NOE (rapper)
| NOE | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Duane Bridgeford |
| Origin | Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. |
| Genres | Hip hop |
| Occupation(s) | Rapper, songwriter |
| Years active | 2005-Present |
| Labels | Merlot Heights, Asylum Records, ByrdGang Records |
| Associated acts | ByrdGang |
| Website | www.NOEtheBrand.com |
Duane Bridgeford, better known by his stage name NOE is an American hip hop recording artist from Baltimore, Maryland. He is best known for his affiliation with Jim Jones and his involvement in East Coast hip hop group ByrdGang. He was featured on most of the songs for M.O.B.: The Album (2008) and was a prominent writer and featured artist on Jim Jones' Pray IV Reign (2009).
Bridgeford was born and raised in the inner city of Baltimore, Maryland. NOE's early adult years were engulfed in the violence and dilapidated neighborhoods that continue to blanket Baltimore City. During a phone interview while at a New York recording studio, Bridgeford wasn't very candid about growing up in East Baltimore. He opts not to mention the name of his high school, and sums up his criminal history as "two arrests, one was for drugs, one was for a gun violation, all in all I did about three years." He does mention that he regrets not being closer to his family, and looks at that rift as the reason he decided to express himself through poetry. In 2002 Bridgeford relocated from Baltimore to New York City in search of a record deal.
After being rejected by A&R men throughout the business for sounding like Jay-Z, Bridgeford's business partner Nicole "Nicety" Chaplin, who worked with Dipset President Jim Jones while he was still signed to Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella label, introduced the two. Chaplin also introduced Bridgeford to Conrad Dimanche, senior vice president at Bad Boy Records, who was impressed with his work but not interested in signing a new act: "[Dimanche] just told me to start writing, and it just so happened that Diddy was working on the Danity Kane project," Bridgeford says. "Writing is where the money is at. There's less scrutiny. I don't have to worry about sounding like anybody or whatever." He went on to write Diddy's lyrics for Danity Kane's debut single "Show Stopper". Working with Diddy has also given him a chance to work side by side with Jay-Z. "It was a real professional situation," Bridgeford says. "He was doing the hook on a song that ended up not being on the Danity Kane album, and I had to come through to write the lyrics."
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