Konshens Bio
Born Tarik Davis, a talented writer and musician, was born and raised in Northwest Washington, DC. At an early age, he exhibited his musical potential as a vocalist and musician. As a precocious toddler, he was a guest performer with his uncle's "Park Avenue" band and by 4, he was attending The Institute for the Gifted and Talented and focusing on the piano and later clarinet.
As a young child, he began writing poetry and continued to play music wherever there was an audience, usually at church, school, or family gatherings. His creativity developed and his artistic abilities broadened over the years and by the age of 10, Konshens officially fell in love with hip hop. Crediting Big Daddy Kane, Rakim, Ice Cube, Kool G Rap, Guru, Big L, Nas, Tupac and Scarface as some of his early influences, he continued to write and perform. A mere five years later, he became the rapper and backup lead talker for local go-go band "High Image". His band opened for local legends like Rare Essence, Northeast Groovers, and the Junkyard Band and redefined the typical go-go band by creating its own music and original lyrics.
Konshens recorded his first hip-hop song in 2000 with his longtime friend Antonio Graham. One year later, he met his current producer Phillip Carroll of X Factory Studio/Records. Taking advice given from Rich Harrison (co-writer and producer of various songs including Amerie's "one thing", Beyonce's "Crazy In Love" & Destiny Child's "Soldier"), along with the creative minds of Phillip "Producer X" Carroll (or DOC as Konshens refers to him) and Dwayne "Blue" Telesford, Konshens has developed his unique contribution to hip hop.
Konshens has also done something unique in his musical journey by constructing his own (7 piece) band "STATE of MIND" that plays the music live when performing. Currently, Konshens is working on a few projects which include: recording his second project with his band STATE OF MIND, (released Mar. 2009), and releasing a book of original poetry and quotes in Fall 2009. Konshens just recently won Best Rap/Hip Hop Album at the First Annual Velocity Magazine Awards (November,2008) for his debut project released in 2007. Along with being nominated twice at this years DMV EMA's, Konshens also was nominated in 8 categories(including best artist in style of Hip-Hop) for the 2009's Effigy Awards which is sponsored by ABC broadcasting networks airing songs throughout the U.S. (www.meermusic.com/Konshens). Konshens views life as change realizing that the famous quote by Frederick Douglass certainly stands true that "without struggle, there is no progress."