Pretlow AKA Spread Love was born and raised in the north end section of Hartford, Connecticut.  As a young child he always had an affinity for music as he danced away to Michael Jackson’s Thriller or break dancing in the basement on cardboard with his friends.  He always looked up to rap icons Run DMC and remembers reciting their song  King of Rock as he played their record on his mother’s Kenmore stereo.  It was Spread’s mother who seen this love of music in him and decided to enroll him at a school for the performing arts.  It was there at the Artist Collective where he studied piano and music theory for three years during that time he also took drum lessons for a short while.

     Fast forward to the year 1988 Spread was smack dab in the middle of the golden years of hip hop.  It was about this time at Quirk Middle School when Spread entered his first talent show rapping about how he was “smooth like ice cream”.  Around this same time he hung out almost every other day with his DJ friend “Ant Love” who is now a well respected DJ in Atlanta.  He always had the Red Alert tapes and vinyl cuts that no one else had.  About this same time Spread also wrote raps with his school pal over pause tapes.  Spread got a beat machine for Christmas and began to make tracks for his crew Lyrical Union.  His partner in rhyme was way ahead of his time as a ghost writer for artists.

     As time went on Spread explored many facets of the music industry.  In high school he sung bass for his R&B group Final Destiny.  It was around this time he tried to get his group serious about making moves.  Shortly after that Spread got back into rapping after finishing high school and was in the Hartford’s Head’s Talent show for three years straight  but never placed.  He then tried his hand at producing in a professional studio but it was always frustrating because the producers couldn’t get the sound he was hearing in his head.  Also he felt cheated at times because he was paying for studio time and no one would help him create the sound he was looking for.  After spending dollars he had saved at his summer job at the studio, Spread said he had enough and began to purchase his own equipment.

     His first piece of equipment was a four track machine and a Yamaha keyboard that he still uses today.  Every year he added a new piece, a Yamaha sampler one year a Roland Composer the next.  Bookshelf speakers served as monitors.  Every year he upgraded and his tracks improved incrementally.  It was about this time when Spread first started producing for other artists on the local scene, some who are still around.  Groups like Mirror Image, Eternal Soldiers (Brewsta Millions, Oscar Black).  INS Iron Soldiers (Crome,Dolla), NOC List (Mully, Medisyn), and Steede Chinan (Superstar). 

     You may have heard his tunes in the hood.  He is honored to be the producer of the first track ever to be retired on hot 93.7 Saturday night showdown in Hartford, CT.  The track was entitled “U tell Me” by the NOC List.  He also did a dancehall CD for the group High Shent Crew with fellow producer Lord Raven.  Spread was first to coin the phrase from the Beat to the Heat which was the title of their compilation album put out more than six years ago.

     To ensure that he knows how to handle his business Spread enrolled himself at the University of Hartford where he got his Batchelor of Arts Degree in Performing Arts Management.  It was at college where Spread joined the FM station in 1996.  He networked and met a lot of individuals through this vehicle.  Some of his most memorable moments were when he invited wall to wall mcs down to the station to battle way before there was internet battling and 8 mile the movie.

       Spread continues to hone his skill and has remained focused.  The last two years Spread was a participant in the New England Music Seminar.  He didn’t place but it let him know that he is still relevant to the game.  He remains hungry and accepts the challenge and says thanks to all who supported and believed in him throughout the years.  And he wants to give Supreme thanks to the almighty, the Creator, God for all that he has done in his life and for others.

Contact:

Orangehoody@comcast.net