Heartz is a fresh, up and coming rapper in the Hip Hop industry. His real name is William Tsao, and he has lived in Georgia for most of his life. At the age of 19, he decided to truly pursue a career in music. Heartz has been engulfed in the rap and hip hop culture since he was about 12 years old. "I started rapping when I was about 13, but I was just messing around back then. Some of my boys from around the block would come through, and we would just mess around with music all day. We'd be rapping about things we were going through or experiencing at that particular moment." His major influences include, but are not limited to: 2Pac, Bone Thugs and Harmony, Ice Cube, The Game, Lil Wayne, and T.I.. He viewed music as only a form of entertainment until his parents got divorced when he reached the age of 13. This turning point in his life, along with other stuggles he encountered in his younger years, made him realize how important rap and hip hop is to society. Heartz related to the issues brought up in many of the songs he listened to and applied the messages in these songs to his daily life. "Keep ya head up was one of the major songs I listened to on a regular basis. It saved my life because the situations I was thrown into were so bad that I couldn't see any sign of hope or anything good. 2Pac was helping people like myself get through all the drama and pain in life by letting people know they weren't alone." Heartz feels that hip hop today is more focused on catchy hooks and lyrics without true meaning. He wants to bring back the essence of hip hop and rap that helped him throughout his life to the new generation of young adults. "I understand that not every song on today's radio is supposed to have a message. The problem I see with today's hip hop trend is that people are forgetting about the problems in our society and creating meaningless records. The issues that young teens are facing today haven't changed all that much compared to the issues in the days of 2Pac and Biggie." Heartz wants to continue to create music with a purpose and message. Helping today's youth understand the issues in society is one of his major goals. "The new generation doesn't really have many rappers they can look up to for advice and direction. They only see the material objects promoted in today's music. I'm not trying to tell people how to live their lives, but I am trying to inspire them to pursue their goals in life. I been down that road where my mentality was 'I gotta do what I gotta do to eat', and I'm trying to let the people that are at that stage right now know that life will get better. However, you have the be the one to make your situation better. There are other ways of pulling yourself outta the gutter besides risking your freedom every day." While pursuing his own dreams, Heartz has recently finished his EP titled "The Ruined Art." In April 2009, he performed at the Miss Black and Gold pagent sponsered by Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity at Mercer University. He is currently a student at Mercer and plans to graduate in 2011. The performance was actually the first of his career as a rapper. "I was definitely nervous before I went up on stage, but I had gotten so much positive feedback from people at school that it wasn't really an issue. When I got up on stage, everybody showed me love. It was a wonderful feeling." Heartz continues to make music and look for opportunities to perform. He feels that it is worth the effort to try and make a difference in the world even if only one person's life is affected by his message."Yo, at the end of the day, if I helped somebody through the drama in their life, then to me it's all worth it. I ain't doing this for the money. Don't get me wrong, the money is a nice plus hahah. Really though, I'm just trying to find the answer to a question society doesn't have. How can we solve the issue of poverty? I think the answer may start with the choices and decisions the younger generation makes." Wanna know more from ya boy??? Heartz is comin wit in-depth interviews and a lot more videos! Be on the lookout, iight? Let's build!!!!!