Sylvan LaCue (Miami)

When you think of Miami hip-hop, chances are very high that Rick Ross instantly comes to mind. You don’t realize that there’s a whole new wave of South Florida artists that have been solidifying their place in the game for a while now and don’t sound anything alike. 25-yr old artist Sylvan LaCue, is one of the leaders seeking to carry on tradition by bringing back pride to his city, & a new identity to go with it.Born in Miami Fl on September 2nd, 1990, Sylvan is the son of Cheryl Herring & Michael LaCue. Sylvan’s interest in music began at the early age of 7, being introduced to acts such as NaS, & The Roots. “It was fairly new, & I had no idea what I was watching, but The Roots was on The Box music channel. The Baby You Got Me video was playing in my room. From there I started writing a lot. By the time I was introduced to Nas, I was hooked. All I cared about was rap & how to do it better than any & everyone else.”Sylvan first popped onto the radar in 2009 as champion of the “Survival of the Freshest MCs” contest under his former alias QuESt, where he beat out 660 other hip-hop artists to win a first-look deal with industry mogul Jermaine Dupri and the then-newly-formed TAG Records. He was only 18 years old. After seeing the label fold only a few months later, Sylvan maintained a positive attitude about the whole experience. “I learned the process of ‘making it’ isn’t a ‘one-two, buckle my shoe’ chess move. It takes hard work and dedication. You have to genuinely love this and have a desire to achieve greatness if you have any chance of survival.”Despite the setback, Sylvan joined the online mixtape culture right at height of Drake’s success of So Far Gone. After releasing a slew of music online, Sylvan began to find his true break through with Visionary Music Group, signing to the independent imprint in 2013. Touring with Def Jam’s own Logic on two national tours [1 of which he co headlined], Sylvan began building a show history & tour experience that garnered him a hardcore fan base. He then released his critically acclaimed project Searching Sylvan in September of 2014. His highest release to date, it garnered collectively over 70,000 downloads between HotNewHipHop & DatPiff.com. [Not including streaming services]Searching Sylvan was deemed by Huffington Post as one of the “most underrated albums of the year”, and maintained a fluid sound that can only be mastered by those who have written down every thought all while downplaying the importance of sleep. He was nominated for XXL’s 2014 Freshman list, & received critical praise for his honest body of work. But even with a promising project under his belt, Sylvan still felt his legacy was far from cemented.Taking a bold step forward, Sylvan left Visionary Music Group December of 2014 to focus on his own brand, sound & direction. “It was a decision I made knowing that it could either be the best or worst thing I’d ever done for my career. It was a risk, but a necessary one in order for me to continue growing as an artist.” Since then, Sylvan has launched his WiseUp collective seeking to create a platform for himself & for other artists in the future. With his new project Far From Familiar on the horizon, Sylvan has only one thing on his mind. “I just want to be the best in the world at being myself. I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished so far, but I’ve spent a lot of time doing things in order to fit a certain criteria I thought would get me to where I wanted to be. At 25, I’m realizing I can only achieve greatness, by fully embracing the man God has intended me to be all along.”