Suffolk News-Herald

Andre Daniels’ career in the rap industry didn’t start off all at once.

&uot;I first started making beats,&uot; says the Long Island native and former student at Nansemond River High (he didn’t graduate, but now has a GED). &uot;I was messing with a music sampler, and then I wrote my first rhyme.&uot;

Back in the late 1990s, Daniels heard the Jay-Z song, &uot;Two in the Morning,&uot; and decided to make it his opening to stardom. In 1999, he and his pals Elston Copeland and Rodney Faulk (who was tragically killed in November 2003) opened the record label 3rd Fam Records, based out of I Touch’s production studios in Virginia Beach. They’ve currently got five groups signed, including Daniels’ own rap group, Major League Prospects.

He’s doing his best to make the name a reality; the group performed at the Rick Rock’s club in Franklin, at the city’s X-Games skateboarding event last October and had a cameo in the Delinquents of Dialogue’s video, shot by Capital Films for the Virginia Entertainment Corner. Future dates in Norfolk and Virginia Beach are forthcoming.

In late January, Daniels’ group put out its first CD, Front Page.

&uot;I’ve been getting a hood response,&uot; says the father of one, who intends to put out another CD in June. &uot;My music appeals to all ages. We gave away about 130 discs. I grew up here and in New York, so I’ve got support from New York, Wilson Pines, everywhere. That’s what sets me apart from everyone, because they know I’m a businessman.&uot;

For more information about the band or on obtaining a CD, contact Daniels at 934-2058 or Copeland at 539-1792.