Artists like to talk about the grind. Getting to the top, working non-stop; it’s a common rap theme, a blue-collar, ambitious tone – one of the more encouraging, consistent messages in Hip-Hop. No one embodies that message more than Mark Pain. He’s been in the industry for over two decades. He’s worked with countless artists, writing, producing, and rapping for numerous stars and labels. When he was only 13, Pain befriended a future Hip-Hop phenomenon in Black Rob. Intrigued by his music, Pain started producing and making beats for Rob, which led to his working with other high-caliber artists such as: Teddy Pendergrass, Michael Bivins, Da Pretty Boyz, Boyz II Men, Positive K, Ricky Bell, Gerald Levert, and Bell Biv Devoe.