Artis is a Rapper/Entrepreneur known for his hard hitting rhymes, clever wordplay and menacing baritone voice.
Artis was born in Emporia, VA where his early influences, Too Short, DMX, Tupac and Bob Marley became the soundtrack to his life—a life that was spent hustling in the streets to survive. Daily journaling of his experiences became songs and these songs became a refuge after a few close run ins with the law had Artis looking for a new way.
Fast forward to 2016 and Artis created NiteSkool Ent, a media company who’s first release “Trained to Go” featuring Project Pat is a sure fire strip club ready banger and an ode to those women that like to get turned up. Artis switches speeds on the follow up track “Young Black Male” where he takes a hard look at the conditions that African Americans face in America. Artis raps “When we protest, yeah they say we do it wrong, so we suspects everything we do is wrong”, outlining the hypocrisy that many face throughout the country today.
“Tons of kids go to a regular idea of 'school', where some succeed and some don’t. Often, it doesn’t occur to the education systems that some kids might not thrive in these standard settings. They are smart too, but for some reason they’re just not doing it like everyone else—these types of kids have a home at NightSkool Ent. This is for people like that, rebellious people who stand up and do it their own way, despite what might be considered normal. We are creating and sustaining a culture for that type of artist.”
Based out of Richmond, VA, the community based hip-hop and R&B project, NightSkool, have made it their mission to cultivate a positivity-driven alternative culture around music and artistic expression. Born from the solo project of leading member, Artis, the NightSkool brand has evolved to include fellow core collaborators: VA’s General (General Delbridge), Chino (Timothy Williams) and AP. The present group had worked in shifting capacities over the past decade, but in the past two years have come together as a united front. With a collective heart of versatile, relatable, and inspirational will, NightSkool seeks to promote unity and solidarity through music and the family values of the group—in the words of VA’s General, “Community makes us who we are. If it wasn’t for them, there would be no us.. through our art and music we want to give creatives and lovers of music like us a relatable place to express themselves and be heard.” NightSkool encourages measures of diversity in possibility, by mapping untravelled roads to both personal success and community growth, and leading by this example in their campaign of positive culture. As the founding ambassador of this motivational brand, Artis emphasizes a group mantra of, “It can be done, there is a way, no excuses,” as NightSkool encourages peers, family and neighbors alike toward their goals with tough-love, respect and admiration. “We deal with real life. We make good music for the people, we’re telling your story, we’re telling our story,” explains Chino. Given the group’s strong bond and their familial ethics of patience, acceptance and encouragement, NightSkool aims to—quite simply—propagate success, plug-in, and take over.
The group enjoyed their last major release in November 2017 of their Leviathan mix tape, hosted by DJ Swamp Izzo in Richmond, VA. Under Artis’ solo project, NightSkool has worked alongside Three 6 Mafia on their Project Pat release, as well as with numerous collaborations among NightSkool affiliates. They are currently anticipating the upcoming release of their new album, "It’s a Movement", in September 2018. More than ever, this new EP places NightSkool in it’s current realization as a positivity-based cultural movement, reaching out to all members of the community by combining their efforts into a unified, synergetic tide.
-Artis, founder of NightSkool Ent.