CLIENTS: KEYON THA LEO

K'Antre Soto, better known as Keyon Tha Leo, is the type of wide eyed, passionate character that great stories are made of. Born May 6th, 1992 in Savannah, GA and raised in South Carolina, he has seen a lot at a young age. After facing many finanical woes, K'Antre's mother moved him and his younger sister in with their grandmother.

"We were in the hood, right across the street from a crack house. There was a lot of people in and out of that house and all of them weren't good people."

It was in this desolate and humble situation that he found his love for music. After seeing Lil Bow Wow's first music video, K'Antre saw the light. At age 6 he wrote his first song and performed it for his older sister.

"She laughed. She thought it was cute. I took that as a compliment."

His family situation changed and K'Antre ended up moving from Sumter, SC to Beaufort, SC where he found his first dose of real trouble.

"I wanted to gang bang. I wanted the respect and reputation that they had. I fought, I shot guns, I sold drugs I got arrested...before I even graduated. My mama was getting calls from the school about me getting kicked out of classes and being suspended. All I did was fight and act wild."

The drugs and violence of gang culture almost took him under. At the age of 14, after receiving a call from platinum selling artist J-Kwon, K'Antre decided to turn his attention elsewhere.

"He heard a song of mine and liked it alot. He got in touch and was telling me how much he believed in me. We talked a lot and became like cousins. His older brother was saying 'You remind me so much of kwon' and it became real. From that point on I changed."

K'Antre relocated to North Carolina where his father lived. He scraped up enough money to build an in-house studio. He had not yet shaken his past yet though.

"At 16 and 17 I was still selling drugs in school and walking around with a flag around my neck. At any point I could have gotten caught and my life would be over basically. I would end up spending the rest of my teen years in a cell."

After his third arrest for assault, K'Antre made the final decision to focus on music full time.

"It was my senior year. I attacked this guy at school but the case got dropped. It was like a miracle that i kept getting off easy. My pops sat me down and was like 'you're not gonna keep getting lucky' and I, at that moment, prayed to God, asking him to guide me to something better."

At age 18, K'Antre traded running around the projects shooting dice for staying inside and writing lyrics.

"I take music seriously...very seriously. I'd rather sell music and make $20,000 a year then sell crack and make $20,000 a month. Thats how serious I am. But I'm not gonna make $20,000, I'm making $20,000,000 [laughs]. I'm very focused."

The future is always hard to predict, but one there is certain: Keyon Tha Leo has a story to tell and one way or another it will be heard by the masses.

Learn more about Keyon and get the latest updates at his website.