Togo was born and raised in
Brooklyn, New York and then he moved to Harlem when he was
around 14 years. Music has always played a major role in his
life as a youth. He grew up observing is
older bother, who was an aspirating DJ at the time,
spin, mix, and play free-styled urban reggae music. It wasn't
until he moved to the upper west side housing shelter called (V.O.A)
when he discovered one of his true talents as a M.C.
Togo became aware of his
talent when he came across a group of kids who used to freestyle rhymes
off the top of theirs heads, this ability quickly gained the interest
of this young man. It wasn't until he traveled to Japan at
the age of 21 when he began to take his talent more seriously.
The social, economical, and
cultural conditions that Togo faced while living in Japan were
extremely difficult for him. He was homeless, he had no one
he could truly call his friend, and the language barrier is what
consistently caused issues on a day to day basis.
The difficult problems that
Togo faced made him gain a certain connection with his Lord, which he
came to know, that God was his only true friend. He latter
met a young nail stylist who decide to accommodate him when she found
out that he was homeless. She latter became is wife and
mother of his 2 children, 5 years after living together in
Japan.
To talk about his
music.
His music speaks of peace,
justice and equality, instead of the normal bling bling flashy culture
that blinds the youth form the righteous path. His music also brings a
sense of hope to the current sounding hip hop scene which focuses
mainly on materialistic living and which pulls and extracts from the
original essence of why hip-hop was created.
He believes hip-hop or the
form of rhyming was formed by the struggle and hard times that the
pioneers of the hip-hop industry faced as youngsters, growing up in
broken down neighborhoods & houses. The pioneers then
formulated this Rap Music or the Hip Hop culture to release the social
and economic tensions from their hearts and minds. They also
used this Rap music as a sort of tool which could be used to not only
speak out against, but fight against injustice and the poor living
conditions which they faced.
Togo believes that today's
music contridicts it's original format and he's here to bring it back
on track.