Rappers ready CD with purpose

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

A group of Youngstown hip hop artists led by Adrian McDowell — aka Otis Grimes — is putting together a CD of original music. All proceeds will be donated to the United Negro College Fund.

The CD will be available later this year through online merchants for $8 to $10. The other participating artists are Kenny Ali, George “Blackface” Washington, Robert “Dj Flawda Boi” Humphries, Anthony “Young Bino” Griffith, Glen “Devicesound” Barnes, Chris “Lil CP” Pless, James “Don Kody” Spires, Charles “Chipbanks” Colvin, Tera Elkins and NeXus Sound Studios.

McDowell hopes the record sheds positive light on Youngstown. The music, he said, will alter the public perception of hip-hop, rejecting the degradation of women and the glorification of the drug trade.

McDowell, who wrote all of the songs, said the material is a first-person point of view of what it’s like growing up in an impoverished, crime-ridden community.

In 2005, McDowell released “Possession with Intent Vol. 1” as Otis Grimes. It sold more than 3,000 copies and produced the single “We Kick It.” He will mount a college tour in April.