Mr. B

Blake Mankin is a man of firsts. He was the first baby born in his hospital on the first day of the new year. The rapper from Scottsdale, Ariz. may just have been born to be No. 1.
Mankin has been rapping since he was 12 years old and has seen success with his video, “Wendy’s Drive Thru Rap,” which was featured on NBC’s “Today Show” and has over 800,000 views on YouTube.
Recently, Mr. B and some members of his crew sat down with staff writer Nick Yacovazzi to talk about Mankin’s career as an artist and his plans for the future in our first entry of our weekly column reporting on artists at Belmont.
What first got you into music, primarily hip-hop?
Mr. B: “Just growing up listening to rap music. I wrote my first rap in fifth grade, and I believe that style of music is such a big part of our generation. I really liked listening to Biggie, but I didn’t really get into rap until later. I picked it up in eighth grade. That’s when I really started to develop my own taste of music.”
“In the beginning, I started free-styling and it helped me write my own stuff. I stuck with it for years. I actually like free-styling more. It’s like rapping a stream of consciousness, and you can let it go to whatever you want. To me, writing is the craft and professional side of it.”
What has been the biggest highlight of your career as an artist so far?
Mr. B: “Well, the thing is, it’s not anything the world has seen yet, and it’s the team. It’s not something I’ve physically released or a show I’ve done or a song I’ve recorded, but it’s the people I am around. It makes me excited to make music and share this experience with people that are meaningful.”
“I can never reach the dreams I have by myself. It’s a team effort, and it’s so much more fun to collaborate. I think that’s how we were supposed to be. We were created to build relationships with one another and relate on a deeper level.”
“This really sticks in my head. One time, spur of the moment, I met these two guys on campus, and the next thing I knew, we ended up writing a song. I was inspired to team up and do more projects with multiple people!
If you could perform with any artist, who would it be?
Logan Downs (Band Member): “It would be Snoop, Snoop Dogg hands down. Max, who would you want to play with?”
Max Hines (Band Member): “Phish, man. I definitely would love to play with them.”
Mr. B: “This may be out of left field, but I would love to play with Ludacris. The dude is out of control, and he’s the first rapper I’ve ever met. The first time I stepped into the studio he was there, and I just remember that being such a major impact on my life and career. He’s just a guy who brings a lot of positivity and life to everything he does.”
You went on tour with DMX, what was that like?
Mr. B: “Man, a tour feels like a season of life. A lot of my school days mesh together during the year, but that tour I remember vividly each and every day, which is incredible.”
“I can remember that tour so well because one of the first memories that come to mind are the DMX and Bone Thugs n’ Harmony tours, and it’s because I was in my element. I wasn’t scared, but I felt something, and what I was feeling was an emotion that I could only feel by being where I was meant to be. It was excitingly scary, a healthy stress and a healthy nervousness. I was doing what I was created to do.“
“DMX, though, was an experience all by itself. He was like a light switch; he’s the life of the party at one moment and super tense the next.”
“One major downer from the tour is I got all my gear stolen. My laptop, my GoPro camera, my credit cards and my ID were all stolen. I couldn’t have even left the state if I wanted to. I had nothing, and I couldn’t board a Greyhound bus out of Texas. It was all so stressful and another reason why that tour sticks so vividly in my head”
You’re in an elite group who has eaten ice cream with President Bob Fisher, how was it filming the promo video for your mix tape?
Mr. B: “Dr. Fisher is an awesome guy, he’s got a great personality, and it was a lot of fun. You’d be surprised what you can accomplish if you just ask. He agreed to do our video for “Ice Cream 4 Breakfast” within 15 seconds of me pitching it to him.”
“It’s actually a crazy story how this happened. There were 45 freshmen and their parents about to go on a tour near his office, and I came in with the mindset about asking him to eat ice cream with me for the promo video for my new mixtape, “Ice Cream 4 Breakfast.” I went up to him and he told the parents about my video for “Wendy’s Drive Thru,” and I spoke to them about Belmont. Afterwards I told him about my video idea and he was on board.”
Where do you draw your influences, lyrically and instrumentally?
Mr. B: “A lot of it comes from conversations with people, the ones I have or I hear. It all influences me. I also love country lyrics. They’re about telling a story. It all comes from consistently writing. For me, it’s about sitting down and just writing, and when I do it’s like a faucet for inspiration. I write before I even start my day. I wake up, eat something and just sit down and write. I also love Midnight to 3am.”
Do you have any big plans for the future? Is there anything you would like to accomplish?
Mr. B: “Currently, I’m developing an app, but my major project is I’ve been working on ways to teach the world how to rap. I found that passion this summer, and I’ve been trying to encourage that this summer. I believe people can access the rhythm inside them. People can channel that rhythm and put it towards creating rap music. I think it would also help people’s communication skills because I really believe it’s learnable and teachable.”
Check out Mr. B’s latest album, ”Ice Cream 4 Breakfast, ” and follow him on social media.
Twitter
Facebook
YouTube
Soundcloud

This article is part of a bi-weekly series written by A&E reporter Nick Yacovazzi - Belmont Vision

Fast food drive-thrus are getting a lot of attention on YouTube these days, and not just because of pranksters operating driverless cars.

Belmont University freshman and aspiring rapper Blake Mankin, who goes by the stage name Mr. B, delighted the operators of a Wendy's drive-thru when he rapped his entire order into the intercom. Amazingly, Wendy's got his order spot on -- and rewarded Mankin and his friends' creativity with a comped bill.

The entire thing was caught on camera and uploaded to YouTube, where it became popular enough for a mention on "The Today Show." We can see why.

Watch Mankin's rapping chops in the video below. - Huffington Post

Belmont freshman Blake Mankin had a few minutes of fame this morning, when his recently uploaded YouTube video was featured on the "Today" Friday morning in the show's "What's Trending Today" segment.
Mankin tried to sleep in before class this morning, he says, but his roommate woke him up with, “Yo, dude! I just saw your thing on the 'Today' show! You gotta come see this!”
That "thing" was a hysterical video of Mankin rapping his food to-go order at the Wendy’s on West End, with his three friends ordering from the back seat. Perhaps the best part: The Wendy's employee got the order right despite the presentation.
Mankin, who wrote the rap his senior year of high school, and his Belmont friends first tried another Wendy's drive-through for taping their performance but the manager wasn't so welcoming. They found a receptive audience at the West End Wendy's.
The four friends live on the same floor in Maddox Hall at Belmont. “We’re big on representing where we’re from,” Mankin said proudly.
The man behind the camera and who also did the editing, Eric Irvin, is a Belmont senior majoring in video productions. The only one of the group not a freshman, Irvin ironically also lived on the same floor of Maddox Hall when he was in that class.
Mankin loaded the video on Jan. 23 and shared it on his personal Facebook and his artist Facebook page(Mr B). In a matter of hours, the video was shared so many times, he was “trending” on social media overnight, which is how "Today" noticed it.
“I didn’t totally believe it because I didn’t think it could gain momentum like this. And when I got to class everyone was telling me about it and about this morning's segment!”
Mankin is a hip-hop artist and said he is heavily influenced by the early '90s hip-hop era. The purpose of loading the Wendy’s rap video was to promote his upcoming mixtape "What The Funk?", set to release on Feb. 15 online at his website, mrbofficial.com.
The lyricist is double majoring in entrepreneurship and songwriting, but what's his ultimate goal?
“To become an inspirational speaker. Life is what you make it.”
Vote for "Mr B to go to New York as a viral video winner on the "Today" show. - The Tennessean

Mr B is a 20 year old Hip-Hop / Rapper / Storyteller from Phoenix, AZ but currently based in Nashville, TN attending college at Belmont University. He has toured with DMX, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, and had his very first YouTube video featured on national television, when the Today Show decided to air it after he rapped his food order to a Wendy’s Drive Thru (watch the video here!).
“I believe that music should be meant for it’s real purpose: to inspire others to pursue their own visions and help put their feelings into words. I write songs because music is powerful and has a large influence on society. Artists are the voices of their generations and they need to take this responsibility seriously. I reply to fans’ emails and comments because I enjoy hearing their stories and I want to know how they feel about particular things.
I’m blessed to be able to do what I do for a living and I give the credit to the living God who has so richly blessed me.” - Music Inform

Not many students have released a second EP, been featured on the Today Show and opened for a hip-hop group in Texas all while still in college.
But freshman Blake Mankin has.
“I plan on continuing being an independent hip-hop artist simply because it’s possible,” Mankin, songwriting and entrepreneurship major, said. “I’ve already caught the dream.”
Mankin, or M.r. B., released his second mix tape, “What the Funk?” for free download on Feb. 15. The mix tape features 10 original hip-hop tracks, including the song “Wendy’s Drive Thru Rap” which was featured on Mankin’s YouTube channel.
With more than 400,000 views in just under a month, Mankin’s “Wendy’s Drive Thru Rap” earned him recognition not only around Belmont’s campus, but on the Today Show, as well.
Mankin, 19, said the video appeared on the morning segment of the Today Show “in less than 24 hours of me posting it on my Facebook page. So many people shared it overnight that it became trending.”
Without permission or notification, the Today Show aired the video, then posted it on its website for viewers to cast a “viral video vote.” Running against three other viral videos, Mankin won with 46 percent of the vote.
Laura Hostelley, close friend of Mankin, said he hasn’t changed much since the video went viral.
“He’s just so driven now and so determined.”
While Mankin said people around campus have jokingly called him “superstar,” “famous” or “celebrity,” he said the video offered him numerous professional opportunities.
“For my career, it’s opened up a lot more doors, and you know once you produce results, people will take you a lot more seriously.”
After the video was released and featured on the Today Show, in The Tennessean and on local news stations, Mankin received several offers, including offers to license the video for commercial use.
The only offer Mankin took was that of a friend’s father, a concert promoter for Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, a Grammy award-winning hip-hop group.
“He had an opening, and asked if I’d like to open up for them for three shows in Texas.”
Over spring break, Mankin did just that.
But Mankin said the purpose of the “Wendy’s Drive Thru Rap” video was mainly to get exposure. The video served as a promotional tool for the upcoming release of his new mix tape.
“This video was to promote my ‘What the Funk?’ mix tape and it kind of took on a life of its own, but it still—it did promote it.”
Released only nine months after his first mix tape “Life Out Loud,” Mankin collaborated with junior audio engineering technology major Patrick Anderson to record the mix tape in just three weeks.
While Mankin said the majority of the recording process took place 72 hours before it was released, Anderson said he was confident with the final product.
“It doesn’t flow like a normal album. He’s got a song on there that’s almost like a dance tune, and another one where the background is all beatboxing and it’s really dark. He spans the entire spectrum there.”
Anderson, Mankin’s mixer and Resident Assistant on the fifth floor of Maddox Hall, said he enjoyed working with Mankin on this project.
“He’s the most relaxed guy in the entire world, but at the same time he’s a musician and he’s an artist and he’s got one of the strongest wills I’ve ever seen.”
Hostelley echoed the same sentiment.
“He’ll get into these super spatial moods where he just gets inspired and he just writes. He’s always super into it.”
While Blake may be relaxed and humble, his alter-ego, M.r. B., is anything but.
M.r. B., or Blake Robert Mankin’s initials backwards, appears onstage as Blake when he’s rapping.
Mankin described M.r. B. as “a figment of my imagination. He is lawless. He does what he wants when he wants. When he has a microphone or if he’s asked to rap, that’s when M.r. B. comes out. Blake can perform too, but people like M.r. B. more.”
Both Mankin and M.r. B. performed a “partially written, mostly improvised” show Feb. 19 at the Curb Café along with Sean Sheetz.
Both “Life Out Loud” and “What the Funk?” are available for free download here.
His “Wendy’s Drive Thru Rap” video can be seen here. - The Feed