AskForMercy provides an alternative for pioneering individuals in search of the highest quality of music, fashion, community outreach and cultural expression. Comprised of several branches, AskForMercy caters to film/stage production, apparel, literary publishing, and music. AskForMercy is committed to facilitating both community empowerment and economic development through the arts, while also providing creative outlets for rising musicians. More importantly, AskForMercy is a global organization, actively seeking out the progressive worldwide community through artistic endeavors which foster fundamental renewal.

 

In August 2006, AskForMercy Music was initialized as an independent engine for contemporary and future pioneering artists. Saturated with hip-hop, rock, soul and reggae, AskForMercy Music is dedicated to providing an artistic haven for creative individuals in a variety of genres. In January 2007, Aaron Mingo officially became the CEO of AskForMercy Music and has since then created effective partnerships with The Coda Program, The Souls of Poor Folk Project, and WallTown Public Relations and Marketing. In an effort to create a more self-sufficient thrust in music, AskForMercy is committed to developing a means for artists to create and control their own destiny.

 

      

"God forget me not.survival is ALL we got." Aaron Mingo

 

Whether or not hip-hop is dead has yet to be determined. What is clear is that hip-hop is at a crucial turning point that could either make or break the genre's very existence. However, if Aaron Mingo has it his way, hip-hop will once again rise to its essential position. The first artist signed to the indie label AskForMercy, Aaron Mingo is no stranger to the music scene. He sharpened his skills as a lyricist while operating as one-half of The Serenghetti, a hip-hop duo featuring Sekani Williams and himself. Taking on the Philadelphia, New York, D.C./Baltimore and London scenes, Mingo has gone on to pursue his own vision as a solo artist and the premiere act on AskForMercy.

 

Born and raised in Philly, Aaron Mingo began crafting his lyrical style as an adolescent. A hip-hop head at heart, Mingo is still grounded in the classics: from Reggae to Soul music and Jazz, from Buju to Stevie and Thelonius. And that just might be why his sound is so grounded in the authentic experiences that make up everyday life-existing as an oasis in the desert of empty lyrics and paper-chasing compromises. Real music lovers marvel at Mingo’s lyrical depth along with the deep investment he brings to each composition. And his raw edge has enough innocent hope to soothe the festering wound caused by hip-hop's contradictions. 

 

Who is Aaron Mingo and what is the Ask for Mercy Orchestra?

A blend of lyrical agility and symphonic rhythms, with a classic hip-hop sound. 

 

After many years of developing his craft as a performer, Mingo has emerged as a determined emcee seeking to bring the balance back to hip-hop. With tracks like "Struggle" featured on The Souls of Poor Folk compilation CD, Mingo offers a refreshing dose of reality that audiences have been waiting to hear. So what exactly is the significance of "AskForMercy"? According to Mingo it is "the ability to endure under any condition.our music is a survival mechanism.” If anything, Aaron Mingo and the AskForMercy Orchestra are all about reflections: holding a mirror up to the world so that everyone in it can see themselves clearly. Articulating what we sometimes refuse to see, and rarely have the wherewithal to communicate, AskForMercy presents Aaron Mingo: hip-hop's emancipator.