After giving 8 yrs. of his youth to prison for a crime he did not commit, this High Point, North Carolina country boy moved to Brooklyn, NY shortly after his release. With his multiple talents and street savvy, he quickly immersed himself into the NY underground of afro-punk rockers, hipsters, & gangster rappers.
Caktuz soon became a rising indie artist under his own AMAS Multi-Media label, having worked with such artists as Bilal, Dead Prez, Boot Camp Clik, SA-RA, Kardinal Offishall, The Dey, Brand Nubian, M.O.P., Young Guru, Michael K Williams aka Omar from HBO’s Emmy Nominated The Wire, & many more.
In 2009 Cak shut down stages abroad on tour, headlining beside some of Europe's biggest talents & emerging acts, such as Bashy, DJ SpyKatcha, Charlie Sloth, Kof, Esco Williams, & Nikki Blaze, for Liverpool Hip Hop Week & the HUB Festival (the UK’s largest free music festival).
His tour helped to stamp his name, and the recognizable ‘Carolina Bluez’ sound through various parts of England, Amsterdam, & Paris.
From music to gracing the Broadway stage with the legendary Melvin Van Peebles, Cak..?13′z DRX performance art group raised the energy of each show.
A Carolina blues man by blood, his 1st album 2 Hevi 4 Heaven, set Caktuz’s place in the industry as a musical and genre innovator, weaving live performance art into his stage shows.
Caktuz brought attention to himself through his surreal digital mix-tape campaigns (packaging his music with art, video & even a virtual nightclub in secondlife.com), as well as his controversial sophomore album GOD*Z PORNO.
With a growing cult following and an unmatched new southern sound fused with NY afro-punk, industry insiders begun comparing Caktuz to groundbreaking predecessors such as Outkast & Kanye West.
This country strange fruit is an award winning graphic illustrator/designer, working with virtually all the top designers, such as Ecko, Apple Bottoms, Parish, Timberland, Rocawear, Shady Ltd. Having laced celebs such as Wendy Williams, Queen Latifah, & Chris Brown with his work he has undeniably become heavily sought after by Hollywood. Many corporate clients, such as Smirnoff, DC Comics, TBS, Pepsi, and Wal-Mart, have called on Cak..?13 by name.
After building and managing a successful internet radio station with the lifestyle brand WheatBread, his hustle and all around charisma eventually landed him into the acting spotlight. An impressive method actor, Caktuz has appeared in a number of film and web television efforts, including his mentor Melvin Van Peebles’ film Confessions of A ex-Doofus Ithcy Footed Mutha The Eddie Black Story (formerly tittled Deceptz ), and his self produced web series ThatsWhatsUp! for RadioOne. Caktuz is the poster boy for a multi-media revolution.
