2008 Woodie Awards
"ONEinSIX" will take hip-hop artist Reed to #1 on charts
Lauren Williams
Issue date: 3/30/06 Section: A & E
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CEO and premier artist of new urban record label, Sophist Productions, Reed Baker, known as Reed, will be officially releasing his 14-song debut album, "ONEinSIX" on April 18.
The 25-year-old, Queens, N.Y. native, grew up in a heavily hip-hop influenced environment and was already composing poetry in rhyme at age six. By ten Reed began writing his own raps. Two of his childhood inspirations include, Brooklyn rap artist Biggie Smalls and Queens rap artist Freaky Tah of the Lost Boyz.
Reed increasingly favored R&B over rap however, and continued to write passionately well through his college years while undergoing a "tumultuous real-life love affair."
Reed graduated Summa Cum Laude from Emory University studying Philosophy and spent two years writing a thesis on the subject of first love. The essay earned him quite a few accolades from the university's faculty and Emory's highest honors. At this time Reed also had hundreds of songs written as well as dozens recorded.
"Being a philosophy major, most of Reed's lyrics are philosophically based, making Reed a very inspiring artist," said Sophist Productions intern, Pete Pavone.
With innovative, philosophical lyrics and song concepts, Reed received encouragement from family and friends to pursue a career in music. And Reed did just that. Less than a month after graduation he began to work with the Management Company and record label, Intelligent Music owned by Yale lawyer Robert Celestin, executive producer of albums for Mary J. Blige and Jodeci.
Though a positive working relationship existed between Reed and Intelligent Music, he only worked with the company briefly before realizing his desire for more creative control over his own work, both artistically and industrially. His educational background and financial situation gave him the resources he needed to create his own record label, Sophist Productions.
A "sophist" as stated on the record label's website, www.sophistproducitons.com, is "one who teaches eloquence, philosophy, politics, and the art of successful living." And it is by that definition, Reed is-living, using his new label to further develop and express his musical talents while establishing a business simultaneously.
The 25-year-old, Queens, N.Y. native, grew up in a heavily hip-hop influenced environment and was already composing poetry in rhyme at age six. By ten Reed began writing his own raps. Two of his childhood inspirations include, Brooklyn rap artist Biggie Smalls and Queens rap artist Freaky Tah of the Lost Boyz.
Reed increasingly favored R&B over rap however, and continued to write passionately well through his college years while undergoing a "tumultuous real-life love affair."
Reed graduated Summa Cum Laude from Emory University studying Philosophy and spent two years writing a thesis on the subject of first love. The essay earned him quite a few accolades from the university's faculty and Emory's highest honors. At this time Reed also had hundreds of songs written as well as dozens recorded.
"Being a philosophy major, most of Reed's lyrics are philosophically based, making Reed a very inspiring artist," said Sophist Productions intern, Pete Pavone.
With innovative, philosophical lyrics and song concepts, Reed received encouragement from family and friends to pursue a career in music. And Reed did just that. Less than a month after graduation he began to work with the Management Company and record label, Intelligent Music owned by Yale lawyer Robert Celestin, executive producer of albums for Mary J. Blige and Jodeci.
Though a positive working relationship existed between Reed and Intelligent Music, he only worked with the company briefly before realizing his desire for more creative control over his own work, both artistically and industrially. His educational background and financial situation gave him the resources he needed to create his own record label, Sophist Productions.
A "sophist" as stated on the record label's website, www.sophistproducitons.com, is "one who teaches eloquence, philosophy, politics, and the art of successful living." And it is by that definition, Reed is-living, using his new label to further develop and express his musical talents while establishing a business simultaneously.