Who Is Haze

Philly Haze came up looking up to his pops, a DJ. At 6 he was carrying crates; by 11 or 12 he was backstage around Earth, Wind & Fire and Chaka Khan. He went by DJ Puerto Rican Juice. Then he started rapping and got into the battle rap world, where T-Rex put him down with Dot Mob. He's opened for Peedi Crakk. Now he's got his own league, BarWarz NYC, plus the group SLS and Team Goya. He reps New York as one: Upstate, the BX, Yonkers.

Philly Haze came up looking up to his pops, a DJ who had him outside early: 6 years old, carrying crates. By 11 or 12 he was backstage around Earth, Wind & Fire and Chaka Khan. His name back then: DJ Puerto Rican Juice.

As a DJ, he saw everybody rap. He always wanted to; he was just nervous. He started in a little studio in the crib, inviting his boys over. Once he broke out of the nerves, he ran through names until he landed on Philly Haze. His favorites: Big Pun, Jadakiss, Styles P, Redman, Method Man, DMX ("have to put the dog in there") and Nas.

Then he was running around to other people's hoods, freestyling and battling, getting on the DVDs of the day. All over Upstate, making noise.

When he got into the battle rap world, T-Rex put him down with Dot Mob. He's battled on a whole bunch of leagues, from Bullpen Battle League to WeGoHardTV to The Colosseum to EnJ BattleGrounds to TrapHouse NY to Supreme Rap League. Not just a cappella, either: he's been on CypherCity TV's Battle On The Beat. He's been out to Pittsburgh, North Carolina, Virginia, Atlanta.

Now he's got his own league, BarWarz NYC. He's got the group SLS. He's got Team Goya. He's opened for Peedi Crakk and rapped on the Sway In The Morning End of Year Cypher. Upstate, the BX, Yonkers: he's been moving and grooving around New York, and he reps all of it. In his words: "We rapping New York, period, as one, one whole. We outside."