Speed Charles Walton III
Speed Charles Walton III (born February 16, 1989) stage name Speed Walton is an American Hip Hop recording artist, song writer and entrepreneur. SPEED gained recognition releasing underground mix tapes dating back to his 2009 release of Hip-Hop SUPA Hero with DJ Mick Boogie under the stage name Buggs Tha Rocka. He and fellow Cincinnati artist Donte The Gr8 from MOOD gained the attention of recording artist Talib Kweli and signed to his record label Javotti Media as the Space Invadaz. He is currently working with Capitol Records on new projects.
Early life
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, SPEED grew up in a two family household in Corryville on East Daniels with his grandma (Big Momma), his mother Tanya, older brother Jamey, Aunt Angie, and 5 cousins and their dog Demon a pit bull breed. His grandma retired from Frisch's and his mother worked at many restaurants as a server as well to provide for their family. SPEED had a strong relationship with his grandma who introduced him to music and gave him his first journal which he turned into his rhyme book for lyrics and poems. SPEED's mom moved to an area called Northside (Ashtree Apartments) a troubled Cincinnati neighborhood where SPEED spent most of his years with his mother and youngest brother Noel. SPEED attended Cincinnati neighborhood schools Kirby, Chase & Schwab where he earned the nickname Buggs and met most of his long time friends and music collaborators like Charles Reynolds aka Beataholic and music producer, Fredrick Mango aka Mango (A&R), Herm, Tawon Arnold aka Monty Burns whom all attend Aiken High School. Throughout this time SPEED continued to perfect his craft and desired to be a musician above anything else. He graduated from Aiken High School and attended one year of college at Central State University. During his sophomore year of college he decided to leave to New York City to further his music career with the help of a check that he received from his grandmother.
Personal life
SPEED carries a third generation name that was passed down by his Dominican father and grandfather. Speed credits his grandma Big Momma for helping him find his way with music. She told him to always to be his self and express his self freely. Big Momma gave him his first rhyme book where he began to write his first songs. His mom had three boys SPEED is the middle child. He grew up in a very religious home and was actually told by his mom not to listen to rap music because she felt it was too vulgar and violent. That helped him become creative in ways to prove that it didn't always have to be that way. SPEED has a strong BOND with the city of Cincinnati and performs activism, race relations and charity work within the community.
SPEED's music is a melting pot of different influences. He credits his childhood residence in the neighborhood Corryville / Clifton in Cincinnati as the place where he saw many diverse people and musicians at music venues like Bogart's and Sudsy Malone's. As a kid he would watch the rock bands, jazz bands, hip hop artists and acts from other MusicAL genres perform and he feels this is what helped cultivate the artist we know today.
Career
Since 2009 SPEED has released many mix tapes under the stage name Buggs Tha Rocka
2009 - Hip Hop Supa Hero hosted by DJ Mick Boogie
After the release in 2010 SPEED cultivated a great internet presence on the social website MySpace and built a cult and fan base to whom he often refers to as "Space Invadaz."
2010 - Mutant Level 5
The release of the "Mutant Level 5" helped SPEED create even more national buzz. " Mutant Level 5" which featured recording artists Freeway, Little Brother, Tanya Morgan , Shafiq Husayn and S.A.S.
2011 - Gold Shoes
In 2011 SPEED formed a band called Gold Shoes which consisted of a diverse group of musicians from Cincinnati which featured many different musical influences ranging from rock, jazz, funk, and classical all while recording and performing solo hip hop music.
2012 - Wrath Of Zeus
In 2012 SPEED teamed up with longtime friend and Cincinnati native ClockWorkDJ known for his role as Mac Miller's DJ and released the mix tape " Wrath of Zeus" it received rave reviews and set SPEED apart from his peers as one of this generations top lyricist and artist on the rise. SPEED soon hit the festival circuit and performed at various of music's top festivals like SXSW & A3C
2013 - Lost Luggage
In 2013 the project Lost Luggage was voted as one of the CityBeat's Top 100 Cincinnati Music releases.
2014 - Scattered Thoughts of an American Poet
In 2014 SPEED released his last solo project under his previous stage name Buggs Tha Rocka "Scattered Thoughts of an American Poet" which was met with critical acclaim world wide and showed sonic growth, a skill set he had learned to master over the previous years. This release helped him gain the attention of the hip hop world on a global scale. Though his hard work and achievements he was invited by Talib Kweli SPEED on his Prisoner of Conscious Tour which eventually led to SPEED signing with Talib Kweli's record label Javotti Media.
2015 - Space Invadaz - Javotti Media
In 2015 with under Javotti Media SPEED formed the group Space Invadaz with Donte the Gr8 know for his earlier work in the 90's with the group MOOD. Donte who is also a Cincinnati native is known for his project DOOM with producer Hi-Tek.
2015 - Present
- In 2015 SPEED performed at various major festivals including Cincinnati Bunbury Music Festival
- In 2017 SPEED partnered with Capitol Records for future releases.
Discography
- 2009 - Hip Hop Show Hero w/ DJ Mick Boogie
- 2010- Mutant Level 5
- 2012- Wrath Of Zeus w/ ClockWorkDJ
- 2013- Lost Luggage w/ Beataholic
- 2014- Scattered Thoughts of an American Poet
- 2016- Contact (Space Invadaz)
Honors, decorations, awards and distinctions
CEA Awards
- 2013 Cincinnati Entertainment Awards - Winner
- 2014 Cincinnati Entertainment Awards - Winner
- 2015 Cincinnati Entertainment Awards - Winner
- 2016 Cincinnati Entertainment Awards - Winner
- 2017 Cincinnati Entertainment Award Winner