Mista Ecks was born Andre Harris some time in the 1970's. Although his family lived in various neighborhoods in Detroit, he primarily grew up on the north end, a poor working class neighborhood in central Detroit, the same neighborhood that Motown legends Smokey Robinson, the Temptations and the Four Tops once called home. Drugs were a reality in his household, as his mother sold crack and heroin to support him and his younger sister. Despite this, Ecks did not want to follow in his mother’s ...
Mista Ecks was born Andre Harris some time in the 1970's. Although his family lived in various neighborhoods in Detroit, he primarily grew up on the north end, a poor working class neighborhood in central Detroit, the same neighborhood that Motown legends Smokey Robinson, the Temptations and the Four Tops once called home. Drugs were a reality in his household, as his mother sold crack and heroin to support him and his younger sister. Despite this, Ecks did not want to follow in his mother’s footsteps into a life of crime, so instead of turning to drugs and alcohol like so many of his peers, and fed up with futile attempts to “fit in” with the cool kids, Ecks turned to music as his escape from his harsh realities. Ecks immersed himself in every kind of music imaginable. Mista Ecks was initially introduced to hip hop by his cousin Darnell in 1984, although hip hop would not make a full impact on his life until 1989, after listening to local radio personality Billy T who often showcased local rappers. After hearing acts such as Awesome Dre and Kaos and Mystro, and impressed by the success of Esham, who sold millions of records independently, Mista Ecks knew then that this is what he wanted to do with his life. In 1991, After moving to the Lemoyne Gardens housing projects in Inkster, Michigan, Ecks hooked up with the wrong crowd, got into trouble and was sent to the Wayne County Youth Home. There he started writing raps, initially to pass the time. Although Ecks’ first raps were by his own admission, sub-par, they served two purposes; to pass the time and to sharpen his skills. Upon his release in October, all those days of writing raps had paid off. So much so that on Christmas day in 1991, Ecks was recruited to the group “Next of Kin” which was formed by Anthony and Ray Dowdell and was managed their older cousin Deon. Frustrated by the fact that they were only a group in name, Ecks left Next of Kin in the summer of 1992. Later that same year he met a future collaborator, rapper Marc Blackshear A.K.A. Poetic Menace, whom Ecks would later credit as being one of Ecks’ biggest influences. Although plans were made for a Poetic Menace/Mista Ecks collaboration, those plans did not come to fruition until 15 years later. After a violent confrontation which nearly cost Ecks his life, at the urging of his younger sister who was a devout Christian, Ecks had spent all of 1993 and a good portion of 1994 in the church. Although he played drums and keyboards in the church band, sang in the choir, and had a strong interest in the music portion of the service he was bored with all the preaching. He didn’t care what the pastor had to say, once the church band was done playing, and the choir was done singing... he was out of there. Eventually he quit the church and in September of 1994, he (then known as Dre D. Madman) went into the studio and recorded his first single “G’s Mentality” and sold it independently. One of these copies landed in the hands of Fearless Entertainment, headed by Gary Fears and his then wife Christiana Nance. They then offered him a 2 year contract. Unfortunately for reasons known only to the heads of Fearless, they folded in the summer of 1995 during production of his first full length album. It was not in vain though. During his tenure at Fearless, Ecks was taught production techniques from Gary, and the business from Christiana. He then put this knowledge to work when he joined his second group Wayne County Thugs (WCT). He first met founding members DJ (then known as Grave Digger) and K9 who had been childhood friends of DJ. Mutually impressed by each other’s skills they formed WCT that fall, and spent the remainder of 1995 writing material for their album “the Project”. In early 1996 production began on The Project. While recording the Project, he also met Kane who later would later become the main production team for WCT’s second album, “another project” until it was shelved when Kane Moved to North Carolina. One year later, side tracked by personal responsibilities, Ecks decided to put his music on a 1 year hiatus. But due to personal and financial setbacks, what was supposed to be only a year turned into seven. Then after he got married, and in 2006, started his 31 third entertainment imprint along with partner Crystal Jordan. He returns with his first full length album “No Gimmicks”, which is predominantly instrumentals, but features guest appearances by notable Detroit artists Miz Korona, Poetic Menace and L’Renee, as well as fellow 31 third artists DJ, Crysti Jade and new comer Breon Daly. His latest album is not for the 106 and park crowd. With the focus of this project being the music it’s self and not the relentless pursuit of street credibility, pointless beefs, materialism and macho "chest beating". Influenced by everything from neo-soul to techno and even the g-funk that Ecks grew up on as a teenager, Mista Ecks sets out to give the hip hop consumer, as well as what major labels, A-List Producers and even indie labels won’t: something different
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