Birth name Michael Januario Years active 2001–present Name M Dot | Role Government Agency Founded July 1, 1905 | |
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Labels Soulspazm Records, Own Lane Music, EMS Productions, Commonwealth Records, Str8 Up Entertainment Profiles | ||
Michael Januario (born in 1984) better known by his stage name M-Dot is an Italian-American rapper. Before becoming a rap musician, Januario played college basketball at BHCC, MCLA and Fitchburg State.
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Career
Born in Revere, Massachusetts, M-Dot initially gained expanded exposure when touring Switzerland as the opener for Lawrence rapper Krumb Snatcha (Gangstarr Foundation) in the mid 2000s. Frequent collaborations with populous respected rap groups, and consistently touring overseas, have built M-Dot's following. M-Dot is known for a high level of productivity and his multi-syllable rhyme schemes, having attained a bachelor's degree in English. On December 19, 2014 he dropped the single "Shine" featuring Dominique Larue, Katy Gunn and Wu Tang MC Method Man, it later appeared on his highly touted debut album "Ego and the Enemy" (released on 1/27/17). The album, which received critical acclaim, boasts a noteworthy production lineup with Marley Marl, Large Professor, Hi Tek, Marco Polo (producer), Buckwild, DJ 7L among others. On December 22, 2015 M-Dot & his visual team released a music video titled "123 Flow", the minute and a half long clip is one of the first fully interactive 360° music videos showcasing a 6-person replicant effect and upon release almost immediately went viral.
In 2008 M-Dot was named to Stuff Magazines Hot 100. Also in '08 M-Dot shared the honor of "2 Dope 2 Sleep On" with Casey Veggies presented by 2dopeboyz.com. He went on to receive positive reviews for his mixtapes Money Doesn't Own Thought (2009) from DigBoston.com and Making Doubters Over Think (2010) from the Boston Globe. Continuing with European exposure M-Dot performed at the 2010 Winter XGames in Tignes, France. For years he has solidified a fan base through local shows and mixtapes in New England. M-Dot won both major Boston hip-hop music awards in 2010: at the 22nd annual Boston Phoenix awards, Best Hip Hop Act, and at the 23rd annual Boston Music Awards, Hip Hop Artist of the Year. He then went on to win Hip Hop Dependency "Artist of the Year 2011"
M-Dot garnered more accolades for his first EP, a collaborative effort with DJ Jean Maron, Run MPC. The Run MPC single "You Don't Know About It" Ft. Masta Ace reached number 2 on RapAttackLives.com college radio charts and the 12 inch record finished fifth in vinyl sales in 2010 at undergroundhiphop.com.
His third installment in his acronym series, More Doubters Over Thinking, was also well received. In May 2012 in support of the release "Layer Cake," M-Dot embarked on a 33-day European tour with the likes of Slaughterhouse (group), Saigon (rapper) & El Da Sensei. The Layer Cake cd was also considered another example of acute lyricism. Layercake finds M-Dot weaving a go-for-the-gold battle-rap narrative over beats from young producers
The 2007 Cinematic feature "Street Team Massacre " used songs M-Dot created for the score. M-Dot can also be seen acting in the comical sitcom "What it is", which stars and is also produced by Makzilla & Krizz Kaliko. On October 11, 2012, M-Dot was featured on ABC's (New England WCVB) primetime TV show "Chronicle".