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A Vermont Hip-Hop battle in 2009 placed music producer/lyricist Mertz & veteran producer/audio engineer Nastee in each other’s path. At that time, Mertz had just put out "The Rise Above It EP", his first independent release, & Nastee, after becoming fed up with the NYC music business, had moved up to Vermont & made a name for himself in Burlington as an M.C./DJ/Producer & the leader of the VT Union (See Nastee’s full bio at www.datpiff.com).

The two built a working relationship in the local Vermont music scene throwing live shows with national Hip-Hop acts. Since then, Nastee has moved back to New York & Mertz moved to Providence, Rhode Island, each in pursuit of furthering their careers. Recently, Mertz & Nastee crossed paths again, in Brooklyn this time, to mix "The Good in The Bad", Mertz’s first full-length solo LP, as well as collaborate on the album’s first single Life & Love.

Over the span of his career, Nastee, who has seen the music industry from all angles, eagerly lent his time & talents to Mertz’s latest project. With Life & Love, Mertz, who’s also a producer, took a step back from the mixing board and put his trust in one of the north-east's finest. Not only did Nastee lend his slick ear for arrangements to the LP, Mertz also credits Nastee with giving both his single & his album it’s energetic “Boom-Bap” sound.

On "The Good in The Bad" Mertz enlists the help of like-minded music producers for the first time, allowing him to further focus on his lyricism. In Life & Love, Mertz speeds up his flow & gives some insight on his views of Rap vs. Hip-Hop music.

"Mainstream Rap, with it's glorification of violence & blatant hate towards so many different groups of people, is largely based on the ideas of Death & Hate. Hip-Hop, on the other hand, is a celebration of Life & is based on Love. What's interesting is that Rap & Hip-Hop are very similar in the way they are delivered, but as far as the message they send, they're basically polar opposites." -Mertz

Life & Love is from the forthcoming album "The Good in The Bad" set for release on March 4th, 2014.

"Music made for your ears not for the market." -Life & Love

Stay up to date with Mertz & Nastee

Mertz | www.MertzMusic.com | @MertzMusic

Nastee | www.4WordProductions.org | @NasteeLuvzYou