Bio

Name: Luis C DaPonte aka Prince Zalu: Born in : Sao Miguel Acorez Bio: . Raised on the lower east side of providence RI known as the historical FOX POINT. Luis was given the name Zalu by his neighbor hood friends, now at the age of 26 Zalu (who is now known as Prince Zalu) is a legend in the making, his style is so raw and yet so real you can't help but bop your head to every track he graces. His voice is so addictive, and his lyrics penetrate your thought and take you to a place that only a true lyricist can take you. His music is so descriptive, he puts you in a trance as you hear him rap his ghetto tales. The young rapper is so versatile he can make you bounce in the club or put something on your mind as you ride in your car. This deadly mixture is the reason why people love his flow, as a young boy Zalu had the passion for music; his inspiration came from listening to such artists as Run DMC, LL Cool, Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg & NWA. Some days he would sit up in his room and listen to the music through his window while neighbors played their loud music outside. He would then listen to the beats and start freestyling in his bedroom, but only to himself, it wasn't until 1994 when he first heard the legendary Bone Thugs N Harmony did he really wanna become an MC, falling in love with the music and messages that were given by Bone Thugz N Harmony. Shortly after Zalu started writing his own lyrics, rapping with a similar flow to that of the Bone Thugz; he would pretend to be all of the group members while listening to a song, trying to master their hip hop flow and remake their songs into 1 of his own. Growing up in a broken home Zalu's poverty was the breakfast that he ate every morning, gutter was his lunch and hard times was his dinner. He didn't allow his unfortunate circumstances to run his life. He knew that there was more to him then what met the eye, he knew that the sky was the limit. Someone said to him once "you have a voice that would want to be heard". He wasn't sure what to make of it back then but as he got older he realized what was said to him so he put all of his emotions and dreams into his music and now he's a force to be reckoned with. He was introduced to the rap game when he signed onto HOOD STRONG Entertainment as just a street team member through a leader in the business and then later hooked up with an up and coming female artist named Tiffany. Tiffany became an inspiration for Zalu to start his own rap group, they're formally known as L-N-P. Which was a duo of him and his brother Paul who was known as P. Zalu later went on and created his own label after things didn't work out as planned over at hood strong and started up STREET MUZIK Entertainment with his brother P. They went on to drop their 1st 12 track mixtape called THUG BROTHAZ then not long after they released another one titled THE MOVEMENT from 2006 until 2008 right before things fell apart for the group. Zalu decided to be a solo rapper and started recording on his own until reuniting with an old friend by the name of KOBE (also known as Shay Dollaz) made him reconsider. He then restarted his label only with Kobe as his President (as well as an artist under the label), still calling it S.M.E (Street Muzik Entertainment). Zalu knew that Kobe was a star in the making but something was still missing, he reached out to another old friend who was also an MC formally of S&J Music group, CrazeT then he linked up with one of the hottest producers in the state of R.I. NITTY of RED EYE Productions. Even with the separate things going on in the band members lives they never let that slow them down the movement continuted to move on as they went on performing live shows in mid 2009. Zalu released his 1st solo but 3rd overall mixtape titled ON THA RITE TRAK featuring a variety of MC's. Around the same time of releasing his CD Zalu signed SWICHIZ and CASHMERE two other up coming artists in the 401. Zalu then teamed up with a well-known local artist named PLAY BOY NY$E and the two did a collaboration on a track that lead PBN to sign him to THE POWER OF 1 Family Regime with CEO SKIN-N-BONE$ an affiliation to the Bone Thugz-N-Harmony. This year Zalu will release 6 projects...3 mixtapes and 3 albums. 1 solo album, 1 S.M.E album and 1 TPO1 album. In conclusion Zalu is not only the CEO of S.M.E but he is also the Vice President of The Power of One East Coast Chaper. Him and PBN (PLAY BOY NY$E) have also launched an radio website known as www.401hiphopradio.com, it is set to take a toll and put alot of heat to the ears of the world and the rest is history in the making