Is More Than an Addiction—It’s a Career ⎮Loco Ninja

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Born and raised in Spanish Harlem, New York, also known as the “Barrio,” Loco Ninja is proving to the world that is okay to leave the machismo behind— to make it into the hip-hop industry. Loco had a really hard time growing up. Since he was a kid, Loco attended many schools due to being bullied and physically abused. He would get jumped everyday, spit on, cursed and stabbed, just because he was very kind, soft and feminine. What he didn’t know was that hip-hop would discover him— and help him tell his story. At a young age, Loco use journals as a way to express how he felt. He eventually found himself creating rhyming verses that turned into music. At age 14, he began to rap. He used a digital camera to record his music. In an e-mail he said: “I would turn on my digital camera throw a instrumental on from some of my fave artist and would freestyle over it.” Besides, Loco would go around his neighborhood and have people listen to him rap.

And if you are wondering where his love from hip-hop came from, Loco tells us that his family played a lot of hip-hop when he was growing up. His step father would have Loco run to the nearest store to picked up CD’s featuring Missy Elliot, Kanye West, Lil Kim and many more artist. He would then listen to these artist from his room, since he was too young to listen to certain songs. There was also nights where Loco would would stay up late, plug some headphones into a stereo, just to listen to some of his favorite artist like Eve, Moby’s new song featuring Gwen Stefani, Salt-N-Pepa, LL Cool J and many more. At age 18, he took music to the next level and decided that music was more than an addiction—it was his career. Loco is also blessed to have his family and friends inspiring him to make music. Through his music, Loco sends realistic messages to the world, he expresses himself openly and honestly and in some songs he talks about falling in-and-out-of-love—just like his song “Im In Love” featuring Lumidee and Carmen Beretta. There might be days were Loco might feel a little cocky and sing about it, and in other songs he prefers to express his sexuality.

Now, if you are asking where do Loco Ninja’s name came from, Loco says that he had a very loose mouth when he was growing up; he will say the craziest things—and that’s how come one of his older cousin’s decided to named him “loco.” And the name stuck since then. Loco was also part of the House of Ninja, which was a dance group of brothers and sisters directed by Benny Ninja. Loco remembers watching an old interview where the founder of House of Ninja, Willi Ninja, said that he wanted every single dancer to take a piece of what they had learned and have it grow into movies, acting and music—to continue the legacy. And that’s how we have Loco Ninja. Moreover, Loco is hoping to change the way people view the latino and lgbt community and is showing people that it is okay to embrace who they are and to follow their heart. “I want people to accept my people and to break the stereotypes of not being machismo and it’s ok to [be feminine or masculine,] because it’s hard to be something your not and beautiful being who your meant to be,” he said in another interview. And just like many of us, Loco has had many doors close and feels like many artist have slept on him, but that doesn’t stop him from completing his mission. It actually makes him stronger and he knows that as longest he believes himself and keeps his head up—that he will reach success wherever he goes. In the future, Loco hopes to win a Grammy award, as well as a VMA. He also hopes to be feature in films, tv series and having his own brand of fragrance. And like he puts it in his own words: “…and even cross over into beauty in a different way then other men have done now. I want to be working on projects and of course help give back to my lgbt community in ways that others haven’t. Especially those from the community I’ve come from. The ones who haven’t been heard.” In Addition, Loco is proving to the world that no matter what your sexuality is— that if you dream big—you can make your dreams a reality.