straight off the radio just he could brag about getting the “new joint” before anyone else. It was clear that his love for hip-hop extended far past the point of being a fan, he wanted to contribute to the culture.

After moving out to Portland with his mother, the 15 year old young man from Toronto found himself in extremely unfamiliar surroundings. The quick change from an extremely multi cultural city, to a predominantly white side of town and attending a mostly white school was a culture shock, to say the least. For the first time in his life, he understood what it was like to be a real “minority”.

It wasnt until the summer after his junior year at Lincoln High, when he was first introduced to writing raps. While his best friend Bentley was visiting from Toronto, he challenged Sean to write a verse. He hesitantly agreed. In about 30 minutes the verse was finished and Vocab was born. For the next year and a half Vocab put himself through an intensive rap training course. Going back through his classic CDs, he dissected everything his favorite rappers did. He taught himself how to count bars, write hooks, set up punch lines, create rhyme schemes and do everything else he admired about his favorite MC’s. He didn’t write his second verse until he graduated from high school and felt confident in his ability as an MC.

He floated from party to party with friends freestyling in ciphers and battling what he calls “party rappers”. However, he quickly became bored with the house party scene and decided it was time to move on to bigger and better things. A chance meeting with pioneer local rapper Todd G, ended up landing Sean in the studio for the first time. After his first studio experience he realized that making quality hits, and not battle rapping, would be his way into the rap game.

With captivating lyrics, combined with a talent for writting catchy melotic hooks, Vocab is sure to be blessing radio waves and big screens across the world.

“Im so defiant when Im rhyming cause the flows designed/ to hit you in the head and leave you open minded” Vocab-First and Foremost

-VOCAB

Projects Vocab Has Appeared On

First And Foremost- Vocab

Fahrenheit 503 The Mixtape- Vocab

The Coast to Coast Mixtape Vol.1- Dj. Dma, Dj. Domination

The Drop Point Mixtape- Hi Rollerz Records

The Drop Point Compilation- Hi Rollerz Records

How I Woulda Said It Vol.1- Sp

How I Woulda Said It Vol.2- Sp

Pimp My Ride Mixtape- Jammin 95.5 and the Refectory

The Lil Fats Mixtape- Hi Rollerz Records

The Lil Fats Young Fadell Mixtape

So They Say- Kaddi Kane

Bail Money- Todd G

The GRIT FACE Mixtape Vol.1

The GRIT FACE Mixtape Vol.2

The Dough Boy EP- Hi Rollerz Records

Buddah G Self Titled- Hi Rollerz Records Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.