Bio

Money V was born April 13th, 1988 in Miami, Florida to parents Sherry Jones and Vincent Barnes Sr. Throughout his adolescent years, Money V grew up in a relatively economically deprived family. He lived in various neighborhoods throughout south Florida that reinforced negative stereotypes about black culture characterized by gangsterism, vice and factional tensions. Struggle and sacarfrice was an everyday reality. He grew up never having a room to call his own or even a real bed for that matter. His bed was the floor, his pillow was garbage bags filled of clothes and his blanket a mere jacket that barely covered his whole body. It was through the struggle however, that he developed a passion for music, inspired by the sounds of such artist as Coolio, Dr.Dre and Snoop Dog. A passion fueled by the desire to escape his reality and provide a better life for him and his family. By age 9 Money V had written his first song and thus marked the beginning of his long journey down the road to victory. At age 13 he had kicked his musical aspirations into full gear, joining forces with cousin Michael Apero (Young Flame) to create a rapping duo. Their music was received warmly by local residents and they sweep the city gaining recognition and awards, winning talent show after talent show at the local level. Feeling that their music needed to reach a wider audience Money V and Young Flame auditioned for Showtime at the Apollo in the spring of 2001, performing their single “Jealously “. Ironically it was jealously that led to the group’s demise. Feeling threatened by Money V’s dominate role, lyrical ability and popularity that overshadowed Young Flame, Michael Apero left the group. His departure derailed their chances of being on Apollo and proved to be Money V’s first road block to his dreams of becoming a rap superstar. After the spilt Money V joined a new alliance with his younger brother Ronald McKenzie (Graphic), the two shared similar goals of becoming successful rappers. At ages 15 and 13 respectively, the entered talent search contests that promised to bring recognition and possible record deals with major labels, but they were met with disappointment. They auditioned for the Inner-city talent search in greater-Miami only to find out the contest was both fraudulent and unprofessional. They later entered the New York Musical Festival Talent Showcase hosted in Miami, but this too proved to be unreliable. After delivering great performances at the New York musical festival, Money V and Graphic were approached about a possible developmental deal with Warner Brothers and offered to go on tour to perform with the Festival at all of its destinations. Neither the developmental deal nor the tour ever materialized and Money V and Graphic learned the hard way that promises made in the music industry amounted to very little. Frustrated by misfortunate, Graphic decided to take an indefinite hiatus from music focusing more on his education, leaving Money V to focus more narrowly on his solo career. Money V devoted countless hours to his music career, joining alliances with people, labels and producers that promised a lot but delivered very little. Feeling that he needed to take his career more into his own hands, Money V moved to Atlanta, GA at age 20 where he thought his music had a better chance of success.