Happy Birthday, Maino!

Today, Aug. 30, is the birthday of New York rapper and self-proclaimed "King of Brooklyn," Maino. He's now 45 years of age.

A New York City kid from birth, Maino started his career in the rap game relatively late after getting involved with illegal activity that landed him in the pen. Maino listened to tapes from the greats, everything from Notorious B.I.G to Jay-Z, to pass the time in prison. When he was released in 2003, Maino started his own indie record label called Hustle Hard Entertainment. Maino's fledging label went through ups and downs before it got backing from Atlantic Records in 2008.

That same year, Maino got his first taste of success when his debut single "Hi Hater" became a monster hit. The Brooklyn-style anthem to naysayers peaked at No. 26 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs list. "Hi Hater" was soon remixed with Swizz Beatz, T.I., Plies, Jadakiss and Fabolous on the track.

To date, Maino has dropped two studio albums, If Tomorrow Comes... (2009) and The Day After Tomorrow (2012). He has also dropped collaborative projects with the likes of Uncle Murda.

And aside from the music, Maino definitely cares about the borough and community he reps. In May of 2016, Maino, along with his longtime rap cohort Uncle Murda, had a connection to the unfortunate shooting at Irving Plaza that left one man dead. Maino and Murda were in the house that night, specifically VIP section when the shots rang out. In the wake of the controversy, Maino and Murda decided to put on a townhall style open forum for young rappers in Brooklyn to safely network and settle differences.

In keeping up his music-dropping, Maino unloaded his third studio album, Party & Pain, last October. It doesn't look like this BK vet has any plans of slowing up his grind.

Happy Born Day to Maino!

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