MAJOR....choosing where he fits in.

When it comes to music, Rasheed "Major" Johnson considers himself a connoisseur. His musical tastes range from the soul era of the 60s to the 90s when Hip Hop was still an adolescent to the world. Not to say he doesn't like today's Hip Hop or even 13th century Gregorian chants for that matter; he just picks and chooses where he fits in.

Born in Chicago, Illinois Major describes his childhood as "flakey and inconsistent". For reasons unknown, Major and his family moved around a lot, causing him to be exposed to different parts of Chicago and the Chicagoland area. These actions alone may be the reason he does not identify with any single area in Chicago. He takes pride in mastering the city of Chicago, as there are people here who have never set a single foot out of a 20 mile radius of their block. He is self-proclaimed "All-City" and "Universal".

In 2004, Kanye West's debuted with his chart topping album "The College Dropout", an album Major describes as "the album that changed my life". Major goes on to say, “When I first heard [it] I was like wow! Who is this dude? It was like nothing I had ever heard before. You know how it was back in '04. It seemed like EVERYBODY was a drug dealer turned rapper, but this guy brought something new to the table. I'll admit, he is a big influence on me wanting to rap and produce...plus we're from the same place, so I can relate to him in a way".

 Major cites his lyrical influences as Jay Z, Nas, Kanye west, Biggie, and Common. But he doesn't label himself as a conscious rapper; he describes it as "having substance, but knowing when to spazz out". He sometimes takes note from the likes of Gucci Mane, Twista, and Lil Wayne; he laughs as he quickly adds Nicki Minaj and Lil B to that list, but you can tell he's serious.

Who knows where Major will end up, but one thing’s for certain; he won't go out without a fight. Give this young underdog some time. Not enough time and you'll critique every word he utters, too much time and you'll be wishing you would have stopped him sooner.