FRESHMAN CLASS NUMBER 1 PLAYAZ

O-Dogg AkaTino Indiana
Name:        Orlando Haymon
From:         Gary, IN
Genres:      Hip-hop/Rap
Facebook: O-Dogg AkaTino Indiana
Birthday:   February 15, 1987

Playo Indiana
Name:         Jerry Haymon Jr
From:          Gary, IN
Genres:       Hip-hop/Rap
Facebook:  Playo Indiana
Birthday:    October 27, 1985

T-Turner
Name:         Antonio Turner
From:          Gary, IN
Genres:       Hip-hop/Rap
Facebook:  T-Turner
Birthday:    October 27, 1988

Bio
If you’re ever in Gary, Indiana and just so happen to come by Taney and 15th, stop by and ask for a guy named Rocky. You’ll find him in a Chicago Bulls hat and he’ll put you on to some of the hottest mixtapes out now in the city. No kidding! In his bag, look thoroughly for this name, Number 1 Playaz. Yeah…you may not have heard of them, but then again have you ever really heard of Gary, Indiana? The often slept on, but recognized by those that know G.I. is the birthplace of the Jackson 5, Gary is a landmark under the unlikeliest of circumstances and home of brothers Playo (Jerry Hayom, Jr.) and O-Dogg (Orlando Haymon) and friend T-Turner (Antonio Turner). Just like the old steel mills that used to hum during the summer months on Cline Street and helped to earn the city one of its many nicknames like The Steel City, Number 1 Playaz are poised to earn a few honors of their own.

Taking a step back a notch, the Haymon brothers as kids performed in elementary schools, middle schools and youth programs. “Growing up in Gary, Indiana taught me my survival skills and my pops showed me how to move in ‘em” explained Playo. During high school Playo and O-Dogg sought to learn all they could about the music industry and how to mix and master their own tracks for the preparation of putting out their own music. In the beginning it was just those two going back and forth on the mic until 2001 when they met Chicago native T-Turner who would go on to become the final piece to creating Number 1 Playaz. “We met T-Turner in Hammond, Indiana and had no idea that he could rap until we heard his verse on a song from another mixtape he was on. After my brotha and me heard him, we knew we found our third member and decided to ask him to join the group,” says O-Dogg. After years of recording and hustling, they found a unique distinction in their hometown for being the most consistent and next to blow. This showed and proved to them and others around them just how determined N1P are for success. This determination would lead to them performing on the same stage with such acts as the Ying Yang Twins, Lil Scrappy, Juvenile and Devin the Dude in their city. T-Turner, “performing with these artists was a blessing.” O-Dogg goes on to say, “Around that time, I think we were all students because we would watch the way the artists carried them-selves on stage. We took notes of the performances and wanted to work on our presence.” In 2003, the trio released the mixtape “Can You Relate?” which was suppose to be a reflection of their maturing as artists. The project fared well and gave the guys an opportunity to branch out with individual projects. So for three years Number 1 Playaz went on hiatus from 2003 to 2006. Playo and O-Dogg released solo projects and performed at almost every club in Indiana. In 2007 the hiatus was over and unlike the previous mixtapes that were released independently, the guys wanted to release another set of solo projects this time through their label P.O.T.O.T.G. Records. (Playaz On Top Of The Game). 3 releases came out and sold well independently. O-Dogg released, Da Wake-up Call, Playo released Playtimes Ova and T-Turner Young, Thirsty & Hungary. The projects sold over 6,000 combined units.

In 2012 they released the highly anticipated mixtape Put Us In The Game via DatPiff. The project did well and it featured the smash hit single “Haterz.” During the fall of that year, N1P recorded a song for University of Indiana basketball star Cody Zeller entitled “Cody Zeller” The record became hard to miss in and around the college campus in Bloomington. Amazingly the song caught the attention of executives at CBS Sports and they wanted to use the song. “It's funny when we made that record "Cody Zeller", we never expected CBS Sports to contact us about it. They saw the video on YouTube and wanted to use it on an episode of ‘Inside College Basketball’. So we let them use it. We were excited because no one where we from never had a their music played on CBS Sports,” says Playo. N1P relationship with CBS Sports didn’t end there. They were asked again to do a song to be used on ‘Inside Of College Football’ for the 2013 season. Right now the guys have  release a sequel to the 2012 Put Us In The Game mixtape called Put Us In The Game 2 (2 Quarter). The lead single from the project is called “You Can’t Play Me” and it features fellow Gary, Indiana native Freddie Gibbs on the track. The 19 track mixtape dropped July 23rd on DatPiff and is hosted by DJ Smallz. It promises to be their most polished project to date. T-Turner wraps it up with this thought, “This project is more on some playa shit. The last mixtape was more on some gangsta shit filled with a lot of bangers that you could ride to. On this new project, we slowed it down a bit and wanted to create a balance of hearing dope playa music mixed a lot of tracks that the ladies could listen to too.”

Question and Answer with Good Korner Musiq:

1.WHERE DO YOU SEE HIP HOP/RAP AS A WHOLE RIGHT NOW?

ANSWER:
From a independent artist stand-point I see hip hop/rap in a great state because of the opprotunities thats out here for us now. Back in the 90's and the early 2000's and before then, basically an artist needed a major record lable to boost their career, and distribute and promote your musically worldwide. Now we have the internet :)

2. DO YOU WANT A RECORD DEAL OR DISTRIBUTION DEAL AND WHY?

Answer:
We're aiming for a distribution deal, because we're already running our record label, and honestly I'm not too fond on signing with these labels as an artist, I rather sign as a business partner, and that's the difference between a record deal and a distribution deal

3. WHO DO YOU WANT TO WORK WITH ?

Answer
Honestly I would like to work with alot of r&b artists llike Chris Brown, Robin Thicke, Justin Timberlake, Mary J. Blidge, Alicia Keys...people like that, I feel like I can handle the rappin' parts on an song lol

4.WHAT WOULD YOU TELL A YOUNG EMCEE COMING UP IN THIS GAME?

Answer
I would tell a young emcee to know what u want and go after it. This business requires alot of money (number 1), time, patience, persistence, dedication, & hard work. This may start off as a hobby but you have to turn into a work, a job, a career...if u wanna be successful in this business

5.WHAT IS YOUR DEFINITION OF A EMCEE?

Answer
My definiton of a emcee is simple, anybody that's spitting that shit from the heart, and not just some made up lollipop stories is a emcee to me

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