Blending modern Rap and the original ideals of Hip-Hop produces Mac Nitti. This Rochester, NY artist is what most would categorize as a positive rapper. But Mac likes to think of himself as Socially Aware Poet that puts situations faced by inner-city residents to music so that those who listen to him will be entertained and made aware.

On his new album, Still Addicted, you can feel the passion he has for the social and economic betterment of those normally neglected by society; as well as his ability to prove he is also able to hang with mainstream rap.

Growing up in the days when hip-hop was more about fun, excitement, and knowledge, Nitti was greatly influenced by KRS-ONE, Rakim, PRT, Heavy D and The Fresh Prince. Ever since his early teenage years, Mac has found it easy to write his rhymes in a manner that it would reflect his environment, a situation he witnessed first hand, or what he knew others in the ghetto were facing. He came from a middle class family and grew up in the inner city. “I grew up in a very close family. No matter what I did, family was involved. My mom often played songs by Aretha Franklin, Shirley Caesar and Earth, Wind, & Fire. My dad mostly played, Sam Cooke, Mahalia Jackson, and James Cleveland. So I was exposed to a variety of soulful music. But that was my parent’s music. I wanted my own. Pop music took a seat in my childhood, so Michael Jackson, DeBarge, and New Edition was being played. But when I turned on my radio one day and heard La Di Da Di, the Fat Boys, and I need Love, I was hooked. I ate Hip-Hop up! Anyone that had KRS-ONE or Just-ICE, I dubbed a copy. Finally my own music.”

When asked why his music content is what it is, Mac explains, “Man, I grew up in the ghetto. Yeah I had a structured family, for the most part, but I saw what drugs did to the Black community. I saw poverty and how it affected families. Hip-Hop, to me has always been a means to vent, a way to express your feelings and share with the world; from rap to graffiti, to dancing, and slang. So I used it for that. I was always known as the class clown. It’s in me to crack a joke when I can to lighten up a tense situation. So from time to time I throw some comedy in my rhymes. But I do take my rhymes serious, even when its funny. Feel me?”

Mac Nitti began Pyramid Entertainment in 2007, the same time he started recording Addicted to This. Honestly speaking, it wasn’t originally intended to be an album. When he started Pyramid Entertainment, Mac was more focused on producing for other artists and when he had down time, he would record a song or two. After about 5 songs were recorded, a good friend asked why he didn’t put out an album of his own. This had always been a dream of Mac’s but he buried that dream because he found a new passion in producing and beat making. But before he knew it, Mac Nitti had produced a complete album. Addicted to This contains a mixture of party songs and songs focused on the ills faced in inner-city. The album was sold at the 2007 BOULDERFEST in Rochester, NY and sold over 200 copies. Online, through the Pyramid Entertainment website, the album sold 100+ copies to fans in Texas, Detroit, Alabama, and of course Rochester, NY.

Because of the success of his first album, Nitti has decided to launch a follow-up CD, titled Still Addicted. Mac’s main focus is still the social happenings for the “lower class” residents of the country, but he also felt as if he needed to show in this album that he can hang with the mainstream rappers of today. Still Addicted was produced by Mac Nitti and Capone and feature local artists, Houston Texas rapper, Katie Tropp, and Profisi Culcha from NYC via Jamaica. The release date for the album has not been determined, as Mac wants to “make sure it is done just right.” A few singles from the album have been released online at a few marketing sites, such as www.iSound.com; www.thatshiphop.com; and www.wemix.com. Those who heard them have received the songs positively and with this, Mac Nitti is very pleased. “I just want to do what I can to make hip-hop fun again. I don’t want the kids to think that it always has to be about violence, drugs, and sex. I mean if that’s your reality, then cool, but it’s not that way for everyone, and I want to make sure its known. My biggest challenge is getting the radio to accept it. I’m up against a lot of artists that follow the trend of promoting black on black crime and drug sales, and the radios seem to eat that up, cause that’s what sells. It’s a business so I can understand. I just hope they will give artist like me a chance to make the people dance, to think about what’s going on and who’s the blame for the situations they’re in.”

Mac Nitti is not sure how far he’ll go as an artist, but he is sure of one thing, “No matter how far I go or where I’ll go while doing it, I will always, rep Rochester, NY, and always do what I can to address the situations of the People.”