MO WILEY

GEARING UP FOR THE RELEASE OF HER FIRST KUT DEBUT ‘MAJOR LEAGUE BALLIN’,’ BAY AREA BASED FEMALE GANGSTA RAPPER GETS INTO THE APPAREL BIZ WITH MO WEAR AND HER OWN DESIGNER KEDS AND LAUNCHES A CHILDREN’S CHARITY FOUNDATION

Contrary to the old adage that we’ve all heard a million times, it’s Impatience that’s the virtue—or at least it is with Bay Area female gangsta rapper Mo Wiley (www.myspace.com/missmowiley), who’s keeping busy with a ton of exciting entrepreneurial activities as she awaits the upcoming release of “You Can’t Touch It,” the club groove driven first single from her highly anticipated debut Major League Ballin’, due to drop in early 2009 on Kent Entertainment’s First Kut Records.

First the basics: Though she cleaned up her act and went straight a while back now, Wiley  brings a gritty vibe and real street cred to Major League Ballin’ and is already a popular club draw in Northern California with a huge fan base in Oakland (where she made Club 17 her home base). She’s matching her lofty ambitions with action, starting her career with big time players in the rap biz. Not only is she working with the “Godfather of Rap” (and Kent owner) Morey Alexander (who launched the careers of rap legends like N.W.A, Easy-E, Ice Cube and Dr. Dre), but her album was produced by one of FirstKut’s most popular artists, Slick (from Slick and the Shock Mob).

Like all the great rappers who develop an incredible business sense to expand their brand, Wiley is already planning an exclusive clothing line with Alexander, appropriately dubbed “Mo Wear.” Her Mo Wear line will feature hip-hop apparel for women, including casual jeans and T-shirts designed with the female in mind.

“When women traditionally shop for hip-hop apparel, they either end up looking like a guy or come home frustrated,” says Wiley. “I’m going to help design items specifically for them.”

Other lines under the Mo Wear brand will include Wiley Wear, which will feature casual athletic clothes, and her high-end Boss Gurl line, which includes fancier jeans, dresses, knee high boots and sexy but not overly risqué clothing geared towards a high spirited night on the town.

Through myspace, Wiley also connected with an online merchant site that allows users to create their own product line for memorabilia type items. She began messing around and getting creative and is now selling a line of U.S. postal stamps with her image on them as well as Mo Wiley Keds and Customized Keds featuring pictures and imagery from her photo shoot for Major League Ballin’. In addition to pics of Wiley in her baseball uniform on the front and sides, the shoes feature a candy stripe on the toes and insole—creating a customized candy cane like effect. Fans can check these out at www.zazzle.com/mowiley.

Wiley, who is also currently planning her first major tour scheduled for early 2009, recently incorporated with several partners the Mo Wiley Children’s Foundation, a non profit organization dedicated to feeding, sheltering and educating our youth. Along with Tony “Rock” Jackson, who runs the Bay Area Hip Hop Awards (a major local black tie event), Wiley is working on creating, as a launching event and fundraiser, a Bay Area At Risk Hip Hop Awards show and concert early in the new year.

Other current Wiley happenings include the grand opening of her brand new recording studio, Mo Bay Records, on November 5 (she already has many advance bookings) and a single release party for “You Can’t Touch It” at San Francisco Club Fat City on November 28, which is being held in conjunction with an album release event for famed Oakland based rapper Dru Down.