MERLINO:  SUCCESS IS A DONE DEAL:
THANKS TO THE WENDY WILLIAMS  EXPERIENCE!

With the recent revelation of recording artists  Merlino's and Cassidy's musical association, Lawrence Merlino, has  recently  emerged from the shadows to the spotlight, largely due to radio  shock jock Wendy  Williams' exclusive coverage of both artists on her  nationally syndicated show,  The Wendy Williams Experience. Now,  everywhere, people are asking, 'who's Merlino?' He was born into  controversy and lives in controversy evidenced by work he's released with  hip-hop artist Cassidy. His family, the Merlinos, at one time were members  of the notorious Philadelphia Family of La Cosa Nostra, and the subject of  the best-seller, 'The Last Gangster' by George Anastasia, published by  Regan Books. And, one track on his upcoming CD, Chapter One: The   Beginning, was recorded with hip-hop's current newsmaker, Cassidy, but   21-year-old Lawrence Merlino, a resident of Atlantic City, New Jersey, plans  to  devote his life
toward pursuing his career in the music game in a  positive way.  'The only reason why I even mention my past is because you  can't run from it 'you can't hide it,' says the Italian hip-hop artist. 'By  having such a prominent name, I have had no choice but to deal with the  questions that come along with it. And because of the fact that I had previously  done mix tapes with Cassidy, his name will come up as well. I am sorry that  he is having these legal problems (his associate is presently in jail  without bail, on alleged homicide charges stemming from an incident in  April). From what I know, Cassidy is a good guy
and I do not plan to pass  judgment on him; as far as I am concerned, he's not guilty. 'Although Merlino  grew up in a family associated with notoriety, he steered clear of his  family ties, opting for a music career at an early age.  'Once I heard  music by such artists as LL Cool J and Run-DMC, I was hooked.  'Soon,  Merlino alternated between Atlantic City's Boardwalk and his hometown, Philadelphia, where he gained a reputation for spitting  rhymes.  Shortly thereafter he met Big Bub, a former lead vocalist from  Motown's 80's/90's group, Today, who became partners with Merlino with  their business venture, Up And Up Entertainment. The two forged a music and  business venture, resulting in the upcoming release, “Chapter One: The  Beginning !”  Recording artist Merlino’s  gritty street tales depict his life growing up in  the shadows of a  notorious family  with ties to the mob. An artist who does not have to  fictionalize his lyrics in order to capture attention, Merlino’s story  paints a chilling portrait. It’s real and it’s raw. Let Merlino tell it in his  own words…
It’s A Done Deal! 

ON THE UP  AND  UP
“I met Big Bub (from the  Motown vocal group Today)  through a close friend of mine who said he liked my  stuff a lot and was  willing to take it over to Motown Records, where Big Bub was  at the time.  Big Bub came down, and at the time I didn’t know who he was. I wasn’t thinking  too much of it, I just thought that this was a man who was here  to  critique my music. To make a long story short, I was listening to the  song and the next thing I know that Big Bub was singing on it. It was a  spur of the moment thing. We just clicked and that was that. I just  recently found out who Big Bub was, it started out as a friendship  thing.   

In the mean time my  partner Raul “Sir” Santiago wanted to do an album with me  and  that’s what we did. He produced most of the debut album,  Chapter One: The Beginning, distributed by Universal Music/Up & Up  Ent. and Super-D, Coming Soon.   I got interested in music through  my uncle who was more like a brother, and when I was round 11 he would try  to take me out. My mother would have me on lockdown, but he took me out  to the streets and projects so that I would see that everything is not all  good. He would let me hear Run-DMC and LL Cool J so I came up on that, and  I was doing poetry for awhile and I mixed it with hip-hop. And I have such a  crazy story with my family, that I just put it all together. I did my  poetry in school in my spare time. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with  my life then because when you are at the age you don’t just show you work  cause to some it’s a pride thing.  DJ Dramadik, would play my material but  people didn’t know who I was, I was just doing street stuff. My family  thought this was just a hobby. When I was coming up we didn’t have anything. (I  was born when my mom was just 18) and I was the type of person who always  wanted something and then I would just leave it alone,  so my relatives  thought my interest in music was just a hobby. When they saw I stuck with it  they said, ‘he’s not playing.’ Now I have my family listening to hip-hop and  R&B! I was born outside of Philly and I was raised most of my life in the  suburbs of Atlantic City. I am 21 now. My family is still  in Philly but, I moved down to the suburbs next to Atlantic City at the age of 2. You see, Philly  is one of the top five areas for music and closer to Atlantic City than New York. Atlantic City is so small that I had to take  my music to Philly because it’s a bigger city. I had to get money my own  way rather than through my family. I didn’t want them helping me anyway  because if they put out a lot of money and if we don’t go platinum… But we  have a good situation now with Universal and Attack Records and film works  out of Toronto, with Universal and Up &  Up Entertainment behind it. 

Everybody wants to come out with drugs, violence. But everybody can do  songs about that, I really have a story to tell that people can talk about.  Everybody talks about the mob shit, the Italian shit, but my family really  lived it. I have seen how it works, not just watching in on TV. My family  was really into it. You have a good side of the family (hard  working,  etc.) and then you have the other side of the family but it’s all the  same  name, so when you mix the good with the bad, it hurts the good. The  good side of my family ended up suffering because of the bad, but I decided  to use the experience to make good hip-hop music. Hip-hop is a culture and  it doesn’t matter about your pigmentation of your skin. A lot of people  know who I am  because they have heard of the last name and people thought  I was just trying to  be in the music business and thinking I had juice  because of the money in the  family not realizing that I didn’t have shit,  I was just talking what I know.  Over the past three years I have earned a  lot of respect by putting out music that touches people wherever I am. It  was hard work, but this is what I want and what I want to do.   

With the first single, “Wiggle”, I’ve been getting  some off the wall reviews, which is getting spins in quite a few cities nation  wide.  The second single is “Hold Me Down,” an old Gap Band song where the  hook was written by Bub, which I later collabed with Yummy Bingham on the hook,  who is currently under Music Park with Universal. It’s an old school party joint that  you can hear in the backyard. Like an old Biggie joint. It’s a classic, the  whole song to me is crazy, and I didn’t get a bad review yet, I  think  that’s the one. “Take It Down” is another smash featuring a remake of Guy’s  “Let’s Chill”
and “Hydraulic” which gives that hip/hop slash reggeton feel.  “’06 will be the start of a great  beginning.”