Influences:
The year was 1982 at Jacobi Medical Center in the heart of the Bronx where Hip Hop originated, brought forth the birth of Nathaniel Rodriguez (aka Presto). It was exactly on 176th St and Grand Concourse in the “Luis Morris” building where the young Presto was raised for the first 7 years Of his life, then him and his family moved to the Pelham Pkwy section of the Bronx where he resided throughout his teenage years. The summer of 1994 was when Presto first decided to pick up a pen and start writing lyrics, making home made mixtapes looping beats with several blank tapes, a Gemini sampler, 4 track, and a semi broke karaoke machine with a silver RadioShack mic. That was more than enough to get him started making music. Presto was originally influenced by Hip Hop’s fore fathers such as Rakim, Kool G Rap, KRS ONE, Slick Rick and many more it was then that he found his own sound then ran with it. After completing his mixtapes Presto would show them to his younger brother who encouraged him to pass them out to his friends at school., which he did. Presto’s passion for rhyming drove him to look for every cipher available and participated in everyone with no hesitation. Growing up in the inner city for Presto wasn’t easy neither was it for his peers, which influenced him to write rhymes about his immediate surroundings and experiences with subjects ranging from disease to divinity. Presto spent most of his leisure Time reading books on various subjects from psychology, science, chemistry, alternative history to quantum metaphysics which he felt helped him sharpen his skills on the mic which expanded his vocabulary thus enabling him to masterfully put everything into rhyme form. An “independent/critical thinker” says Presto, would Best classify his beliefs leaving behind the old religious ritualistic/dualistic thinking That he was conditioned to believe since youth, he says that his “doubt/skepticism” is what saved him from all the religious mental strangle holds. From 1996-2000 Presto attended the High school of Art & Design in NYC which birthed some of the finest MC’s in the game today such as Mob Deep and Pharaoh Monche.It was his cousin Vic (aka XXXClusive) who introduced him to the top MC’s during that time which gave Presto the recognition and respect that he had hoped for. “Those were my best years” says Presto he listened to seasoned rappers talk about heavy subjects such as politics, crime, global conspiracy and government corruption which he felt was the best education He ever received in his life because the information was not edited, he was very well respected in school lunch ciphers and after school park battles. Presto graduated the same year with his fellow classmates Jae Millz, Nova, and Skitzo (Camron & Dipsets beat maker) who he says inspired him to write more. “The only reason I went to school was for the lunchroom ciphers”. Back at home Presto decided it was time to “make moves” and linked up with his old neighborhood friends DJ N.O.E (currently Jacob the Jewelers bodyguard) and Jay Supiria ( world famous super producer for WN Radio Show) who he spent a lot of time recording tracks with them in their home studios, Presto said that he also learned how to DJ and maneuver the “boards” as well with the help of his long time friends N.O.E & Jay Supiria. As a freshman in College Presto began to network and connect with club owners and promoters while signing up for every open mic possible throughout the NYC Area. Places such as The Lyricists Lounge, Newyorican Café, and The Pyramid (E.O.W) where Presto spent most of his time on weekends tearing down the stage and at the same time admiring MC’s such as Immortal Tech, Wordsworth, Percy Pee, Super Natural, C Rayz Wallz, Thirstin Howl III, who were Featured artists at these underground venues and who were extremely influential to him during those years. On January of 2002 Presto moved to Tampa, Fl where he currently resides and travels back and forth to see his immediate family back in NYC. Now considered a permanent Floridian Presto has made several appearances in local Tampa Hip Hop venues doing numerous performances with local artists and has expanded his music across the globe on a underground level with the help of the internet. Presto is currently in the process of working on a major collab project with artists such as the legendary Can-I-bus and Sicksince of the “New Age MC’s” who is his partner in Rhyme. As a full time MC and Producer, Presto continues to strive for lyrical perfection and spends endless hours mastering his craft on a consistent basis for the sake of preserving Hip Hop to its fullest.