Biography Wikipedia
Wikipedia:
Nocando (born James McCall) is a rapper from Los Angeles, California. He is a member of Customer Service. He is the 2007 Scribble Jam champion and host of Low End Theory. He is currently signed to Alpha Pup Records.
History
Early Career & Customer Service
Nocando first began battling in high school. He would go on to form a trio with high school friends Y-Not and A-ok known as The Weird People. He has stated that the name Nocando was inspired by this, as each of the three Weird People are named for common-use phrases; "No Can Do," "Why Not" and "A-Okay". Following graduation and introduction to Project Blowed, Nocando and The Weird People went on to co-found the group Customer Service along with fellow Project Blowedians Kail and Joe Sue. The group would later add SP83, Psychosiz and Choice Reason bringing its membership to eight. The group would go on to gain battle prominence in the West Coast hip hop scene and respect amongst veteran Project Blowedians including Aceyalone, Abstract Rude, Busdriver, Skeelo, Ellay Khule and Medusa, leading to Customer Service's inclusion on Project Blowed 10th Anniversary on Decon in 2005. The song "Live @ The Blowed" featuring all eight members was met with critical reception leading to its selection as the album's single. In 2005, Customer Service was selected as the opening act for the Project Blowed 10th Anniversary Tour.
In 2005, Customer Service released the first album Please Hold. In 2009, Psychosiz, Kail, SP83 and Nocando reunited to release the EP Free Y-Not. Joe Sue and A-ok both make appearances. Nocando and Kail are currently labelmates at Alpha Pup Records.
Solo & Battle Career
Following the initial success of Customer Service, the group was dispersed when member Y-Not was incarcerated. During this time, Nocando began gaining notoriety especially within the battle circuit with wins over what is believed to be hundreds of emcees many of which were already top ranked in their respective regions. Nocando began travelling, first nationally (Boston, New York, Cincinnati), then internationally (British Columbia, France, England, Germany, Holland) to compete in various hip-hop contests worldwide. Over the years, he held various ranks, titles and championships including the 2nd annual "Served" Championship and tournaments held by music stores such as Basement Records at Canoga Park. This continued steadily for several years, culminating with his 2007 win of the annual freestyle battle competition Scribble Jam. Nocando participated in the 2007 World Rap Championships with partner Rheteric Ramirez. Alongside Rheteric and Swim Team members Dumbfoundead, Sahtyre and Lyraflip, he occasionally participates in the West Coast division of GrindTime, its successor. During his time as a battler, Nocando released The Impatient EP in 2004 and Walk The Void in 2006. He has also hosted several mixtapes including Sucka Free and Los Scandalous with DJ Handprints.
Post-Battle Career
Nocando has since focused on making and releasing music, only taking time out occasionally to battle. In 2008, Nocando released the mixtape L.A. vs. Hollywood. In 2009, Nocando released Is A Virus and The Patient EP. In 2010, Nocando released the official debut album Jimmy the Lock on Alpha Pup Records. The album is produced by Nosaj Thing, Free the Robots, Daedelus, Nicholas Thorburn among others. In the same year, he released Sincerely Yours as Bomb Zombies with Nobody. In 2011, he released 10 Haters as Flash Bang Grenada with Busdriver. Both albums were released on Hellfyre Club, which is an imprint of Alpha Pup Records.