Born and raised on the south side of Chicago, MC and lyricist BMartini - aka B2THA - is part of the Syndicate Music Collective (SMC), which he originally formed with fellow U.S. Navy enlistees. “The motto LIVE LIFE ENJOY MUSIC,” says BMartini, “was so much more than a saying to us who really had no voice, on the bottom rungs of the military ladder.”

Based in Normal Heights as of 2009, he says, “B2THA is a nickname I got from friends and fans from some of my lyrics that start that way. The SMC is my circle of friends who make all the instrumentals that I rap on, as well as some other rappers and rock bands. It’s kind of like a giant hippie collective of like-minded musicians.”