Photocredit: Andrew Parks

Living in a world too often defined by misinformation, navigating the terrain of the music industry requires an ability to decipher truth in order to traverse your team through the inorganic material flooding the foothills of the industry.

Growing up on the border of Niagara Falls in Hamilton, Ontario, Mudasser “DATA-X” Ali was naturally curious of the organic sounds radiating from the likes of Toronto, New York City, Cleveland, and Detroit. Although taking trips to either city was frequent, his parents remained unaware of the connections he was making in nearby towns. With time, his passion grew with him into his adulthood and took form. An academic mind studiously motivated to break through the societal frame of his economic class, sparked the rebellion of a genius turned street scholar.

A graduate of McMaster University with both a Bachelor of Arts & a BSc in Biology first defers a Princeton University PHD to manage rap group, Shing Shing Regime. Data-X describes his initial interest in the group by highlighting that, “…these guys were intriguing, man…they based themselves around intellectual movements like the Five Percent Principles, mixed-in with Pro-Black, mixed in with (Marcus) Garvey, mixed-in with so many other intellectual movements, they were teaching more than four university courses..and these guys do music!”. This would be the starting spot for Data-X, an organic welcome to the School of Hip-Hop, led by students inspired to share learned truth. After securing a 2DOPEBOYZ slot for the group back in 2010, he makes a pivotable decision to defer his plan for a PHD completely. His intuition developed a mental message and he listened to where he was leading himself.

In 2011, Data-X tweets out “NYC”, before visiting the city. It just so happens that this tweet gets a notification response from the LVL mastermind Neako reading, “when you in NYC.. let’s link”. This interaction generated an eventual move to New York City, augmenting Data-X to another level. However, embedded was an interesting lesson,“CEOs in the music business tend to be very slave-owner like.”

While working alongside Neako, connections with top-tier creatives including Wiz Khalifa, A$AP Mob, Juicy J, and many others, were inherently created. Formed over organic kush sessions and mutual respect for the music, the creative process took its natural course. Collaborating with Derek Wise of 88Glam and his creative team opened up the possibilities. All the work he has contributed to, radiates with an intuitive state of consciousness and offers itself an endless amount of potential for all parties involved. Data-X mentioning that at the time, “everyone was in their place and on their way, I felt like my job was accomplished”. Without a doubt and only over the span of a couple years, his reputation respectfully grew within the industry. Data-X was now a ghost with a name.

Back living in Ontario, Data-X realizes that he now has to continue his mission. This realization led him to the discovery of a SoundCloud rapper by the name of Roy Woods in 2013. Relaying that at the time, “Roy sounded like a mix between a Tyler, the Creator and an early Chris Brown”. Once Roy was onboard, Data-X co-founded a management group called UTU (Unlock the Underground) that would transform into a cultural force, catching the attention of both Dej Loaf & eventually, OVO. His management approach for Roy Woods: sustainability.

By May of 2015, 18 year old Roy Woods signed to OVO Sound, the label co-founded by Drake, Oliver El-Khatib, and 40. Roy Woods was first featured alongside Drake and the team as an extra in the music video for Energy, wearing OVO gear. On July 31, 2015, Roy Woods releases his extended play entitled, Exis. By October 2015, Roy Woods had gained worldwide momentum with the release of the music video for Jealousy. When we asked Mr. Ali to speak on his collaborations with Drake, Roy Woods, and the OVO team, Data-X humbly responded that, “the one thing I can say, there are two phases to life. One is when you and your crew get a Drake feature, and the other is everything before.”

Mudasser “Data-X” Ali, in collaboration with others, is similar to an organic farm. This farm is organically empowered by the biggest names in the industry and seems it was created to challenge the artificial landscape of the music industry. Our team at Rough Draft Magazine believe the data is in the details.

Whether his perspective is shared through visual representation or musical composition, observers and collaborators organically find themselves submerged in a sub-reality of master design. The artistic rebellion of Data-X is authentic by design, his style is one draped in the metaphorical paint of his craft, and his understanding of the origin of this industry, all are a reflection of his selfless dedication to truth. Leaving no time between works, he reserves the act of interpretation to the observer, while Data-X disappears to his next task.

Next time you don’t see Data-X, look closer…

Interviewed by:

Daniel Machowsky and David Biga

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Written by:

David Biga