Biography
YOUNGIN, a term used in Washington, D.C. as a term of endearment, is also the name of a rapper who represents Washington, D.C. YOUNGIN was born Gary Allen Pryor, Jr. on January 3, 1985 in Southeast, Washington, D.C. as the middle-child to two sisters. After seeing his older sister rap when she was about eleven or twelve, YOUNGIN became interested in learning how to rap. YOUNGIN began rapping at the age of twelve. His first rhymes where his sisters with the words changed around. YOUNGIN began to take rap seriously at the age of fourteen.
Not having the funds to pay for studio time, YOUNGIN decided to teach himself all about song formats, producing, mixing, and even graphics. YOUNGIN first started making beats after his friend taught him how to play MTV’s Music Generator, a game for the Playstation. From there YOUNGIN eventually got his own playstation and perfected his craft on Funkmaster Flex’s Digital Hitz Factory, a game for the Playstation 2. At the age of seventeen, YOUNGIN freestyled in front of people for the first time while in a friends house. After he finished, everyone was telling him how good he was and how he should record himself. One day, a friend got a recording program called “Acid” and let YOUNGIN use it. YOUNGIN crafted his first two albums with that titled “What Up D.o.C.” and “D.a C.ity Is My Home”.
Around that time YOUNGIN was rapping under the name Young Bugz. YOUNGIN then crafted his third album “Tha Prince Of Rap EP”. In 2005 YOUNGIN performed his song “I’m Just Me” at the Lincoln Theater in a competition. YOUNGIN did not win this competition but neither did any other rapper that entered. Out of about fifteen to twenty artists, the judges decided to chose all singers to move on to the next round. In 2007 YOUNGIN tried out for the local t.v. show “Metro Video & Film Festival’s Hot 16 contest. The contest consisted of rappers spitting a 16 bar verse and then the viewers going online to vote for their favorite. YOUNGIN lost the first two times he entered. It was around this time that YOUNGIN (who was still Young Bugz) decided that it was time for a change.
Young Bugz then changed his name to YOUNGIN and entered again, this time rapping with more aggression and feeling. YOUNGIN won this time. As apart of the prize for winning, YOUNGIN was able to co-host the show. That same year YOUNGIN got a computer and decided to record his first album under the name YOUNGIN. The album was titled “Tha Prince Of Rap”. It was this album where people started to notice YOUNGIN for his originality. One fan even said “I like you because your you. You don’t try to be nobody else”. Hearing that comment let YOUNGIN new that there were people that wanted to hear his story and his sound.
Even though there were fans of YOUNGIN’s “Tha Prince Of Rap” album YOUNGIN himself was displeased with the material. The album was aimed at getting YOUNGIN radio play, which he did end up getting for his song “Fresh Ta Def”. Not pleased with the material on the album, YOUNGIN began working on more serious material which was originally planned on being released as a mixtape. Instead YOUNGIN decided to take the original songs he wrote for that mixtape and update them, making new beats for the songs. Youngin taught himself how to direct and edit his own music video and released his first one in 2011. In 2013, Youngin released a free album title 'Tha Rewind' on his website. The album got a write up on The Washington City blog. Also in 2013, Youngin performed during halftime of a Washington Wizards game.
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