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Tye Dilla, a.k.a. Tyrece Haynes, is the product of many unlikely experiences.. Born and raised in inner-city Chicago, the Henry Horner Projects were his home - but no one would have guessed that a child kept in low-income housing would strive to become so much in his first twenty-one years on this planet.

About the Life:
"I don't have too much to say, but my story is probably the same as any other child who grew up in low income housing (projects). But I think it was harder growing up in Chicago; that's where gangbanging started. We'd live life from house to house; my mom, my sister, and me. 'Never knew daddy, moms was on drugs, in and out of jail... It's okay because I always felt that there was something better in life for me..."

Despite hard times and the constant evils present in the streets, Tye Dilla would begin his entertainment career as a tumbler - taking his first leaps and flips off of a an old dirty mattress as a child.
" I played all types of sports but grew up tumbling on a dirty mattress, flipping off anything: the grass, woodchips, concrete. I made it out of the hood because of this. At 14 years old I was performing in NBA games, block parties and circuses worldwide."

While things were well with life as an acrobat on the road, Tye's real passion was hip-hop... Deep down, he wanted to create music; tell his story through hard beats and harder rhymes.. He would begin his jump into hip-hop at the age of fourteen, joining his brother and cousin to start the group y.D.i. (Young Dillas Inc.) Each member had a different style - but all stayed true to their roots: the streets of Chicago.
In 2005 things would start to take off. Tye joined the world famous Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus and would be introduced to the lead keyboardist in the band, Gabriel Romero Jr. An aspiring producer - Romero would soon push all kinds of music on Tye. They would spend the next two years on the road, creating and recording during the down time while on the circus train.

This album, y.D.i., is not just some rags to riches hip-hop album - it is the culmination of life on the road and the struggle to create art within its confines...