He got his feet wet long before his infamous collaborations were leaked through the radio airwaves at the end of 2007. As a founder of a marketing and promotion company Milestone Media, Bless assisted various artists including Kool G Rap, Chamillionaire and Immortal Technique. Aside from a sense for business, Nino was also blessed with the ability to write, which penned him as the ghostwriter for some of the most notorious names in hip-hop. The kid moves fast, and among his grand ascents is the aggrandizing of professional goals for the 2008, consisting of two mix-tapes and an album set to be released at the end of this year (providing it doesn’t get pushed back like everything else in this industry).

His first mix-tape, Untold Scriptures, is due for a March drop and is fit to feature Crooked I, Styles P, Immortal Technique and Grafh (among others), with producers such as Scram Jones and Aftermath’s Focus making their own contributions to Bless who drops the tape to pick up credibility. “My main objective was to show that I’m a lyricist to be taken seriously; not just with the lyrics but with wordplay and every other element that comes with MC’ing, like being clever, witty, and versatile.” And he does just that: Hit you with a few slugs then crip walk in your blood. Having no problems reverting from witty cracks to thought-provoking ideas, Bless showcases both wit and brains with such ease…almost as if he’s not trying.

So analyze bar for bar and then ask what makes Bless different from the plethora of self-proclaimed rappers of which a perplexing majority will never develop a meaningful flow, swagger, delivery and rhyming ability? For starters, he is able and willing to give the fans what the current mainstream lacks in its offering – lyrical complexity. In an array of artists, both up-and-coming and established, those with the capacity for cleverness aren’t many, and those with the insightful complexity are even fewer. “Some people love being simple and easy to get off rip. I enjoy being complex ‘cause by nature I’m not a simple person.”

Secondly, Bless possesses range, from witty lines (And they stay in the hood like n***** who can’t read) and clever word-play, to topical matters such as the sounds of the streets and a clonus of consciousness. They say rappers gotta be responsible, why?/This is our life, we ain’t doin’ your chores, We got our own kids, why don’t you raise yours?, he asks didactically, delivery appearing nonchalant as he gets ready for the criticisms, analysis and accolades, even inviting listeners to judge his efforts by simply, looking at the lyrics. “I think people will see the effort I put into this – not with just every song but bar for bar.”

Last but not least Bless delivers in the truest sense of the word by trusting in his love for the craft and placing it in the forefront of all else. “I love every aspect of being an MC. When you do something that you love, it’s never that difficult. It’s always stressful but never stressful enough that it’ll make you quit – if you quit then obviously you ain’t build for this.”

And he’s nowhere near quitting. Creating music with a purpose to express instead of please, one begins to question whether the passion – or emotion- even transcends from Bless’s mouth to the mic. His delivery has been claimed by some to lack sentiment but what these self-appointed critics refuse to acknowledge is that perhaps Bless doesn’t really lack anything; instead, he just makes it look easy. As bad (or as good) as it sounds, the outcome of his work does not allude to long hours in a recording session; instead, it appears as if he stopped by the studio to kill time before dinner, which is part of what makes Nino Bless not only one of the best up-and-comers currently, but easily the most confident one, instructing the enthusiasts to once again, pay attention: You don’t get it, you don’t see it well? I paint it vivid, too bad you don’t see it well/Each verse is a crash course if you steer it well, You catch the jewels that I drop if you hear it well. And who else has stirred up debates among listeners consisting of who shot who (check “Urban Legends”), while at the same time attracting hip-hop’s black republican to inquire about particular lyrical inferences that he hastily mistook for disrespect?

As he smirks toward those attempting to categorize him as an up-and-coming who uses names of established artists for personal exposure - I’m sick of what these lames be spittin’ like, 50 Cent hook’s what The Game’s been missing – he smiles at the fact that both Indie and Majors are paying attention. And why shouldn’t they be? Bless is leaving the dress rehearsal with microphone charisma and a heaven of co-signers which makes one strangely wonder, who is here to stop him?

Nino Bless Feat. Kool G Rap, Joell Ortiz, & Styles P - 4 In A Clip

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