Born in D.C. raised in Charlotte N.C. Anthony J. Hamilton always felt a love for music and a pull towards hip-hop."My younger brother was doing it before me, he was in college at the time and would come home with his rhymes and spitting verses. I didn't take it seriously until I went into my first studio session at a place called "Sonic Cafe" and started recording. If it wasn't for my little brother, I wouldn't have emersed myself into Hip Hop". A fan of acts like De La Soul, Common, Talib Kwele, Yaasin Bey aka Mos Def, The Roots, Nas, Jay Z, Kanye West and a host of other artist but his style is harder to categorize than others. "It's honestly not a style. It's basically, my Hip Hop influences and the music that I grew up listening too, my life experiences".
I am a writer/storyteller/poet, I write my own songs. I am a "hip urban poet with a beat".
Experience
Single release on iTunes and Amazon: "Rich, Quick, Slow"
Rock Hill, South Carolina
Performance at The Money in the Battle of the Bands
Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina Area
Performance at Alibi
Charlotte, North Carolina Area
Performance at The Neighborhood Theater - Opening Act for Amel Larrieux
Charlotte, North Carolina Area
Perfformance at Verizon Amphitheater Charlotte, NC with the legends of Hip Hop.
Charlotte, North Carolina Area
Performance at Manifest CDs Charlotte, NC
Recording project: haj "outside myself"
Charlotte, North Carolina Area
Various Recordings at Reflections Studio
Greater New York City Area
Various Recording at Hush Studio, Manhattan, NY
Charlotte, North Carolina Area
Recording project "Haj: Daily Meditations"
Music Reviews
"Here's another artist that makes me want to dig through this seemingly endless stack of wack demos, mixtapes, EP's and albums on, under and around my desk. Haj is not only an interesting name, but an interesting artist as well..."
- THE WONDER TWINZ, The ConnexList
"The album opens with the scratched-up "Fast Food" with an A Tribe Called Quest vibe. Just when you think the album will continue to be laid back, it gets funky with "I Got Options." The slow groove of "Music (Life Line)" gets sped up thanks to a quick beat laid over it. "
- Jeff Hahne, Creative Loafing
"On his sophomore LP, Outside Myself, Charlotte-native MC haj let’s his listeners know early on that although his style may be from the oldschool, his music is not to be categorized into a cell. Over a funk-looped sample layered with a rhythmic bass line and swaggering high-hats... "
- Wahid Khoshravani, Performer Magzine
"Scratch N Sniff Music artist haj continues to reap acclaim for his sophomore album, "Outside Myself". Recently he was selelcted by CD Baby to be part of their "Jazzy Hip-Hop" collection. "
- Mehka King, officiallastwordonline