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Centered in San Francisco, California, The Big La (a.k.a. Todd Kelley) has been concocting beats and loops since the age of 9. Using a MacBook Pro with Soundtrack, GarageBand and Sound Studio III, The Big La relies heavily on loops in his production. "I really yearn for that classic material period." he remembers. "Back in the 90's. The Renaissances Period with Tribe and De La and Pete Rock. I'm not trying to do sh!t to keep up with the times and stuff. I don't really care about selling beats and things. This is something I need to do. It's a part of me. If i heard a sample and it's dope, I gotta try and do something with it... for my own peace of mind." After 10 years of seriously making music, Todd dropped the well-received "Blue... Kinda Grey" in 2006. The unreleased CD (and it's title) literally defined his style. Syrupy-smooth grooves, laced with hip-hop beats. His 17 track opus actually pulled him out of retirement. "Hip-Hip had changed so much and I really wasn't feelin' most of the stuff on the radio and on TV, so I kinda left it for a bit. I started looking into other forms of music that would give me that same feeling i use to get with Hip-Hop back in the day." What he found was that he gravitated toward old soul and blues music. He began his trek to grab hold of all those original sampled songs that were floating out there. And by accumilating this old vintage sounds, he began to get that itch he needed to scratch. "I remember hearing these incredible drums and strings and stuff. And I started daydreaming about looping and droppin' drums. It was crazy. I was like a crack addict being drawn back!" Eventually, he found hisself loading up his MacBook Pro and crafting "Blue... Kinda Grey" over a 7 month span. "It was such an incredible feeling! It was like rediscovering an old love and gettin' that old feeling back. I love it, mayne! On the prospect of actually trying to take beats to the market: "Man, I'm not against it. I mean, I don't think my sound (which is dated by a decade) is relevent in this day and age, but you never know!" Along with "Blue... Kinda Grey", The Big La re-released alot of his past material in a "Greatest Hits" compilation. "There were a lot of beats that I've done in the past that I think still hold up. Most of them are just experiments, ya know? Kinda like 'what if it do this' type of stuff. But people are feelin' it. So I'm happy. I really don't care about getting props for beats. But that don't mean it doesn't feel good to hear your peers and music lovers giveing you your propers...".. Currently, The Big La is working on his next release "Water... Under The Bridge", a collaboration with singer/songwriter Doyle Robinson for "The Rhythm Teachers" Project, and droppin' some gems for his bro and longtime production genius T-Bob at Balance Records. ----------------------------

I hate to call myself a writer. That implies I have some type of 'gift' or some type of 'training'. That is not the case. I'm a creative person who needs to find outlets to express himself. I've never been a social person. I've always turned inward to express myself, in all forms of art. And even though creating music is my first love, i can't deny that writing is my life-long mistress. When i was a kid and first saw Star Wars, I wanted to tell my own incredible stories. So I would write and write and write these horrible, yet therapeutic stories; as crazy as I could make them. These days, little has changed. I'm a graphic designer living in The Bay Area. But I still make music to soothe my soul. And I still love to write. I need to write.

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I'm a graphic design audiophile, hailing from the cool-ass streets of San Francisco, California. I also moonlight as an internet DJ for http://www.flowink.com. My music style consists of old school and underground hip-hop, neo/nu soul, electronic/chilled beats, and experimental trax. When i'm not listening to my 26,000+ songs in iTunes, I make beats under the guise of The Big La vs. Todd (google me). I make instrumental beats, reminiscent of the mid-90's renaissance of Hip-Hop. In all, i love everything about music. It's my first love. At the end of the day, I love interacting with like minds and expanding my knowledge of good music with others on the same page. So holla at me. Let's build. MY MIX LIBRARYhttp://www.toddkelley.net/music/ MYSPACEhttp://www.myspace.com/biglavstoddLast.fm-Mainstream-O-Meter result

My passion hasn't just been with beat production. I've always had the hobby of sharing what I consider good music with everyone around me. I channeled this into a few years doing a pirate radio hip-hop countdown show for a friend during my college days. Now, I'm doing my thing as one of the DJ's collectively known as "The Flow" over at Flowink.com's Music Lounge. Drop by at check out the flavor we're serving

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