Diaz
With a Spanish passport and a Norwegian childhood, Diaz has been connected to Norways leading hip-hop label - Tee Productions - for almost a decade. As a young fan of rap music in the late 80s, Diaz used to make request calls to his favorite radio hip-hop show hosted by DJ, producer and label owner Tommy Tee. Diaz himself ended up as a radio host, party promoter, music journalist, and as an aspiring MC. After he got signed to Tee Productions as a rapper he has participated on several projects; He was introduced to most Scandinavians on Warlocks "After Dark Wallhitters" - where he was the first to combine Spanish and English lyrics on a Norwegian recording. Prior to this he was featured on jazz-artist Helen Eriksen's "Shake My Hand remix" (Blue Note/EMI). Since then Diaz has appeared on more than twenty singles and album cuts by Tommy Tee.

The 1998 international hit single "Crossing Borders" - where Diaz teamed up Swedish platinum rapper Petter may have been his crowning achievement as the single garnered mainstream critical acclaim and got added to MTV Europes pop-dominated playlist. The Spanish-Norwegian rappers highly anticipated solo-album was released June 2000 and distributed by Virgin Records in Europe. The album title, "2050" is the zip code to Diaz hometown Jessheim - a small suburb outside Oslo. Jessheim's love for Diaz (and appreciation for being put on the map) was proved when the mayor agreed to close off the whole main street for Diaz big-budget release party. Besides Diaz, Jessheim's only claim to pop-culture fame is limited to raunchy porn-star Tanya Hansen, who of course appeared with Diaz in the video clip for the T.P. Allstars single "Dream On".

Diaz dedication to the place where he grew up is important to him. "I want to give some love to my hometown," explains Diaz, "thus the album title. I also talk about life in Jessheim and describe its people." At the same time as Diaz represents this small part of Norway, he also represents his Spanish background - and hip-hop culture itself. "People might get confused when they hear a Spanish-Norwegian rapper with English lyrics and an American sound, but I am just trying to tell the story about my life, which is all about hip-hop. This is an American culture so I want to express myself in English, but at the same time drop some Spanish rhymes just to remind everyone - and myself - who I am. In the future I might rhyme in Norwegian, but right now English and Spanish lyrics feel real to me."

Diaz first promotional single, "I Come To Collect", was sent out to radio and DJ's, and the street buzz caused by this banger - combined with promotional shows and TV appearances - increased when the first commercially available single "Star From Trini" hit the streets. The single also received major airplay on Norwegian radio this spring. The CD version included "I Come To Collect" as a bonus track, while the maxi singles flip side contains the ridiculously hot "Star From Trini remix" featuring El The Sensei from New Jersey. In addition to Tee Productions artists N-Light-N and Opaque, "2050" features Channel Live, IGOFF & Hazadous, Petter, Thomas Rusiak, Cover from C.O.D. Crew, and Mista Sinista - founder of the X-ecutioners. The set, which is produced by Tommy Tee, received great reviews in the Norwegian press, in addition to international magazines like Billboard, The Source and Hip-Hop Connection.

Recently Diaz donated a brilliant new track to a Salvation Army's charity compilation, which went double platinum. He was also handpicked by RZA from Wu-Tang Clan to represent Norway on the new international "The World According to RZA" album, and together they recorded two hot tracks in a studio in Stockholm. Diaz is currently working on a new solo-album, which will feature more American collaborations.