A lyricist is defined as a person who puts poetic lines to a musical piece. Anyone can make music, but not everyone can be a true lyricist. Born (April 8th) in the late 80s in Southeast San Diego, James "Pedalay" Robinson, exclaims to have seen too much in such a short time. "The ups & downs, struggles & politics are where all my pain comes from. Then I turn the pain into energy, then the energy into music". From being a high school dropout at 17 to becoming a father and having to start real life shortly after that, it seems that Pedalay has definitely seen his share of struggle. Needless to say, the struggle, for this young entrepreneur, is nowhere close to an end. At 23, Pedalay has dove head first into the shark infested waters of the music industry. Followed by his own, independently owned record label: Smoke Break Records, "The Boss" has definitely got his work cut out for him. "Being an artist and molding artist cannot be the same task. Commit to one or the other." Is the advice that Pedalay shares. Pedalay has been interested in music since a very young age! Listening to anything his ears would pick up, as his father played everything from Funk to Gangster Rap. "I remember being 8, and my grandma telling me I can’t see my dad because he let me dub Dr. Dre's "THE CHRONIC" onto a blank tape, to play in my walkman at school!" Needless to say, listening to Dr. Dre didn’t corrupt Pedalay's mind as much as it actually inspired him. Things that Pedalay did feel corrupted his mind were, not having a mother around, his father leaving him at just about the same age he was allowed to listen to Dr. Dre, being raised in a heavily gang related environment, and being forced to live with relatives, that he had to express love for, even though he didn't necessarily have those feelings, just to name a few. "As I grew, I decided to listen to what MY brain was telling ME, as opposed to giving in to the forceful way of ordinary educational factors!" "I listened to everything that was told to me, but I decided what I wanted to have stick!" Today, as a single parent of 2, and as the leader of an undying movement, as he would put it, Pedalay says he will NEVER give in or quit! www.smokebreakrecords.com myspace.com/pedalayboss twitter.com/pedalay_boss Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.