Many musicians will tell you that their passion for creating and preserving the art of music started at a young age. For Ryan Dixon, professionally known as Haph Breed, it was no different. In fact, he will proudly tell you he received his first record at the tender age of 4, Disney’s “Peter Pan.” Born September 23rd to a Black, Irish and Indian father and a Black mother, his ethnicity is as diverse as his taste and exploration in music. He has the unique privilege of saying he was born on the same day as musical icons John Coltrane, Ray Charles and Walter Scott of The Whispers.

Haph Breed was raised and influenced by immensely, creative minds who always had records playing in the background. His father, a former marine and, once a talented painter, even assembled and managed a gospel group in the 1980s named Daughters of Faith. His mother absorbed, practiced and appreciated art in all its forms. Haph Breed fondly describes her as a singer, bibliophile, artist, aficionado of black-and-white films and a gifted cook. Naturally, he inherited his father’s discipline and mother’s indiscriminate love of all art forms. These attributes shaped him into the artist he is today.

Specific albums and tracks have come to represent pivotal moments in his life, which highlight how the threads of music and life intertwine. Take, for example, the second record he ever received: Sly & The Family Stone’s “Stand!” It’s the one record that can forever burn into your brain; so much so Haph Breed will tell you, “I wore the grooves off of that record.” Years later, he discovered another musical group that would forever change his life. This group’s groundbreaking debut ultimately lead him on the path to becoming a hip-hop artist. A Tribe Called Quest’s 1990 album “People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm” ignited a creative spark in him to start writing lyrics. Released a year later, Gang Starr’s “Step in the Arena” would further fuel Haph Breed’s growing desire to produce music of his own.

Haph Breed would go to great lengths to pursue this newfound passion. As an 8th grader, he’d take a bus from his school in Compton to a record store in Lynwood. It was there where he produced his first mixtapes by paying the owner to use his equipment. Mixtapes evolved into creating beats at a high school friend’s house, which, in turn, lead him to participate in a rap battle. On that day, he connected with other aspiring artists and hip-hop aficionados. One of those artists, who performed as Slug, introduced him to his future longtime collaborator, Sabotaj. Over the next several years, Haph Breed wrote and produced for various independent artists. He would also go on to record and complete one mixtape and four solo albums that never released.

2016 would prove to be the year where all his hard work and determination would begin to bear fruit. Not only did he officially start an independent record label, “PBP Recordings,” but he also began work on his long-awaited debut album. For “Goin’ The Distance,” Haph Breed drew inspiration from past works of film and music, and from personal life experiences. In order to get his creative juices flowing, Haph Breed turned to working out, dove into the scores of composers Bill Conti and Ennio Morricone and, most importantly, soaked in a documentary about the movie “Rocky.” With elements of heavy metal, rock and hip-hop, it is Haph Breed’s most ambitious work to date. He eagerly describes this album as, “inspiring you to keep up the fight until the very 12th round.” It is a passion project that personally represents his fight against ageism in hip-hop. The 12 tracks, much like the 12 rounds of a match, were mixed and produced to keep you striving, motivated and ready to fight the good fight.

-Bio was written by Stephanie R. Sun. She graduated from Cal State Fullerton in 2011 with a Bachelor's Degree in Communications with an emphasis in journalism.