LIKEBLOOD ENTERTAINMENT - Came From Nothin’ - Being from Washington, D.C. automatically raises the stakes for any emcee. The original Murder Capital ranks 8th in America's urban markets, is the nation's #1 most watched political center, and is the birthplace of Go-go, a musical subculture which has influenced Hip-Hop since its nascence nearly 30 years ago. But even with all of this in hand, nothing has been defined on the national level as the true voice of D.C. Hip-Hop. No platinum plaque has been credited to the city to date. The pressure to be the first is monumental. Coming from nothing, however, is what Likeblood Entertainment does best. Already equipped with several mixtapes under their belt and a feature film in the chamber, LBE (Eric “Yung E” Mann, 24; Joshua “Moody Streetz” Moody, 20; Andre “Dre Strong” Strong, 24) pledges to take the industry by storm with their freshly packaged EP, Came From Nothin', slated to hit the streets in June 2007. “Somethin’ that you really got to understand about D.C., [is] we not the South, we not up North, we right in the middle; we do our own thing, we dress our own way, we have our own music,” explains Dre who unofficially founded LBE along with Yung E back in 1996. As a true personification of the rarely seen D.C. culture, which has been ingrained into the group since their youth growing up on the streets of D.C., LBE genuinely brings a unique sound and experience to the Hip-Hop game. Like most crews, LBE started off as a full regime, even crossing intra-city boundaries to fill its ranks. “I am from the Southside, my partners are from Uptown,” Moody offers. “I am here letting it be known that it ain’t no beef.” But as everyday life soldiered on, the group found itself scaling back to the current trio to officially push their product. “It’s a lot of faces that go along with Likeblood,” Yung E says. “A lot of faces that’s incarcerated, whatever have you. The gist of it is, Yung E, Dre Strong, and Moody Streetz is going to be the foundation of what’s to come.” In early 2006, the three signed a management deal with Soblu Entertainment Inc., a local entertainment company, who cast the group alongside Wood Harris (“Remember the Titans,” “Paid in Full,” “The Wire”) and Clifton Powell (“Norbit,” “Ray,” “Next Friday”) in the company’s debut film, “Jazz in the Diamond District.” In addition to acting in the film, LBE also solidified a spot on the film’s soundtrack. “I think the biggest opportunity that we got goin’ right now is that we about to do the soundtrack with some of the hottest artists in D.C. – Go-go bands, rap artists, singers…” Dre says. His conservatory training as an actor at the State University of New York at Purchase landed him a leading role in the film. Until then (movie and soundtrack slated to be released in late ’07), LBE continues to hone their skills, already jumping in the booth with some of the freshest talent in the city. While in town, Harris even flexed his recently-announced rap muscles on their street anthem **** Wit Me” (also featuring Rock Mikey, lead mic for the Go-go band, UCB). “We all in the positive aspect and the humble aspect in our music,” Moody explains, “[but our music] kinda be rowdy at the same time. People respect us ‘cause they know who we are… Within like a 4 or 5 month period we got two completed mixtapes [Thicker Than Water and ‘06 All in the Mix] and we already got our 3rd joint that’s getting worked on now.” “We have an understanding about what’s ‘bout to go on in this city,” Yung E interjects. “And we ready to ride that wave. We just prepared.” In addition to pushing mixtapes street-side and tearing down local hot spots, Likeblood is going nationwide with Came From Nothin’ which includes exclusive footage of their performances, interviews and work on the set of “Jazz in the Diamond District.” “Likeblood, for me, is what you would call the entire Hip-Hop spectrum,” Dre sums up. “If you want knowledge, if you want **** to bust to, if you on some hood **** laid back **** political **** whatever you need, we got that for you like a drug store. You don’t need no HMO’s.”