Born Emanuel Da Silva Moniz in Lisbon, Portugal – Mars moved to Great Yarmouth at the tender age of 2 to live with his uncle after the death of his mother and disappearance of his father. By the time he was 4, Mars was in foster care living with 3 different families in Norfolk before being relocated to London at 7. Having already experienced far more than most 7-year-olds, his older foster brother encouraged him to explore music - Emanuel took up musical production at the age of 15 and began receiving local acclaim, Fruity Loops being his first foray into sound.
Similarly, to a lot of teenagers in inner London at the time, Mars became immersed in grime and hip-hop culture as part of the ‘Game Over’ crew. The group comprised of 9 rappers and 2 producers that collectively shared a love for music - they quickly achieved local celebrity status with Mars being touted as the stand out producer in his area. Unfortunately, Mars faced some adversities in his late teens and struggled to channel his creativity. However, his desire to succeed in music became his biggest driving force, a burning quest to prove to others that his god- given skill would be his ticket out of trouble.
After a period of intense local, street buzz, he caught the attention of the publishing label The Portfolio Music. Mars was promptly signed upon playing them his brand-new music. With musical influences ranging from the Motown greats of Diana Ross & The Supremes, Ray Charles and Smokey Robinson to the pioneers of today’s generation Pharrell, Andre 3000, Jadakiss and Dr Dre it’s easy to see where the elements of 70s swing and 80s funk have come from in Mars’ creative catalogue of hits.
Having produced for Mr Eazi, Giggs, Dyo, Arrow Benjamin (Beyonce ‘Runnin’) and making chart-worthy smashes for the likes of Ed Sheeran plus many more, Mars’ summer 18’ offering ‘999’ was a fusion of Afrobeat, Reggae & Pop and features the vocals rising Afro-Pop singer Wusu & multiple top ten singer Louisa. Mars has shown that his hard drive is never shy of quality records, which is why his model of successive hit releases never puts him out and only strengthens his rapidly-growing catalog! His latest release is no different; tapping into his Latin roots, Mars teams up with Colombian songstress Lao Ra (Black Butter) to bring us melodic-trap banger ‘Wapo’ – this is set for release in Jan 19’.