Taka Black (Born Ansel Wright III) an American Hip hop act from Cleveland, Oh. In June 2011 Taka Black released "Pure Imagination: The Prelude" which was  a 6 song demo with one bonus track from Hunter, who had also renamed himself Z the K.i.D ( K_i-d). The Demo was released with generally favorable reviews. gaining 5 stars on its official release site Datpiff.com gaining 6,000 views and nearly 1000 streams in a week's period.

Taka also founded Away-Team Media, a multimedia development company. His Team, consisting of Z the K.i.D, Shanelle Moon (blogger), D. Nakaji (Mixing, mastering engineer), and childhood friend James Brown V. Black has been prepping and began touring colleges in the midwest area to promote his latest project "Pure Imagination: The Mixtape" and the inevitable album "Star of the Starless Night".

Location: Cleveland, OH

Contact: Twitter | Website | email:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Taka Black - Green Goblin

Urban Steez: Tell everybody your name and what area you represent?

Taka Black and I Represent 216, Cleveland Ohio

Urban Steez: How did you come up with your music name?

Taka Black: Im really into philosophy and wise sayings, so one day I stumbled upon a quote that i felt described me best. Its an old Japanese proverb that says "Tonbi ga taka wo u,u" which literally means "a Kite breeding a hawk" or an extraordinary child coming from a not-so-great background. Considering how I was raised I felt that I had that potential and I chose the name "Taka" which means Hawk.

Urban Steez: That’s wassup! How long have you been doing music and what made you get into music?

Taka Black: I've been actually working on music on a professional level for about a year and a half now. Previously I tried my hand at it and, well, I sucked! It wasn't until recently I found my sound and decided to make it my career.

As far as my start, It goes back to Screw music, I actually wanted to be a DJ. One day me and a buddy decided it would be cool to try and see how we sounded chopped and scrwed. So we recorded a freestyle. From there the rest is history

Urban Steez: Lol good story! At least at the time you was able to realize you sucked, and from there you was able to work on your craft, and now the rest is history. How would you describe your style and why? And what do you feel you can bring to the table as an artist?

Taka Black: My style is a bit of an oxymoron, it’s a lot of aggressive self confidence in delivery and lyrics, but also self consciousness in the material that is delivered. I believe I can speak to the College kid who's busting table because his Mom couldn't get him a loan to make it the easy way. The single mother, the hustle, the recovering addict, the underrated. I guess the underdog in general, but I can appeal to the party girl, the baller, and the everyday American. I have my verses where I will rant on about what I have and can do, but in the same breath I want to make the world aware of what my generation is about. I think we have a bad rap in general. To best describe me I feel like I'm Occupy WallStreet meets Kanye West during his college dropout days, with a hint of bone Thugs-N-Harmony, if that makes any sense whatsoever.

Urban Steez: Word. If you had to pick which label to be signed to what would it be and why?

Taka Black: That’s tough… I like the Roster of G.O.O.D Music and feel I’d be a great fit there… but I also feel that I could be pushed to the next level if I were with a Group such as Shady. I'd have to roll with Good Music. I think under the tutelage of artist such as Kanye West and Common, that would be the label for me. It would be a great fit

Urban Steez: Nice, what’s the biggest challenge you feel you face as an artist?

Taka Black: The Biggest challenge I face is challenging myself. I know that a lot of artist get to a point where we begin to say things like "This music shit is easy" and to me I think that should be a problem. Music does become easy once you reach a certain level and it’s easy to get comfortable. But as an artist I don't want to get comfortable. I want to keep pushing myself, thinking of new concepts that haven't been explored in depth, and figure out how I can make a hit. Anyone can rap about money, cars, clothes, women. But I try to take it further by creating stories about certain situations, Making up to break up, Bullying, being rejected as an up and coming artist, the feeling you get when you release your first project, etc.

Urban Steez: When you can rap about real life topics, the people/fans can relate. At the end of the day you become more than just a rapper. Who would you want to collaborate with in the music industry and why?

Taka Black: Have to say I would love to work with Eminem, that’s just to see if I could hang with him. He is an amazing artist and one of the best, if not the best, emcees around. A close second would be Kanye because I know he'd probably provide the beat and then I can say "Yo I got a track from Kanye". A close third would be drake because he put it all out there, his subjects matter and content really speaks to a lot of people directly. I tend to try and do the same thing so the two of us together on a record would be pretty amazing

Urban Steez: So how do you feel you rank against top music talents today? And why?

Taka Black: Only time will tell. I think of "Rank" as top 10,20,30 etc. in terms of talent I feel I rank in the top percentage. But honesty once I get a bit more established I'll let the people tell me where I stand. Hopefully they'll say I'm one of the best

Urban Steez: The people will talk, just stay consistent. It’s the people, the fans that dictate your success in music biz. What are you working on now and when can fans expect to hear more from you?

Taka Black: Right now I'm working on "Pure Imagination: The Mixtape". Its a continuation of "Pure Imagination: The Prelude" which was released in June. I released the Prelude to get some feedback on how I was doing thus far. I got some pretty good press reviews, and folks around the industry have told me the Pros and Cons. So this Mixtape picks up on that, ups the ante and is sure to impress.

Urban Steez: I heard the mixtape, and you definitely have that word play! I’m sure over time your music will evolve into something much bigger. Give us a quote, the best represents what you are about?

Taka Black: "Everyone Has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark places where it leads" -Erica Jong

Urban Steez: I just stole that one!! Who and what are your influences?

Taka Black: I have and always will get a huge amount of influence from Andre 3000, Jay-Z (Reasonable Doubt especially) A lot of the houston artist for their grind and work ethic, and Soul music especially from the 60/70's

Taka Black - Cleveland Kidz Get The Biz

Urban Steez: “Reasonable Doubt, Classic, should have went triple”. If music never existed what do you think you would be doing?

Taka Black: Good question. I hate the 9-5 thing, and not saying that because I’m lazy, saying that because I never believed in working hard for someone who treats you like shit and pays you shit. So I probably would have focused onAway-Team Media, my multimedia company. I'd be doing web design, digital photography, and videography on a Day to day. I probably would have been pretty good too.

Urban Steez: That’s a good look. I think to be successful, you have to tap in to your own business eventually. In the work field nothing is promised (Hints recession). What do you think of the hip hop/ music world right now?

Taka Black: With the internet the way it is now, you can find ANY type of music you want. Nerdcore, Hardcore, Gangster, Trap, Conscious, Party, etc. Granted labels will feed the mainstream whatever they think is hot, but now we have the ability and means to get the type of music we want to hear. It’s not limited to just the radio anymore.

Urban Steez: Yup. What music do you have playing in your sound system right now?

Taka Black: The Main Cd's I have playing now are:

1. Jay-Z Reasonable doubt

2. YelaWolf 0-60

3. Kanye West College Dropout

4. MGK Lace Up

5. Kanye and Jay-Z Watch the Throne

6. Myself (I'm My biggest Critic)

Urban Steez: Nice rotation. Who is your celebrity crush?

Taka Black: Stacy Dash, that woman is Ageless.

Urban Steez: Damn, you ain’t never lied. She did the movie clueless like 15 years ago and she looks EXACTLY the same. How can business heads and fans contact you in the future (myspace, email, number, etc.)?

Taka Black: Best way to contact me for is Drop me a line on our Business email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for business purposes. If you just want me to hear something or network reach me on twitter @_TakaBlack_ and check out my blog launching in November Takablack.blogspot.com

Urban Steez: Any shot outs?

Taka Black: Yea Definitely, My Team (Away-Team) @Zthek_id, My Road Manager Shanelle Moon @infamousnelle, Studio Engineer Dave Nakaji, Bri, Chaz, James, Mac. And artist who are really making a difference in our city and causing us to gain attention on a national level.

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