Happy Birthday, Mozzy!

Today, June 24, marks the birthday of Mozzy, one of the very best artists California has to offer. The rapper is now 31 years of age.

Although he started out as a gospel rapper, Mozzy, born Timothy Patterson,  has left his mark with frank, street-oriented lyrics that spotlight the inevitability and consequences of violence in the ghetto. Raised in the 4th Avenue of Sacramento, Calif.'s  of Oak Park, the gritty wordsmith was immersed in gang culture from the time he was a small child.

“I was 4, throwing up 4th Ave. I ain’t even know what the fuck I was doing,” the rapper told XXL last year. “I was doing that shit because of my cousins, my big brothers, my uncles, my aunties. I was familiar with [gang life] growing up, but nigga just wanted to be a pimp. Nigga didn’t have no dreams of being a gang member. Nigga family full of pimps and players. But it was just like, ‘Ain’t no hangin’ if you ain’t bangin.’ I just became affiliated naturally, and that shit just took off from there.”

While he'd been rapping since he was a pre-teen, Mozzy began taking music seriously as a full-time profession just about a decade ago, after he'd been arrested for various charges between 2005 and 2008. Beginning with Izizzel Izzy Izie Izim in Mozzy, with his gritty street narratives, began creating his buzz by releasing at least 15 projects between 2011 and 2015.

After being doing some jail time for gun possession and possession of a controlled substance 2014, Mozzy emerged with a singular focus on rap game domination. In 2015 he unloaded projects like Gangland Landscape, Bladadah, Yellow Tape Activities and Down to the Wire: 4th Ave Edition and began cultivating a serious fan base that included the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock and more.

In 2017, Mozzy kept making big moves. That June, he teamed with MMG's Gunplay for a joint project by the name of Dreadlocks & Headshots, a relentlessly street effort that helped him maintain his momentum in the industry. Two months later, in August, he unloaded his 1 Up Top Ahk album, his most critically acclaimed project to date. For good measure, he linked up with SOB x RBE's Yhung T.O. for their six-track Legendary Gangland EP that December.

Keeping his foot on the pedal, Mozzy's continued putting in work in 2018, appearing on the Kendrick Lamar-produced Black Panther soundtrack before dropping his Spiritual Conversations EP in March.

Happy Birthday, Mozzy!

Check Out the 2018 Hip-Hop Music Festivals You Need to See