Morris Ricks II is a 20-year-old sophomore Journalism major transfer student from Raleigh, NC. What sets Ricks apart from other students here at NC A&T is that he’s also a well-acclaimed rapper. His stage name is King Mez and if you Google him you’ll find a series of links that show he’s not just your average wannabe rap artist.

King Mez started rapping at 16. He credits his interest in rapping to his two parents, both of whom rapped back when they were younger. His father almost got signed to Bad Boy but had to go into the army before the deal went through. He also credits his interest to the fact that he grew up around music.

King Mez compares his style to rappers like Nas, Tribe Called Quest, and Lupe Fiasco. “I would call my music inspirational. I encourage people to be true to themselves. When I first started rapping I just wanted to be the best but now I pay attention to the message of my music,” said King Mez.

His creative process is varies, “When I’m in the in the studio the lyrics tend to just come to me, and I just make the lyrics up as I go. When I’m given beats I pre-write my lyrics. That’s what I’m trying to do more on my future projects; it makes my lyrics more precise.

King Mez has been featured on popular hip-hop websites such as hiphopdx.com, djbooth.net, illroots.com. He even was featured in Genesis Magazine.

As far as what’s next for him, he has performances in Manhattan, Virginia Beach, and San Francisco.  He also has an upcoming mix tape coming up entitled The Paraplegics. He’s also trying to get a record deal with help from Play of Kid & Play.

• Sylvia Obell