You can't talk about hip-hop, or music in general without mentioning the Midwest.  Motown?  Check.  Dilla?  A given.  The O'Jays?  Yep. Common?  Uh huh.  If he has his way (and if the hustle pays off), the next upcoming hitmaker will be a 5'6" dusty-fingered cartoon lover named $port.  Hailing from Toledo, Ohio, $port is most certainly set to blast off.  The self-proclaimed cosmonaut has been banging out beats for over six years now.  And at only 24 years old, the world we be able to get familiar with his sound for years to come.  He sights hip-hop mainstays such as Dilla, DJ Premier, Dr. Dre, Madlib, Kanye West, Just Blaze and the Neptunes as his inspirations.  "These are the people who've really made me jump head first into music and life itself', said $port. 

 When it's time to make some magic, $port loves to fire up his MPC 2000XL.  As of lately, though, his workstation has consisted of an iMac stuffed with Reason and Pro Tools.  He simply chalks up the switch to evolution, "I'd be watching and reading different clips of producers, and instead of talking about their MP's, they'd be sitting in front of computer screens.  I took it upon myself to go out and see what the fuss was about.  I was reluctant at first because the MPC is just so inviting.  Once I got used to Reason, I was like 'Oh sh*t, this is dope!"  He confesses that he's still working out the kinks, but he's undoubtedly found a workflow.  Listening to his latest tracks, you would think he had been on this software kick for years.

His hustle has paid off so far. He was recently featured in the DJ and Producer section of HipHopGame.com, with no major placement to his name as of yet. Looking to the future, $port's list of hopeful collaborations reads like some concert sponsored by your favorite brand of liquor.  "I want to work with all the people that I've genuinely become fans of throughout my life.  Jay-Z first and foremost for sure.  Nas, Scarface, Snoop.  I think me and TI could hurt somebody.  I have a couple records for Beyonce, too.  That'd be historic for me.  Jill Scott.  Black Thought.  I just finished something that has 50's (Cent) name all over it.  Oh, Common and Slum Village.  Just on the strength of the Midwest. "

$port is very aware of just how messy the music is right now.  It's that same awareness that makes his only goal in making music to "bring it back."  Diving deeper into it:  "I was lucky to grow up in a section in the country that didn't discriminate.  If it was hot, we played it.  I want to help people get those feelings back like when they raced home to open that new UGK album or that new Redman.  Yeah, naturally I'd love to make some kind of living out of all this.  I just love the music so much though.  Like great hoopers do basketball.  Mike didn't lace up his kicks every night just to score 55.  He did it because he loved it first.  That love drove him to score that 55!!  You know?  So yeah I want to score 55, 63 points here and there, but I really, really love the game."  Stick your tongue out at that.

"How could you not want to dig?  The best part of going through all those records is the feeling I get when I can turn this little piece of a song into an entirely different monster all together"- $port, 2007

"Sometimes, I might make one beat in a month.  Other times I'll make 3, 4 a day.  It just depends on how much I'm able to impress myself.  I have to like it before I think somebody else will." - $port, 2007

"I get mad at myself when I feel too tired to make a beat.  This man (J Dilla) did Donuts while he was basically on his last leg.  Who the hell am I to say 'I don't feel like it??'" - $port, 2008

"I'm a hip-hop dude from top to bottom, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to reach out and break barriers."- $port, 2008