He has always been a student of "mind over matter." In the single digit years, as an introverted child, he was intrigued by "super powers" and the Jedi Knights of Star Wars. Innate musical talent led him to taking up the piano. His mother, a gifted woman diagnosed with co-morbid mental disorders, encouraged him, when she was present, and cultivated him in the arts of creativity and imagination, introducing him to his first experience with recording.
In his adolescent years, Pho' studied books about parapsychology and paranormal phenomena, always trying to think of makeshift ways to duplicate the exercises in the books.
In Pho's teen years, he became involved in athletics, achieving both statewide and national acclaim in track and field, whilst taking up the saxophone (at his grandparents' behest) and battle rapping on the school bus, the high school cafeteria and neighborhood parks & corners, where he gained a reputation for being the most gifted of the battle rappers on the local circuit, displaying a blend of cathartic pain discharge with a scientific and meticulous dissection of his opponents.
Pho's mastery of mind over matter, overcoming asthma to excel in track and field, earned him a partial track and field scholarship to a private University in New Jersey. Once in college, Pho' took up Bio-Chemistry, then switched to Neuroscience and finally landed in Psychology, struggling to find a course load which would allow him to keep optimum focus on track and field, which he found to be a greater mental test than any scantron could offer.
Amidst accruing over 16 NCAA Division I Conference championships, Pho', with the collaboration of his roommate, busied himself recording mixtapes, two street albums (BLakLiSTeD and The Blue Pill) under the stage name "Stamina", rocking a few dozen live shows on the college campus scene in Central New Jersey, whilst amassing an impressive string of victories on the internet battle rapping scene and embarking on an extensive study into the world of conspiracy theories, occult, metaphysics, philosophy and esoteric religion. It was during this time that Pho' shared the studio and stage with preeminent artists in underground hip hop such as Silent Knight, Cymarshall Law, Pumpkinhead, Goretex & Sabac Red (formerly of Non Phixion) and Immortal Technique.
After an altercation involving two intoxicated foreign exchange students which began when they aimed racial slurs at Pho' and ended with him attempting to take their lives, he channeled his disillusionment and began to convert his musical abilities into a medium for social commentary. He also published socially blistering articles in the local media outlet. Pho' pursued this line of motivation into the world of militant activism and, as Mattias Gardell defines it, a "specific black Gnosis, which could be termed blackosophy."
Upon Pho's departure from college, armed with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology, he adopted the stage name "LaZaRuS" and dubbed himself as "the emcee that got tired of sleeping", simultaneously delving deeply into the history, systems and schools of thought of androtheism: the belief that man is, or has the capacity to become, God.
His studies continued and studio time began to decrease as Pho' got more involved in community organizing and starting a family. He worked closely with the son of Larry Evans, chess grandmaster (famed for defeating Bobby Fischer), learning the art of war via the 64 squares and studied with "Black Buddhist" Paul Guthrie, gaining knowledge of Anapanasati (mindfulness through the study of breath) and furthered his insights into the rich history of civilization which stretches far beyond the education provided by modern history books.
Eventually Pho' came into contact with three adepts of an ancient, secret Order.
Pho' now sees that a new dawn is coming. New stars are appearing in the sky. All revolutions start with a few, faltering steps that become more and more certain until the whole world resounds to the irresistible march of the future.
Pho' has determined that he will employ his expressive art to spread a new philosophy of hope around the globe and fight back against the Power Elite. They have corrupted music, using it as one of their tools to further enslave humanity and keep Homo sapiens blind to the divine essence that lies within each and every one of us. It's time to redeem both music and humanity. Music and art, at their finest and highest, are the media through which God brings us into communion with him, through which we express our latent divinity.
Everyone listens to music.
Everyone is under attack.
It is to this end that Pho' has founded
ProGnosis Entertainment.
The time has come for the seekers of the high paths to the gods to listen to the most vivid and inspiring music of all…
