Stephen Sebastiao professionally known as Lyrical Justifier was the first in his family born in America. He was born to a Portuguese Father & a Brazilian Mother. He Grew up in the Ironbound section Of Newark, NJ. He felt out of place & the sting of isolation at an early age from his peers for being of mixed race . He was told by either side “You aren’t really Brazilian” or “You aren’t really Portuguese.”
Even with that he loved Newark & still represents it to this day. Feeling out of place, alone, frustrated and dealing with an abusive home life he sought peace in activities such as organized sports. This still left him feeling alone so he looked elsewhere for solace.
Ultimately it was writing that led him to his saving grace, the thing that would pull him in, giving him a home and let him know he belonged , Hip Hop. At fifteen he wrote his first rhyme. He was always good at writing in school but this moment was different, he felt accomplished.
He continued writing, learning how to construct his lyrics into song format & how to write hooks. School was usually a place where he found further abuse but through writing he could escape even that. His friend Vick helped him hone his craft as a lyricist.
At 16 he was in the process of looking for studios to record in as well as a Producer when he met Chris Collins (D-Cypl) a person who would go on to be heavily involved in his evolution as an Mc. He started to record at a studio in Elizabeth,NJ but due to overly critical Producers & staff he ended up feeling discouraged & disinterested so music took a back seat for two years.
Chris continued on his path musically & the two stayed in contact through the years. After 5 years not seriously pursuing music (although he constantly wrote and honed his craft on his own) D-Cypl dropped by with news that would change everything. D-Cypl told him that a label was interested in developing their talent but they would need to start as interns & help develop the label’s street team from scratch. Steve was excited by the news & from day one fully committed to doing his best at the label.
Lyrical Justifier immediately hit it off with label CEO/Producer Greg L.Hines (Brother Noyze The Mad Musician). After less than a month Steve was given a feature on the song “Fantasize” off the Underground hit album “In The Name Of Hip Hop Vol.1.”. His rhyme was done entirely in his native tongue of Portuguese. After less than a year as an intern and helping to run the street team at HardKandy Records,Inc.
Brother Noyze The Mad Musician began working on Lyrical Justifier and D-Cypl’s Group album “Marked 4 Life”. Together Chris & Steve where known as “Jersey Advocates” and got to travel as far as Cannes ,France promoting the label and their group. 3 years after the release of “Marked 4 Life” Steve had worked his way up to executive assistant to label head Greg L.Hines and Steve began work on his solo album.
He felt all the artist development Brother Noyze had put into him was worth his loyalty so he stayed with the label until it reformed as Mindless Sound Records,LLC. Greg and Steve worked hard to complete his solo album prompted by the Labels new Ceo Veteran Business Woman Celestine Hines .
His solo album features Top Musicians and Singers such as Legendary Hip Hop Icon DJ SoulBuck (DJ For Doodlebug Of Grammy Award winning Hip Hop Group Digable Planets), Former Gloria Gaynor Background Vocalist & Dance Music Legend In his own right Gordon Nelson Jr., Jazz Legend John Coltrane’s Son Jamal Coltrane, Emmy Award Winning Composer & Sax/Woodwind Player Richard Reiter, several Independent Vocalists and Mcs . Lyrically Steve took all the emotion, hurt & life experience he felt up to that point & crafted the 17 songs that make up his debut solo album “Penance”.
In the end it was determination, friendship & turning many negatives into positives that lead him to his peaceful place “Hip Hop” & birthed his Epic Album.
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