BY T URSULA GREEN
EAST COAST PESOS
Let’s take a trip back in time, right around 1997. That was the year that Eric T Bryant an artist ofHip hop, also known as E Pesos, stepped onto the scene. He chose the name E Pesos,because he can easily understand and acknowledge the fact that Money is all around him. Pesos and his entire team moved with a certain swag and it equaled Money.Although he is a prominent figure in the underground music scene, he and fellow artist Leonard“LA” Greene started a rap group called: The Black Mob. In his own words Pesos considered them to be “Black Lyrical Assassins coming corrupted with minds of business” The group started with three members and then it grew into five. Unfortunately, money and politics started shifting the loyalty between the members.Now I will fast-forward to the ABC/MTV reality show featuring music mogul Sean ( Puffy) Combs titled: Making The Band. The show eventually brought us groups like: O-Town,Da Band, Danity Kane, Day26, and Donnie Klang. The same day that Puffy was casting for the show, Pesos was locked up for attempted murder! While fighting that case, Pesos went into creative mode and took his talent out on the road for a short tour and ended up in Richmond Va.
His decision to showcase his talent was well received. While in Richmond he met Joe Parker of (Dangerous Records LLC.) This independent label had a majority of the South on lock. By 2002, everything was getting back to normal and then sadly his mother passed and life did a 360 and flipped upside down. His relationship with the love of his life ended and so did his passion for music. Pesos hit the streets and went in full throttle. He had his hands in everything! If you could name it, he was definitely involved in it. In his own words “I hit the streets with a vengeance taking onall challengers with no hesitation and I place myself on a high pedestal because I had survived World War lV (4) on the streets of Jersey City Life began to center everything around him, from senseless killings to gang violence and a possible 20 yr sentence, still hanging over his head. His talent was thriving, but the reality of Pesos going back to his music was non-existent, there was far too much endless negativity going on around him. The case was dropped against him and his co-defendants. Now life has brought him sunshine and smiles, but little did he know the big picture came with a bigger plan.
