I knew it would be asked eventually, but only minutes after I sent out the message declaring the "E.S.T." moniker dead, my boy Dominque emailed with the question that I knew was coming from somewhere, and that question is "Why the change?" Oddly enough, this name change has been a long process; I've been debating my "identity" since the end of last year. My struggle was this: I've been known as E.S.T. for over 10 years, but I was feeling that I'd outgrown that name.
As an emcee, I've been E.S.T. since 1997 (long time, right), and in that time, I've had a lot of great experiences, even though I wasn't consistingly rapping and performing the entire decade. I had my beginnings with UNC-Chapel Hill's Hip Hop Nation, which at the time was run by Kevin Thomas (Kaze of the Rawkus 50) and had a blast. I needed a stage name, and I couldn't think of anything else at the time, so I just took the last three letters of my name EST and went with that, and it stuck.
By 2004, after about a four year break from public appearances as an emcee, and after a lot of life changes, I came back with REBUILT: Da EP under the same name E.S.T., except I used it as an acronym for "Evangelize Streets Teaching". I was a gospel rapper now, trying to save the lost, preaching a sermon or giving a testimony in every song! I pushed that hard for 2-3 years performing all over the state and even in ATL at the HHH Award in 2005, but I started to get a bit down on the whole 'holy hip hop' scene. Two things that really turn me off from anything I'm involved in are greed and extreme self-interest; and I started to see those two things manifesting in the HHH scene, and it made me question how much I wanted to be a part of the associations I had made. In addition to that, I started realizing that in my 2-3 years on the HHH train, I was creating fans of my music (anyone remember "I'm Thirsty" or "That's What's Up"), but my heart was yearning to do more than become popular with a narrowly defined audience, and also yearning to do more artistically. I came to a point where I felt that I was carrying baggage that I wanted to let go of, and start fresh.
Still in 2007, I dropped WHAT'S REALLY GOOD: A Mixtape Experience under the E.S.T. name, and it was then that I started to really begin to debate whether I wanted to be that same artist, that had those same expectations from that same audience. When I first started, I was just an emcee, having fun, and doing my thing, and then I was a gospel rapper, expected to preach sermons in every song. Then, with WRG, I finally let it all go. All the expectations people had, I forgot them. All the rules about what "gospel rap" should be like, I ignored them. I was finally free as an artist to be a man, and that probably brought about the end of E.S.T.
See, I love hip-hop, but I'm more than an emcee. E.S.T. is an emcee name, plain and simple. But, in the realm of hip-hop, I'm a lecturer, a cultural critic, a teacher, a poet, an aspiring author, and an emcee. Adding to that, I'm a minister, a high school teacher, a husband, a father-to-be, a son and brother...I'm more than an emcee. So, to reflect who I am, I finally decided to just use my name...at least my first name, Ernest, so no matter where I am, I can answer to the same name. As for Minor, that's my mother's maiden name, and my grandfather had no sons. So, although I carry my last name (Almond) with pride, this is an opportunity for me to honor my grandfather also.
So, here I am, introducing you to Ernest Minor, E. Minor for short. Under this name, I'll release music that encompasses the totality of my experiences and understanding of this world and the next one. E.S.T. still has some unfinished business in the form of a collaborative album with DJ Kipe, but other than that, everything you see from me from now on will be from Ernest Minor.
Nice meeting you...
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