Its all about Garcia!

This Miami rapper doesn't want to be the next Pitbull or Trick Daddy. But he may soon be just as big.

by T.M. Shine

January 11, 2006

" 'It's all about U!' That's what they keep yelling at me -- the UPN slogan," says Michael Garcia, who is hanging out in front of Club Elite in West Palm Beach, watching a crowd spill out onto Clematis Street.

People keep yelling at Garcia because they recognize him as the face of Miami's UPN affiliate, WBFS-Channel 33. The station recently hired the Kendall-based rapper, who goes by simply Garcia, to star in its regional marketing campaign aimed at the urban demographic. "Garcia is the way to get out our message," UPN's creative services director Larry Wiener explains.

And that message is: "It's all about U."

"But I can't take it anymore," Garcia says with a laugh. "When people start in with it, I have to go, 'No, it's all about U. It's not about me. It's all about U!' "

And there it is: the perfect exchange between an artist and his fans.

Garcia's UPN promos have been so well-received that the network has asked him to record raps for commercials that highlight syndicated sitcoms such as King of Queens and That '70s Show. "I rap about cruising in the station wagon with Eric [Topher Grace's character on That '70s Show] or that chick [Leah] Remini on King of Queens," Garcia explains.

A drink in hand and a Miami Heat warm-up jersey on his back, the 26-year-old Garcia is set to take the stage in a few minutes for a show sponsored by West Palm Beach-based hip-hop radio station X-102.3 (WMBX-FM). But instead of being nervous, he's extremely loose, which is not how he would have felt in similar circumstances a year or so ago.

When he opened for Mos Def at Fort Lauderdale's Revolution in 2004, you would have caught him out front setting up a domino table and hawking his CD to anyone who happened to straggle by. And on days he wasn't performing, he'd routinely be out self-promoting at barbershops, independent record stores and flea markets, all in an attempt to put his face and, by his calculations, close to 25,000 copies of his CD Anti-Social on the street.

"No SoundScan, so labels can't really see it," says DJ EFN, Garcia's manager and founder of Crazy Hood Productions on measuring sales of Anti-Social. "But the industry knows. People know. That's why they're coming around."

That's why Garcia was the first unsigned artist to appear on MTV's My Block. That's why Garcia was the focus of an episode of the Learning Channel's Miami Ink whereby he had his album cover tattooed on his right bicep. That's why last month when you visited the home page of MySpace.com, Garcia's face popped up to highlight MySpace concerts in Orlando and Miami Beach at which he performed. That's why Power 96 and 99 Jamz have been keeping his single "Clap Ya Hands" in constant rotation.

"Y-100 played it once. That's as Top 40 as it gets," Garcia says with a grin. "I'm a full-time artist now."

He has to lie back and not put the hard sell on people anymore. "I've got to fight that," Garcia admits. "Let someone else do it. Let EFN handle it. But you forget, you know, because that's how you get here.''

Here is that strange place where everybody tags you "almost famous" and people can only guess what the final hurdle may be. "The right single and he breaks out of here," says Dady Phatts, the host of X-102.3's Local Love Show.

"Yeah, things have changed," Garcia admits. "All my friends are DJs and attorneys now. But I don't change."

That seems to be Garcia's formula for success. "If they want the next Trick Daddy or the next Pitbull, that's not me," he says. "I don't try to sound like anybody else, and I'm not going to try to sound like anybody but myself."

"His flow is original, not basic and simple like you're used to," Phatts says. "You hear Garcia on the radio, you know that's Garcia on the radio."

On the typical Garcia song, it is not uncommon for a piano intro to cascade into a rap or for an acoustic guitar to form the backbone of the entire song. He prides himself on staying diverse and having no particular style, but lyrically he's like a young Nas but with a rough, in-your-face rapping style.

"He adds a whole new element to the Miami sound," says 99 Jamz's DJ Khaled, who has watched Garcia evolve over the past several years. "And he can fit in anywhere."

Garcia is as comfortable performing on a MySpace.com stage as he is at a nightclub or a middle school. "Whether it's two people or 2,000 watching, he goes all out," UPN promotions producer Hikmat Kilzi observes.

Tonight, dozens of people are watching. Club Elite is a tight space with mirrored walls and a plush, 15-yard-long couch that runs the length of the east side of the room. No one is sitting in it when Garcia makes his way to the stage.